Books of Fate and Popular Culture in Early China: The Daybook Manuscripts of the Warring States, Qin, and Han 9004310193, 9789004310193

Table of contents :
Contents
List of Maps, Tables, Figures, and Plates
Acknowledgments
Tables 0.1–0.9
Map 0.1
Introduction
Hemerology
Technical Occult and Scientific Literature
Codicology of Daybook Manuscripts
Daybook Studies and Ancient Chinese Hemerology
Conventions Used in this Volume
Chinese Terms and Translations
Latin, Medieval Vernacular, and Cuneiform Sources
Chinese Conceptual Terms and Hemerological Terminology
Chapter 1 Daybooks in Archaeological Context
Daybooks in Tombs
Manuscript Sources
A Phenomenon Embedded in Time and Widely Diffused
First Hypotheses
The Four Tombs
Jiudian Tomb 56
Fangmatan Tomb 1
Shuihudi Tomb 11
Kongjiapo Tomb 8
Other Tombs Containing Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts
Manuscripts in Tombs
Conditions of Preservation
A Marginal Phenomenon
The Mingqi Question
What Types of Manuscripts?
Who Was Involved?
Conclusion
Chapter 2 Daybooks: A Type of Popular Hemerological Manual of the Warring States, Qin, and Han
Content and Defining Features of Daybooks
Overview of Fully Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts
Manuscripts of the Daybook Text Type
Daybook-Related Manuscripts
Hemerological Slips, Slip Fragments, and Tablets Discovered at Han Sites in the Northwest
Unpublished or Partially Published Hemerological Material
Comparison of Daybooks to Related Technical Literature in Excavated Manuscripts
Daybooks and Other Hemerological Texts
Daybooks and Calendars
Daybooks as One among Multiple Sources of Technical Occult Knowledge
Daybooks from the Perspective of the Bibliographic Treatise of the Book of Han
“Tianwen” (Heaven Patterns)
“Lipu” (Calendars and Chronologies)
“Wuxing” (Five Agents)
“Shigui” (Milfoil and Turtle)
“Zazhan” (Miscellaneous Divination)
“Xingfa” (Form Structures)
Daybooks and Later Hemerological Texts
Conclusion
Chapter 3 Daybooks in the Context of Manuscript Culture and Popular Culture Studies
Hemerology and Hemerological Literature through the Lens of Late Han Historiography
Makers and Users of Daybooks
Literacy
Who Made Daybooks?
The Form and Function of Daybook Manuscripts
Making the Manuscript and Textual Strategies
Writing the Text and Lexical Strategies
Daybooks in Everyday Life
The “Spellbinding” Prologue
The Pace of Yu
Orphan-Empty Hemerology
Hemerology and Cultural Memory
Conclusion
Chapter 4 Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks: Ideas and Practices
Daily Activities and Life Expectations in the Daybooks
General Hemerologies
Topical Hemerologies
Predictions and Predictive Systems
The World of Rishu: Representation and Reality
Techniques and Systems
The Year Cycle and Its Subdivisions
The Sexagenary Cycle
The Twenty-Eight Stellar Lodges
The Five Agents
Day Qualifiers
Diagrams
Conclusion
Supplement 4.1
Supplement 4.2
Supplement 4.3
Supplement 4.4
Supplement 4.5
Chapter 5 Daybooks and the Spirit World
The Spirit World
Levels of the Spirit World
The Appearance and Traits of Spirits
Spirit Origin and Background: Explanation of the “Death Corpse-Ghost” Diagram
Controlling and Expelling the Spirits
Controlling Spirits: Spirits in the Illness Hemerologies
Expelling Demons and Spirits: Techniques of Exorcism in “Spellbinding”
Spirits in the Context of Hemerology
Conclusion
Supplement 5.1
Plates
Chapter 6 The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts
Discovery of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and the History of Ownership
The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts: Physical Description and Contents
Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1: Sishi ling (Ordinances of the Four Seasons)
Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2: Wuxing ling (Ordinances of the Five Agents)
Zidanku Silk Manuscript 3: Gongshou zhan (Divination for Attack and Defense)
Additional Manuscript Fragments
The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and Ancient Chinese Hemerological Literature
Hemerology and Hemerological Literature
Shi-Method Writings
Seasonal-Ordinances Writings
Daybook Writings
Conclusion
Chapter 7 Calendars and Calendar Making in Qin and Han Times
Looking at a Calendar
Month Lengths
Number of Months and the Year
Marking the Seasons
Hemerological Markings
Calculating the Calendar
Cycles and Quarter-Remainder Calculations
Constants and Cycles after the 104 BCE Reform
The Six Systems
Identifying the Qin and Han Systems: Textual Evidence
Identifying the Qin and Han Systems: Calculating Back
Who Calculated the Calendar?
The Traditional View: The Ruler “Grants” the Calendar
The Abortive Reform under Emperor Wen
The Origins and Nature of the Reform under Emperor Wu
The Case of Lang Yi: A Non-Official Center of Astronomical Learning
Conclusion
Chapter 8 Daybooks in Qin and Han Religion
The First Tiller Cult: Public and Private Rites
Local Cults of the Qin and Han
Mountain and River Cults
Long-Life Practices
Private Rituals in the Daybooks
A Heterogeneous Pantheon
The Pace of Yu
Levels of Complexity of Ritual Behavior
Conclusion
Chapter 9 The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China
Brief Overview of Calendars and Almanacs from the Tang through the Ming Dynasty
State-Sponsored Cosmology in the Qing
The State Calendar and Its Derivatives
Qing Dynasty Almanacs
Concluding Remarks
Chapter 10 Hemerology in Medieval Europe
Hemerology and Daybooks
Hemerology and the Study of Time
Divination, Commemoration, and Natural Philosophy
Hemerology as Divination
Hemerology as Commemoration
Hemerology as Natural Philosophy
Hemerological Practices
Auspicious Hours for Bloodletting
Dog Days
Egyptian Days and Egyptian Hours
Journey Hemerology
Lunaries
Mansions of the Moon
Miraculous Birthdays
Moonbooks
Perilous Days
Unlucky Days
Zodiacal Lunaries
Conclusion
Chapter 11 Babylonian Hemerologies and Menologies
Research Background
Textual Context
Cultic and Magical Background and Context
Religious Context
The Babylonian Cultic Calendar
The Hemerologies
“Babylonian Almanac”
“Offering Bread Hemerology”
“Prostration Hemerology”
“Hemerology for Nazimaruttaš”
“Eclipse Hemerology”
Fruit, Lord of the Month
The Therapeutic Release of Animals
The Menologies
“Cult Menology 1”: Babylon
“Cult Menology 2”: Uruk
“Bilingual Menology”
Use of the Hemerologies
Retrospect: A Scientific Experiment in Hemerology
Extispicy
Legal Activity
Appendixes
Appendix A Survey of Excavated Daybooks, Daybook-Related Manuscripts, and Other Hemerological Material
Appendix B Summary of Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts
Appendix C Description of Select Hemerologies and Classificatory Systems in Daybooks
Bibliography
Index

Citation preview

Books of Fate and Popular Culture in Early China

Handbook of Oriental Studies Handbuch der Orientalistik section four

China Edited by

Stephen F. Teiser Martin Kern Timothy Brook Paul W. Kroll VOLUME 33

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ho4

Books of Fate and Popular Culture in Early China The Daybook Manuscripts of the Warring States, Qin, and Han Edited by

Donald Harper and Marc Kalinowski

LEIDEN | BOSTON

Cover illustration: The “Heaven Jail” diagram in the Kongjiapo daybook, slips 352–359. After Suizhou chutu wenwu jingsui, p. 170. The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 0169-9520 isbn 978-90-04-31019-3 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-34931-5 (e-book) Copyright 2017 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

Contents List of Maps, Tables, Figures, and Plates ix Acknowledgments xv Tables 0.1–0.9 xvii Map 0.1 xxvi Introduction 1 Donald Harper (University of Chicago) and Marc Kalinowski (École Pratique des Hautes Études) Hemerology 2 Technical Occult and Scientific Literature 4 Codicology of Daybook Manuscripts 6 Daybook Studies and Ancient Chinese Hemerology 7 Conventions Used in this Volume 9 Chinese Terms and Translations 9   Latin, Medieval Vernacular, and Cuneiform Sources 10   Chinese Conceptual Terms and Hemerological Terminology 10

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1 Daybooks in Archaeological Context 11 Alain Thote (École Pratique des Hautes Études) Daybooks in Tombs 11 Manuscript Sources 12   A Phenomenon Embedded in Time and Widely Diffused 12   First Hypotheses 16 The Four Tombs 17 Jiudian Tomb 56 17   Fangmatan Tomb 1 21   Shuihudi Tomb 11 25   Kongjiapo Tomb 8 29   Other Tombs Containing Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts 34 Manuscripts in Tombs 37 Conditions of Preservation 37   A Marginal Phenomenon 38   The Mingqi Question 39   What Types of Manuscripts? 47   Who Was Involved? 48 Conclusion 55

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2 Daybooks: A Type of Popular Hemerological Manual of the Warring States, Qin, and Han 57 Liu Lexian (Capital Normal University) Content and Defining Features of Daybooks 57 Overview of Fully Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts 66 Manuscripts of the Daybook Text Type 66   Daybook-Related Manuscripts 70   Hemerological Slips, Slip Fragments, and Tablets Discovered at Han Sites in the Northwest 75 Unpublished or Partially Published Hemerological Material 76 Comparison of Daybooks to Related Technical Literature in Excavated Manuscripts 79 Daybooks and Other Hemerological Texts 80   Daybooks and Calendars 81   Daybooks as One among Multiple Sources of Technical Occult Knowledge 82

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vi

Contents

Daybooks from the Perspective of the Bibliographic Treatise of the Book of Han 84 “Tianwen” (Heaven Patterns) 86   “Lipu” (Calendars and Chronologies) 86   “Wuxing” (Five Agents) 86   “Shigui” (Milfoil and Turtle) 87   “Zazhan” (Miscellaneous Divination) 87   “Xingfa” (Form Structures) 87 Daybooks and Later Hemerological Texts 87 Conclusion 89

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3 Daybooks in the Context of Manuscript Culture and Popular Culture Studies 91 Donald Harper Hemerology and Hemerological Literature through the Lens of Late Han Historiography 94 Makers and Users of Daybooks 97 Literacy 97   Who Made Daybooks? 104 The Form and Function of Daybook Manuscripts 110 Making the Manuscript and Textual Strategies 111   Writing the Text and Lexical Strategies 116 Daybooks in Everyday Life 127 The “Spellbinding” Prologue 129   The Pace of Yu 130   OrphanEmpty Hemerology 133   Hemerology and Cultural Memory 136 Conclusion 137

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4 Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks: Ideas and Practices 138 Marc Kalinowski Daily Activities and Life Expectations in the Daybooks 138 General Hemerologies 139   Topical Hemerologies 142   Predictions and Predictive Systems 145   The World of Rishu: Representation and Reality 148 Techniques and Systems 152 The Year Cycle and Its Subdivisions 153   The Sexagenary Cycle 160   The Twenty-Eight Stellar Lodges 164   The Five Agents 168   Day Qualifiers 171   Diagrams 176 Conclusion 192 Supplement 4.1 193 Supplement 4.2 194 Supplement 4.3 198 Supplement 4.4 199 Supplement 4.5 200

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5 Daybooks and the Spirit World 207 Yan Changgui (Wuhan University) The Spirit World 208 Levels of the Spirit World 208   The Appearance and Traits of Spirits 214   Spirit Origin and Background: Explanation of the “Death Corpse-Ghost” Diagram 216 Controlling and Expelling the Spirits 220 Controlling Spirits: Spirits in the Illness Hemerologies 220   Expelling Demons and Spirits: Techniques of Exorcism in “Spellbinding” 225 Spirits in the Context of Hemerology 231 Conclusion 243 Supplement 5.1 244

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vii

Contents

Plates following 248 6 The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts 249 Li Ling (Peking University) Discovery of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and the History of Ownership 250 The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts: Physical Description and Contents 259 Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1: Sishi ling (Ordinances of the Four Seasons) 260   Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2: Wuxing ling (Ordinances of the Five Agents) 266   Zidanku Silk Manuscript 3: Gongshou zhan (Divination for Attack and Defense) 267   Additional Manuscript Fragments 267 The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and Ancient Chinese Hemerological Literature 267 Hemerology and Hemerological Literature 268   Shi-Method Writings 270   Seasonal-Ordinances Writings 274   Daybook Writings 274 Conclusion 277

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7 Calendars and Calendar Making in Qin and Han Times 278 Christopher Cullen (Needham Research Institute) Looking at a Calendar 278 Month Lengths 280   Number of Months and the Year 280  Marking the Seasons 282   Hemerological Markings 282 Calculating the Calendar 289 Cycles and Quarter-Remainder Calculations 289   Constants and Cycles after the 104 bce Reform 290   The Six Systems 291  Identifying the Qin and Han Systems: Textual Evidence 292  Identifying the Qin and Han Systems: Calculating Back 294 Who Calculated the Calendar? 296 The Traditional View: The Ruler “Grants” the Calendar 296   The Abortive Reform under Emperor Wen 297   The Origins and Nature of the Reform under Emperor Wu 298   The Case of Lang Yi: A Non-Official Center of Astronomical Learning 303 Conclusion 303

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8 Daybooks in Qin and Han Religion 305 Marianne Bujard (École Pratique des Hautes Études) The First Tiller Cult: Public and Private Rites 306 Local Cults of the Qin and Han 313 Mountain and River Cults 314   Long-Life Practices 323 Private Rituals in the Daybooks 325 A Heterogeneous Pantheon 328   The Pace of Yu 330   Levels of Complexity of Ritual Behavior 332 Conclusion 334

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9 The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China 336 Richard Smith (Rice University) Brief Overview of Calendars and Almanacs from the Tang through the Ming Dynasty 337 State-Sponsored Cosmology in the Qing 342 The State Calendar and Its Derivatives 347

viii

Contents

Qing Dynasty Almanacs 353 Concluding Remarks 367 10 Hemerology in Medieval Europe 373 László Sándor Chardonnens (Radboud University) Hemerology and Daybooks 374 Hemerology and the Study of Time 376 Divination, Commemoration, and Natural Philosophy 383 Hemerology as Divination 384   Hemerology as Commemoration 386   Hemerology as Natural Philosophy 389 Hemerological Practices 390 Auspicious Hours for Bloodletting 391   Dog Days 392   Egyptian Days and Egyptian Hours 392   Journey Hemerology 396  Lunaries 397   Mansions of the Moon 400   Miraculous Birthdays 402   Moonbooks 402   Perilous Days 403   Unlucky Days 403   Zodiacal Lunaries 403 Conclusion 406

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11 Babylonian Hemerologies and Menologies 408 Alasdair Livingstone (University of Birmingham) Research Background 408 Textual Context 409   Cultic and Magical Background and Context 410   Religious Context 411 The Babylonian Cultic Calendar 411 The Hemerologies 412 “Babylonian Almanac” 413   “Offering Bread Hemerology” 414  “Prostration Hemerology” 415   “Hemerology for Nazimaruttaš” 417   “Eclipse Hemerology” 419   Fruit, Lord of the Month 420   The Therapeutic Release of Animals 422 The Menologies 423 “Cult Menology 1”: Babylon 423   “Cult Menology 2”: Uruk 427  “Bilingual Menology” 429 Use of the Hemerologies 432 Retrospect: A Scientific Experiment in Hemerology 433 Extispicy 434   Legal Activity 434

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Appendixes­  Appendix A: Survey of Excavated Daybooks, Daybook-Related Manuscripts, and Other Hemerological Material 439 Appendix B: Summary of Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts 443 Appendix C: Description of Select Hemerologies and Classificatory Systems in Daybooks 460 Bibliography 477 Index 502

List of Maps, Tables, Figures, and Plates Maps 0.1 1.1 11.1

Archaeological sites with manuscripts and documents XXVI Locations of tombs with daybooks and daybookrelated manuscripts 13 Major discovery sites for Sumerian and Babylonian textual materials 409

4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4

Tables

4.5

0.1 0.2

4.6

0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 3.1 3.2 3.3

Chinese dynasties xvIi Rulers of the Qin and Han dynasties and the Xin period xviii Basic weights and measures for the Western Han dynasty, with metric equivalents xix Ten stems (tiangan) and twelve branches (dizhi) with numerical codes xx Sexagenary cycle with numerical codes for the sixty binoms xx Basic correlations of the five agents in the generation and conquest cycles xxi Twenty-eight stellar lodges (xiu) with numerical codes xxi Archaeological sites with manuscripts and documents on wood, bamboo, and silk xxii Acronyms for daybooks, daybook-related manuscripts, and Dunhuang manuscripts xxv Estimated burial dates and present-day locations of tombs with daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts 14 Geographic distribution of tombs containing manuscripts listed in table 0.8 15 Average slip lengths of some daybook and daybook-related manuscripts 49 Writing implements and related items found in tombs with daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts 53 Orphan branches and corresponding Empty branches in Orphan-Empty hemerology 134 Standard directions for the Orphan and Empty branches 134 The Empty and Orphan directions in KJP.16 compared to the two sets of directions in ZJTB.20 135

4.7

4.8 4.9

4.10 4.11 4.12

4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18

Types of activities and the number of sections and occurrences in the Jianchu and Congchen sections of the six published daybooks 141 Section headings written in the upper margin of the recto of SHDA 143 Types of activity in hemerologies and the number of sections for each category in SHDA 144 Divination topics in the Changes from Shuanggudui tomb 1, Fuyang 152 Occurrences of the four seasons in the six ­published daybooks 154 Day-night proportions for the twelve months of the year 155 Correspondence between Qin numbered months and Chu month names with day-night proportions for each month as given in SHDA.16 156 Examples of day designations other than sexagenary binoms, stems, and branches in the six published daybooks 157 Comparison of the traditional system of the twelve time periods of the day with the Shuiquanzi hemerological slips and the Kongjiapo and Shuihudi daybooks 159 The relationship between the traditional twelve time periods and the sixteen time periods in the Fangmatan daybooks 160 The system of Orphan and Empty branches 161 Pit days for the twelve months of the year and the distribution of the middle stems wus5 and jis6 in relation to their location on the Dipper astrolabe from Shuanggudui tomb 1 163 The keying of the twelve months to the twelve branches according to the Dipper Establishment method 164 The twelve monthly lodges in the daybooks, correlated with the Dipper Establishment method 165 Representation of the stellar lodge day-count for the short months and long months of the calendar year 166 Stellar lodge hemerology in SHDA.12 167 The old system of stellar lodge widths 168 The three-unions arrangement of the four seasonal agents in relation to the twelve branches and the four quarters 170

x 4.19 4.20

4.21 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 6.1 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 8.1 8.2 8.3

List Of Maps, Tables, Figures, And Plates

The seasonal revolution of Small Period (Small Year) and Great Period (Broad Pool) among the twelve branches of the “Day Court” diagram 175 The three-unions arrangement of the twelve monthly branches and the four seasonal agents, and the movement in opposite directions of Great Period and Year on the four quarters 176 The three-unions arrangement of the twelve months as the basis for the cycles of some important day qualifiers in the daybooks 176 Location of the Corpse-Ghost in the four directions for the twelve months of the year according to KJP.66 217 Reconstruction of the Corpse-Ghost Jianchu hemerology based on the Xuanquan wooden slips 219 Comparison of spirits of calamity based on branches in SHDB.65 and KJP.70 221 The spirits of calamity associated with the twelve pitch standards in FMTB.83 222 Stem-based illness hemerology and associated spirits of calamity in SHDA.18 and SHDB.66 223 Agent-based illness hemerology and associated spirits in KJP.68 and daybook-related slips from Shuiquanzi 223 Ten-stems and five-agents classification of emperors and spirits in KJP.82 and ZJTA.13 224 Comparison of the death days of some spirits related to agriculture and earthworks 232 Comparison of five-split-up-days hemerology and associated entities 243 Comparison of month names in the Erya and Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 266 The twenty-four seasonal markers in the Master of Huainan 283 Reverse Branch days for the months of the year recorded in the calendar for 134 bce from Yinqueshan 284 Seasonal markers and Establish days for the months of the year recorded in the Qingshuigou calendar for 69 bce 286 Comparison of La days and Retreat days in the Yinqueshan calendar for 134 bce and the Yinwan calendar for 12 bce 288 Goods provided and goods sold recorded in the First Tiller slips from Liye well no. 1 309 Medical and medical-related recipes in the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany (ZJTB) 327 Magical recipes in the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany (ZJTB) 327

10.1 11.1 C.1 C.2 C.3

C.4 C.5 C.6 C.7 C.8 C.9 C.10 C.11 C.12 C.13 C.14 C.15 C.16 C.17

The standard twelve-day and twenty-four-day systems of the Egyptian Days 394 Chronology of Sumerian and Babylonian literature 410 Names of the eight Congchen day qualifiers in SHDA.7, SHDB.12, and KJP.4 with possible correspondences in JD.2 461 Positions of the eight Congchen day qualifiers for the twelve months of the calendar year in SHDA.7, SHDB.12, and KJP.4 461 Monthly movements of Xuange and Zhaoyao in opposite directions among the twenty-eight stellar lodges and the twelve branches as recorded in SHDA.12 462 Commbined movements of Xuange and Zhaoyao in Yinyang wuxing B 463 Seasonal positions of the four day qualifiers in Di/Emperor hemerology according to FMTB.21 and SHDA.31 464 Qin-style Jianchu day qualifiers in the Huainanzi, FMTA.1, SHDA.3, and KJP.1 464 Comparison of Qin-style Jianchu names with the two sets of Chu-style names in JD.1 and JD.2 465 Positions of Jian (Establish) days for the twelve months in Qin-style and Chu-style Jianchu hemerology 465 Monthly movements of Punishment and Virtue between the solstices (months XI and V) in the Master of Huainan 466 Monthly movements of Punishment and Virtue in KJP.8 466 Monthly movements of Virtue in the Haiqu calendar for 87 bce 467 First-day branches and correlated Fanzhi days for the twelve months of the calendar year in FMTB.34, KJP.17, and SHDA.85 468 The twelve branches and cyclical animals in the Assay of Arguments (Lunheng) and the daybooks 469 The thirty-six animals in FMTB.80 and on the bronze Liuren mantic device (Six Dynasties) 471 Repartition of the sixty binoms into five groups according to the Nayin system in Embracing Simplicity Master 472 Differences between the correlations of agents and notes in the monthly-ordinances tradition and in FMTB.53 472 The travel hemerology in Chuxing zhan 473

xi

List Of Maps, Tables, Figures, And Plates

C.18

Numbers correlated with the ten stems, the twelve branches, time periods of the day, and pitch standards in the second Fangmatan daybook 474

Figures 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25

Chu standard wooden tomb chamber, Yutaishan tomb 554, Hubei 15 Plan and profile of Jiudian tomb 56, Hubei 18 Plan of Jiudian tomb 411, Hubei 18 Wooden board carved with geometric designs (lingchuang), Jiudian tomb 256 18 Wangshan tomb 1, Hubei 20 Ritual set composed of mingqi earthenware, Jiudian tomb 621 22 Set of twenty cylinders placed on a table, Leigudun tomb 1, Hubei 22 Plan of Fangmatan tomb 1, Gansu 23 Map on tablet no. 4A from Fangmatan tomb 1, Gansu 24 Contents of the coffin from Shuihudi tomb 11, Hubei 25 Profile of Shuihudi tomb 11 26 Plan of Shuihudi tomb 11 26 Some of the burial goods in Shuihudi tomb 11 28 Wooden model of a chariot from Shuihudi tomb 11 29 Plan and profile of Kongjiapo tomb 8, Hubei 31 Mode of construction of the wooden tomb chamber at Kongjiapo tomb 8 31 Kongjiapo tomb 8 burial goods 32 Wooden burial goods from Kongjiapo tomb 8 33 Plan and profile of Wangjiatai tomb 15 35 Plan of the wooden tomb chamber, Xiasi tomb 2, Henan 37 Plan of the wooden tomb chamber, Baoshan tomb 2 37 Facsimile of slips 1 and 2 of the first inventory document from the tomb of Lord Yi of Zeng 39 Two ritual vessels made in the Chu state 41 Burial ritual set (pottery mingqi) from Wangshan tomb 1, Hubei 42 Burial ritual set (pottery mingqi) from Wangshan tomb 1, Hubei 43

1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13

Burial ritual set (mingqi) from Wangshan tomb 1, Hubei 44 Bronze lamp from the tomb of King Cuo of Zhongshan, Hebei 45 Pottery granaries, Dianzi cemetery, Shaanxi 46 Profile and interior of lacquer box containing manuscripts, Mawangdui tomb 3, Hunan 49 Writing implements and related items found in tombs with daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts 51 Writing implements and related items found in tombs with daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts 51 Zhoujiatai tomb 30 plaited bamboo container with manuscripts, writing implements, and other items 52 Plan and profile of Beikangcun tomb 34, Shaanxi 54 Two pottery molds for animal-style plaques, Beikangcun tomb 34, Shaanxi 54 Rishu (Daybook) written on the verso of SHDB, slip 259 58 SHDA.47, arranged in six registers 61 Schematic representation of the recto of SHDA 62 Schematic representation of the arrangement of FMTA.7–16 and FMTB.4–8 68 Recto and verso of tablet no. 43 from Yueshan 71 Remains of the watchtower at Chagan chuanji, Ejina region 99 Three wooden slips from room 1 at Chagan chuanji 100 Writing practice on two wooden documents from well no. 7 at the Dongpailou settlement site, Changsha, Hunan 100 Tablet no. 6-1 from well no. 1, Liye, Hunan 102 Tablet no. 8-1437 from well no. 1, Liye, Hunan 102 Comparison of slips from Jiudian tomb 56, Baoshan tomb 2, and Guodian tomb 1 105 SHDA, slips 59v–68v 114 SHDA.73, “Yi,” and SHDA.74, “Ma,” on slips 119v–123v 115 FMTB.48, slip 165 120 Ejina slip no. 2002ESCSF1:2 120 Late Eastern Han gangmao jade amulet 121 The travel departure method with diagram in the Dunhuang occult miscellany, P2661v 123 SHDA.41, slips 127r–130r 126

xii 3.14 3.15 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23

List Of Maps, Tables, Figures, And Plates

SHDA.59, slips 24v–26v 130 Spatial arrangement of Orphan-Empty branches based on KJP.16 135 Fuxi and Nüwa surrounded by four smaller deities 153 The Xuanquan tablet inscribed with thirty-two hour names 158 Schematic representation of the Jinguan panoptical calendar of the year corresponding to 55 bce 161 The “Day Court” diagram with its basic components 162 The Dipper astrolabe from Shuanggudui tomb 1 165 Han dynasty bone tokens with the first ten sexagenary binoms and agents 170 Day qualifiers inscribed on tablet D11 from Yinwan tomb 6 173 Tablet D9 from Yinwan tomb 6 177 The “House-Compound Gate Placement” diagram in SHDA.39 179 The three “Day Court” diagrams in the Kongjiapo daybook, slips 121–137 180 Schematic representation of the three “Day Court” diagrams 180 Drawing of the “Five-Part Day Court” diagram in the first Zhoujiatai manuscript (ZJTA.13) 181 The “Twenty-Eight Hourly Lodge” diagram in the first Zhoujiatai manuscript (ZJTA.3) 182 Drawing of ZJTA.3 with standard modern equivalents for the original Chinese graphs 183 The Dipper strike table from KJP.7, slips 78–89 184 Reconstruction of the “Day Court” diagram with inscriptions associated with the pitch-standard divination system in FMTB.58 184 The “Root Mountain” diagram and Yu’s split-up days 185 Distribution of the six jias1 days and the five zib1 days in the FMTB.43 “Rain Prediction” diagram 187 The “Heaven Jail” diagram in KJP.71 188 Distribution of the sixty binoms on the five rings of the KJP.71 “Heaven Jail” diagram 189 The “Childbirth” diagram in SHDA.48 189 Schematic arrangement of the twelve months around the middle and lower “Earthworks” diagrams in KJP.43 190 Corpse-Ghost hemerology with diagram in KJP.64 191

4.24 4.25 4.26 4.27 4.28 4.29 4.30 4.31 4.32 4.33 4.34 4.35 4.36 4.37 4.38 4.39 4.40 4.41 4.42 4.43 4.44 4.45 4.46 4.47 4.48

Redrawn “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram based on KJP.64 and SHDB.77 191 Supplement 4.5:1. “Day Court” diagram in KJP.18 201 Supplement 4.5:2. “Day Court” diagram in KJP.19 201 Supplement 4.5:3. “Day Court” diagram in KJP.20 202 Supplement 4.5:5. “Five-Part Day Court” diagram in ZJTA.13 202 Supplement 4.5:6. “Twenty-Eight Hourly Lodge” diagram in ZJTA.3 202 Supplement 4.5:7. “Rong Calendar” diagram in ZJTA.6 202 Supplement 4.5:8. “Rong Calendar” diagram in ZJTA.12 202 Supplement 4.5:10. “Taking Office” diagram in KJP.40 203 Supplement 4.5:11. “Root Mountain” diagram in SHDA.13 203 Supplement 4.5:12. “Root Mountain” diagram in KJP.23 203 Supplement 4.5:14. “Liubo Board” diagram in YW.5 203 Supplement 4.5:15. “Rain Prediction” diagram in YW.4 203 Supplement 4.5:16. “Rain Prediction” diagram in FMTB.43 204 Supplement 4.5:17. “Heaven Jail” diagram in KJP.71 204 Supplement 4.5:18. “Divine Turtle” diagram in YW.3 204 Supplement 4.5:19. “Childbirth” diagram in SHDA.48 204 Supplement 4.5:21. “House-Compound Gate Placement” diagram in SHDA.39 205 Supplement 4.5:22. “House-Compound Gate Placement” diagram in KJP.61 205 Supplement 4.5:24. “Earthworks” diagram in KJP.43 (upper diagram) 205 Supplement 4.5:25. “Earthworks” diagram in KJP.43 (middle diagram) 205 Supplement 4.5:26. “Earthworks” diagram in KJP.43 (lower diagram) 206 Supplement 4.5:27. “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram in SHDA.63 206 Supplement 4.5:28. “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram in SHDB.77 206 Supplement 4.5:29. “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram in KJP.64 206

xiii

List Of Maps, Tables, Figures, And Plates

5.1

5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5

6.6 6.7 7.1 7.2 7.3 8.1 8.2 8.3

The four spirit figures in the middle section of the Mawangdui tomb 3 painted silk sheet Taiyi zhutu (Grand One incantation and diagram) 209 Facsimile of the magical spell with talisman on the clay jar from Sanlicun, Shaanxi 213 Reconstruction of the “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram in KJP.64 216 Sequence of chambers occupied by the CorpseGhost in the sixteen compartments of the “Corpse-Ghost” diagram 218 Bamboo tablets with names of the five domestic spirits (wusi) from Baoshan tomb 2 226 Facsimile of the wooden-tablet talisman from Shaojiagou, Jiangsu 228 Chiyou with the five weapons 233 Weavermaid and Oxherd 240 Receipt from the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art Atkins Museum of Fine Arts to Frederic Schultheis for “5 Chinese objects” 253 Cai Jixiang’s handwritten note to John Cox regarding the sale of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 254 Letter from P. C. Low to Christopher Rand for transferring payment to Cai Jixiang upon sale of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 254 Aerogram sent by Cai Jixiang to John Cox regarding payment for Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 255 Lid from the box containing the Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragments and bamboo basket with two registration tags from the Fogg Museum 256 Zidanku plaited-bamboo basket in which the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts were placed 261 Diagram showing the sequence in which the texts were originally copied on the silk sheet of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 262 Drawing of the 134 bce calendar from Yinqueshan 279 Reconstruction of the Qingshuigou calendar for the year 69 bce 285 The panoptical calendar for the year 12 bce on the recto of tablet D10, Yinwan tomb 6 287 Sire of Thunder (Leigong) holding a drum and standing on a chariot drawn by three tigers 307 The Xiannong slips from the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany (ZJTB.18) 311 Text of the inscription dedicated to Wuji Mountain printed in Lishi 318

8.4 8.5 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8

Ink rubbing of stela with the Huai River inscription 322 Ink rubbing of stela with the Mount Song inscription by Tangxi Dian 323 Cover of the Qing official calendar, the Regulating Time Book (Shixian shu), for 1745 347 Warning on the Qing official calendar for 1745 (shown in fig. 9.1) 348 “Diagram of the Position of the Spirits for the Year” from the Qing official calendar for 1886 350 Page from a copy of the Qing official calendar for 1773 352 Cover page of an almanac for 1815 354 Page from an almanac for 1876 355 Page from an almanac for 1876 356 Illustrations from an almanac for 1848 357 Page from the Comprehensive Almanac Based on the Seven Regulators for 1858 360 The “Emperors of the Four Seasons” from an almanac for 1830 361 The “Circular Hall of Marriage” (upper right) from an almanac for 1890 361 Use of the hand for divinatory calculations from an almanac for 1904 362 Illustration from an almanac for 1910 363 Page from the Quick Reference for Officials and Merchants (Guanshang kuailan) for 1908 365 An almanac for 1917 368 An advertisement for Patriot Brand Cigarettes in an almanac for 1925 369 Cover of a new-style South China Almanac (Hua’nan tongshu) for 1952 370 Early bloodletting and birth lunaries in a medical compendium from Italy or France 380 Early texts on the twenty-four and three Egyptian Days in a computus manuscript from England 381 Translation into English of the twenty-four Egyptian Days 382 Calendar page for the month of December in a French manuscript 383 Text and diagram of the twelve winds distinguished in the early medieval period 393 Dream lunary in a German manuscript, fifteenth century 398 Bloodletting lunary in an English manuscript 399 General lunary in a German manuscript 401

xiv 10.9 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7

List Of Maps, Tables, Figures, And Plates

Zodiac man in an English folded almanac 405 Cuneiform clay tablet with Fruit, Lord of the Month hemerology for the month of Simān 421 Bar graph showing frequency of extispicy reports plotted by day 434 Bar graph showing frequency of legal transactions at Nineveh plotted by day 435 Bar graph showing frequency of legal transactions at Aššur plotted by day 435 Bar graph showing frequency of legal transactions at Kalhu plotted by day 435 Bar graph showing frequency of legal transactions at Aššur, Nineveh, and Kalhu plotted by day 436 Line graph showing frequency of legal transactions plotted by month 436

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Plates (following p. 248) Zhoujiazhai tomb 8, Hubei, ca. 140 bce. Wooden tomb chamber, coffin, and burial goods at time of excavation Painted silk sheet Taiyi zhutu (Grand One incantation and diagram) from Mawangdui tomb 3 “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram in the Zhoujiazhai tomb 8 daybook manuscript Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, whole manuscript Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, detail of lower left Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2, diagram of Chu month names Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2, fragment with text Beginning of the annotated calendar of the year corresponding to 986, Dunhuang, P3403 Cover of the Iron-Pen People’s Almanac (Tiebizi minli), Taiwan, 1990 Picture lunary in an English folded almanac, fourteenth century Depiction of Byrhtferth’s diagram of the quaternities, England, early twelfth century Cuneiform clay tablet with Fruit, Lord of the Month hemerology for the intercalary month of Elūlu

Acknowledgments This volume is the result of a project initiated by the editors in 2011 with the sponsorship of the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities (IKGF), Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, as part of the project Fate, Freedom, and Prognostication: Strategies for Coping with the Future in East Asia and Europe. At the time, discoveries of manuscripts known among early China specialists as rishu 日書 “daybooks” had reached the point at which a comprehensive examination of the manuscripts was not only feasible but necessary, and the Daybook Project was born. We are grateful to the directors of IKGF, Michael Lackner and Klaus Herbers, for their ongoing support of the Daybook Project and to Michael Lüdke, the project coordinator at IKGF. A brief account of the Daybook Project will serve to acknowledge our indebtedness to IKGF and other organizations and individuals for their support. At the first meeting of the project, held in September 2011 at the University of Chicago Beijing Center in Beijing, the editors met with the Chinese contributors to the present volume, who were joined by Chen Wei, director of the Center for Research on Bamboo and Silk Manuscripts, Wuhan University, and Chen Songchang of Hunan University. It was agreed that the project focus on a state-of-the-field thematic volume and also undertake textual research with the goal of translating selected manuscript texts. The editors planned the thematic volume, invited additional contributors, and organized the Workshop on Books of Fate and Popular Culture in Early China, held at IKGF, Erlangen, in December 2012, at which time the contributors presented a preliminary version of their chapter for discussion. Also presenting at the workshop were Ethan Harkness, whose expertise in daybook manuscripts has been essential to the project, and Chen Kanli, who reported on relevant Qin and Han manuscripts acquired by Peking University. From September through December 2012, Kalinowski, Liu Lexian, and Yan Changgui were in residence at IKGF conducting research for the project. From March through June 2013, Kalinowski was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago, sponsored by Creel Center for Chinese Paleography, and the editors conducted a graduate seminar on daybooks while collaborating on the thematic volume. We are grateful to the director of the Creel Center, Edward L. Shaughnessy, for his support. Additional support has been provided by the Centre de recherche sur les civilisations de l’Asie orientale (CRCAO), Collège de France, Paris. At a critical stage in our

work, Wuhan University invited us to spend the month of September 2015 at the Center for Research on Bamboo and Silk Manuscripts, and we are grateful to Yan Changgui and Chen Wei for this ideal arrangement. At other times, Skype has facilitated communication between the editors in Chicago and Paris. In the making of this volume, our first thanks go to the contributors, whose participation in the Daybook Project ensured its success. As chapter drafts were submitted, six chapters required translation into English, three from Chinese and three from French. We thank the following translators for their invaluable assistance to the Daybook Project: Andrea Bréard (chap. 4), Regina Llamas and John Kieschnick (chaps. 1, 8), and Zhou Boqun (chap. 2). Two chapters were translated by Harper (chaps. 5–6). All eleven chapters underwent further revisions in the course of integrating them in the overall plan of the thematic volume. Decisions were made on uniform translations of important terms, with particular attention given to the translation of the technical vocabulary of the daybooks. Ethan Harkness’s assistance with the technical vocabulary warrants special mention. In Paris, Benjamin Ringard has performed exceptional service in matters ranging from basic research and compiling information for the appendixes to the technical details of scanning images used as figures and producing the maps. Ten of the figures are hand-drawn facsimiles made by Xu Datong of bamboo or wooden slips and tablets, which due to the condition of the original manuscript material or the quality of photographic reproductions required his artistry to render them legible. Many people have provided support by responding to queries, advising us on parts of the volume, or facilitating access to the daybooks and other manuscript materials. We wish to mention in particular Chen Wei, Li Tianhong, Liu Guosheng, Fan Guodong, Luo Yunbing, Chen Songchang, Chen Kanli, Zhao Chao, Edward L. Shaughnessy, Olivier Venture, Anthony Barbieri-Low, Robin D. S. Yates, Lionel Marti, John Wee, and Enrique Jiménez. At the University of Chicago Library, we are grateful to Zhou Yuan and Qian Xiaowen from the East Asian Collection for their work in processing documents in the John H. Cox archive and making them available to us. For administrative support of the Daybook Project we are grateful to Petra Hahm, administrative coordinator of IKGF, and Dawn Brennan, department coordinator of the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of

xvi

Acknowledgments

Chicago. We owe special thanks to Laura Iwasaki for her painstaking copyediting and to Patricia Radder of Brill for her welcome acceptance of the special requirements in publishing this volume and working to meet them. In addition to supporting the Daybook Project, financial support for publication of this volume has been provided by IKGF, the Creel Center, and CRCAO.

Acknowledgments for Figures and Plates

Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, New York Archaeological Research Institute of Hubei Province, Wuhan Bibliothèque de l’Institut des hautes études chinoises, Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris Bodleian Library, Oxford British Library, London British Museum, London Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D. C. Guangxi shifan daxue chubanshe, Guilin Harvard University Library, Cambridge, Mass.

Henan meishu chubanshe, Zhengzhou Hubei Provincial Museum, Wuhan Hunan Provincial Museum, Changsha Jingzhou Museum, Jingzhou Kexue chubanshe, Beijing Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. Library of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague St. John’s College, Oxford San Qin chubanshe, Xi’an Shanghai cishu chubanshe, Shanghai Shanghai guji chubanshe, Shanghai Stiftsbibliothek, St. Gallen Suizhou Museum, Suizhou Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen University of Chicago Library, Chicago Wenwu chubanshe, Beijing Wuhan daxue chubanshe, Wuhan Yiwen yinshuguan, Taibei Zhonghua shuju, Beijing Donald Harper and Marc Kalinowski

March 2, 2017

Tables 0.1–0.9 Table 0.1 Chinese dynasties

Shang 商 ca. 1500–ca. 1045 bce Zhou 周 ca. 1045–256 bce Western Zhou 西周 ca. 1045–771 bce Eastern Zhou 東周 770–256 bce Spring and Autumn period (Chunqiu 春秋) 770–476 bce Warring States period (Zhanguo 戰國) 453–221 bce Qin 秦 Empire 221–207 bce Han 漢 206 bce–220 ce Western Han 西漢 206 bce–9 ce Xin 新 (Wang Mang 王莽 reign) 9–23 ce Eastern Han 東漢 25–220 ce Wei, Jin, Nan-Bei Chao 魏晉南北朝 220–589 ce Sanguo 三國 (Three Kingdoms) 220–280 ce Wei 魏 220–265 ce Han 漢 221–263 ce Wu 吳 222–280 ce Six Dynasties 六朝 222–589 ce Jin 晉 265–420 ce Western Jin 西晉 265–316 ce Eastern Jin 東晉 317–420 ce Sixteen Kingdoms 十六國 304–439 ce Nan-Bei Chao 南北朝 (Southern and Northern Dynasties) 420–589 ce Northern Dynasties 北朝 386–581 ce Northern Wei 北魏 386–534 ce Eastern Wei 東魏 534–550 ce Western Wei 西魏 535–556 ce Northern Qi 北齊 550–577 ce Northern Zhou 北周 557–581 ce Southern Dynasties 南朝 420–579 ce Liu Song 劉宋 420–479 ce Qi 齊 479–502 ce Liang 梁 502–557 ce Chen 陳 557–589 ce Sui 隋 581–618 ce Tang 唐 618–907 ce Wudai Shiguo 五代十國 (Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms) 902–979 ce Five Dynasties 五代 (North China) 907–960 ce Ten Kingdoms 十國 (South China) 902–979 ce Song 宋 960–1279 ce Northern Song 北宋 960–1127 ce Southern Song 南宋 1127–1279 ce Liao 遼 916–1125 ce Xia 夏 (commonly known as Xi Xia 西夏) 1038–1227 ce Jin 金 1115–1234 ce Yuan 元 1279–1368 ce Ming 明 1368–1644 ce Qing 清 1644–1912 ce Source: Based on Barbieri-Low and Yates, 2015, pp. xvii–xviii.

xviii

Tables 0.1–0.9

Table 0.2 Rulers of the Qin and Han dynasties and the Xin period Personal name

Dynastic name

Date of ascension

Reign yearsa

Rulers of the Qin imperial dynasty Ying Zheng 贏政

Shihuangdi 始皇帝 (First Emperor of Qin)

Ying Huhai 贏胡亥

Ershi Huangdi 二世皇帝 (Second Emperor of Qin) N/A

Zi Ying 子嬰

July 6, 247 bce (as King of Qin) 221 bce (as Emperor) September–October 210 bce mid-October 207 bce (as King of Qin) (abdicated late November–early December 207 bce)

246–210 bce

209–207 bce

Rulers of the Western Han dynasty 206 (202)–195 bce

Emperor Xuan 宣帝

March–April 206 bce (as King of Han) February 28, 202 bce (as Emperor) June 23, 195 bce October 19, 188 bce November 14, 180 bce July 14, 157 bce March 10, 141 bce March 30, 87 bce July 18, 74 bce (deposed August 14, 74 bce) September 10, 74 bce

Emperor Yuan 元帝 Emperor Cheng 成帝 Emperor Ai 哀帝 Emperor Ping 平帝

January 29, 48 bce August 4, 33 bce May 7, 7 bce October 17, 1 bce

48–33 bce 32–7 bce 6–1 bce 1–5 ce

N/A

February–March 6 ce (as acting emperor for the Han)

6–8 ce

Liu Bang 劉邦

King of Han 漢王 Emperor Gao 高皇帝 Gaozu 高祖

Liu Ying 劉盈 Lü Zhi 呂雉 Liu Heng 劉恆 Liu Qi 劉啟 Liu Che 劉徹 Liu Fuling 劉弗陵 Liu He 劉賀

Emperor Hui 惠帝 Empress Lü 呂后 Emperor Wen 文帝 Emperor Jing 景帝 Emperor Wu 武帝 Emperor Zhao 昭帝 N/A

Liu Xun 劉詢 (Liu Bingyi 劉病已) Liu Shi 劉奭 Liu Ao 劉驁 Liu Xin 劉欣 Liu Jizi 劉箕子 (Liu Kan 劉衎) Wang Mang 王莽

194–188 bce 187–180 bce 179–157 bce 156–141 bce 140–87 bce 86–74 bce

73–49 bce

Ruler of the Xin period Wang Mang 王莽

N/A

January 10, 9 ce

9–23 ce

Rulers of the Eastern Han dynasty Liu Xiu 劉秀 Liu Yang 劉陽 (Liu Zhuang 劉莊)

Emperor Guangwu 光武帝 Emperor Ming 明帝

August 5, 25 ce

25–57 ce

March 29, 57 ce

58–75 ce

xix

Tables 0.1–0.9

Personal name

Dynastic name

Date of ascension

Reign yearsa

Liu Da 劉炟 Liu Zhao 劉肇 Liu Long 劉隆 Liu Hu 劉祜 Liu Yi 劉懿 Liu Bao 劉保 Liu Bing 劉炳 Liu Zuan 劉纘 Liu Zhi 劉志 Liu Hong 劉宏 Liu Bian 劉辯 Liu Xie 劉協

Emperor Zhang 章帝 Emperor He 和帝 Emperor Shang 殤帝 Emperor An 安帝 Emperor Shao 少帝 Emperor Shun 順帝 Emperor Chong 沖帝 Emperor Zhi 質帝 Emperor Huan 桓帝 Emperor Ling 靈帝 Emperor Shao 少帝 Emperor Xian 獻帝

September 5, 75 ce April 9, 88 ce February 13, 106 ce September 23, 106 ce May 18, 125 ce December 16, 125 ce September 20, 144 ce March 6, 145 ce August 1, 146 ce February 17, 168 ce May 15, 189 ce September 28, 189 ce

76–88 ce 89–105 ce 106 ce 107–125 ce 126–144 ce 145 ce 146 ce 147–167 ce 168–189 ce 190–220 ce

Source: Barbieri-Low and Yates, 2015, pp. xix–xx. a The first year indicates the beginning of the regnal year-count, which, starting with Emperor Wu, was further divided into reign periods that were given titles (nianhao 年號) and varied in length.

Table 0.3 Basic weights and measures for the Western Han dynasty, with metric equivalents Measure

Approximate metric unitsa

Length fen 分 cun 寸 chi 尺 zhang 丈 bu 步 (= 6 chi) li 里 (= 300 bu)

2.31 millimeters 2.31 centimeters 23.1 centimeters 2.31 meters 1.386 meters 415.8 meters or 0.416 kilometer

Weight zhu 銖 liang 兩 (=24 zhu) jin 斤 (= 16 liang) jun 鈞 (= 30 jin) shi 石 (= 4 jun)

0.651 gram 15.625 grams 250 grams 7.5 kilograms 30 kilograms

Capacity sheng 升 dou 斗 hu 斛/shi 石

200 milliliters 2 liters 20 liters

Source: Zhongguo kexue jishu shi: Duliangheng juan, p. 447. a A mean number based on Western Han archaeological data for chi (23.1 cm), jin (250 g), and sheng (200 ml). The mean number for 1 jin in the Qin dynasty is 253 grams (the other numbers are the same).

xx

Tables 0.1–0.9

Table 0.4 Ten stems (tiangan 天干) and twelve branches (dizhi 地支) with numerical codes Ten stems

s1 s2 s3 s4 s5

Twelve branches

jias1 甲 yis2 乙 bings3 丙 dings4 丁 wus5 戊

s6 s7 s8 s9 s10

jis6 己 gengs7 庚 xins8 辛 rens9 壬 guis10 癸

b1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6

zib1 子 choub2 丑 yinb3 寅 maob4 卯 chenb5 辰 sib6 巳

b7 b8 b9 b10 b11 b12

wub7 午 weib8 未 shenb9 申 youb10 酉 xub11 戌 haib12 亥

Table 0.5 Sexagenary cycle with numerical codes for the sixty binoms (n) and their stem-branch components

n1 n2 n3 n4 n5 n6 n7 n8 n9 n10

jiazi1 yichou2 bingyin3 dingmao4 wuchen5 jisi6 gengwu7 xinwei8 renshen9 guiyou10

甲子 乙丑 丙寅 丁卯 戊辰 己巳 庚午 辛未 壬申 癸酉

s1–b1 s2–b2 s3–b3 s4–b4 s5–b5 s6–b6 s7–b7 s8–b8 s9–b9 s10–b10

n31 n32 n33 n34 n35 n36 n37 n38 n39 n40

jiawu31 yiwei32 bingshen33 dingyou34 wuxu35 jihai36 gengzi37 xinchou38 renyin39 guimao40

甲午 乙未 丙申 丁酉 戊戌 己亥 庚子 辛丑 壬寅 癸卯

s1–b7 s2–b8 s3–b9 s4–b10 s5–b11 s6–b12 s7–b1 s8–b2 s9–b3 s10–b4

n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20

jiaxu11 yihai12 bingzi13 dingchou14 wuyin15 jimao16 gengchen17 xinsi18 renwu19 guiwei20

甲戌 乙亥 丙子 丁丑 戊寅 己卯 庚辰 辛巳 壬午 癸未

s1–b11 s2–b12 s3–b1 s4–b2 s5–b3 s6–b4 s7–b5 s8–b6 s9–b7 s10–b8

n41 n42 n43 n44 n45 n46 n47 n48 n49 n50

jiachen41 yisi42 bingwu43 dingwei44 wushen45 jiyou46 gengxu47 xinhai48 renzi49 guichou50

甲辰 乙巳 丙午 丁未 戊申 己酉 庚戌 辛亥 壬子 癸丑

s1–b5 s2–b6 s3–b7 s4–b8 s5–b9 s6–b10 s7–b11 s8–b12 s9–b1 s10–b2

n21 n22 n23 n24 n25 n26 n27 n28 n29 n30

jiashen21 yiyou22 bingxu23 dinghai24 wuzi25 jichou26 gengyin27 xinmao28 renchen29 guisi30

甲申 乙酉 丙戌 丁亥 戊子 己丑 庚寅 辛卯 壬辰 癸巳

s1–b9 s2–b10 s3–b11 s4–b12 s5–b1 s6–b2 s7–b3 s8–b4 s9–b5 s10–b6

n51 n52 n53 n54 n55 n56 n57 n58 n59 n60

jiayin51 yimao52 bingchen53 dingsi54 wuwu55 jiwei56 gengshen57 xinyou58 renxu59 guihai60

甲寅 乙卯 丙辰 丁巳 戊午 己未 庚申 辛酉 壬戌 癸亥

s1–b3 s2–b4 s3–b5 s4–b6 s5–b7 s6–b8 s7–b9 s8–b10 s9–b11 s10–b12

xxi

Tables 0.1–0.9 Table 0.6 Basic correlations of the five agents (wuxing 五行) in the generation (xiang sheng 相生) and conquest (xiang sheng 相勝) cycles Agents

Wood (Mu 木)

Fire (Huo 火)

Earth (Tu 土)

Metal (Jin 金)

Water (Shui 水)

Directions Seasons

east spring

south summer

center

west autumn

north winter

Generation cycle

Wood →

Fire →

Earth →

Metal →

Water →

Conquest cycle

Wood  →

 → Fire

Earth  →

 → Metal

Water  →

Table 0.7 Twenty-eight stellar lodges (xiu 宿) with numerical codes (x) arranged by correlated seasons and directions Lodges

New system of lodge widths with determinative stars

Old system of lodge widths

Branches

East–spring quarter x1 x2 x3 x4 x5 x6 x7

Jiao 角 Kang 亢 Di 氐 Fang 房 Xin 心 Wei 尾 Ji 箕

Horn1 Gullet2 Base3 Chamber4 Heart5 Tail6 Winnower7

α Virginis κ Virginis α Librae π Scorpii σ Scorpii μ Scorpii γ Sagittarii

12 9 15 5 5 18 11¼

Horn1 Gullet2 Base3 Chamber4 Heart5 Tail6 Winnower7

12 9 17 7 12 9 10

chenb5 E-SE maob4 E

Dipper8 Ox9 Woman10 Barrens11 Roof12 House13 Wall14

23 9 10 14 9 20 15

choub2 N-NE zib1 N

Straddler15 Harvester16 Stomach17 Mane18 Net19 Beak20 Triaster21

11 15 11 15 15 6 9

xub11 W-NW youb10 W

yinb3 E-NE

North–winter quarter x8 x9 x10 x11 x12 x13 x14

Dou 斗 Niu 牛 Nü 女 Xu 虛 Wei 危 Shi 室 Bi 壁

Dipper8 Ox9 Woman10 Barrens11 Roof12 House13 Wall14

φ Sagittarii β Capricorni ε Aquarii β Aquarii α Aquarii α Pegasi γ Pegasi

26 8 12 10 17 16 9

haib12 N-NW

West–autumn quarter x15 x16 x17 x18 x19 x20 x21

Kui 奎 Lou 婁 Wei 胃 Mao 昴 Bi 畢 Zui 觜 Shen 參

Straddler15 Harvester16 Stomach17 Mane18 Net19 Beak20 Triaster21

ζ Andromedae β Arietis 35 Arietis 17 Tauri ε Tauri φ1 Orionis δ Orionis

16 12 14 11 16 2 9

shenb9 W-SW

xxii

Tables 0.1–0.9

Table 0.7 Twenty-eight stellar lodges (xiu 宿) with numerical codes (x) arranged by correlated seasons and directions (cont.) Lodges

New system of lodge widths with determinative stars

Old system of lodge widths

Branches

South–summer quarter x22 x23 x24 x25 x26 x27 x28

Jing 井 Gui 鬼 Liu 柳 Xing 星 Zhang 張 Yi 翼 Zhen 軫

Well22 Ghost23 Willow24 Star25 Spread26 Wing27 Axletree28

μ Geminorum θ Cancri δ Hydrae α Hydrae υ1 Hydrae α Crateris γ Corvi

33 4 15 7 18 18 17

Well22 Ghost23 Willow24 Star25 Spread26 Wing27 Axletree28

29 5 18 13 13 13 16

weib8 S-SW wub7 S sib6 S-SE

Sources: Lodge-name translations follow Schafer, 1977, p. 76. Lodge widths and determinative stars in the new system follow Sun and Kistemaker, 1997, p. 52, with modifications. Lodge widths in the old system are from Cheng Shaoxuan, 2014, p. 32, table 2. Note: (contributed by Christopher Cullen): It is not a simple matter to identify the ancient determinative stars in modern terms. Sun and Kistemaker make choices that provide a reasonable fit with the data for the north polar distances of the relevant stars as given in chapters 60–63 of the Opening Epoch Divination Classic (Kaiyuan zhanjing 開元占經) in around 725. Their analysis suggests that the observations underlying these data may have been made around 70 bce. The stars chosen are also broadly consistent with the positional indications given in the same source. Thus, for instance, measurements in the lodge Straddler15 are to be made from the “large (i.e., bright) star in the southwest” (西南大星) of the asterism marking the lodge, which certainly describes the position of ζ Andromedae relative to the rest of the asterism. Sun and Kistemaker do not include numerical superscripts with the Greek “Bayer letters” that identify all but two of their chosen stars. In most cases this is not important, since such numbers are required mainly to distinguish components of double stars that can be resolved only with a telescope (such as α1 and α2 Librae). However, in the case of Beak20, the two stars φ1 and φ2 Orionis are 0.55 degree apart (slightly more than the apparent width of the moon) and were clearly distinguished in ancient astronomical sources. The determinative star was almost certainly φ1. In the case of Spread26, the determinative star is clearly υ1 Hydrae; υ2 Hydrae is nearly 4 degrees away.

Table 0.8 Archaeological sites with manuscripts and documents on wood, bamboo, and silk (430 BCE–220 CE)

Tombs or settlement sites are differentiated by period as Chu (ca. 430 BCE–first quarter of the third century BCE in areas occupied by Chu), Qin (third century–207 BCE), or Han (206 BCE–220 CE). Tombs from different periods at the same site are numbered separately. Tombs or settlement sites with daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts are indicated with an asterisk. Anhui 1 Fuyang Shuanggudui 阜陽雙古堆, tomb 1* (Han) 2 Tianchang Anlezhen 天長安樂鎮, unspecified tomb (Han) Beijing 3 Beijing Dabaotai 北京大葆臺, tomb 1 (Han) Chongqing 4 Chongqing Yunyang Jiuxian 重慶雲陽舊縣, pit (Han) Gansu 5 Dunhuang area 敦煌地區, settlement site* (Han) 6 Dunhuang Xuanquan 敦煌懸泉, settlement site* (Han) 7 Gangu Liujiaping 甘谷劉家坪, tomb 1 (Han) 8 Jianshui Jinguan 肩水金關, settlement site* (Han) 9 Shule River 疏勒河流域 (Dunhuang, Jiuquan), several sites (Han)

Tables 0.1–0.9

10 11 12 13 14

Tianshui Fangmatan 天水放馬灘, tomb 1* (Qin) Wuwei Hantanpo 武威旱灘坡, unspecified tomb (Han) Wuwei Mozuizi 武威磨嘴子, tombs 6*, 18 (Han) Wuwei Wubashan 武威五壩山, tomb 3 (Han) Yongchang Shuiquanzi 永昌水泉子, tomb 5* (Han)

Guangxi 15 Guixian Luobowan 貴縣羅泊灣, tomb 1 (Han) Guangdong 16 Guangzhou Nanyueguo Gongshu 廣州南越國宮署, well 264 (Han) Hebei 17 Dingzhou (Dingxian) Bajiaolang 定州 (定縣) 八角廊, tomb 40* (Han) Henan 18 Shaanxian Liujiaqu 陝縣劉家渠, tomb 23 (Han) 19 Xincai Geling 新蔡葛陵, tomb 1 (Chu) 20 Xinyang Changtaiguan 信陽長臺關, tombs 1, 7 (Chu) Hubei 21 Guanghua Wuzuofen 光化五座墳, tomb 3 (Han) 22 Huanggang Caojiagang 黃岡曹家岡, tomb 5 (Chu) 23 Jingmen Baoshan 荊門包山, tomb 2 (Chu) 24 Jingmen Guodian 荊門郭店, tomb 1 (Chu) 25 Jingmen Yancang 荊門嚴倉, tomb 1 (Chu) 26 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Fanjiapo 荊州 (江陵) 范家坡, tomb 27 (Chu) 27 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Fenghuangshan 荊州 (江陵) 鳳凰山, tombs 8, 9, 10, 167, 168, 169 (Han) 28 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Gaotai 荊州 (江陵) 高臺, tombs 6, 18, 46 (Han) 29 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Jigongshan 荊州 (江陵) 雞公山, tomb 48 (Chu) 30 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Jiudian 荊州 (江陵) 九店, tombs 56*, 411, 621 (Chu) 31 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Maojiayuan 荊州 (江陵) 毛家園, tomb 1 (Han) 32 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Qinjiazui 荊州 (江陵) 秦家嘴, tombs 1, 13, 99 (Chu) 33 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Songbo 荊州 (江陵) 松柏, tomb 1 (Han) 34 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Tengdian 荊州 (江陵) 藤店, tomb 1 (Chu) 35 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Tianxingguan 荊州 (江陵) 天星觀, tomb 1 (Chu) 36 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Wangjiatai 荊州 (江陵) 王家臺, tomb 15* (Qin) 37 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Wangshan 荊州 (江陵) 望山, tombs 1, 2 (Chu) 38 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Xiejiaqiao 荊州 (江陵) 謝家橋, tomb 1 (Han) 39 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Yangjiashan 荊州 (江陵) 揚家山, tomb 135 (Qin-Han) 40 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Yintai 荊州 (江陵) 印臺, nine unspecified tombs* (Han) 41 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Yueshan 荊州 (江陵) 嶽山, tomb 36* (Qin) 42 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Zhangjiashan 荊州 (江陵) 張家山, tombs 127*, 136, 247, 249*, 258 (Han) 43 Jingzhou (Jiangling) Zhuanwachang 荊州 (江陵) 磚瓦廠, tomb 370 (Chu) 44 Laohekou Angang 老河口安崗, tombs 1, 2 (Chu) 45 Shashi Xiaojiacaochang 沙市蕭家草場, tomb 26 (Han) 46 Shashi Zhoujiatai 沙市周家臺, tomb 30* (Qin) 47a Suizhou Kongjiapo 隨州孔家坡, tomb 8* (Han) 47b Suizhou Zhoujiazhai 隨州周家寨, tomb 8* (Han) 48 Suizhou Leigudun 隨州擂鼓墩, tomb 1 (Chu)

xxiii

xxiv Table 0.8 Archaeological sites with manuscripts and documents on wood, bamboo, and silk (430 BCE–220 CE) (cont.)

49 50 51 52 53 54

Tianmen Gaotaicun 天門高臺村, well (Chu) Wuhan Dingjiazui 武漢丁家嘴, tombs 1, 2 (Chu) Yunmeng Dafentou 雲夢大墳頭, tomb 1 (Han) Yunmeng Longgang 雲夢龍崗, tomb 6 (Qin) Yunmeng Shuihudi 雲夢睡虎地, tombs 4, 11* (Qin) Yunmeng Shuihudi 雲夢睡虎地, tomb 77* (Han)

Hunan 55 Changde Xiyangpo 常德夕陽坡, tomb 2 (Chu) 56 Changsha Dongpailou 長沙東牌樓, well, settlement site (Han) 57 Changsha Kewen dasha 長沙科文大廈, wells 3, 4, 5, 18, 21, 25 (Han) 58 Changsha Mawangdui 長沙馬王堆, tombs 1, 3* (Han) 59 Changsha Wujialing 長沙伍家嶺, tomb 203 (Han) 60 Changsha Wulipai 長沙五里牌, tomb 1 (Changsha tomb 406) (Chu) 61 Changsha Wuyi Guangchang 長沙五一廣場, pit 1 (Han) 62 Changsha Xujiawan 長沙徐家灣, tomb 401 (Han) 63 Changsha Yangjiawan 長沙楊家灣, tomb 6 (Changsha tomb 569) (Chu) 64 Changsha Yangtianhu 長沙仰天湖, tomb 25 (Changsha tomb 167) (Chu) 65 Changsha Zoumalou 長沙走馬樓, well 8 (Han) 66 Changsha Zidanku 長沙子彈庫, tomb 1* (Chu) 67 Cili Shibancun 慈利石板村, tomb 36 (Chu) 68 Linli Jiuli 臨澧九里, tomb 1 (Chu) 69 Longshan Liye 龍山里耶, well 1 (Qin) 70 Yiyang Tuzishan 益陽兔子山, wells (Warring States to Han) 71 Yuanling Huxishan 沅陵虎溪山, tomb 1* (Han) Jiangsu 72 Gaoyou Shaojiagou 高郵邵家溝, ash-pit T29-H2 (Han) 73 Hanjiang Huchang 邗江胡場, tomb 5 (Han) 74 Lianyungang Donghai Yinwan 連雲港東海尹灣, tombs 2, 6* (Han) 75 Lianyungang Haizhou Huaguoshan 連雲港海州花果山, unspecified tomb (Han) 76 Lianyungang Haizhou Shuanglongcun 連雲港海州雙龍村, tomb 1 (Han) 77 Lianyungang Haizhou Taowan 連雲港海州陶灣, tomb 1 (Han) 78 Lianyungang Haizhou Wangtuanzhuang 連雲港海州網疃莊, unspecified tomb (Han) 79 Lianyungang Haizhou 連雲港海州, tomb of Huo He 霍賀 and his wife (Han) 80 Lianyungang Haizhou 連雲港海州, tomb of Shiqi Yao 侍其謠 and his wife (Han) 81 Lianyungang Zhuanwachang 連雲港磚瓦廠, unspecified tomb (Han) 82 Siyang Daqingdun 泗陽大青墩, unspecified tomb (Han) 83 Xuyi Dongyang 盱眙東陽, tomb 7 (Han) 84 Yancheng Sanyangdun 鹽城三羊墩, tomb 1 (Han) 85 Yangzhou Pingshan Yangzhichang 揚州平山養殖場, tomb 3 (Han) 86 Yizheng Xupu 儀征胥浦, tomb 101 (Han) Nei Menggu 87 Ejina 額濟納 (Edsen-Gol, Juyan), settlement site* (Han) 88 Juyan 居延, settlement site* (Han) Qinghai 89 Datong Shangsunjiazhai 大通上孫家寨, tomb 115 (Han)

Tables 0.1–0.9

xxv

Tables 0.1–0.9 Shaanxi 90 Xi’an Duling 西安杜陵, tomb 5* (Han) 91 Xi’an Western Han Chang’an 西安西漢長安, Weiyang Palace 未央宮 (Han) 92 Xianyang Maquan 咸陽馬泉, tomb 22 (Han) Shandong 93 Linyi Jinqueshan 臨沂金雀山, tomb 28 (Han) 94 Linyi Yinqueshan 臨沂銀雀山, tombs 1, 2 (Han) 95 Rizhao Haiqu 日照海曲, tombs 106, 129, 130 (Han) Sichuan 96 Chengdu Laoguanshan 成都老官山, tombs 1, 3 (Han) 97 Qingchuan Haojiaping 青川郝家坪, tomb 50 (Qin) Yunnan 98 Guangnan Muyicun 廣南牧宜村, unspecified tomb (Han) North Korea 99 Jongbaekdong 貞柏洞, tomb 364 (Han) 100 Namjeongli 南井里, tomb 116 (Han)

Table 0.9 Acronyms for daybooks, daybook-related manuscripts, and Dunhuang manuscripts Acronyms

Manuscripts

Appendix A sectionsa

DL FMTA FMTB HK JD KJP P + numerical code S + numerical code SHDA SHDB WW YS YW ZJTA ZJTB

Duling manuscript First Fangmatan daybook Second Fangmatan daybook Chinese University of Hong Kong slips Jiudian daybook Kongjiapo daybook Pelliot Dunhuang manuscripts in the Bibliothèque nationale de France Stein Dunhuang manuscripts in the British Library First Shuihudi daybook Second Shuihudi daybook Wuwei manuscripts Yueshan manuscripts Yinwan manuscripts First Zhoujiatai manuscript Second Zhoujiatai manuscript

A.2 A.1 A.1 A.2 A.1 A.1 — — A.1 A.1 A.2 A.2 A.2 A.2 A.2

a See these sections for details on the daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts.

Map 0.1

Archaeological sites with manuscripts and documents on wood, bamboo, and silk.

Introduction Donald Harper and Marc Kalinowski In 2017, it will have been forty-two years since the first discovery of daybooks (rishu 日書) among the bamboo-slip manuscripts in Shuihudi 睡虎地 tomb 11, Hubei, a Qin dynasty tomb dated to 217 bce. The 1975 Shuihudi find was the third in a run of ancient Chinese manuscript discoveries that began in 1972 with Yinqueshan 銀雀山 tomb 1, Shandong, the second-century bce Han dynasty tomb, followed in 1973 by Mawangdui 馬王堆 tomb 3, Hunan, a Han tomb dated to 168 bce. Manuscript discoveries have been continuous since the 1970s. Today we have grown used to news of another find and to the increasingly efficient collaboration of archaeologists, conservation experts, and paleographers in China who restore, transcribe, and publish the manuscripts (a situation marred only by instances of looted manuscripts without archaeological provenance and by forgeries). This is to say that before 1975, a book on ancient Chinese daybooks could not have been written because there were none. For that matter, even at the end of the 1970s, it could not have been anticipated that daybook manuscripts from the last centuries of the first millennium bce would reappear in amounts that constitute a sizable manuscript corpus more than two thousand years after they were used by people in communities that existed where modern excavation sites are now located. This volume is the collective effort of eleven scholars from several disciplines who describe, assess, and contextualize the daybook manuscripts in terms of what the manuscripts reveal of the lives and ideas of the people for whom they were produced, as well as consider daybooks in light of comparable evidence from other cultures and peoples. The word “hemerology”—the simplest definition is “knowledge of good and bad days”—is used mainly by scholars of the ancient Near East for the calendar-based texts in which hemerological knowledge was transmitted. The same forms of knowledge in early China are the most prominent feature of daybooks, and hemerology is the dominant theme for daybook studies. We decided on the title “Books of Fate and Popular Culture in Early China” in order to focus our attention beyond the subject matter and consider how daybook manuscripts became part of people’s lives, not simply as information transferred onto written media, but as a constituent of daily life realized anew in each manuscript. To use a term that has gained currency in cultural studies, daybooks were realia, or everyday objects used by many, and the material © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004349315_002

manuscripts we now have are as significant for our understanding of Chinese culture in a distant past as for their hemerological content. The term “book of fate” is borrowed from popular culture in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century England, where the idea of such a book promised everyman an oracle for life. Indeed, Herman Kirchenhoffer published The Oracle or Book of Fate, Formerly in the Possession of the Emperor Napoleon, and Now First Rendered into English, from a German Translation, of an Ancient Egyptian Manuscript, Found in the Year 1801, by M. Sonnini, in One of the Royal Tombs, Near Mount Libycus, in Upper Egypt in London in 1822. His preface details Napoleon’s attachment to this Egyptian book of fate recorded on a papyrus scroll in the hieroglyphic script, the content of which had been dictated by a learned Copt to Napoleon’s secretary, who wrote it down in German in order to preserve its secrecy.1 The elements of secrecy and notoriety—except for the preface, nothing more is known about The Oracle or Book of Fate—made Kirchenhoffer’s English translation an instant success. The comparison between daybook manuscripts and books of fate in nineteenth-century England highlights the serendipitous circumstance of modern archaeology providing us with manuscript realia to study ancient Chinese popular culture. The subtitle “The Daybook Manuscripts of the Warring States, Qin, and Han” represents the core of this volume, which is a comprehensive presentation of the manuscripts. The first eight chapters cover archaeological perspectives on daybook discoveries, the characteristics of the manuscripts discovered to date, daybook hemerology, religion as it appears in daybooks, and the calendar. The three final chapters broaden our perspective on hemerology as a field of study that embraces ancient and modern and gives us an exceptional lens through which to examine ideas and life experiences, whether in ancient Babylon, medieval Europe, or late imperial China. This exploration of hemerology beyond the corpus of ancient Chinese excavated manuscripts informs our reading of the daybooks in their original cultural setting and, at the same time, defines a common ground of interest for cultural studies irrespective of time and place. This introduction addresses overarching concerns and conventions common to all chapters, leaving the thick 1  Kirchenhoffer, 1822, p. ix.

2 description of daybook manuscripts, hemerology, and cultural settings to the chapters and appendixes. Four topics that constitute a shared theoretical and methodological foundation for the chapters are hemerology, technical occult and scientific literature, the codicology of daybook manuscripts, and daybook studies as a subfield of research on Chinese hemerology. Hemerology The term “hemerology,” designating certain calendarbased texts that record lucky and unlucky times and places for specified activities, entered the modern scholarly idiom in the second half of the nineteenth century, when it was adopted for cuneiform text examples by the first generation of Assyriologists, who applied the term “menology” to related cuneiform texts organized by months. Before they were adopted by Assyriologists, the English words “hemerology” and “menology” were used as modernized forms of the medieval Greek and Latin hemerolo­ gion and hemerologium and menologion and menologium, referring to a record of days (hemero-) or months (meno-) (with corresponding words in other European languages). The term “menologium” was used more often and included the meaning of the Christian calendar of saints; one seventeenth-century gloss of hemerologium cited in the Oxford English Dictionary describes it as “a Kalendar or Register declaring what is done every day, a Day-book.”2 The similarity between “Day-book” and the Chinese rishu “daybook” is fortuitous, and works titled Hemerologium in the seventeenth century were not devoted to the lucky or unlucky aspects of days.3 2  Oxford English Dictionary Online, s.vv. “menology” and “hemerology,” accessed December 3, 2015, http://www.oed.com. As of December 2015, the entry for “hemerology” has not been updated since it was first published in 1898. The etymology for the meaning “calendarbased text” gives Greek logos in the sense of “record.” “Menology” was updated in the Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed. The entry includes the meaning “knowledge that relates to the months” (identified as obsolete), derived from -logy. Neither entry refers to occurrences of “hemerology” and “menology” in Assyriological publications. For additional information and bibliographic references, see “hemerologion” and “hemerology” in Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, vol. 6, pp. 126–29 (the modern scholarly understanding of “hemerology” is described, but its adoption by nineteenth-century Assyriologists is not explained). 3  The Hemerologium Hermeticum issued annually by John Smith during the years 1653–56 supplied astronomical information as well as information about the weather. For these and other almanacs by John Smith in the Bodleian Library, see the University of Oxford on-

harper and kalinowski

In 1869, at the site of Nineveh, George Smith discovered “a curious religious calendar of the Assyrians, in which every month is divided into four weeks, and the seventh days, or ‘Sabbaths,’ are marked out as days on which no work should be undertaken.”4 When published by the British Museum in 1875, the two plates, showing facsimile cuneiform text from the front and back of one clay tablet, were identified as “Hemerology for the Month of the Intercalary Elul,” and Smith assisted the main editor, Henry Rawlinson, with the reproduction of the text.5 The Reverend A. H. Sayce’s translation, titled “A Babylonian Saints’ Calendar,” followed in 1876. Sayce’s introduction notes that the cuneiform hemerology “not only proves the existence of a Chaldean ritual and rubric, but also shows that each day of the year had been assigned to its particular deity or patron-saint, in whose honour special ceremonies and services had to be performed.” For Sayce, however, the hemerology’s greatest significance lay in the probable Babylonian precedent for the Sabbath in JudeoChristian tradition.6 Today, the “intercalary Elul” hemerology is known as one part of the multi-tablet hemerology Inbu bēl arḫi (Fruit, Lord of the Month), edited and translated by Alasdair Livingstone (see plate 12). The tablets are from the Aššurbanipal libraries in Nineveh, now in the British Museum. Fruit, Lord of the Month is organized by months of thirty days, and the hemerology identifies the associated spirits for each day, as well as the favorable or unfavorable indications for activities involving sacrifices, food, clothing, travel, medical treatment, divination, and the like. While Fruit, Lord of the Month addresses the king and the life of the palace, its contents were taken from older hemerologies intended for everyone.7 The connection between this work and Chinese daybooks is clear, and the term “hemerology” is useful for texts in which calendrical science and religious custom coincide in providing guidance for daily life. In addition to its appearance in studies of the ancient Near East, the term is increasingly being adopted—and its meaning adapted to current research— for texts and knowledge best described as “hemerological” in other cultures and civilizations. line catalog, accessed December 3, 2015, http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac .uk (search: Hemerologium hermeticum). 4  G. Smith, 1875, p. 12. 5  Rawlinson, 1875, plates 32–33. The British Museum registration number of the tablet is K4231. Ibid., plate 33*, is “Hemerology for the Month Marcheswan.” 6  Sayce, 1876, p. 157. 7  Livingstone, 2013, pp. 199–248; and chap. 11 in this volume. See also Jiménez, 2016, pp. 200–204.

3

Introduction

Looking back to nineteenth-century Assyriology in England and Europe, it must be recalled that archaeological explorations in the Near East and the discovery of cuneiform documents held special relevance for showing the influence of the Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations on Semitic civilization and their links to the Bible. In the case of the “intercalary Elul” hemerology, clues to the origins of later Semitic calendars had already been found in cuneiform calendars, and the religiously oriented calendar found by Smith points to more connections with Judeo-Christian traditions. There is no record of who decided on the word “hemerology” (Smith or perhaps Rawlinson?), but Sayce’s “Babylonian saints’ calendar” indicates that Assyriologists were thinking of parallels to the Christian calendar of saints and to the calendrical “ritual and rubric” of the church. The predilection for reading cuneiform texts against a Judeo-Christian background belongs to the early history of Assyriology, and claims such as the identification of the Babylonian “sabbath” have been abandoned. Yet it was precisely this background that gave us hemerology and menology. It should also be kept in mind that the words “hemerology” and “menology” were rare by the nineteenth century. Given their disuse, there was no need for explanation when they were reassigned to cuneiform texts in Assyriology. Rather, hemerology and menology were revived in a contemporary scholarly application that seemed to resonate with the perceived legacy of ancient Near Eastern religion and provided precise names for texts that were not merely calendars. Tellingly, nineteenth-century Egyptology did not use the new terminology even though there were studies and translations of hieroglyphic examples of similar texts. The name “calendar of good and bad days” was frequently used and remains in use in present-day Egyptology along with “day-selection calendar,” “prognostic calendar,” and “hemerology.”8 To speak of ancient Chinese hemerology presumes a modern field of study in which the Chinese evidence adds to the evidence from Assyriology and Egyptology, as well 8  In 1870, François Chabas published a study and translation of the Papyrus Sallier IV in the collection of the British Museum, referring to it as calendrier des jours fastes et néfastes; Chabas (1870, p. 6n1) credits Francesco Salvolini (1810–1838) with being the first to identify the content of the manuscript. For discussion of a second manuscript of the same calendar, see Leitz, 1994. Leitz (1994, vol. 1, p. 1) refers to the category of “Kalendertexte (Hemerologien)” of New Kingdom Egypt and lists the generally accepted terms used in Egyptology for such calendars (or hemerologies): Tagewählkalender “day-selection calendar,” Kalender der guten und schlechten Tage “calendar of good and bad days,” and Loskalender “prognostic calendar.”

as from medieval European studies (in which there is extensive research on hemerological literature and ideas in popular culture). Most research has been undertaken by scholars using the accepted categories and terminology of their separate fields—“calendar” and “almanac” are two words they all share—without explicit recognition of the word “hemerology” as a unifying term. One goal of this volume is to advance the field of hemerology, which might be loosely understood to concern the ideas, practices, and texts in all cultures that relate time as expressed in the calendar to daily fortune in the collective experience of a people. Elizabeth Hill Boone’s recent study of the painted books from premodern Mexico, which she describes as both divinatory codices and almanacs, examines the manuscripts as “guides for living,” and the content summaries of the manuscripts show them to be congruent with the Chinese daybooks whose content is summarized in appendix B in this volume.9 In Mexico, as in China and the broader Mediterranean world, knowledge of lucky times and places, or hemerology, was contiguous with divination for deciding a course of action in everyday life; however, hemerology was the knowledge of experience as defined by the calendar and custom, in contrast to the chance wisdom of divination. One further point to note about China is the existence of ancient words that correspond to the modern scholarly use of “hemerology.” For hemerology as text, the first attestation is the third-century bce title Rishu “Daybook” written on one of the Shuihudi daybook manuscripts; for hemerology as form of knowledge, there is the secondcentury bce anti-hemerology and anti-divination ideal recorded in the Master of Huainan (Huainanzi 淮南子): “do not practice season-and-day selection” (ze shiri 擇 時日) (hemerology) and “do not practice hexagram and turtle divination” (zhan guazhao 占卦兆).10 To be sure, during these two centuries, when most of the daybook manuscripts known today were produced, most people did not consider their daily habits in regard to calendarbased customs as constituting a formal body of knowledge called “hemerology,” and the current examples of daybook manuscripts indicate that the manuscripts were locally produced miscellanies for everyday use, not classified collections of hemerology. However, for certain groups in elite society, hemerology (the “season-and-day selection” specified in the Master of Huainan) was a subject of intellectual interest alongside divination, and points of view differed. In this respect, a cultural history of hemerology in early China adds to our understanding of the history 9   Boone, 2007, pp. 10, 239–52. 10   Huainanzi, 8, p. 245 (“Benjing xun” 本經訓).

4

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of thought, in particular the formation of correlative cosmology between the third and first centuries bce.11

Technical Occult and Scientific Literature

In Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, the entry for the term “technical literature,” a translation of the original entry on Fachliteratur in Der Neue Pauly, begins with a definitional statement that technical literature “includes general and specialized presentations of ancient science, arts, and techniques.”12 Although the term has gained currency in English, the study of technical literature, or Fachliteratur, emerged in the 1950s as a specialized area of research for medieval literature composed in German. Wolfgang Wegner estimates that roughly 90 percent of medieval German-language literature is Fachliteratur, adding that between the eighth and sixteenth centuries, the texts were composed continuously and in localities where there was no notable production of poetic literature, which held a distinctive status in medieval ideas about literature.13 The range of subjects includes the three medieval artes (knowledge of skills and techniques)—liberal arts (rhetoric, arithmetic, music, and so forth), mechanical arts (agriculture, metallurgy, medicine, and so forth), and magical arts (divination, incantation, necromancy, and so forth)—but can be extended to include other areas of technical knowledge, such as political, legal, and administrative matters.14 The English-language term “technical literature” conveys the meaning of Fachliteratur as texts that are informational sources of applied knowledge (Bernhard Haage speaks of them as medieval nonfiction). In addition to the idea of being “technical,” the German word Fach suggests the many varieties of knowledge practiced by people who developed the technical language for their skills and transmitted it in texts, which, because they were composed in vernacular language (not in Latin), might have been used by both specialists and nonspecialists.15 Hence technical literature in German or any other language has significance not only for the history of literature but also for cultural history interpreted on the basis of the texts. 11  Connections between hemerology in daybooks and correlative cosmology are addressed in chaps. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 in this volume. 12   Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, vol. 14, p. 196. 13  Haage and Wegner, 2007, p. 47. 14   Ibid., pp. 15–18. The magical arts were also considered to be the “prohibited” and “uncertain” arts. 15  Ibid., pp. 14–15.

On the one hand, technical literature encompassed skills and the fields of knowledge attached to skills. The practitioners, whatever their differences, had in common their involvement with technical literature and shared the same conventions of text production. To consider briefly the case of hemerology in early China, astrologers, calendar makers, and diviners were producing technical literature, and the excavated daybook manuscripts are one textual output. Technical literature became the common ground for their respective skills. On the other hand, technical literature influenced ideas and practices in society at large as increased production led to greater accessibility and circulation of texts, and daybooks are examples of popularization in the production of technical literature.16 In medieval Europe, lettered society differentiated among the liberal, mechanical, and magical arts. In practice, however, this classification of knowledge did not fix boundaries as do modern conceptions of astronomy in contrast to astrology or, at the most general level, of science and religion as opposed to magic. The textual porosity of technical literature, which enabled the reception and transmission of all manner of useful knowledge, reflects the absence of such modern dichotomies. The characteristics of medieval European technical literature have been invaluable to modern studies of medieval science and religion precisely because the representation of ideas and practices in the texts elucidates a medieval worldview. Whether in regard to European or other premodern cultures, modern scholars writing in English often use contrastive compound terms such as “magic and religion,” “occult and scientific,” and “occult science” in order to examine their worldviews from the modern perspective, to which we are culturally and intellectually bound, without intending a false dichotomy for the worldview under examination.17 “Technical occult and scientific literature” and similar terms are used in several chapters in this volume with the intention of viewing daybooks as part of the ancient Chinese technical literature treating of occult and scientific knowledge and as comparable to related technical literature in other premodern cultures.18 16  See the “Who Made Daybooks?” section in chap. 3. 17  Debates over magic and the occult have been ongoing in the history of science since the mid-twentieth century. Occult and Scientific Mentalities in the Renaissance is the title of a volume of essays by participants in a 1982 conference (Vickers, 1984), and Vickers’s introduction outlines the issues as of the 1980s. For an excellent survey of medieval European magic based on a variety of sources, including medieval technical literature, see Kieckhefer, 1989. 18  See mainly chaps. 2, 3, 4, and 6.

Introduction

The term “technical occult and scientific literature” is noticeably similar to the Chinese shushu 數術 “calculations and arts,” which first appeared in the classification of literature for the first-century bce editorial project that produced copies of books for the Han imperial court. In the associated catalog, the division of works that could be considered “occult and scientific” is titled “Shushu” (Calculation and arts). From bibliographic classification, the term shushu was extended to name the body of knowledge; that is, the knowledge was identified with the texts, and vice versa.19 Shu “art” refers to knowledge of skills similar to the medieval European artes. The basic meaning of shu “calculation” is arithmetic calculation and, by extension, skillful methods. As preserved in the first-century ce bibliographic treatise of the Book of Han (Han shu 漢書), the “Calculations and Arts” division is organized into six subdivisions: the first two list titles of works on astrology, meteorology, astronomical cycles, and calendar making; the next three treat of divination (including hemerology), incantation, and magic; and the last subdivision is for topomancy and physiognomy. In the bibliographic treatise, medicine forms a separate division called “Fangji” 方技 (Recipes and techniques), which reflects the view of medicine as technical skill. Out of 110 book titles in the “Calculations and Arts” division and 36 titles in the “Recipes and Techniques” division, only one or two survive in a transmitted edition. Three issues require our attention when considering the relationship between the lost books recorded in the “Calculations and Arts” division of the Book of Han bibliographic treatise and the excavated manuscripts that represent technical occult and scientific literature in our classification. The first two concern the nature of books. It is certain that in the first century bce, the Han court manuscripts were state-of-the-art examples of book production. Further, the “Calculations and Arts” division represented the first-ever classification of occult and scientific literature. The classification not only served the purpose of bibliographic organization but also reflected elite intellectual trends and fulfilled the needs of courtcentered ideology. In both cases, correlative cosmology based on five-agents (wuxing 五行) and yinyang 陰陽 ideas was an influence. The third subdivision, “Wuxing” (Five agents), provides the most obvious evidence and is where works on hemerology are found. Among the thirtyone book titles, roughly one-third include the terms wu­ 19  For details, including the first occurrence of the term shushu for bibliographic classification, see the “Daybooks from the Perspective of the Bibliographic Treatise of the Book of Han” section in chap. 2.

5 xing or yinyang, or both, and another third refer to hemerological methods by name, several of which are attested in daybook manuscripts.20 Nothing in the bibliographic treatise book titles matches the manuscript examples of daybooks (the reasons are addressed in the “Codicology of Daybook Manuscripts” section in this introduction). However, there are examples of specialized occult and scientific works, including hemerological texts, among the excavated manuscripts. Some may be related to books in the bibliographic treatise, yet it should not be assumed that the manuscript texts were influenced by the intellectual and ideological perspective of the treatise. This leads to the third issue, which focuses on the idea of the occult—divination, hemerology, magic—from the sociological perspective. How do we account for different social levels and degrees of involvement with ideas and practices that we deem to be occult as well as with the production and use of the technical literature? And what were the views of the original users of the manuscripts? None of the ancient Chinese manuscripts discovered to date can be firmly associated with a specialist-practitioner as its maker or user, yet we may presume that there were differences between esoteric texts produced for a small group and popular texts produced for wider circulation, with daybooks at the popular end of the scale. Modern studies sometimes treat “occult” and “esoteric” as comparable terms. Both suggest secret knowledge and the sense that there are hidden processes and powers in the world that people can identify and tap in a variety of ways. We opt for the word “occult” in this volume, in part because the usage is common in combinations such as “occult and scientific” and “occult science” and in part because “esoteric” emphasizes the presumption of secrecy maintained by the small group of people who possess the knowledge. We would be remiss not to acknowledge that the study of technical occult and scientific literature is not limited to the historical past. Occultism and esotericism in the modern world has emerged as a field of study that involves historians of science and religion along with anthropologists, sociologists, and others in related fields. Discussions of definition and research objectives and delineation of the processes of popularization in modern occultism and esotericism bring forth new forms of evidence from contemporary society that bear on our studies of premodern cultures.21

20   Han shu, 30, pp. 1767–69. 21  See Asprem and Granholm, 2013; and Bogdan and Djurdjevic, 2013.

6

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Codicology of Daybook Manuscripts

Daybooks are “guides for living” (to apply Boone’s term for the Mexican divinatory codices), collections of hemerological information and some non-hemerological information in a form convenient for everyday use. An integrated approach to studying them must consider the kinds of knowledge they contain in comparison to contemporaneous hemerological literature; the transformation of the knowledge into texts, tables, or diagrams; the production of the material manuscripts from these components; and their actual use. Codicology constitutes such an approach based on the codex, the manuscript-book formed from leaves bound together to make a multipage work. Most ancient Chinese manuscripts take the form of scrolls made from a set of narrow bamboo or wooden slips bound with cords. Exceptions are silk-sheet manuscripts, which can be rolled into a scroll or folded like fabric for storage, and wider wooden or bamboo tablets, which can be used singly or in sets. Allowing for the different circumstances of bound-slip scrolls and silk-sheet manuscripts in contrast to the codex, the methods of codicology apply to Chinese manuscripts. Since 1975, when the manuscript with the title Rishu “Daybook” written on the verso of the last slip was found in Shuihudi tomb 11, Chinese archaeological reports have used rishu as a broad term for excavated manuscripts with hemerological content, and the same usage appears in studies of hemerology based on the manuscripts. Publication often did not follow the initial reports of manuscript discoveries, which has made a precise analysis of their relationship to the already published manuscripts impossible. This volume adopts a threefold classification of hemerological texts in the manuscripts based on codicological analysis of the manuscripts published to date. First, we give the name “daybook” to a group of six manuscripts that constitute a distinctive text type: both Shuihudi manuscripts; one manuscript from Jiudian 九店 tomb 56, Hubei; two from Fangmatan 放馬灘 tomb 1, Gansu; and one from Kongjiapo 孔家坡 tomb 8, Hubei. All six manuscripts are bound-slip scrolls. Enumerating their characteristics provides a working definition of the daybook text type.22 Daybooks are miscellanies, which means that multiple texts were copied onto the manuscript; the texts vary in length, sometimes occupying as little as a single slip; non-hemerological texts (including rituals, incantations, and magic) occur along with hemerological texts; the manuscripts were produced locally in communities 22  See chap. 2 for further discussion. See also chap. 6, in which Li Ling argues for continuing to use rishu as a broad term.

near the site of their modern rediscovery and, despite their strong textual similarities, are not identical copies of the same work; daybooks are always contained within the space of a single scroll, or one set of bound slips, and the number of slips delimits the diversity of texts included; and different people may have used and added to these multiple-text manuscripts over time.23 Daybook-related manuscripts are miscellanies, like daybooks, but lack the defining characteristics of the daybook text type. The third manuscript group contains hemerological texts that are more specialized in comparison to daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. While rishu “daybook” is written on one of the Shuihudi daybooks and was intended as a generic title for that manuscript, we use the term “daybook” to classify the text type that includes it and the other five manuscripts. Among the six daybook manuscripts, the evidence of shared patterns of organization and conventionalization is codicologically significant. People were not copying the same book over and over again; they were assembling pieces of written information according to conventions that had become customary for them and that are recognizable on examination as what we call the “daybook text type.” The recurrence of the same pieces of written information in daybook-related manuscripts and specialized hemerological texts—and occasionally in medical manuscripts—indicates the common sources of information available to all, which is also a significant codicological fact about the interconnectedness of technical literature. Evidence of planning refines the definition of the daybook text type as a miscellany and brings us to an essential observation on what daybooks are and what they are not. Daybook hemerology relies on the existence of the calendar for a particular year to which the user applies the information contained in the daybook, but the daybook itself is not arranged in the format of months and days found in contemporaneous examples of excavated calendars. Some calendars were found in tombs with daybooks or other hemerological texts, and some make limited reference to day qualifiers used in hemerology.24 However, in view of the infrequent occurrence of hemerological information on calendars, we do not classify any of the ancient calendars excavated to date as hemerological literature. 23  For discussion of the term “multiple-text manuscript” and studies of such manuscripts, see Friedrich and Schwarke, 2016. On the codicology of the “non-homogeneous codex,” see Gumbert, 2004, which is also relevant to codicological analysis of daybook manuscripts. 24  For discussion of day qualifiers in Chinese hemerology, see chap. 4.

7

Introduction

The situation is different for the medieval period in China, when calendars became a significant source of hemerological information, similar to the printed almanacs that were popular in recent centuries. These Chinese almanacs may be compared to hemerological literature arranged in calendar format in ancient Egypt and the Near East, medieval Europe, and premodern Mexico.25 The daybook is an organized hemerological miscellany, or multiple-text manuscript, not a type of hemerological calendar or almanac. The hemerologies contained in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts are of two sorts, referred to here as general and topical. A general hemerology is a single hemerological system in which the prescriptions and prohibitions arising from the system are applied to multiple activities in daily life; a topical hemerology provides prescriptions and prohibitions for one or more activities as specified by the hemerology. Jianchu 建除 (Establish-Remove) hemerology, in which the assignment of twelve day qualifiers to months and days determines whether a person should or should not engage in the activities specified in the text, is a general hemerology. Topical hemerologies address activities related to, for example, agriculture, construction, birth, illness, marriage, travel, and clothing.26 One characteristic of the daybook text type is the placement of Jianchu hemerology and other general hemerologies at the beginning of the manuscript, followed by a mix of general and topical hemerologies interspersed with non-hemerological information. The classification into daybooks, daybook-related manuscripts, and specialized hemerological texts is provisional and open to revision as more manuscripts are discovered and published. Nevertheless, there is a clear distinction between miscellanies such as daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, on the one hand, and the few examples of manuscripts with specialized hemerological texts, on the other. Equally obvious is the difference between the manuscript miscellanies and the hemerological books whose titles are recorded in the “Five Agents” subdivision of the Book of Han bibliographic treatise. The latter books were edited, copied, and classified in the “Calculations and Arts” division by court command and ranged in length from six to twenty-nine scrolls. Daybooks were “unclassified” literature—single scrolls of varying quality depending on who happened to be involved in their production—that circulated in communities in 25  See chaps. 2, 4, and 9. In medieval Europe, there was also a distinction between almanacs or calendars and prognostications, the latter providing hemerological information to be applied to the almanac for a given year. See chap. 10. 26  See chap. 4.

response to local demand. No one intended to keep the same daybook forever. Daybooks were ephemeral objects and were replaced when they were no longer usable. They have reappeared today because manuscripts were among the burial goods placed in tombs, tomb construction and the environment in certain regions favored the preservation of fragile objects made of wood and bamboo, and modern archaeology has increased the number of tombs being opened, by both archaeological teams and looters, resulting in regular discoveries of manuscripts. As of 2016, a considerable amount of hemerological literature has been recovered from tombs, and daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts account for most of it (non-tomb sites have yielded mostly fragments). For the period of the third to first centuries bce, archaeological excavations of cemeteries show a geographic distribution of daybooks from north to south, typified by the published daybooks from Fangmatan tomb 1, Gansu, and Shuihudi tomb 11, Hubei, both late third century bce. The preliminary report on the hemerological manuscript found in 2014 in Zhoujiazhai 周家寨 tomb 8, Hubei, describes the manuscript as a close match for the published daybook from Kongjiapo tomb 8. The tombs are situated only several hundred meters apart, and both are from the mid-second century bce, separated by about a decade; that is, the tomb occupants lived in the same community at roughly the same time. The evidence from tomb archaeology indicates patterns of daybook production and circulation in local communities before the manuscripts became burial goods.27 Our knowledge of ancient Chinese hemerology and hemerological literature depends on the expeditious publication of discovered manuscripts and the discovery of more manuscripts. Codicology remains an essential element of their study. At present, we may say that the daybook’s place in the larger body of hemerological literature and the place of hemerological literature within the body of technical occult and scientific literature are knowable, even if not yet fully known.

Daybook Studies and Ancient Chinese Hemerology

The six published daybooks from Jiudian tomb 56, Shuihudi tomb 11, Fangmatan tomb 1, and Kongjiapo tomb 8 represent the major sources for the study of ancient Chinese hemerology today, followed by the group 27  On the Zhoujiazhai tomb 8 manuscript, see chap. 2; on manuscripts as burial goods, see chap. 1.

8 of published daybook-related manuscripts. Appendix B provides summaries of their contents. Over the past four decades, the frequency of daybook and daybook-related manuscript discoveries relative to the total of ancient Chinese excavated manuscripts, their geographic and temporal distribution within the archaeological record, the codicological coherence of the manuscripts, and their significance as realia in the lives of many all speak to the need for the kind of dedicated study realized in this volume. The main subject is hemerology. However, our focus is on the manuscripts, and the chapters address the fields and subjects necessary to establishing the field of daybook studies that the manuscript discoveries have made possible. The first eight chapters are the core, the “inner chapters” (neipian 内篇), to use a traditional Chinese designation. In chapter 1, Alain Thote discusses ancient Chinese manuscripts from the perspective of archaeology and the evaluation of artifacts. Chapter 2, by Liu Lexian, contains a codicological classification of daybooks and summary of manuscript sources. Donald Harper expands on daybook manuscripts as realia in their cultural context in chapter 3. In chapter 4, Marc Kalinowski examines hemerology in daily life and the technical hemerological knowledge recorded in daybooks. Chapter 5, by Yan Changgui, details the spirit world as evidenced in the hemerological and non-hemerological sections of daybooks. In chapter 6, Li Ling gives an account of the manuscripts looted from the tomb at Zidanku 子彈庫 (ca. 300 bce), Hunan, in 1942 and their identity as hemerological literature. Chapter 7, by Christopher Cullen, draws on excavated calendars to describe the calendar and calendar-making in ancient China. In chapter 8, Marianne Bujard uses daybooks and second-century ce stela inscriptions to examine religion in local communities and private religious practices. The final three chapters complement the core and are the volume’s “outer chapters” (waipian 外篇). Chapter 9, by Richard Smith, covers practices of “day-selection” in popular Chinese almanacs of recent centuries. In chapter 10, László Sándor Chardonnens addresses hemerological literature in medieval Europe and its place in the daily lives of its users. Alasdair Livingstone provides an overview of Babylonian and Assyrian hemerologies and menologies in chapter 11. These brief descriptions highlight each chapter’s part in creating a complete introduction to daybooks that will guide future daybook studies and research on the wider range of ancient Chinese hemerological literature. In the current state of daybook studies, the similarity between the hemerology in daybooks and the hemerology

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in use in other times and places is easily observed. The information in daybooks applies to everyday life and, in principle, to everyone, as does the hemerology of the later Chinese almanacs. Daybooks also share the ephemeral quality of the later almanacs, which were produced annually in great numbers and were disposable by design. The examples of daybook manuscripts reveal a degree of conventionality that can be attributed to continual local production and the practical utility of daybooks for many people. Comparisons with late imperial China, medieval Europe, and ancient Babylon indicate similar patterns in the formation of popular hemerological literature, its role in formalizing the body of knowledge that we call “hemerology,” and its wider role in giving structure to shared ideas and practices in people’s experience of everyday life. Research comparing daybooks with other ancient Chinese hemerological literature is just beginning. Spe­ cialized hemerological texts among the Mawangdui tomb 3 manuscripts were published in 2014 in the first complete publication of Mawangdui manuscripts, and manuscripts acquired by Peking University in 2009 promise to be another source of specialized hemerological texts from approximately the same period. One Peking University text, which is closely related to a Mawangdui hemerological text, was published in 2015, and publication of others is expected without undue delay.28 Complete examination of all hemerological texts in excavated manuscripts awaits their publication. Detailed analysis of the specialized texts must take into account their relationship not only with daybooks but also with other technical occult and scientific literature and is expected to offer new insights on the involvement of specialists in the production of technical literature and its popularization in daybooks. The availability of more hemerological literature makes it possible to identify interconnections across a range of texts and improves our ability to interpret the literature. Already in daybooks, the occurrence of hemerological and non-hemerological information in multiple versions is an invaluable aid to the interpretation of both. When one manuscript is damaged, the solution may be as simple as finding the same text in an undamaged manuscript. Or one manuscript may provide fuller information than the others. Another circumstance is variation among the manuscript copies of the text, which no doubt led their original users to read the text differently. When making judgments about the correct reading, modern scholars

28  See chap. 2.

9

Introduction

must recognize the characteristics of the manuscripts and the expectations of their original users.29 Transmitted sources can help us understand the manuscript sources, whether in contemporaneous writings such as the Master of Huainan or in later almanacs and hemerological compendiums.30 For the excavated calendars, accounts of calendrical calculations in use during the Han dynasty, as described in the Master of Huainan, the Records of the Scribe (Shiji 史記), the Book of Han, and the Book of Later Han (Hou Han shu 後漢書), have offered guidance. In general, however, evidence of hemerology in ancient transmitted sources is scanty and incomplete. This includes even the first-century ce Assay of Arguments (Lunheng 論衡) by Wang Chong 王充, who addresses hemerology in several essays that present his objections to hemerology as a body of knowledge and collection of customs and refer occasionally to contemporaneous hemerological literature. Before the manuscript discoveries, this work was the only evidence of the literature. Now that we have original manuscripts, Wang Chong’s hemerological references appear more like a backdrop to his views on hemerology and are of limited use for explaining the content of daybooks and other manuscripts with hemerological texts. The daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts are a remarkable legacy from the beginning centuries of the age of manuscripts in China, when the idea of committing knowledge or information to writing led to rapid and abundant manuscript production. Manuscripts with historical and intellectual texts that defined an elite world of ideas are one outcome of this process. Scholars who study the excavated manuscripts with such texts must examine this new evidence together with the transmitted historical and intellectual literature. Another outcome is the multifarious technical literature to which daybooks belong. We are in mostly uncharted territory with the ancient technical literature, and excavated manuscripts are often the first evidence. Moreover, the form and function of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts reflect the distinctive social and cultural circumstances that motivated the production of the manuscripts in local communities and their use by people of different social levels. In this volume, we have endeavored to address the manuscripts, hemerology, and everyday experience broadly in order to give daybook studies a firm foundation.

29  See chap. 3. 30  See chaps. 2 and 9.



Conventions Used in this Volume

Several general practices are followed in this volume to achieve an integrated presentation of textual sources and technical details associated with the manuscripts and hemerology. The objective has been to introduce with precision and accuracy a body of knowledge that is not widely known in scholarship on early China, not to mention in other related fields and among nonspecialists. Chinese Terms and Translations Because readers will find different chapters to be of interest to them, Chinese graphs are provided at the first occurrence of words and terms in each chapter, with uniform translations. The titles of books belonging to the transmitted literature and available in printed editions are given in English first, followed by Chinese. For manuscripts and the texts they contain, Chinese is first followed by English. Some titles are written on the manuscripts and some are assigned by editors and scholars; in each case, the difference is noted. Passages translated from transmitted literature do not include the Chinese graphs of the text, which is accessible in the footnoted source. Passages translated from manuscripts provide Chinese transcription above the translation. The transcription represents a “reading” transcription of the text in the original manuscript using standard modern graphs. Specifically, when there is a clear correspondence between the graph written in the original manuscript and the modern graph for the appropriate word, rather than transcribe the manuscript graph and explain the correspondence in the transcription apparatus and footnotes, the modern graph is used directly in the transcription. In most instances, the transcription decisions reflect the judgments of the published transcriptions of daybooks, daybook-related manuscripts, and other manuscripts cited. If there is uncertainty, the graph is rendered based on its manuscript form. The justification for this transcription practice is twofold: first, a full transcription apparatus following the practice of the Chinese publications or Western scholars who transcribe the manuscripts would be cumbersome in the context of the broader discussion in which the manuscript passages are used as illustration and evidence; second, for the detailed analysis of the manuscript texts, the specialist is best advised to consult the photographs of the manuscripts and transcriptions in the appropriate publications. Occasionally, chapters may have a different interpretation of the same passage and cross-reference is provided.

10 The “reading” transcription uses brackets to represent gaps in the text due to damage to the manuscript or illegibility and when possible the number of missing graphs is indicated. When graphs appear in brackets, they have been restored to the text provisionally based on fragments of writing or on parallels in the surrounding text. The brackets are repeated in the translation. Words or phrases in parentheses in the translation serve to clarify or amplify the meaning of the passage. The sign = in the “reading” transcription represents the sign used in manuscripts to indicate that the preceding graph is repeated in the text.

Latin, Medieval Vernacular, and Cuneiform Sources The existence of critical editions of the Latin and medieval vernacular sources cited in chapter 10 makes their inclusion alongside the modern English translation unnecessary. In chapter 11, the cuneiform hemerologies and menologies are presented in transliteration and translation. In the case of the hemerologies, which are selections and not the entire text on the tablet or tablets, the translation is interspersed with the transliteration. The menologies are given in full; hence, the translation follows the transliteration of the text and other elements of cuneiform transcription and transliteration practice are included.31

31  For full transliteration and translation of the hemerologies together with photographs of the tablets, see Livingstone, 2013.

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Chinese Conceptual Terms and Hemerological Terminology Five-agents and yinyang ideas are present in a number of daybook hemerologies and attest the involvement of hemerology in the formation of correlative cosmology from the fourth century bce into the Han period. Yin and yang are left untranslated in this volume, there being no single translation that adequately expresses their meaning. Wuxing as a conceptual term does not occur in manuscripts broadly related to hemerology; however, the names of agents occur singly and in enumerations and are sometimes referred to as the wusheng 五勝 “five conquests” or wusheng 五生 “five generations.”32 The translation “agent” for xing 行 suggests the material aspect of the interactions of Water, Fire, Metal, Wood, and Earth as applied to the idea of cycles in nature, which is attested in daybooks, daybook-related manuscripts and specialized hemerological texts in excavated manuscripts. In contrast to the five agents and yinyang, occurrences of the term qi 氣 are infrequent in the daybooks and other manuscripts. This volume does not use a uniform translation for qi, which may be left untranslated or translated in context with words such as “vapor” or “vital force.” The richest and most elaborate terminology is hemerological. Hemerological systems and their components produced an extensive technical vocabulary that is remarkably consistent across the manuscripts and shows a significant degree of uniformity in ancient hemerology. Care has been taken to determine the relevant meanings and produce uniform translations of the words. 32  See the “Five Agents” section in chap. 4.

CHAPTER 1

Daybooks in Archaeological Context Alain Thote Since the second half of the twentieth century, ancient Chinese manuscripts made of bound slips of bamboo or wood and silk sheets have nearly all been discovered in tombs that date between the fifth century bce and the first century ce. The inclusion of manuscripts among the burial goods placed in ancient tombs has been known since the third century ce, when the Warring States tomb at Jixian 汲縣, Henan, was excavated. The original manuscripts are long lost.1 The famous Chu Silk Manuscript 楚 帛書, looted from the Warring States Chu tomb at Zidanku 子彈庫, in Changsha 長沙, Hunan, in 1942, can be considered the first tomb-excavated manuscript of modern times.2 Other discoveries followed in the 1950s, culminating in the excavation in 1959 of Mozuizi 磨嘴子 tomb 6, at Wuwei 武威, Gansu, where three Han manuscript copies of the Ceremonial Rituals (Yili 儀禮) were discovered as well as fragments of slips related to hemerology.3 The variety and quantity of manuscripts excavated from four tombs in the 1970s—ranging in subject matter from thought and religion to medicine, astrology, divination, and hemerology—placed the study of manuscripts at the center of early China studies: in 1972, the Han bamboo-slip manuscripts from Yinqueshan 銀雀山 tomb 1 and Yinqueshan tomb 2, Shandong; in 1973, the Han manuscripts on silk, bamboo, and wood from Mawangdui 馬王堆 tomb 3, Hunan; in 1975, the Qin bamboo-slip manuscripts from Shuihudi 睡虎地 tomb 11, Hubei; and in 1977, the Han bamboo-slip manuscripts from Shuanggudui 雙古堆 tomb 1, Anhui.4 The interest aroused by ongoing manuscript discoveries—both archaeologically excavated and looted, and from non-tomb settlement sites as well as from tombs— has not always been equally concerned with the close examination of the archaeological context in which manuscripts are discovered, including tombs, administrative and military outposts in northwest China, and the 1 For an account of the Jixian tomb manuscripts, see Shaughnessy, 2006, pp. 131–53. 2 For the history of the discovery of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, see chap. 6. The manuscript generally known as the Chu Silk Manuscript is Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1. 3 For details of the manuscript discovery, see pp. 74–75 in chap. 2. 4 See additional information concerning these four tombs in appendix A, secs. A.1 (Shuihudi), A.4 (Shuanggudui), A.5 (Yinqueshan, Mawangdui).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004349315_003

shafts of wells at administrative sites in southern China.5 This chapter addresses the archaeological context of the ancient Chinese manuscripts in general and of rishu 日書 “daybooks” and daybook-related manuscripts in particular.6 This context and the material characteristics of the manuscripts provide essential evidence for understanding the social and cultural background of the production and use of manuscripts during the centuries when manuscript culture in China was fully developed and had an effect on the lives of different social groups.

Daybooks in Tombs

Tombs constitute our main source of manuscript evidence for the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods. To date, more than twenty daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts have been discovered in China, both in tombs and at non-tomb sites. Despite their substantial number, study of the tomb-excavated manuscripts encounters a variety of obstacles. In the first place, their state of preservation is often fragmentary. Then there is the issue of their publication. Brief excavation reports published in archaeology journals may include passages in modern Chinese transcription, often without photographs of the original manuscripts, which are published later in the full archaeological excavation report of a tomb or in a separate volume exclusively for the manuscripts. In a number of cases there has been a considerable time lag between discovery and publication, and the publication of all known manuscripts remains incomplete.

5 For a summary of archaeological sites and manuscripts as of the end of the twentieth century, see Giele, 1999. At present there are a number of studies of particular manuscripts in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Western languages, but there is no single publication or database that provides a comprehensive record of all archaeological sites with manuscripts, and the archaeological excavation reports that sometimes accompany the Chinese publication of the manuscripts from a given site may lack sufficient detail. 6 For discussion and definition of the daybook as a text type within the larger body of manuscripts with mainly hemerological content, see chap. 2.

12 Manuscript Sources Of the archaeologically excavated daybooks and daybookrelated manuscripts, twelve have been systematically edited and are fully published. First are the six manuscripts that are identified as belonging to the daybook text type, which come from four tombs: a Warring States Chu tomb, Jiudian 九店 tomb 56, in Jiangling 江陵, Hubei (one manuscript); a Qin tomb, Fangmatan 放馬灘 tomb 1, in Tianshui 天水, Gansu (two manuscripts); another Qin tomb, Shuihudi 睡虎地 tomb 11, in Yunmeng 雲夢, Hubei (two manuscripts); and a Han tomb, Kongjiapo 孔家坡 tomb 8, in Suizhou 隨州, Hubei (one manuscript).7 Next are six daybook-related manuscripts from five Qin and Han tombs. They share hemerological and non-hemerological content with the daybook text type, but their form as manuscript miscellanies is not the same as the daybook manuscripts (see appendix A, sec. A.2). As for other manuscripts, brief excavation reports and specialized studies of nine tombs refer to the occurrence of rishu, sometimes of considerable size—as in the case of Huxishan 虎溪山 tomb 1, in Yuanling 沅陵, Hunan, and Shuiquanzi 水泉子 tomb 5, in Yongchang 永昌, Gansu—but until the manuscripts are published in full, we cannot be certain that they belong to the daybook text type.8 Finally, there are looted daybooks or daybook-related manuscripts that have been acquired by museums and universities in China and Hong Kong.9 Their provenance is unknown, and the context of the sites where they were found is definitively lost. Moreover, authenticity is an issue with some looted manuscripts. For these reasons, this chapter does not take into consideration manuscripts of unclear origin. The purpose here is to approach the daybooks from an archaeological perspective in order to address their function in tombs and to explore more generally the circumstances surrounding their production, their readership, and their dissemination in society during a period when interest in precisely this type of literature was particularly strong. A tomb that is found intact and archaeologically excavated forms a closed set that has been altered only by natural processes through the centuries. The work of archaeological excavation at its best reconstructs a faithful 7 See the detailed discussion of the four tombs below; for bibliographical references and other basic information, see appendix A, sec. A.1. 8 See appendix A, sec. A.4, and table 1.1 in this chapter. From the brief account of the Huxishan manuscript in Guo Weimin, 2004, the manuscript does not seem to fit the definition of the daybook text type. 9 See appendix A on Chinese University of Hong Kong manuscripts (sec. A.2), Shanghai Museum manuscripts (sec. A.4), and Peking University Qin and Han manuscripts (sec. A.4).

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image of the site at the time of burial, and this knowledge of the site is carefully presented in the excavation report. In actuality, the quality of published excavation reports varies considerably depending on the archaeological unit responsible for the site and the date of the excavation, and this variability applies to monographs with full excavation reports as well as to brief reports published in journals. In regard to the excavation date, compared to excavations conducted today, those done even in the past several decades may have paid less attention to recording certain details that are very important for a complete understanding of the sites. Reports also do not consistently supply all of the basic documentation necessary for interpretation, for instance, the dimensions of bamboo slips found in a tomb may not be indicated. Finally, there have been enormous improvements in the quality of images provided in the plates and figures of the reports, and we can now expect them to reliably provide information that was missing in the past. Of course, research carried out today still suffers from omissions in the reporting of past discoveries. Fragments of material related to hemerology on slips and tablets of wood or bamboo discovered at Han settlement sites are valuable precisely because of their nonfunerary context and the text parallels with daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts excavated from tombs (see appendix A, sec. A.3).10 The fragments are often found discarded in wells or in ash-pits where they were mixed with other manuscripts, documents, and miscellaneous objects without regard to their nature. They were everyday ephemera and were discarded by their owners under a variety of circumstances when they were no longer of use. With discoveries of this type, the scholar is confronted with all sorts of interpretive problems concerning the original form, uses, and dating of the manuscripts.

A Phenomenon Embedded in Time and Widely Diffused In order to understand what daybooks represent in their archaeological context, an overall view of the tombs containing manuscripts is necessary. Unlike a daybook found in the context of a dwelling, a daybook placed in the tomb next to the deceased is the result of an intentional symbolic act carried out at a precise time. This act is embedded in a history of funerary customs. At the same time, the practice of placing daybooks or hemerological 10  Two sites are in the Dunhuang region, and others are in the Juyan region of Inner Mongolia. Unfortunately, the archaeological data are incomplete. See Dunhuang Han jian; Shuluhe liuyu chutu Han jian; Juyan xinjian—Jiaqu houguan; and Juyan Han jian.

13

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

Map 1.1

Locations of tombs with daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. Numbers in parentheses refer to archaeological sites listed in table 0.8 and table 1.1.

manuscripts in tombs, often with other manuscripts, was carried out over a period of roughly three centuries during which ideas about the afterlife underwent remarkable changes.11 One development during this period was the organization of the otherworld, with an administration and officials, which resembled the this-world administration in which a considerable number of the deceased held positions during life. Our interpretations of the practice of placing daybooks or other manuscripts in tombs must be made with caution in order to avoid hasty generalizations. Moreover, we must not neglect the question of differences across regions and the element of chance that surrounds modern archaeological excavations in China. 11  On changes in funerary customs during the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods, see Loewe, 1979; Seidel, 1987a; Wu Hung, 1988; Thote, 2000; Falkenhausen, 2006, pp. 290–399; Pirazzolit’Serstevens, 2009; and Thote, 2009.

As it happens, of the nineteen tombs containing daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, more than half (twelve tombs) are situated in a small region of Hubei and Hunan bounded by Suizhou 隨州 (Hubei) in the north and by Yuanling (Hunan) in the south, with a strong concentration (seven tombs) in Jingzhou 荊州 (Hubei) and its immediate environs. Three tombs are in Gansu, where the climate is dry in contrast to the damp, humid conditions in Hubei and Hunan. The four remaining tombs are scattered in Shaanxi (north central), Hebei (northeast), and Jiangsu and Anhui (east) (see map 1.1 and table 1.1). An inventory of all tombs containing manuscripts, regardless of their contents, contributes to a better understanding of the geographic distribution of the sites of manuscript discoveries. As shown in table 1.2, the total number of tombs is 119. Even if the data are incomplete, the numbers are revealing and may reflect certain

14 Table 1.1

thote Estimated burial dates and present-day locations of tombs with daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, published and unpublished

Tomb

Estimated burial date

Present-day location

Map 1.1 number

Appendix A section

Jiudian 56 Wangjiatai 15 Fangmatan 1 Yueshan 36 Shuihudi 11 Zhoujiatai 30 Zhangjiashan 127 Zhangjiashan 249 Yintai (unspecif.) Shuanggudui 1 Huxishan 1 Shuihudi 77 Kongjiapo 8 Zhoujiazhai 8 Bajiaolang 40 Duling 5 Yinwan 6 Mozuizi 6 Shuiquanzi 5

ca. 300 bce ca. 278–221 bce after 238 bce ca. 221–207 bce 217 bce 209 bce or slightly later ca. 195–188 bce early Western Han early Western Han 165 bce 162 bce after 157 bce 142 bce 134 bce 78 bce ca. 49 bce ca. 10 bce after 9 ce late Western Han–early Eastern Han

Jingzhou, Hubei Jingzhou, Hubei Tianshui, Gansu Jingzhou, Hubei Yunmeng, Hubei Shashi, Hubei Jingzhou, Hubei Jingzhou, Hubei Jingzhou, Hubei Fuyang, Anhui Yuanling, Hunan Yunmeng, Hubei Suizhou, Hubei Suizhou, Hubei Dingzhou, Hebei Xi’an, Shaanxi Lianyungang, Jiangsu Wuwei, Gansu Yongchang, Gansu

30 36 10 41 53 46 42 42 40  1 71 54 47a 47b 17 90 74 12 14

A.1 A.4 A.1 A.2 A.1 A.2 A.4 A.4 A.4 A.4 A.4 A.4 A.1 A.4 A.4 A.2 A.2 A.2 A.4

Note: For geographic locations, refer to the numbers on map 1.1; for tomb details, see the sections in appendix A.

tendencies.12 South China is neatly opposed to North China, with three times the number of tombs. Note especially that throughout the time period involved, tombs containing manuscripts were most numerous in the region of the middle and lower Yangzi River. Like the numbers for tombs containing daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, half of these tombs are concentrated in Hubei, especially around Jingzhou (sixty-one tombs). This distribution is consistent over time, indicating a phenomenon that continued from the beginning of the Warring States period, with the appearance of bamboo-slip manuscripts in the tomb of Lord Yi of Zeng 曾侯乙 at Leigudun 擂鼓墩, in Suizhou, Hubei (burial dated ca. 433 bce),13 up to the beginning of the Common Era. Hunan is similarly well represented (twelve tombs), though to date archaeologists have not identified Qin tombs with manuscripts there. 12  Unevenness in the amount and quality of information in archaeological excavation reports is a major obstacle for research, and the situation is especially problematic when we have only preliminary excavation reports or brief journal articles rather than full excavation reports published as separate monographs. 13  See the full excavation report in Zeng hou Yi mu.

This absence needs to be questioned, given that local archaeologists routinely underestimated the number of Qin tombs in Changsha due to their preconceptions when dating the tombs.14 As for the tombs in Jiangsu (fifteen tombs), they are all Han and mostly date from the first century bce. The other sites are scattered, with one, two, or three tombs per province, with the notable exception of seven tombs in Gansu (one Qin and six Han tombs).15 What table 1.2 does not show are instances of multiple tombs containing manuscripts at a single site, for instance, the cemetery at Shuihudi, in Yunmeng, Hubei (three tombs); the cemeteries and isolated tombs in the area of Jingzhou in Hubei (forty-three tombs); the tombs in the area of Lianyungang 連雲港 in the north of Jiangsu (nine tombs); the tombs in Changsha in Hunan (eight tombs); 14   Changsha Chu mu needs to be revised to correct this deficiency in regard to the Changsha tombs attributed to the Warring States period, about which Donald Wagner (1987) rightly warned archaeologists in the 1980s. 15  Several useful surveys of manuscript discoveries including archaeological information are Giele, 1999; Li Ling, 2004a, pp. 93–114; and Hu Pingsheng and Li Tianhong, 2004.

15

Daybooks in Archaeological Context Table 1.2

Geographic distribution of tombs containing manuscripts listed in table 0.8

Province

Chu

Qin

Han

Total

1

6 1 1 1 6 2 1 2

7 1 1 1 6 2 4 2

1

20

24

North

Gansu Qinghai Beijing Hebei Shandong Shaanxi Henan North Korea Subtotals

3

3

South

Jiangsu Sichuan Hubei Hunan Anhui Guangxi Yunnan

22  7

1 6

15 2 33 5 2 1 1

15 3 61 12 2 1 1

Subtotals

29

7

59

95

Totals

32

8

79

119

the tombs in Linyi 臨沂 in Shandong (three tombs); and the tombs in the area of Wuwei 武威 in Gansu (four tombs). In fact, more than 60 percent of the sites are scattered among these six microregions. The distribution of manuscripts cannot be directly correlated with differences in local funerary practices. Any explanation must also take into account the more favorable conditions for preservation of fragile materials, such as the local climate and type of soil, the materials used for tomb construction, and the quality of construction; that is, it was the conjunction of both natural and cultural factors that made possible the modern discovery of manuscripts made of bamboo, wood, and silk in an extraordinary state of preservation in some well-defined regions. In other regions of the Qin and early Han empires (late third and second centuries bce), similar practices were doubtless observed but fragile materials such as manuscripts did not survive.

Figure 1.1 Chu standard wooden tomb chamber, Yutaishan tomb 554, Hubei, ca. 400–350 bce. After Jiangling Yutaishan Chu mu, fig. 3.

When we consider the archaeological evidence for earlier practices of depositing manuscripts in Warring States tombs (fifth to third centuries bce), it is almost exclusively confined to the state of Chu. This suggests a phenomenon that may have begun in Chu and was well established there before spreading over a much wider area, culminating in the Qin and Western Han periods, as evidenced by the growth in the number of sites throughout the realm. It spread together with the particular Chu style of burial consisting of a deep vertical pit with a massive guo 槨 “wooden tomb chamber” at the bottom that contained the coffins and burial goods (fig. 1.1). The original goal was to make the tomb a sealed and protected environment, and the measures that were taken ultimately contributed to the unique combination of conditions that ensured the preservation of manuscripts for more than two thousand years. Tomb construction began to change in the second century bce, and the permanently sealed guo was progressively replaced by an underground horizontal structure often made of brick or stone with a door at the entrance permitting access to the houselike interior.16 The space 16  The translation “wooden tomb chamber” for guo is descriptive of its function as the basic structure containing the guan 棺 “coffin” (or coffins) and burial goods. Its construction resembled an enlarged coffin and was often divided into separate compartments for the coffin and burial goods. After sealing the top of the guo with boards and filling the pit with earth, the living no longer had access to the tomb. In contrast, the later horizontal

16 inside the new style of tomb was less conducive to the preservation of fragile materials, and, with a few exceptions, manuscripts have not survived—presuming that manuscripts were in fact being placed in tombs located in the central provinces of modern China. In these circumstances, the archaeological evidence is insufficient to judge whether the practice of placing manuscripts in tombs was still observed.17 Nevertheless, the concentrations of wooden and bamboo slips and tablets preserved in the dry climate of settlement sites at Dunhuang 敦煌, in the Shule River 疏勒河 valley in Gansu, and along the Edsen-gol (Ejina) in Inner Mongolia, as well as in the water-saturated environment of wells and ash-pits south of Changsha in Hunan, attest the general use of writing and manuscripts in everyday life, separate from funerary customs.18 In considering all of the evidence, it is well to remember that the material culture of the world of the dead, even when it reflects the world of the living, is never an exact replica. First Hypotheses Before the 1970s, work done on the earliest Chinese manuscripts suffered from the small number of discoveries.19 In the following decades, frequent manuscript discoveries have provided much richer documentation. While research has focused mostly on the content of the texts rather than on the manuscripts as material artifacts, Lothar von Falkenhausen, Enno Giele, and Xing Yitian have made careful studies of the manuscripts that take into consideration information given by the archaeologists. They have presented three differing points of view and three contrasting perspectives. Falkenhausen examines the archaeological data of the pre-Qin funerary sites in the Chu region and ­proposes an interpretation of the data that considers the tombs

tomb structure allowed people to reenter the tomb as necessary, including for reburial or the addition of another deceased. 17 There are two notable Han horizontally constructed tombs with manuscripts, both at Wuwei in Gansu and dated to the first century ce: Mozuizi tomb 6 and the tomb at Hantanpo 旱灘坡. Wooden slips and tablets occur in post-Han tombs, but are rare and often found on the margins of the Chinese world. See, for instance, Wenwu 2001.2 (Nanchang huochezhan tomb 3, Jiangxi, after 352 ce); Kaogu 2003.6 (Gaotai Luotuocheng tomb 5, Gansu, second half of the fourth century ce); Zhongguo kao­ guxue nianjian 2003 (Huahai Bijiatan tomb 24, Gansu, late fourth century ce). 18 See A. Stein, 1928; Sommarström and Bergman, 1957–58; Juyan Han jian; and Changsha Zoumalou Sanguo Wu jian: Zhujian. 19 Tsien, 2004.

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and their contents, like many other elements, to be representative of the social status of their occupants and to give evidence of social stratification.20 His objective is to understand the status in life and in death of those who had manuscripts placed in their tombs. In addition, Falkenhausen’s work is guided by attention to the shifting identity of the social class known as shi 士 “gentlemen,” which corresponds in the Zhou social system to a rank inferior to the nobility. Falkenhausen follows the current view that by the Warring States period, the shi constituted a distinct group of well-educated, city-dwelling men to which Confucius belonged and from which later Warring States thinkers emerged. According to Falkenhausen, the shi class was not only responsible for the formation of philosophical schools but also had an instrumental role in the private use of writing for the transmission of knowledge. Thus he is especially concerned with identifying tombs whose occupants were shi and to associate the manuscripts found in some of the tombs with people who held shi status. More broadly, he addresses the social context for the circulation of manuscripts in the Warring States period in order to clarify their multiple meanings in contemporaneous culture. In contrast, Giele’s studies focus on three issues: first, the origin and transmission of written texts; second, manuscript conservation and how the manuscripts should be studied in current research; and third, the factors behind the placement of manuscripts in tombs.21 On this last point, Giele lists six hypotheses, which he himself recognizes are not all equally interesting, and dismisses some of them without taking a firm position.22 My summary of Giele’s views on excavated manuscripts is limited to the placement of manuscripts in tombs and addresses only the points raised by Giele that touch on the genre of technical literature to which daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts belong.23 First, the placement of manuscripts with texts of a technical nature was intended to personally benefit the tomb occupant by permitting the deceased to engage in activities in the otherworld in the same manner as during life, according to the beliefs of the time. Second, manuscripts placed in tombs may have benefited the tomb occupant indirectly as objects imbued with apotropaic properties 20 Falkenhausen, 2003. 21 Giele, 2003, 2010. 22 Giele, 2003, pp. 428–31. 23 For discussion of “technical literature,” which includes shushu 數術 “calculations and arts” works as well as legal and administrative manuscripts and documents, see pp. 4–5 in the introduction to this volume.

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

that protected the deceased from negative influences and harm that arose post-mortem. Third, perhaps manuscript burial served to exalt the merits and boost the prestige of the deceased, with corresponding positive benefits for living family members. Or perhaps manuscript burial was an act of filial piety and respect for the dead intended to prevent private objects belonging to the deceased from circulating among the living while also preserving them from destruction. Finally, Giele suspects that certain manuscripts were produced at the time of the funeral as substitutes for complete works, presented in incomplete form or reduced to a simple table of contents. According to Giele, such manuscripts may have belonged to the category of mingqi 明器 “replicas made for tombs,” either newly made especially for the funeral or used, but deprived of their value by being broken or rendered unusable before they were placed in the tomb.24 These hypotheses are not mutually exclusive, and insofar as they bear on our discussion of daybooks and technical literature, we should consider the likelihood that the practices of people involved in placing manuscripts in tombs were informed by combinations of these motivations. Xing’s study is notable for his empirical analysis of the form of the first “books” as realized in manuscripts of bamboo or wooden slips bound together with cords to make the material support for the texts copied on them. By focusing on the physical form of the book—including factors such as size and weight—Xing addresses the effect of form on the practices of writing and reading the texts, and vice versa (in a similar vein, Marc Kalinowski has addressed the question of the editorial logic of the manuscript daybook texts).25 In this chapter, my treatment of the manuscripts themselves is necessarily more limited than the work of these authors. I gratefully acknowledge what I have learned from their work as I attempt to distill what the archaeological context reveals about daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts in the tombs of the late Warring States, Qin, and early Han periods.

The Four Tombs

The following detailed presentation of Jiudian tomb 56, Fangmatan tomb 1, Shuihudi tomb 11, and Kongjiapo tomb 8—the four tombs where the six published manuscript examples of the daybook text type were found—focuses 24 For discussion of mingqi as used in modern Chinese archaeology for a category of burial goods, see pp. 39–47 in this chapter. 25 Xing Yitian, 2011a, pp. 1–50; Kalinowski, 2008.

17 on the importance of the intact and archaeologically excavated tomb as a closed set that yields information about the society and culture in which the tomb occupant lived. Because the archaeological reports for these sites are more complete than those for other sites with relevant manuscripts, the four tombs serve as the basic reference source for archaeological information and for speculation, while other tomb sites can be used to supplement and add nuance to our preliminary conclusions. Three of the four tombs date to the third century bce (Jiudian tomb 1, Fangmatan tomb 1, and Shuihudi tomb 11) and are preHan; the fourth is a Han tomb of the second century bce (Kongjiapo tomb 8). These two centuries were marked by profound political, social, and cultural changes, but the practice of burying daybooks in tombs hints at elements in manuscript culture and in the culture at large that were continuous throughout the turmoil of the age. It should also be noted that the four tombs belong to the distinct cultural environments of Chu and Qin, or are a combination of the two. Jiudian tomb 1 in Hubei is in a cemetery near what had been the capital of the state of Chu before the Qin occupation of the region in 278 bce. Fangmatan tomb 1 in Gansu represents Qin culture in the northwest in the last decades of the third century bce. The continued influence of Chu culture in the south mixed with Qin culture is evident in Shuihudi tomb 11 in Hubei, again from the last quarter of the third century bce. Although signs of Chu culture in Kongjiapo tomb 8 in Hubei are less pronounced, the tomb nevertheless displays evidence of Chu elements in the regional culture into the early Han period. Jiudian Tomb 56 The cemetery at Jiudian 九店, near Jiangling, Hubei, was excavated between 1981 and 1989 and archaeologically is one of the richest sites in the region. A total of 597 tombs were excavated, spanning nearly three centuries, from the end of the sixth century bce to the end of the Warring States period (including the period after 278 bce when the region was occupied by Qin).26 Tomb 56 is one of three tombs in the Jiudian cemetery that contained manuscripts, and the tomb itself is the simplest of the three, consisting of a single coffin without a wooden tomb chamber. Indeed, tomb 56 is the most ancient tomb with manuscripts to lack a tomb chamber (fig. 1.2).27 Of the two other tombs, the contents of tomb 411 are less rich than 26 Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, p. 415. 27 For information on the excavation of Jiudian tomb 56, see Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, pp. 49–53; and Jiudian Chu jian, pp. 149–78.

18

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Figure 1.2 Plan and profile of Jiudian tomb 56, Hubei, ca. 300 bce. After Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, fig. 27.

Figure 1.3 Plan of Jiudian tomb 411, Hubei, third century bce. After Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, fig. 52.

Figure 1.4 Wooden board carved with geometric designs (lingchuang), Jiudian tomb 256, late fourth–early third century bce. After Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, fig. 22.

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

those of tomb 56, yet the coffin was placed inside a tomb chamber with compartments; tomb 621 is similar to tomb 411 in construction but lacks compartments in the tomb chamber (fig. 1.3).28 These architectural details, together with other elements such as the number of coffins set one inside the other in the tomb chamber, provide data for evaluating the wealth of the tomb occupants and to some extent their status.29 In Jiudian tomb 56, the coffin rested on bare ground at the bottom of a vertical-shaft pit that measured 250 centimeters on the north and south sides, 76 centimeters at the east end, and 85 centimeters at the west end; the wooden coffin cover was 214 centimeters long and 62 centimeters wide. Burial goods were placed in two niches dug into the wall of the pit at the height of the top of the coffin, one niche in the east wall and the other in the north side wall. The skeleton had disappeared, but the corpse had probably been placed in the coffin with head toward the east end (104 degrees), since the burial goods were generally placed near the head in Chu tombs, as can be confirmed for all Jiudian tombs where remains of skeletons were found.30 The east orientation in Chu tombs can be correlated with higher-status occupants and is less common among mid-size or small tombs.31 Statistics based on the 573 group B vertical-shaft pit tombs at Jiudian (which include tomb 56)—all dated between the fifth and third centuries bce—indicate that roughly 11 percent have east orientation, while roughly 77 percent are oriented toward the south, reflecting the preferred orientation for Chu tombs.32 28 For Jiudian tomb 411, see Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, pp. 84– 85, 340 (brief description of slips), 495 (list of burial goods). For Jiudian tomb 621, see Jiudian Chu jian, pp. 149–78; and Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, p. 485 (list of burial goods). 29 Additional data for Chu tombs may be found in Dangyang Zhaojiahu Chu mu, pp. 216–21; Guo Dewei, 1995; and Falkenhausen, 2006, pp. 370–99. 30 Jiudian tombs 633, 87, 617, 711, 712, 295, 451, 537, 744, 51, 296, 410; see Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, pp. 64, 81, 83, 86, 88, 90, 94– 95, 96, 102, 105–7, 110, 125–28. 31 The aristocratic tombs in the cemetery at Xiasi 下寺, Henan (ca. 550 bce), are oriented between 75 degrees and 110 degrees; see Xichuan Xiasi Chunqiu Chu mu, p. 3 (map), and the information on individual tombs. The three tombs of the Wangshan 望山 cemetery, Hubei (ca. 330–300 bce), are oriented to 100 degrees, 94 degrees, and 98 degrees; see Jiangling Wangshan Shazhong Chu mu, pp. 5, 111, 164. In Baoshan 包山 tomb 2, Hubei (ca. 316 bce), the deceased was oriented with his head to the east (93 degrees); see Baoshan Chu mu, p. 47. For further discussion of the orientation of Chu tombs, see Thote, 2003, p. 411; and Thote, 2009, p. 138. 32 Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, p. 36, table 4.

19 On the bottom of the tomb 56 coffin there was an openwork wooden board with geometric designs known as the lingchuang 笭牀. Lingchuang boards were probably used for displaying the wrapped or shrouded corpse before both were placed in the coffin for the funeral. The tomb 56 lingchuang board is not reproduced in the excavation report but is described as being like the board in Jiudian tomb 256 (see fig. 1.4). Archaeological evidence allows us to date their appearance to around the middle of the fourth century bce in tombs that were richly furnished, such as Wangshan 望山 tomb 1, Hubei, which belonged to a man related to the Chu royal lineage who died around 330 bce (fig. 1.5).33 There are clear similarities between the geometric designs on lingchuang boards and the cord-hook diagram used in hemerology and calendrical astrology as a schematic representation of space and time. It seems likely that the artisans who produced lingchuang boards and the people who used them recognized this symbolic dimension.34 At the same time, use of the boards was limited. Among the Jiudian group B tombs, ling­chuang boards were found in only 22 of 158 well-preserved coffins, and for the most part, coffins with boards were in tombs that included a wooden tomb chamber with compartments, a clear sign of wealth and probably of status.35 Hence, the lingchuang boards in tomb 56 and two other small tombs (tomb 7 and tomb 256) are exceptional, and tomb 56 is doubly exceptional for containing a daybook manuscript.36 The burial goods in Jiudian tomb 56 are not particularly rich, but they are diverse. They comprise a ritual set of two pottery mingqi vessels (replicas of a ding 鼎 tripod for cooking offerings and a hu 壺 vessel for beverages) and a bronze ladle. In addition to the bamboo-slip manuscript, the burial goods include lacquer dishes (two ear-cups and 33 Jiangling Wangshan Shazhong Chu mu, pp. 208–9. 34 See Kalinowski, 1999, pp. 135–45. On the cord-hook diagram in daybooks, see pp. 162–64 in chap. 4. It is worth noting that decorations in Chu tombs are often concealed from view, especially in regard to the coffin. For the example of the four coffins, one placed inside the other, in Mawangdui tomb 1 (a Han tomb but reflecting Chu funerary customs), see Thote, 2012. The three inner coffins were elaborately decorated, whereas the outermost coffin—the only visible coffin of the four—was undecorated and painted black, making a strong contrast with the three inner coffins hidden from view. 35 Information regarding the number of lingchuang boards is not gathered in one place in the excavation report. See Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, p. 104, for some tomb references; and p. 474, table 7.5, in which lingchuang boards are noted for tombs 26, 51, 13, 430, and 439. 36 Ibid., pp. 51 (tomb 7), 47–49 (tomb 256).

20

thote

Figure 1.5 Wangshan tomb 1, Hubei, ca. 330 bce. (1) Plan and cross section, (2) plan of the wooden tomb chamber, (3) the coffin and its contents, (4, 5) ropes and silk bands closing the coffin, (6) bamboo mat inside the coffin, (7) lingchuang board inside the coffin, (8) wooden sculpture (zhenmushou). After Jiangling Wangshan Shazhong Chu mu, figs. 2, 13–16, 17A, 67.

a box for storing food), two wooden combs (one with fine teeth), weapons (a bamboo bow, a wooden bow, a quiver with arrows, a bronze sword placed in a wooden box), and lacquer plates from a piece of armor. At the time of excavation, writing implements, an iron knife used to scrape and remove writing from the slips, and an ink box with the ball of ink still inside, were found rolled inside the manuscript. The ritual set, the lacquer dishes, and the armor were in the east niche near the head of the coffin; the weapons, combs, writing implements, and manuscript were in the side niche.37

As for the manuscript, 205 slips and slip fragments were found, of which 35 were undamaged or lightly damaged; the length of the undamaged slips is approximately 46.6 to 48.2 centimeters. During reconstruction, it was determined that one group of slip fragments (slips 1–12) form a distinct text different from the daybook proper, and these slips were placed at the beginning of the reconstructed manuscript and text; it is uncertain whether these slip fragments were originally bound as one manuscript with the daybook slips. The daybook slips were further divided by content into fourteen sections.38 Based on the size and

37 We might expect the armor to have been placed with the weapons in the side niche. Placing it with the ritual objects may have

been necessitated by limitations of space between the niches or a possible ritual function for the armor. 38 Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, p. 302; and pp. 66–67 in chap. 2.

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

characteristics of the tomb and on the burial goods, the deceased in Jiudian tomb 56 was not wealthy but probably had a certain status. On the assumption that the occupant was male, he might have held a rank in the military, and the writing implements and manuscript indicate his involvement with texts and literacy. The date assigned to Jiudian tomb 56 is based on the relative chronology of the group B tombs established by the archaeologists, who have proposed seven phases of about forty years each, phase 7 covering the years after 278 bce. In this chronology, tomb 56 is classified as phase 6, or approximately 310–278 bce. The few objects among the burial goods that have been reproduced do not appear to contradict the dating. However, considering that other late fourth-century bce Chu tombs with manuscripts all belonged to people of high social status who were often members of the Chu royal lineage—a notable example is Baoshan 包山 tomb 2, Hubei, whose occupant, Shao Tuo 邵陀, died in 316 bce—it is plausible that tomb 56 was closed even later than 278 bce. Such a date is possible even though the archaeologists generally assume that the Chu elites deserted the region after the Chu capital at Ying 郢 was destroyed by Qin in that year. This assumption has yet to be verified in the archaeological record. As noted, manuscripts were also discovered in Jiudian tomb 411 and Jiudian tomb 621. In tomb 411, two bamboo slips were found in the tomb chamber on the southeast side of the coffin. The one undamaged slip is 68.8 centimeters long; the writing on both it and the damaged slip is illegible. The compartment at the south end of the tomb chamber contained a bronze sword inside a wooden box and a wooden comb, among other burial goods. Dating of the tomb is made possible by the inscribed bronze daggerax (ge 戈) found in the tomb chamber on the southwest side of the coffin. The weapon evidently originated in the state of Wei 魏 and can be dated to the middle of the third century bce.39 Jiudian tomb 621 was more richly furnished than tomb 56 and tomb 411. Burial goods were placed in the space at the south end of the tomb chamber as well as on both sides. The 127 bamboo-slip fragments were found on the east side of the tomb chamber (there were no undamaged slips): 34 fragments have legible writing, 54 fragments are illegible, and 39 fragments have no writing.40 Among the other burial goods, the pottery mingqi vessels arranged in 39 Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, pp. 84–85; and Xu Zaiguo, 2000, p. 118. 40 Jiudian Chu jian, p. 157; see also Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, p. 340, which gives different numbers for legible, illegible, and uninscribed slips.

21 two levels at the south end of the tomb chamber form a large ritual set composed of two ding, two fu 盙, two hu, a lei 罍, a ding with a small opening for warming water, a ewer (he 盉), a basin (pan 盤), and a pourer (yi 匜); two wooden footed cups (dou 豆) may also be considered part of the ritual set (fig. 1.6). A single example of a plain pottery tripod (li 鬲) was near the bamboo slips on the east side of the tomb chamber. Weapons—a bronze sword, a dagger-ax, two wooden bows, bronze arrowheads, a wooden shield—were also on the east side of the tomb chamber, and on the west side were a wooden zither (se 瑟) and silk fabric. Additional items found at the south end were two wooden combs (one with fine teeth), a wooden fan handle, bamboo counting rods, and wooden pieces whose use is unclear. The latter items include four wooden cylinders, narrower at the bottom and each with a wooden rod inserted in a hole at the center of the top. Marks on the cylinders indicate that thread had been wound around the bottom. The most ancient examples of this object come from the fifth-century bce tomb of Lord Yi of Zeng, where twenty of the cylinders were set on a table. Silk thread was wound around each cylinder, with tiny coils of gold and other metals used to bunch seven or eight threads into a thicker strand (the coils were placed about every two centimeters along the strand) (fig. 1.7).41 The discovery of the same object in Jiudian tomb 621 along with the number and variety of other burial goods—note especially the relatively complete ritual set of pottery mingqi at the south end of the tomb chamber—indicate that the status of the tomb occupant was definitely superior to the status of the occupant of Jiudian tomb 56 and that he may have belonged to the social group of gentlemen (shi). Fangmatan Tomb 1 Fangmatan 放馬灘 tomb 1 in Tianshui 天水, Gansu, was excavated in 1986, one of only fourteen tombs excavated in a cemetery of more than one hundred Qin and Han tombs.42 Fangmatan is located in a mountainous region seventy kilometers southeast of Tianshui and about forty kilometers west of the border between Gansu and Shaanxi. In the third century bce, the settlement served by the cemetery was several hundred kilometers west of the Qin capital at Xianyang 咸陽. The cemetery site occupied approximately one hectare on level ground with hills to the north. From north to south, the tombs were neatly arranged in three east–west rows with space left between each vertical-shaft 41 Zeng hou Yi mu, pp. 449–52. 42 For details of the site, see Wenwu 1989.2, p. 1; and Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian, p. 113.

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Figure 1.6 Ritual set composed of mingqi earthenware, Jiudian tomb 621, ca. 350–300 bce. (1) Ding tripod ( from a pair), (2) hu bottle ( from a pair), (3) pan basin, (4) lei jar, (5) fu food container ( from a pair), (6) yi pourer, (7) ding with a small opening ( for water), (8) he ewer. After Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, fig. 257.

Figure 1.7 Set of twenty cylinders placed on a table, Leigudun tomb 1, Hubei, after 433 bce. Silk threads are wound around each cylinder and bunched into a thicker strand using tiny coils of gold and other metals. After Zeng hou Yi mu, fig. 258.

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Daybooks in Archaeological Context

Figure 1.8 Plan of Fangmatan tomb 1, Gansu, late third century bce. After Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian, fig. 9.

tomb pit. Thirteen of the fourteen excavated tombs are dated to the Qin period (Fangmatan tomb 5 is the only Han tomb among the fourteen). Fangmatan tomb 1 was the largest of the Qin tombs and contained the most burial goods. The tomb pit was a rectangle measuring 5 meters long from east to west and 3 meters wide; at the time of excavation, the bottom of the pit was 3 meters below the surface. Inside the pit, the wooden tomb chamber, which was surrounded by fine white clay, was 3.3 meters long, 1.5 meters wide, and 1.5 meters high. The coffin was placed against the north side of the tomb chamber, leaving open space on the east, south, and west sides (fig. 1.8). There were more than thirty burial goods in Fangmatan tomb 1, including the two daybook manuscripts written on bamboo slips. The manuscripts had been placed inside the coffin at the east end, by the head of the deceased, along with a writing brush in its case, similar to the arrangement in Shuihudi tomb 11. The other burial goods were found mostly in the space at the east end of the tomb chamber, a few were in the narrow space by the northeast corner of the coffin, and a few were along the south side. The 73 slips that compose the first manuscript (FMTA) measure 27.5 centimeters in length. The slips of the second manuscript (FMTB) are less well preserved. As reconstructed, there are 388 slips, with whole slips measuring 23 centimeters in length. At the end, FMTB has 6 slips concerning the resurrection of a man named Dan 丹

as reported by a local official in Qin administration named Chi 赤; these were previously treated as a separate document.43 Another type of document was placed just outside the coffin in the east end of the tomb chamber: four rectangular pine tablets 26.5–26.8 centimeters long and 15–18.1 centimeters wide. Maps are drawn on all four tablets: one map on the front of one tablet and six more maps on the front and back of three tablets, for a total of seven maps (fig. 1.9).44 The exact content of each map is different, but all maps represent the Qin administrative geographic unit centered on Gui 邽 county. In modern terms, the complementary functions of the maps may be classified as administrative, economic, and topographic. Further, the maps were evidently produced at the same time and well before the date of the Fangmatan tomb 1 burial; like the manuscripts, they were used when they were selected for inclusion among the burial goods.45 43 For an explanation for placing the slips of the resurrection account with the daybook as the final section in the reconstruction of FMTB (FMTB.93), see Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, “Gaishu” 概述, p. 2. 44 Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian, pp. 119–21. For further information on the maps, see He Shuangquan, 1989b; Yee, 1994; Yong Jichun and Dang Anrong, 2000; and Xing Yitian, 2011b, pp. 253–71. 45 On the date of the maps, see Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian, pp. 130–31.

24

Figure 1.9 Map on tablet no. 4A from Fangmatan tomb 1, Gansu; ink on pinewood, 26.8 cm long, 16.9 cm wide. After Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian, fig. 27.

Also in the east end of the tomb chamber were seven pottery vessels, two lacquer vessels (one round dish and one ear-cup), bamboo counting rods, fragments of a woven bamboo mat, a wooden ruler (near the northeast corner of the coffin), and a mallet of lacquered wood (perhaps used to strike stone chimes). Unidentified grains scattered in the east end and along the south side of the tomb chamber may have been in the pottery jars and spilled after burial or perhaps were in containers of perishable material that disintegrated. Fragments of wood indicate other objects that had disintegrated.46 The combination of daybooks—including Chi’s seemingly official report of Dan’s resurrection—and maps suggests a distinctive ordering of time, space, and administrative life within the symbolic plan of the tomb, whose occupant was no doubt an official in Qin administration. Like other objects deposited in the tomb, the manuscripts and maps differ in terms of their content, and a variety of people were involved in their production. However, in the minds of those who decided to place exactly these manuscripts and these maps in the tomb—perhaps including the tomb occupant himself—did they not form a coherent set of materials that were in accord with the life led by the deceased? His activities as inferred from everything in the tomb reveal a marked individuality, allowing us to perceive the characteristics of a certain type of person: a local official who was involved in the economic management of the region where he carried out his duties, an educated 46 Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian, p. 140, fig. 9, is a diagram of Fangmatan tomb 1 that shows the location of items in the tomb chamber, including the locations of scattered grains. However, no reference is made to grain in the excavation report, nor are the contents of the pottery jars described.

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man who owned manuscripts, and a man who, based on the manuscripts, knew how to make hemerological calculations and practiced divination. The only precise date found in Fangmatan tomb 1 is a reference to the “eighth year” in the FMTB resurrection account, which, according to the first excavation report to be published, is the eighth year of the First Emperor of Qin, or 239 bce. The archaeologists used this date to date the Fangmatan tomb 1 burial to 239–238 bce.47 The presumption that the “eighth year” was in the reign of the First Emperor of Qin and that the date 239 bce can be used to date the burial is widely contested today (317 and 299 bce have also been proposed for the “eighth year”).48 Most scholars advocate a later burial date for Fangmatan tomb 1, with opinions ranging from sometime after 239 bce to after 221 bce, when the Qin dynasty and empire were established, or even as late as the beginning of the Han dynasty. Their arguments still rely heavily on textual details in the manuscripts rather than on the archaeological data of the Fangmatan cemetery. In fact, we lack an adequate excavation report for the fourteen tombs that were excavated in 1986, and there is no plan for a systematic excavation of the entire cemetery. Archaeological dating of tombs normally relies on the analysis of pottery types occurring in a specific region for which there are sufficient data to establish a relative chronology (such as cemetery sites), but even in those circumstances, pottery types evolve too slowly to permit a precise year date. At present, there is general agreement that Fangmatan tomb 1 and the two daybook manuscripts are surely preHan. Arguments on dating the manuscripts focus on the script—FMTB has standard Qin clerical script (lishu 隸書), but the script of FMTA is difficult to date—and on the presence or absence of graphs thought to have been current during the several decades of the Qin dynasty, such as zui 罪, qianshou 黔首, and yi 殹. Olivier Venture is one of several scholars to point out that the graphs in question are attested both before and after the dates of the Qin dynasty and cannot be treated as hard evidence proving a Qin dynasty or early-Han date for the manuscripts.49 At the same time, it is unlikely that Fangmatan tomb 1 and 47 Wenwu 1989.2, pp. 10–11. Mention of the “eighth year” is at the beginning of the resurrection account. 48 For a review of the arguments for the different dates, see Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, pp. 269–70; years in the reigns of earlyHan emperors have also been proposed but are improbable. 49 Feng Yicheng, 2012. For the argument favoring a Qin dynasty or early-Han date, see Ebine Ryōsuke, 2012. Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, “Gaishu,” pp. 1–2, reviews arguments by Chinese and Japanese scholars and concludes that the manuscripts could be earlier than the Qin dynasty but not later.

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

25 the manuscripts are much older than the Qin dynasty and certainly not older than the mid-third century bce. Shuihudi Tomb 11 The cemetery site at Shuihudi 睡虎地, in Yunmeng 雲夢, Hubei, was discovered in November 1975 when workers were digging irrigation ditches. An archaeological team was quickly assembled, and between December 1975 and January 1976, twelve Qin tombs were excavated, including tomb 11.50 Since that time, discoveries have continued at the Shuihudi cemetery. The occupant of Shuihudi tomb 11—a man in his forties with the personal name Xi 喜—belonged to the Qin cultural group, as indicated in archaeological terms by the bent-leg position of his body inside the coffin, following the burial custom known from the fourth century bce in the Qin state (fig. 1.10).51 Also occurring in Central Asia, Qinghai, and Gansu, this custom no doubt corresponded to a particular population, perhaps of non-Chinese origin. However, judging by the tomb and burial goods, Xi seems to have been completely integrated into the local society of his time. Certain details aside, Shuihudi tomb 11 is a typical example of the mode of construction distinctive to the Chu culture and was costly to build. At the bottom of the vertical-shaft pit, the wooden tomb chamber measured 3.52 meters long, 1.72 meters wide, and 1.16 meters high. The tomb chamber was divided into two compartments, one for the coffin and the other for the burial goods (figs. 1.11, 1.12). A double-leaf door was placed between the compartments in order to suggest a means of communication within the tomb, a practice that can be traced to the end of the fifth century bce but appears only sporadically in Chu.52 The top of the tomb chamber was covered with logs cut in half lengthwise and then layered with bark and rice straw. On the very top was the skull of an ox, sacrificed at the time of the funeral. These features are characteristic of burial customs in Qin culture.53 The variety and richness of the burial goods inside the tomb chamber and coffin indicate a certain social standing for Xi. Ritual bronzes included two tripods (ding), two high-collared vessels with squared sides (fang 鈁), and a bronze pourer (yi). There was a bronze sword and several

Figure 1.10

Contents of the coffin from Shuihudi tomb 11, Hubei, 217 bce, with the location of the two daybooks (SHDA and SHDB). After Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, fig. 15.

50 Details regarding the excavation, construction, and contents of Shuihudi tomb 11 are based on Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, pp. 1–62. 51 Falkenhausen, 2004, p. 136. 52 Thote, 1991, 2012. 53 A covering of bark over the tomb chamber has been found in various Qin tombs, such as Haojiaping 郝家坪 tomb 50, Sichuan; see Wenwu 1982.1.

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Figure 1.11

Profile of Shuihudi tomb 11. After Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, figs. 10–11.

cooking vessels in bronze and iron as well as pottery vessels. Among the various types of finely produced lacquerwares totaling thirty-five items, the round toiletry case with a beautiful bronze mirror inside stands out. Other objects include plaited bamboo baskets, a bamboo fan, a silk cap, writing brushes, wooden implements, and a complete liubo 六博 game set with a wooden board and playing pieces. A wooden model of a chariot was found outside the tomb chamber in a niche dug into the east wall of the pit and was accompanied by three pottery horses with wooden hooves and two pottery figurines (figs. 1.13, 1.14). The somewhat rudimentary assemblage of chariot, horses, and figurines placed outside the tomb chamber echoes on a lesser scale the older Zhou tradition of placing chariots and sacrificed horses in a pit close to the tombs of the high nobility and at the same time calls to mind the tomb complex of the First Emperor of Qin, where two half-scale bronze chariot models were found in one of the pits at the site.54 Manuscripts written on more than 1,100 bamboo slips were found inside the coffin with several other objects 54

Qin Shihuang ling tong chema fajue baogao.

Figure 1.12

Plan of Shuihudi tomb 11. Wooden tomb chamber, 3.52 m long, 1.72 m wide, 1.16 m high. After Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, fig. 14.

(mainly the toiletry case, silk cap, and writing brushes). The manuscripts were arranged on the right side of the skeleton from the head to the feet (see fig. 1.10). The first daybook (SHDA) lay alongside the skull; the second

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Daybooks in Archaeological Context

daybook (SHDB) was at the other end of the coffin, by the feet. The 166 slips of SHDA are approximately twenty-five centimeters long, and both sides of the slips bear text; it is the only daybook manuscript to utilize the front and back surfaces of the bound slips for copying text. SHDB has 259 slips approximately twenty-three centimeters long and is similar in form and content to SHDA. The title Rishu 日書 (Daybook) is written on the verso of slip 259 (see fig. 2.1 in chap. 2). The coffin contained eight more manuscripts, three of which have titles written on one of the slips; modern titles have been assigned to the other five manuscripts. The manuscript with the assigned title Biannianji 編年 紀 (Chronological record) is the source for the identity of the tomb occupant, Xi. The fifty-three slips (23.2 cm long) provide a chronology of years from the first year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin 秦昭襄王 (306 bce) to the thirtieth year of the reign of King Zheng of Qin 秦王政 (217 bce), who, in his twenty-sixth year, established the Qin empire and assumed the title First Emperor of Qin. Events of importance to the Qin state—mostly military activities— are briefly recorded beneath certain years. However, beginning with the entry for King Zhao’s forty-fifth year (262 bce), which records Xi’s birth, some of the events are personal events in the life of Xi and his family, including administrative positions Xi held in localities in the South Commandery 南郡. Different handwriting indicates that one copyist wrote the chronology of years and major events from King Zhao’s reign through King Zheng’s eleventh year, and a second copyist with clumsier handwriting added Xi family events to the original chronology and was also responsible for extending the chronology beyond King Zheng’s eleventh year.55 The last year recorded in the chronology has been used as the basis for dating Xi’s death to 217 bce (the manuscript does not record this event) and for determining the burial date. Unlike the Fangmatan tomb 1 resurrection account, the Chronological Record in Shuihudi tomb 11 can be reliably linked to the life and death of the tomb occupant. Another notable text written on fourteen slips (27.8 cm long) with the original title Yushu 語書 (Declaration document) written on the verso of the last slip was also among the manuscripts, found under the right hand of the deceased. The first part of the Declaration Document is a decree dated to 227 bce in which the official who governed the entire South Commandery exhorted local officials—no doubt including Xi—to rigorously apply the 55 See Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, “Shiwen” 釋文, p. 3. Gao Min (1981, pp. 10–15) treats the Biannianji as a combination of family genealogy (jiapu 家譜) and funerary stele.

laws of Qin to the populace under their jurisdiction; the second part describes the qualities that define the good official along with the defects of the bad official. The other manuscripts treat of legal and administrative matters: a discourse in verse on being a good official, three collections of selected laws and administrative rules in force in the empire, and two texts that provide guidance on the correct application of the laws to specific circumstances and on proper legal procedures. It seems likely that an official such as Xi would have used these texts in the performance of his functions. Whether the two daybooks were related to the everyday work of an official remains an open question. The jumble of loose, unbound bamboo slips presented to the excavators when they opened the coffin does not represent the original state of the ten manuscripts when they were placed in the coffin. After reconstruction of the manuscripts, it is evident that the individual bundles of bound and rolled slips were systematically arranged around the body of the deceased. The legal and administrative texts were placed along the right flank extending down to the bent right knee. The discourse on being a good official was between the legs just beneath the pelvis. The head rested on the Chronological Record as if the manuscript were a pillow and was wedged between the first daybook (SHDA) on the right and the toiletry case on the left; the silk cap was just below the toiletry case. This arrangement indicates the intimate and privileged connection of these two manuscripts to the deceased.56 How does the composition of the burial goods reflect Xi’s life as an official and his everyday life? The sword, silk cap, writing brushes, manuscripts, and chariot with attendants for transportation were no doubt connected to his involvement in ritual activities and his fulfillment of local administrative duties. On the personal side, vessels for food and drink, toiletries, and the liubo game set for entertainment were the necessities of everyday life for the privileged. In both its contents and its general plan, Shuihudi tomb 11 represents a definite break from the frugality that characterizes Qin tombs in the north in the region of Xi’an 西安, Shaanxi. The only item lacking is the seal with the deceased’s name. Yet did not the personal events set down in the Chronological Record on which Xi’s head rested serve equally well to confirm his identity and status? Xi was obviously not a minor official but rather had achieved a sufficiently high level in local administration to enjoy the status and personal fortune expressed by his ownership of prestige objects such as the ritual bronze tripods, the sword (a rarity in Qin tombs), and the thirty-five 56 Kalinowski, 2008, pp. 2–3.

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Figure 1.13

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Some of the burial goods in Shuihudi tomb 11. (1) Bronze ding tripod ( from a pair), (2) iron cauldron, (3) small pottery jar, (4) lacquer zun, (5) lacquer zhi, (6) lacquer ear-cup (one of twenty-three), (7) lacquer food container (one of two), (8) lacquer toiletry case, (9) bronze mirror (rubbing). After Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, figs. 22, 32, 38, 40, 46, 50, 59, 63, 82.

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Figure 1.14

Wooden model of a chariot from Shuihudi tomb 11. After Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, fig. 97.

items of lacquerware. From this perspective, the presence of daybooks in Xi’s coffin must be treated as part of the assemblage of manuscripts found there, which collectively formed an integral part of the written knowledge that was available to this official in the course of his daily activities at the beginning of the empire. Kongjiapo Tomb 8 The Kongjiapo 孔家坡 cemetery site is located about 2.5 kilometers to the northeast of the city center of Suizhou, Hubei, in an area used for excavating soil for making bricks since 1985. The cemetery was discovered by chance in October 1998 by workers digging soil for the brick factory; the first three tombs at the site (tombs 1–3) were excavated in November and December 1998.57 The brick 57  For the excavation report for the Kongjiapo cemetery, see Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 3–38.

factory continued to obtain soil at the site, and a year later, work was stopped to permit excavation of four more tombs (tombs 4–7). Finally, in March 2000, an archaeology team made a test-drill survey of the site, during which nine tombs (tombs 8–16) were excavated. Many of the sixteen tombs were severely damaged at the time of excavation, but Kongjiapo tomb 8 was fairly well preserved. All the tombs date to the Western Han period. Only one (tomb 9) was a brick chamber structure. The other fifteen tombs followed the model of the Chu tombs, with a wooden tomb chamber placed at the bottom of a pit with an opening that was wide at the top and narrower at the bottom. The pit walls of the large tombs were inclined about 88 degrees (including tomb 8); the incline was about 65 degrees for the smaller tombs. Excavation has focused on the area used by the brick factory. Damage that had already occurred at the site has destroyed evidence of an unknown number of tombs, and

30 an accurate reconstruction of the original arrangement of tombs in the cemetery is not possible. In the case of tomb 8, its tomb pit encroaches on tombs 15 and 16. Given the precise burial date of 142 bce for tomb 8 (see below), tombs 15 and 16 are older. Periodization by pottery types indicates that tomb 16 belongs to period 1 and is not older than the beginning of the Han dynasty; tomb 8 belongs to period 2; the period of tomb 15 is unclear because nothing but the pit remains. Among the fifteen Chu-style pit tombs, tomb 8 was the largest. The pit was 3.76 meters by 2.5 meters at the bottom and at the time of excavation was at a depth of 3.83 meters; the orientation was 18 degrees to the east. The wooden tomb chamber was filled with water and mud, and consequently both the tomb chamber and the coffin were poorly preserved. The tomb chamber measured 2.92 meters long, 1.66 meters wide, and 1.18 meters high (fig. 1.15). Inside the tomb chamber, a separate compartment for the coffin extended from the southwest corner along the west side, leaving space at the north end and along the east side for burial goods. Although there is no trace of the skeleton to indicate where the head of the deceased was placed in the coffin, the excavation report refers to the space in the north part of the tomb chamber as the head compartment on the presumption that this space is typically located by the tomb occupant’s head. For convenience, I refer to this space as the head compartment and to the space along the east side as the side compartment. A wooden tablet found in the head compartment is an example of the type of funerary document the archaeologists refer to as gaodi shu 告地書 “document of declaration to the earth.” The tablet provides a date corresponding to the year 142 bce and confirms the identity of the tomb occupant as a man with the personal name Bi 辟, whose title ku sefu 庫嗇夫 “armory overseer” indicates that he held a minor position in the local administration.58 The reconstruction of the damaged tomb chamber shows it to have been typical of tomb chambers of the Chu type (fig. 1.16). The top was covered by a double layer of thick boards (only traces of the topmost layer remained), and the three compartments were partially connected, but due to the rotted condition of the wood, their exact construction is not entirely clear. As was the rule under the Han, the coffin was a rectangular box with flat sides, bottom, and top and was coated with red lacquer on the inside and black lacquer on the outside. The head and side compartments held just two metal items: a bronze bowl (yu 盂) and a bronze belt hook. The preponderance of burial goods were mingqi objects in 58 An Zuozhang and Xiong Tieji, 1985, p. 187.

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pottery and wood, and they provide important evidence of the symbolic value of the burial goods in the plan of the tomb. There was a set of pottery mingqi ritual vessels composed of two ding tripods, two lidded food containers (he 盒), two fang vessels, and two additional jars. The large set of lacquerware included thirteen ear-cups, four shallow basins, a gourd-shaped container (bianhu 扁壺), and a zhi 卮 cup, which together with two ladles (one of wood, and the other a gourd) made a complete dining service (fig. 1.17). The lid had come off the round lacquer toiletry case, which probably contained the wooden bead and the bronze belt hook as well as the two wooden combs found nearby. Two wooden weapons were found in the tomb. The first is a lacquered sword 85.5 centimeters long. It was made from one piece of wood and carved so that the scabbard covering the blade is a single, fused unit; hence there is no blade and the sword is not functional as a weapon. Furthering the illusion, a band of plaited silk was used to wrap the exposed sword hilt and a jade scabbard slide was also attached (fig. 1.18). Wooden swords with blades have been found in many Han tombs. Such swords could have been used for training or in physical exercises, but the Kongjiapo sword in its scabbard seems to have had a purely symbolic function—recall that the tomb occupant was an armory overseer—and had no practical use. The other object is a 123.8-centimeter-long stick painted black, rounder and thicker at one end and flatter and pointed at the other. The archaeologists have identified the object as a spear. If their identification is correct, the spear, like the sword, is a wooden replica of a weapon. Finally, the tomb chamber contained six wooden figurines, a chariot canopy approximately 30 centimeters in diameter (symbolizing the complete chariot), and three wooden horses.59 The horses are painted black, and the harness straps are drawn in red. One of the figurines is also painted black, and the collar of its clothing is painted red (traces of red paint on a second figure suggest that other figures originally were painted). All of these wooden objects are mingqi, and their function in the tomb was to serve as substitutes for people, animals, and objects in the real world for the benefit of the tomb occupant. Note that most had been painted black, which perhaps marked them as substitutes. Their symbolic funerary function is confirmed in the document of declaration to the earth prepared for Bi, which states that he has been officially transferred to the underworld 59 The Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu excavation report refers to three horses on pp. 27 and 38, but gives the number as four wooden horses on p. 9.

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

Figure 1.15

Plan and profile of Kongjiapo tomb 8, Hubei, 142 bce. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, fig. 3.

Figure 1.16

Mode of construction of the wooden tomb chamber at Kongjiapo tomb 8. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, fig. 4.

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Figure 1.17

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Kongjiapo tomb 8 burial goods. (1) Painted pottery ding tripod ( from a pair), (2) pottery fang vessel ( from a pair), (3) pottery lidded food container ( from a pair), (4) bronze yu bowl, (5) jar, (6) lacquer ear-cup ( from a set of thirteen), (7) lacquered basin ( from a set of four), (8) zhi cup, (9) pottery model of a kitchen oven, (10) gourd-shaped bianhu container. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, figs. 10.4, 11.2, 12.7, 13.3, 14.1, 15.1, 17.1–4.

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

33

Figure 1.18 Wooden burial goods from Kongjiapo tomb 8. (1) Armrest, (2, 3) figurines, (4) horse from a set of three (with chariot), (5) sword. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, figs. 19.2, 20.1–2, 21.2, 23.1.

administration accompanied by six servants, one chariot, and three horses.60 The bamboo-slip manuscripts discovered in the head compartment of the tomb chamber were found in two masses and taken to a laboratory for treatment. The group of slips found in the northeast corner of the head compartment belong to the daybook manuscript (KJP). The second group, which gives the calendar for the year corresponding to 142 bce and a few blank slips, was found to the west, above where the deceased’s head presumably lay in the coffin, and against the north wall of the tomb chamber. These slips had been placed together with the document of declaration to the earth, an obvious indication of the intimate connection of both to the tomb occupant (there were also three blank wooden tablets nearby). As reconstructed, the daybook manuscript is composed of 478 whole and fragmentary slips; the editors were unable to place the remaining 48 unclassified slip fragments in the daybook text. Whole slips measure 33.8 centimeters in length, and there were originally three binding cords. 60 Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 197.

Fragments of black silk fabric found with the slips indicate that the bound and rolled manuscript had been placed in a black silk bag. The calendar is composed of exactly 60 slips 26.8 centimeters long, one slip for each of the sixty stem and branch signs used to count days. The 7 blank slips are 22.5 centimeters long; they lack notches for binding cords and had not been bound. No burial goods were found in the coffin, in striking contrast to other Qin and Han tombs. In view of the symbolic function of mingqi objects, it is worthwhile to examine the arrangement of burial goods in the head and side compartments. Over the centuries, the objects have shifted from their original locations as mud and water entered the tomb chamber, and allowances must be made. Nevertheless, comparison with Kongjiapo tombs 5, 10, and 16 in regard to the practice of placing objects in groups confirms that the placement of the burial goods in the Kongjiapo tomb 8 tomb chamber followed a definite order. The manuscripts, toiletries, a low wooden armrest (ji 几) used when kneeling, and nearly all the lacquerware were found in the head compartment, whereas the

34 pottery vessels and the pottery stove model were in the side compartment. The stove was in the lowermost corner farthest from the head compartment, just as in tombs 10 and 16, and the pottery vessels were nearby in the side compartment. Among the figurines, four were found in the side compartment and the other two in the head compartment. Their size (28.8–45 cm) and the different hand positions (either both hands extended downward or one hand raised) suggest that they represent two groups of servants, probably differentiated by rank and duties; two figurines found in the tomb 5 side compartment show the same contrast in hand positions. Also as in tomb 5, a wooden bi 壁 disk (18.8 cm in diameter with a 3.2-cmdiameter hole in the center) and a polished rectangular board (33.2 cm long, 13.5 cm wide, 2 cm thick) were found placed next to each other in the head compartment. In Kongjiapo tomb 8, the disk and board were just below the calendar manuscript and the document of declaration to the earth and next to the armrest and chariot canopy. This collection of objects seems to represent the various activities of the tomb occupant replicated in the environment of the tomb. Between September and December 2014, Zhoujiazhai 周家寨 tomb 8 was excavated in a cluster of Western Han tombs, and is several hundred meters distant from Kongjiapo tomb 8. The brief excavation report reveals remarkable similarities between the two tombs. First, the document of declaration to the earth in Zhoujiazhai tomb 8 indicates that the tomb occupant died less than a decade after Bi, in either 140 or 134 bce. The similar arrangement of the wooden tomb chamber, coffin, and burial goods is further evidence that the two men were contemporaries in their community (see plate 1). The best evidence that their lives were connected is the Zhoujiazhai tomb 8 bamboo-slip manuscript, found in the side compartment of the tomb chamber, which is described as a daybook containing many sections in common with the Kongjiapo daybook.61

Other Tombs Containing Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts The account of the four tombs at the Jiudian, Fangmatan, Shuihudi, and Kongjiapo cemeteries, which among them contained six daybook manuscripts, on the one hand, provides the essential archaeological context and describes the manuscripts in relation to funerary customs and, on the other hand, informs us of the social milieu in which 61 See 2014 Zhongguo zhongyao kaogu faxian, pp. 80–83; 2014 niandu quanguo shida kaogu xin faxian zhongping hui, pp. 38–40. See also p. 78 in chap. 2.

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the daybook manuscripts circulated. Most of the tomb occupants were local administrators who did not possess great fortunes but enjoyed elevated social status, as indicated by their burial goods, including the manuscripts, and had a particular interest in the kind of technical knowledge found in daybooks. It is useful to flesh out this initial image with details from other tombs containing daybooks or daybook-related manuscripts—some manuscripts are only partially published or are unpublished—so as to gain a broader view. To date, we have information about fourteen more tombs in which daybooks or daybook-related manuscripts were discovered, covering a period of several hundred years from the end of the Warring States period to the first century ce (see table 1.1). The information is incomplete or in some cases almost nonexistent. Nevertheless, the data available both confirm the evidence of the four tombs already discussed and provide new evidence concerning social milieu, the relative frequency of the discoveries and the amount of manuscript material, and the relation of daybooks to technical manuscripts in general. Regarding amount—and including data from preliminary excavation reports that simply report the number of slips—it seems that the number varies considerably from one site to another, ranging from one hundred to seven hundred slips and slip fragments; two sites also yielded a small number of wooden tablets. The discoveries also confirm the geographic distribution of sites from Hunan in the south to Gansu and Hebei in the north. At the same time, they allow us to follow patterns in the occurrence of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts into the late first century bce, as represented by Yinwan 尹灣 tomb 6, Jiangsu (burial dated 10 bce), and perhaps into the early first century ce, as represented by Mozuizi 磨嘴子 tomb 6, Gansu (burial roughly dated to the second decade of the first century).62 With regard to milieu, the other tomb sites indicate that daybooks circulated across a wider range of social groups than is revealed by the four tombs already discussed. At the lower end of the social scale, Wangjiatai 王家臺 tomb 15, near Jiangling 江陵, Hubei, is roughly dated to the period after Qin occupation of Chu in 278 bce and before the end of the Qin dynasty.63 Similar to Jiudian tomb 56, Wangjiatai tomb 15 was a simple burial with a single coffin set in the pit and no wooden tomb chamber (fig. 1.19). Three small pottery vessels were on the ground 62  The relation between the few surviving Mozuizi slip fragments with hemerological content and daybooks is difficult to ascertain. 63 Wenwu 1995.1.

35

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

Figure 1.19

Plan and profile of Wangjiatai tomb 15, Hubei, ca. 278–221 bce, with the location of the bamboo slips. After Wenwu 1995.1, fig. 2.

outside the coffin, close to the head of the deceased. The other burial goods were inside the coffin, including more than eight hundred bamboo slips and slip fragments representing five different manuscripts, found by the feet; one bamboo tablet, found by the head and illegible; a bamboo cylinder with sixty bamboo and bone counting rods inside; twenty-three lacquered dice; and an inscribed wooden board with handle whose design resembles objects of the Dipper astrolabe type used in divination and hemerology.64 The counting rods, dice, and wooden board were probably used for divination and can be associated with three of the manuscripts in the coffin—the hexagram divination text, identified as a copy of the Guicang 歸藏 (Returning to be stored); the daybook; and the text of portents.65 The fourth manuscript contains a legal text, and the fifth a text on being a good official (both have counterparts among the Shuihudi tomb 11 manuscripts). Preliminary knowledge of the content of the manuscript referred to as a daybook comes from partial transcriptions in modern graphs. The number of burial goods associated with divination and hemerology suggest the tomb occupant’s interest in this area of knowledge. The inclusion of legal and administrative texts indicates that he probably 64

65

For an account of Wangjiatai tomb 15 and a detailed summary of the manuscripts, see Wang Mingqin, 2004. On the Dipper astrolabe, see pp. 164–65 in chap. 4; and for a schematic drawing of the Wangjiatai board based on descriptions of it, see Kalinowski, 2013, p. 353 (there is no published photograph or line drawing of the original object). For information on the Guicang and translation of the Wangjiatai manuscript, see Shaughnessy, 2014, pp. 141–87.

worked in the local administration, but judging from the rudimentary character of the tomb, he did not enjoy a high social status. At the other end of the social scale are the three richly furnished tombs of Han aristocrats: Xiahou Zao 夏侯 灶, Lord of Ruyin 汝陰侯, buried at Shuanggudui tomb 1, Fuyang 阜陽, Anhui (burial dated 165 bce); Wu Yang 吳陽, Lord of Yuanling 沅陵侯, buried at Huxishan tomb 1, Yuanling, Hunan (burial dated 162 bce); and Liu Xiu 劉修, King Huai of Zhongshan 中山懷王, buried at Bajiaolang 八角廊 tomb 40, Dingzhou 定州, Hebei (burial dated 55 bce). Liu Xiu, a member of the Han ruling family, had the most elaborate burial, a horizontal wood-beam and woodlined structure with front and rear chambers. The tomb was robbed in antiquity and burned, and the remnants of the bamboo-slip manuscripts and other combustible objects were thoroughly charred.66 Notable among the burial objects in the front chamber were three chariots and thirteen horses that had been sacrificed for the burial. In the rear chamber, Liu Xiu’s body was placed in a suit made of jade plaques stitched with gold thread and then encased in five coffins, one set inside the other. Other objects found in the rear chamber and coffins attest the extravagant wealth of the tomb occupant and include two luxuriously crafted swords; numerous items of carved jade, carnelian, and rock crystal; and forty small bars of gold along with two horse hooves and one qilin 麒麟 hoof cast in gold. Of significance for the study of buried manuscripts are objects used in the regular practice of writing: a stone slab with pestle for grinding ink and three scraping knives used to erase graphs on wood and bamboo. Six of the eight manuscripts placed in the tomb contain literary texts, one a copy of the Analects (Lunyu 論語) and another a copy of Master Wen (Wenzi 文子). The daybook-related manuscript was in very fragmentary condition and remains unpublished. Finally, there was a travel record of the trip to the imperial court taken by Liu Ding 劉定, King Miao of Lu’an 六安繆王, in 56 bce.67 The most recent discovery in the Shuihudi cemetery of a Han tomb with manuscripts, including a daybook, serves as a point of comparison between the tombs of Han aristocrats and those of members of lower social groups. Shuihudi tomb 77 (burial dated ca. 157 bce) had a small wooden tomb chamber 2.21 meters long and 1.5 meters wide divided into a compartment for the coffin and a 66

67

Wenwu 1981.8, pp. 1–10, 11–13. For a critical summary of what is known of the tomb, the identity of the tomb occupant, and the burial goods, including manuscripts, see Els, 2009, pp. 911–19. Wenwu 1981.8, pp. 11–12.

36

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side compartment for burial goods. Among these goods were standard pieces that would normally be placed in a minor Han official’s tomb: three pairs of pottery mingqi ritual vessels, cooking pots, lacquerware, wooden combs, and a mirror. In addition, the plaited bamboo basket contained the wooden- and bamboo-slip manuscripts, the wooden and bamboo tablets, and a writing brush; there was a stone slab with pestle for grinding ink, as in Liu Xiu’s tomb. As for the manuscripts, with the exception of one text that treats of historical personages, the texts in the other manuscripts represent technical works, beginning with the daybook, which is notable for having the title Rishu written on it. There is also a text on calculations (suanshu 算書), a legal text, and several event calendars (zhiri 質日) for years ranging between 170 and 157 bce.68 The utilitarian quality of the technical works suggests that one characteristic of petty officials and local administrators, whether or not they took a daybook with them to the tomb, is that their manuscripts were intended to have practical applications. This is the case for the four tombs at Jiudian, Fangmatan, Shuihudi, and Kongjiapo, as well as for Wangjiatai tomb 15, Shuihudi tomb 77, and Shuiquanzi tomb 5. The last tomb contained an unusual manuscript of the lexical primer Cangjie pian 倉頡篇 (Cangjie treatise), composed in expanded seven-graph lines (the original primer had four-graph lines) and rhymed.69 In contrast, for the highest social elite, when a daybook or other manuscripts that demonstrate a real interest in divination and hemerology were selected for burial in the tomb, this interest was accompanied by a taste for intellectual writings and belles lettres (the tombs of Liu Xiu and Xiahou Zao) or recipes of refined cuisine (the tomb of Wu Yang). Works of literature have also been found in the tombs of local officials, such as the fu 賦 verse in Yinwan tomb 6, as well as of those who may or may not have been officials. Nevertheless, there is a noticeable pattern to the selection of manuscripts for burial, with a tendency toward technical literature in the lower social groups. The combinations of manuscripts vary. Focusing just on daybooks, the practice of burying them in pairs is noticeable. In addition to Shuihudi tomb 11 and Fangmatan tomb 1, it occurs in Zhangjiashan 張家山tomb 127, Hubei. In the same cemetery, Zhangjiashan tomb 249 had just one daybook and a calendar (both Zhangjiashan burials are dated to the first half of the second century bce). At the same time, some tombs are rich in technical manuscripts yet lack a daybook, such as Zhangjiashan tomb 247 (roughly contemporary with tombs 127 and 249), which

contained manuscripts on medicine and calculations but no daybook.70 Clearly the cultural and social dimensions are important in the general study of manuscripts, and we need to consider how daybook manuscripts buried in tombs may be related to the larger picture. Yet the dearth of sites presents many obstacles. For instance, while the pre-Han daybook manuscripts were found in tombs of the states of Chu and Qin, the origin of the custom of burying people with manuscripts of a hemerological or divinatory nature is unknown, and both the locations of the tombs and the conditions for preservation since burial are unequal in the respective regions, meaning that our standards for comparison are biased. The manuscripts that were discovered in Chu were in tombs in the central region of the state near the capital. For Qin, it is the opposite: the tomb sites were distant from the capital, in outlying areas in presentday Gansu and Hubei. Examples for the third century bce include Jiudian tomb 56 (Chu state tomb near the Chu capital), Wangjiatai tomb 15 (Qin state tomb near the former Chu capital, but distant from the Qin capital), and Fangmatan tomb 1 (Qin state tomb distant from the Qin capital). Despite the difficulties imposed by the nature of the available evidence, there are obvious advantages to tomb contexts over non-tomb contexts for the study of ancient Chinese manuscripts. As noted at the beginning of this chapter, when a tomb is opened for the first time in an archaeological excavation, it is like a time capsule that has been altered only by natural processes through the centuries. The tomb manuscripts are not only better preserved than the far more fragmentary evidence from settlement sites; they also represent a selection of manuscripts intended to serve a function in the context of the tomb, unlike the accidental circumstances that led to the survival of certain fragmentary materials at settlement sites. The tomb manuscripts necessarily belong to the study of funerary customs, which did not evolve uniformly in all places and were often influenced by the conservative nature of certain social milieus. However, inasmuch as funerary customs are not divorced from the life of the human community, we should seek out ways to bridge the gap between manuscripts placed in tombs and the pattern of manuscript production and circulation in people’s everyday lives.

68 Jiang Han kaogu 2008.4. 69 See Zhang Cunliang, 2010.

70 These manuscripts are published in full in Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian [247 hao mu].

37

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

Figure 1.21

Figure 1.20

Plan of the wooden tomb chamber, Xiasi tomb 2, Henan, ca. 550 bce. After Xichuan Xiasi Chunqiu Chu mu, fig. 84.

Manuscripts in Tombs Daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts have been found in tombs dated to the third through the first century bce. Their occurrence in some tombs must be seen as part of the larger phenomenon of all manuscripts and documents on bamboo, wood, and silk placed in tombs before, during, and after this period. Conditions of Preservation First, we must acknowledge that manuscripts have been found in very few of the excavated tombs dated from the fifth century bce to first century ce, the roughly five centuries during which manuscripts were integrated into the funerary category of burial goods. As of this writing, the number of tombs containing manuscripts is 119, with fewer than 20 containing daybooks or daybook-related manuscripts (see table 1.2). This is a tiny number of tombs in light of the tens of thousands of Warring States, Qin,

Plan of the wooden tomb chamber, Baoshan tomb 2, Hubei, 316 bce. After Baoshan Chu mu, vol. 1, fig. 35.

and Han tombs that have been scientifically excavated.71 Are these numbers representative of the actual situation? Or should we attribute their small number either to the accidental nature of modern discoveries of ancient tombs or to the deterioration and loss of fragile materials placed in tombs, including manuscripts on bamboo, wood, and silk—that is, can we suppose that manuscripts originally were more widely deposited in tombs than now appears to be the case? Examination of funerary practices current at the time when people were motivated to place manuscripts in tombs should provide some clues. Regarding perishability, regionally specific environmental conditions such as humidity and dryness have certainly contributed to preserving some manuscripts underground until they were excavated in modern times. But what other conditions may have contributed to preservation, and in what way were these conditions related to tomb construction as part of funerary customs? In particular, measures taken to protect tombs in the state of Chu were adopted elsewhere as the influence of Chu spread to other regions. Archaeology shows that during the Warring States period, between the fifth and third centuries bce, there was increasing concern in Chu regarding protection of the deceased inside the tomb. This concern was made manifest 71

For a recent survey of archaeological findings related to tomb sites from the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods, see Zhongguo kaoguxue—Liang Zhou juan, pp. 275–405.

38 in continuous improvements in materials and construction methods designed to prevent decomposition of the corpse and maintain the physical integrity of the deceased in the coffin.72 Improved techniques for construction of wooden tomb chambers ensured hermetic closure. Coffins were further closed with strong, tight ropes and, from the fourth century bce onward, with silk bands (see fig. 1.3 and fig. 1.5, nos. 4 and 5). The space inside the tomb chamber was reduced, and the compartments became narrower even in aristocratic tombs. This development is clearly demonstrated by comparing the tomb chambers of Xiasi 下寺 tomb 2, Henan (mid-sixth century bce), without compartments, and Baoshan tomb 2, Hubei (316 bce), with compartments, both of which belonged to people of roughly equivalent status (figs. 1.20, 1.21).73 In addition to tightly sealing the coffin and tomb chamber, covering the tomb chamber with fine clay provided further protection. From the perspective of modern archaeology, these measures limited exposure to air and promoted anaerobic conditions that prevented decay. Before the Warring States innovations, concern for protecting the deceased already existed in Chu but was addressed mostly with magical strategies such as the use of apotropaic sculptures (zhenmushou 鎮墓獸) intended to expel pestilence. Pestilence was often conceptualized as serpents, and in the more realistic sculptures, the zhenmushou devours the serpents (see fig. 1.5, no. 8).74 By the end of the Warring States period, magical practices had been combined with efficient construction techniques. The three early-Han tombs at Mawangdui, in Changsha, Hunan, show the result of these improvements in construction, which had developed in Chu over a long period of time. The most spectacular outcome was discovered in Mawangdui tomb 1 (burial dated ca. 165 bce), the tomb of the wife of Li Cang 李蒼, Lord of Dai 軑侯, who was buried in Mawangdui tomb 2. Inside the wooden tomb chamber of Mawangdui tomb 1, a woman’s intact corpse was found in the innermost of four coffins, clothed and wrapped in multiple layers of silk and hempen fabric to form a bundle that was bound with nine silk bands. The tomb chamber had been surrounded with charcoal and then the whole encased in fine white clay before the pit was filled with earth. It appears that the decomposition 72 Thote, 2000, 2009. 73 Thote, 2007. 74 Another very old practice already found at Erlitou 二里頭 at the beginning of the second millennium bce consisted of depositing a layer of cinnabar at the bottom of the coffin. The practice seems to have been abandoned in the Zhou period around the fifth century bce, probably due to the questionable efficacy of using cinnabar in this way.

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of the body stopped shortly after the tomb was sealed.75 Similar measures in Mawangdui tomb 3 (burial dated 168 bce) account in part for the preservation of the manuscripts, which were found inside a lacquer box in the east side compartment of the tomb chamber.76 A Marginal Phenomenon The Chu techniques of tomb construction, having proved their efficacy, were apparently adopted at the end of the fourth century bce by people originating from Qin.77 The preservation of bamboo and wooden objects—manuscripts included—was due in large part to construction techniques that were originally intended to preserve the body of the deceased. A significant proportion of Chu tombs contain objects made of perishable materials, including materials used in funerals, that can be restored through appropriate treatment by conservation specialists. For instance, in Changsha, 143 tombs out of a total of approximately 2,000 Chu tombs from the Warring States period—no more than 7 percent—contained objects made of bamboo or wood. This percentage, although small, is nonetheless remarkable because it shows that the Changsha tombs provided the conditions necessary for the preservation of such objects. Thus, had the tombs contained manuscripts, we should expect them to have been preserved along with the lacquerware and objects of bamboo and wood. However, despite these favorable conditions, the number of tombs containing manuscripts is negligible relative to the number of tombs containing objects made of fragile materials. At Yutaishan 雨臺山, Hubei, one of the best-preserved Eastern Zhou cemeteries where fragile burial goods were in an excellent state of preservation, not one of the 558 excavated Chu tombs contained manuscripts, and of the 596 Eastern Zhou tombs excavated at Jiudian, Hubei, 3 tombs, or 0.5 percent, contained manuscripts. In Changsha, of the 2,019 Warring States tombs, only 2 contained bamboo slips, and in both tombs, the slips are only tomb inventory documents.78 A third Warring States Changsha tomb, the tomb at Zidanku that was looted in 1942 and contained silk manuscripts, among them, the famous Chu Silk 75 Changsha Mawangdui yihao Han mu, vol. 1, pp. 3–31. 76 Changsha Mawangdui er san hao Han mu, pp. 28–43. 77 This is shown, for instance, in the cemeteries of Haojiaping in Sichuan (Wenwu 1982.1) and Shuihudi in Hubei (Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu), both of which are well preserved. 78 Yangtianhu 仰天湖 tomb 25 (renamed Changsha tomb 169), and Yangjiawan 楊家灣 tomb 6 (renamed Changsha tomb 569); see Changsha Chu mu, pp. 420–29. The final report on the Changsha excavations (Changsha Chu mu) mentions 2,048 tombs, including 29 dated to the Spring and Autumn period.

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

Figure 1.22

Facsimile of slips 1 and 2 of the first inventory document from the tomb of Lord Yi of Zeng, Leigudun, Hubei, ca. 433 bce. After Zeng hou Yi mu zhujian wenzi bian, pp. 249–50.

Manuscript, could also be counted.79 Of more than 2,000 tombs, only 3 held manuscripts, the majority of which can be dated to the third century bce. Even if we count only the 143 Changsha tombs that contained objects made of perishable materials, this is still a mere 2 percent. In sum, the archaeological evidence indicates that the presence of manuscripts in tombs is best treated as a marginal phenomenon related mainly to rare individuals of a higher social milieu. 79 Wenwu 1974.2. On the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, see chap. 6.

39 The Mingqi Question Why were manuscripts deposited in these tombs? No matter how marginal the practice may have been in quantitative terms, the act of placing manuscripts close to the deceased cannot be explained without considering contemporaneous developments in funerary customs. Based on current archaeological evidence, the first occurrence of manuscripts in tombs is in the fifth-century bce tomb of Lord Yi of Zeng.80 Written on slips varying between seventy to seventy-five centimeters in length, the manuscripts represent inventory documents produced at the time of the funeral by the official responsible for the state of Zeng’s armory and chariots. After reconstruction, there are 215 slips that form four distinct documents. The first document, occupying 121 slips, lists the chariots donated by funeral participants with description of the decor and equipment, including weapons (fig. 1.22); the next document, on 20 slips, lists the armor worn by the men and the horse gear associated with the chariots. These two documents may have been bound as one manuscript unit. The third document, on 68 slips, lists the horses attached to the chariots along with the names of donor-participants. Names of participants and chariots recur in all three documents. The final document, on 7 slips, appears to have never been bound (there are no traces of binding cords and no notches for securing them); it begins with donations of horses and continues with 3 slips specifying categories of people (an earlier conjecture that the content concerns figurines has been questioned).81 The primary purpose of the documents was to inventory donations of chariots and horses for use in the funeral procession to the tomb site, not to inventory the burial goods placed in the tomb. Despite uncertainty regarding some details, the inventory documents were clearly an integral part of the funeral—a concrete expression of the social and political linkage between the donor-participants and the deceased—and a copy was made to place in the tomb with the other burial goods.82 The construction of the tomb no doubt favored the preservation of the bamboo slips. However, there are numerous sites of the same period with similar conditions in which no manuscripts have been discovered. While Lord Yi of Zeng is unknown in transmitted historical sources, the prestige he enjoyed at the Chu court is evident from 80 Qiu Xigui and Li Jiahao, 1989; and Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, pp. 340–73. 81 Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, p. 372n6, does not accept the conjecture regarding figurines. 82 Beckman (2006, pp. 221–36) discusses the relation of the Zeng Hou Yi documents and similar inventory manuscripts in other Chu tombs to both the funeral and the tomb.

40 the set of bells that was presented to him by King Hui of Chu 楚惠王 in the fifty-sixth year of his reign (433 bce), one of which was found in the tomb.83 The possibility that Lord Yi received the gift when he was alive is likely for several reasons. First, the funeral inventory documents do not mention the gift of bells, and, second, only one bell was placed in the tomb, indicating that the set was not a funeral gift. Despite the singularity of this manuscript discovery among contemporaneous excavated tombs, we may infer that the rulers of Zeng followed a practice known in the restricted social milieu of the aristocratic elite in Chu as well as in Zeng. The inventory documents were funerary in the sense that they were produced at the time of the funeral as a demonstration of the deceased’s reputation among the funeral participants; at the same time, they functioned as burial goods for the deceased, and their placement in the tomb ensured their conveyance to the deities of the otherworld. Systematic study of Chu tombs reveals that from the fourth century bce onward there was a pattern of lower social levels adopting reduced forms of funerary practices that were originally limited to the highest social strata.84 Bamboo-slip inventories of burial goods were one manifestation of this process of adaptation and adoption. Equally important for the development of funerary customs was the use of mingqi and everyday objects. Previously the tombs of the aristocratic elite were furnished with status markers such as sets of ritual bronze vessels and bells, as well as chime stones; weapons; prestige objects and personal adornments; objects with a magico-religious function (amulets and jade masks); and, more rarely, everyday objects such as toiletries and writing implements. By the fourth to third centuries bce, the everyday objects had increased to the point of eclipsing the sets of ritual bronzes in both quantity and quality. Ritual-vessel sets did not disappear. However, the vessels were either made of bronze but unusable because of defective casting, as in Baoshan tomb 2, Hubei (burial dated 316 bce); pottery imitations, as in Wangshan tombs 1 and 2, Hubei (burials dated ca. 330–300 bce); or lacquered wood, as in Xinyang 信仰 tomb 2, Hubei (burial dated ca. 300 bce). We need only compare the mid-sixth-century bce bronze vessel from Xiasi tomb 1, Henan (a Chu aristocratic tomb), to the pottery vessel from Wangshan tomb 1—stylistic differences aside—to grasp the radical 83 Only one bell of the set was placed in the tomb, but in the Song dynasty, two other bells belonging to the same set and with the same inscription were discovered in Anlu 安陸, Hubei. See Zeng hou Yi mu, p. 461; and Guo Moruo, 1999, pp. 165–66. 84 Thote, 2000.

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transformation of funerary customs within the space of two hundred years (fig. 1.23). The shift is all the more striking when we consider that the Wangshan pottery vessel was one of fifty-one replicas of ritual vessels in the tomb (figs. 1.24–26), which were placed together with twentyfour undecorated bronze vessels. In Baoshan tomb 2, the obvious contrast between one group of well-cast bronze vessels and another group with defects is evidence of the same phenomenon in a higher-level aristocratic tomb.85 This was in part a consequence of a major social change in the composition of the elites, going from the earlier clanand lineage-based system of noble status to an aristocratic system that included individuals and their families who distinguished themselves through government service, including war.86 Developments in funerary customs paralleled social upheavals, with new funerary customs superimposed on ancient ones and eventually supplanting them. Concomitantly, the placing in tombs of non-funerary manuscripts that belonged to the deceased while alive or would be useful in the afterlife must be understood in relation to and as one manifestation of a change in funerary customs that had occurred by the fourth century bce. What was the status of non-funerary manuscripts in regard to mingqi and everyday objects? In order to address this question, we must consider the meaning of mingqi both in its original, ancient context and as used currently in Chinese archaeology. Xing Yitian and Enno Giele both argue in favor of treating manuscripts deposited in tombs as mingqi. As I do not agree with their position, which has not taken into consideration the archaeological context in all its complexity, I will begin by summarizing their arguments. As a historian, Xing is concerned mainly with the technical writings and documents that have been found in significant numbers in the tombs of men who held positions in local administration, including legal and administrative manuscripts as well as daybooks. At issue is whether or not the manuscripts placed in a given tomb were used 85 In counting the number of pottery ritual vessels from Wangshan tomb 1, I have excluded a yan 甗, two dou 豆, and a small jar with a high neck (changjinghu 長頸壶) since these pieces do not imitate bronzes. For Baoshan tomb 2, I observed the defects in the casting of one group of bronze vessels, which can be considered to be mingqi. Baoshan Chu mu, 1991, pp. 96–113, does not make this important distinction in the description of the bronze vessels; however, the metallurgical analysis on p. 417 states that the vessels can be classified in two groups differentiated by the high or low quality of their casting. For cases of lacquerware mingqi, see Xinyang Chu mu, pp. 44–47, 101–2, 106–11. 86 C. Hsu, 1965.

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

41

Figure 1.23 Two ritual vessels made in the Chu state. (1) Bronze fanghu vessel from Xiasi tomb 1, Henan, ca. 550 bce; (2) painted pottery mingqi vessel (replica of a bronze vessel) made for the burial, Wangshan tomb 1, Hubei, ca. 330 bce. After Xichuan Xiasi Chunqiu Chu mu, fig. 63; Jiangling Wangshan Shazhong Chu mu, fig. 25A.

by the deceased while alive. Xing’s conception of a manuscript that had practical use during life is further defined by its length, which, according to his estimate, should not exceed about a hundred bound slips of bamboo or wood. A longer manuscript would have been too voluminous to be comfortably handled by the reader, who, Xing believes, would have expected to hold the unrolled manuscript between outstretched arms. He gives as an example the Kongjiapo daybook and provides an estimate of the length, weight, and diameter of the rolled-up text. Based on the raw number of more than 700 bamboo slips and fragments from the excavation report, he gives its length as between 4.9 and 5.6 meters, its weight as 2.6 kilograms, and its diameter as just under 25 centimeters (in fact, the reconstructed manuscript consists of 478 slips and 48 unassigned fragments).87 Xing concludes that the Kongjiapo daybook was produced specially for burial and that it 87 Xing Yitian, 2011b, pp. 22–29. Xing’s estimates are based on the number of slips mentioned in the first published brief excavation report on the Kongjiapo cemetery. For a table showing the exact correspondence between the slips and fragments at the time of excavation and the final reconstructed sequence of slips in the manuscript (in many cases, fragments were rejoined to make one slip), see Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 201–7.

served as a mingqi imitation of a “real” manuscript. The weak points in this argument—including the supposition in regard to manuscript length and manner of handling manuscripts for reading, as well as the understanding of mingqi—are discussed after the following review of Giele’s argument. Giele raises the matter of manuscripts found in tombs as mingqi as a way of explaining the defects in text arrangement and copying encountered in many examples of the manuscripts, including those with historical, literary, and intellectual writings. Rather than attribute the defects—that is, defects as perceived by modern viewers of an archaeologically recovered object—to elements of ancient manuscript production in general, Giele supposes that such defects are the result of production methods for mingqi objects, which were meant to be defective in accord with funerary customs. Thus incompleteness or seemingly arbitrary textual extracts—including lists of chapter titles for which there are no corresponding texts in the tomb—are to be explained as the result of “the mingqi concept” applied to “manuscripts found in a funerary context.”88 88 Giele, 2003, pp. 431–34; see p. 433 for the paraphrased quotation.

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Figure 1.24

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Burial ritual set (pottery mingqi) from Wangshan tomb 1, Hubei, ca. 330 bce. Vessels for cooking: (1–5) ding tripods of different kinds, (6) decorated li tripods, (7) zeng for steam cooking. After Jiangling Wangshan Shazhong Chu mu, figs. 19–20, 21.2, 21.4.

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

Figure 1.25

Burial ritual set (pottery mingqi) from Wangshan tomb 1, Hubei, ca. 330 bce. Vessels for storing and consuming food: (1) gui vessels, (2) fu, (3) dui, (4) zun, (5) footed and covered dou cups. Vessels for beverages: (6) high-footed and covered dou, (7) hu jars, (8) fanghu vessel, (9) jian for cooling and warming beverages. After Jiangling Wangshan Shazhong Chu mu, figs. 22, 23.1, 23.5, 24–25, 27.3, 27.5.

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Figure 1.26

Burial ritual set (mingqi) from Wangshan tomb 1, Hubei, ca. 330 bce. Vessels for storing, pouring, and collecting water: (1) fou jars, (2) he ewer, (3) pan basin, (4) tripod for warming water, (5) brazier, (6) lei jar. After Jiangling Wangshan Shazhong Chu mu, figs. 19.7, 23.6–10.

The question of mingqi has been well studied, even if its definition and its application to burial goods vary among modern authors.89 On the one hand, from the Warring States period onward, texts mention mingqi as a term for burial goods alongside the term shengqi 生器 “objects from life.” For the third century bce, the essay on ritual in Master Xun (Xunzi 荀子) explains that a selection of shengqi was taken from the home and placed in the tomb to give the appearance that the deceased had simply moved; in contrast, mingqi were dummy objects placed in the tomb as substitutes for real objects.90 On the other hand, since the twentieth century, tomb excavations have yielded quantities of ancient burial goods whose nature changed radically over time and whose significance and function in funerary customs are discussed in archaeological circles by reference to mingqi as a term for designating a category of burial goods.

89 90

For two views, see Wu Hong, 2006; and Falkenhausen, 2006, p. 537. Xunzi, 13, pp. 368–69 (“Lilun” 禮論).

In an analysis that addresses these two types of information—textual and archaeological—Wu Hung argues for applying the term mingqi to those objects that were made solely to be used in funerals, that had the appearance of real objects without having their nature, and that were not meant to function as they did above ground. Based on these criteria, the following types of mingqi coexisted even before the Warring States period: (1) objects that were smaller than those they imitated, (2) rough imitations of ancient ritual vessels, (3) deformed objects (e.g., vessels with mended lids or vessels without bottoms), (4) hastily made vessels of rough composition, (5) undecorated vessels, (6) less costly vessels made from materials other than bronze, and (7) copies of ritual-bronze sets made from other materials. The seven types overlap in the tombs of various periods, but for most of the first millennium bce, the bulk of mingqi were ritual vessels. Unusable in this world, they served a function in the otherworld. In the fourth and third centuries bce, all Chu tombs that held occupants of an identifiably higher social status (as determined archaeologically by the overall circumstances of the tomb) contained faithful pottery imitations

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Daybooks in Archaeological Context

of ritual bronzes, sometimes forming complete sets but more often limited to a few pieces. These mimicked the ritual-bronze sets in which the vessel types and numbers depended on the tomb owner’s status (figs. 1.24–26). The variety of mingqi and their ubiquity point to their use among certain social groups based on a hierarchy that no doubt reflected the complexity of the social ladder. Other types of mingqi in Warring States tombs in addition to these vessels include unfinished jade bi disks (rare because they were expensive) and wooden figurines that were substitutes for domestic servants or perhaps members of the deceased’s immediate entourage. As for shengqi, objects that are connected to everyday life are found in increasing numbers in Chu tombs, and it is clear that some or all of them originally belonged to the deceased. The lamps in Warring States tombs are an unambiguous case of shengqi. For instance, the bronze lamp from the late fourth-century bce tomb of King Cuo of Zhongshan 中山 王, Hebei, is a typical luxury object taken from the palace. The lamp has the form of a tree with many branches on which monkeys play while children below try to attract them (fig. 1.27).91 Toiletry cases and the toiletries they contained are another example of shengqi. The idea that the tomb was a microcosm that could be represented in the form of reduced-size models—stoves, granaries, chariots, animals—is seemingly first evident in Qin tombs from as early as the sixth century bce (fig. 1.28) and provides another line of development for mingqi. The tomb complex of the First Emperor of Qin is the most astonishing example of tomb as microcosm.92 Mingqi in tombs were still essentially imitations of ritual vessels in pottery or lacquer at the beginning of the Qin empire, but the number of figurines, animals, and objects made at a reduced scale meant to evoke the world in which the deceased had lived increased progressively (see figs. 1.14; 1.17, no. 9; 1.18, nos. 2–5). The idea of the tomb as a microcosm filled with microcosmic objects influenced the basic form of tombs, which, in their organization and architecture, came to resemble houses and palaces in miniature for the world below. The archaeological evidence indicates a noticeable increase in the number of mingqi from the first century bce onward, coinciding with changing ideas, and the variety of mingqi expanded to include objects from a larger range of activities as reflected in miniature stoves, granaries, wells, houses, figurines, and animals. By the end of the Han dynasty, mingqi also included objects with cosmological and magical value (guardian animals and 91 Thote, 2000. 92 Falkenhausen, 2004, pp. 129–34.

Figure 1.27

Bronze lamp from the tomb of King Cuo of Zhongshan, Hebei, late fourth century bce. After Cuo mu: Zhanguo Zhongshanguo guowang zhi mu, fig. 48A.

apotropaic figures of exorcists and divinities capable of warding off disease).93 The new significance of mingqi was accompanied by the need for production to meet demand. It is evident from the total number of mingqi excavated from Qin and Han tombs that they were being produced in dedicated workshops for a no doubt flourishing funerary market. They are standard objects—rather uniform and repetitive—reproduced by the hundreds in various localities. In contrast, the excavated shengqi show the kind of diversity we would expect of objects selected from items that belonged to the deceased or to the family and probably 93 Pirazzoli-t’Serstevens, 2009, pp. 958–59.

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Figure 1.28 Pottery granaries, Dianzi 店子 cemetery, Shaanxi, Warring States period. After Longxian Dianzi Qin mu, fig. 78.

selected for personal, sentimental reasons. Moreover, the range of likely shengqi was not dictated by funerary customs, nor did the chosen objects necessarily signify social groups and occupational categories in the same way as the customary gradations of sets of ritual vessels or other hierarchical features of the tomb. From this perspective, the occasional occurrence of manuscripts as burial goods in tombs—except for the tomb inventories and other documents made specifically for the funeral—is best viewed in relation to shengqi. Although the number of tombs with non-funerary manuscripts is small, the diversity of texts in the manuscripts indicates their nature as personal objects, not the standardized products of a large-scale funerary operation. Moreover, when we consider the selection of manuscripts found in various tombs, it is evident that daybooks as a type of literature were not restricted to one social group. Thus I propose that we classify the non-funerary manuscripts in tombs as shengqi. Xing’s idea that a manuscript that exceeds one hundred slips—his definition of the standard size for a manuscript used in everyday life—must have been a mingqi object produced for the funeral is both arbitrary and not congruent with the concept of ming­qi and mingqi production. His idea is arbitrary because the so-called standard size is unproven, and requires us to distinguish between a daybook or daybook-related manuscript of one hundred or fewer slips (or on one wooden or

bamboo tablet) and the same content on several hundred slips, with only the latter being mingqi. It is not congruent with the concept of mingqi and mingqi production because using the identical materials of a real-life manuscript to produce a lengthier, more elaborate manuscript is contrary to the nature of mingqi as rough imitations of and simplified substitutes for real-life objects. Regarding Giele’s concern over defects among the tomb manuscripts, it would be best to first address the evidence of contemporaneous non-tomb manuscripts—and to include the medieval Chinese manuscripts from Dunhuang 敦煌, Gansu, as well as manuscripts from other civilizations that antedate the advent of print—before deciding the matter. A few observations on the physical characteristics that tomb manuscripts share with non-tomb manuscripts serve to indicate that the former do not display the characteristics of mingqi and that we cannot identify criteria that distinguish them from all other manuscripts being produced and in circulation during the same time period. First, from the second half of the third century bce, the length of individual slips stabilized at around thirty centimeters or less, due to the increased use of writing to transmit information of all sorts among diverse social groups and its use in government administration; the same is true of the slips used in tomb manuscripts. Second, script styles and handwriting show a high degree of variability among the tomb manuscripts, whether manuscripts from

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

the same tomb, different tombs in the same cemetery, or different sites. Clearly there was not a single, conventional standard as we might expect for manuscripts massproduced in mingqi workshops for the funerary market. Third, silk was one of the materials used for tomb manuscripts along with bamboo and wooden slips and tablets, and it was used for its convenience—including for largescale diagrams and maps—not for its exclusivity as a luxury material, unlike the purposeful use of inexpensive materials for mingqi. Fourth, the bound slips formed coherent codicological units, often corresponding to a single manuscript, and there was a high degree of continuity within and between the texts copied on the manuscripts. Similarly, there was no qualitative difference in the graphs used in writing. Finally, the number and type of manuscripts placed in the tomb were generally independent of the deceased’s status. In short, none of the criteria used in modern archaeology to identify mingqi are applicable to the tomb manuscripts. What Types of Manuscripts? The tomb manuscripts may be broadly classified in six categories, according to content: 1. Funerary texts, including inventories and texts related to burial such as the document of declaration to the earth. These are the best-represented category in terms of the number of tombs in which they have been found (the situation changes after the beginning of the Han dynasty). 2. Personal records connected to the deceased, such as the Chu divination and offering records (bushi qidao jilu 卜筮祈禱記錄), family chronicles, event calendars, and collections of legal and administrative cases. 3. Intellectual, historical, and belletristic writings, mostly unknown in transmitted sources. 4. Technical texts, including daybooks, occult and scientific writings in general, medical texts, texts of military strategy, and calendars. 5. Legal and administrative writings (also considered as technical literature). 6. Maps, the least-represented category. The order in which the six categories are listed here corresponds roughly to the chronological order in which they occur in tombs.94 Beginning with the inventory 94 On problems raised by the classification of excavated manuscripts, see Giele, 1999; Kalinowski, 2003a; and Li Ling, 2004, pp. 193–212.

47 documents from the tomb of Lord Yi of Zeng, the oldest manuscripts discovered to date, there is a clear predominance of inventories among Chu manuscripts between the late fifth and the early third century bce.95 The Chu divination and offering records are equally well represented for the fourth and third centuries bce, with seven tombs at five sites: Geling 葛陵 tomb 1, Henan (ca. 360 bce); Tianxingguan 天星觀 tomb 1, Hubei (ca. 330 bce); Wangshan tomb 1, Hubei (ca. 330 bce); Baoshan tomb 2, Hubei (316 bce); and Qinjiazui 秦家嘴 tombs 1, 13, 99, Hubei (before 278 bce).96 The tombs we take to be the oldest Chu tombs, based on the assumption that their dating is reliable, have yielded only manuscripts in the first two categories. Tombs dated to the second half of the fourth and the beginning of the third century bce contained manuscripts in the third and fourth categories: Zidanku tomb 1, Hunan (ca. 300 bce), technical occult texts; Guodian 郭店 tomb 1, Hubei (ca. 280 bce), intellectual writings; Jiudian tomb 56, Hubei (ca. 300 bce), daybook; Changtaiguan 長臺關 tomb 1, Henan (late fourth century bce), intellectual writings; Shibancun 石板村 tomb 36, Hunan (mid-fourth century bce or later), intellectual writings; and Xiyangpo 夕陽坡 tomb 1, Hunan (late fourth century bce), short historical record.97 Among these, the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, the Guodian bamboo-slip manuscripts, and the Jiudian daybook are especially notable. The Qin tombs (eight tombs are listed in table 1.2) held manuscripts in the fifth and sixth categories, with a clear predominance of legal and administrative texts used by officials as well as other writings of a technical nature, including the four Shuihudi and Fangmatan daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts from Zhoujiatai and Yueshan 嶽山 (see table 1.1). With the exception of the Fangmatan daybooks (Gansu) and the two wooden tablets 95 Liu Guosheng (2011, p. vii) counts thirteen examples of inventory manuscripts in Warring States Chu tombs out of a total of more than thirty tombs in which manuscripts were found (the tomb of Lord Yi of Zeng is not counted as a Chu tomb). 96 For revised transcriptions of the Baoshan, Wangshan, and Geling manuscripts, see Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, pp. 91–118, 271–86, 395–446, respectively; there are no complete transcriptions for the Tianxingguan and Qinjiazui manuscripts. 97 For transcriptions of the Changtaiguan and Xiyangpo slips, see Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, pp. 374–93, 477–78. For a presentation of the Shibancun slips, see Zhang Chunlong, 2004. Changtaiguan tomb 1 and tomb 2 were previously dated to the beginning of the fifth century bce, but this date does not accord with the style of the burial goods, especially the decoration on the lacquered coffin, which is more abstract in style than the Baoshan tomb 2 coffin decoration but is clearly related.

48 from Haojiaping 郝家坪 tomb 50 (Sichuan), all other manuscripts were found in tombs in Hubei, in the region of the former Chu state. For the Han period, the number of tombs with manuscripts increases to seventy-nine tombs (see table 1.2), and their contents become more diversified. Two tombs—Mawangdui tomb 3, Hunan (168 bce), and Shuanggudui tomb 1, Anhui (165 bce)—have yielded manuscripts in all six categories. We cannot address those manuscripts that as burial goods may be considered shengqi—manuscripts that expressed the personal taste or duties of the deceased during life—without first examining more closely the first category of specifically funerary texts. Inventories related to the funeral and the tomb were continuous throughout the period, beginning with their first occurrence in the tomb of Lord Yi of Zeng and continuing in the centuries after the Han dynasty. No doubt because of their close relation to the funeral, inventories are also the best represented archaeologically, occurring in nearly half the tombs with manuscripts up to the beginning of the Qin empire. To be sure, their function changed over time. As noted, the primary purpose of the inventory documents found in the tomb of Lord Yi of Zeng was to record donations of chariots and horses used for the funeral procession, not to identify the burial goods in the tomb. It seems likely that copies were made for the tomb and for an archive, and their function was to signify the social and political connections of the deceased Lord Yi. Of the chariots, three were donated by the King of Chu, others were from members of the aristocracy, and in the case of one chariot, the four horses were donated by four different people, possibly local officials who were expected to make contributions.98 The occupant of Baoshan tomb 2, Shao Tuo, had both an inventory of burial goods and a separate, shorter inventory of the type found in Lord Yi’s tomb. The burial-goods inventory did not record information on the chariots, and the shorter inventory did not identify the burial goods. The division between two kinds of inventories was not unique to Baoshan tomb 2.99 The relationship between the separate inventories and the question of what items were recorded in the inventory for a particular tomb versus the burial goods actually found there are complex matters that remain unresolved to this day. It can be stated, however, that the great majority of inventory manuscripts 98 Beckman, 2006, pp. 224–27. The horse and chariot pits found in the tombs of high-ranking nobles are not reported for Lord Yi's tomb. I suspect that their location was missed and the pits may still be found 99 Beckman, 2006, pp. 219–22.

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found in tombs were for burial goods. The inventory must have been compiled at the time of the funeral as a common practice. It is intriguing to speculate that inventories may have originally been intended as funeral records and deposited in places of cult reserved for family ancestors and that the production of multiple copies with one to be placed in the tomb may have been a later development. But this is only a hypothesis. Whatever the case, by the second century bce, the inventory of burial goods was an integral part of the environment of the tomb, and the function of other funerary documents such as the document of declaration to the earth was similarly connected to the burial goods.100 As for the other five categories of non-funerary manuscripts, I have already noted that technical writings with practical uses, including daybooks, tended to occur among the manuscripts placed in the less elite tombs of people who were local officials and that the greatest variety of manuscripts, including intellectual and belletristic writings, were likelier to be found in aristocratic tombs such as Mawangdui tomb 3. It remains to note that there was a clear distinction within the tomb between funerary manuscripts and non-funerary manuscripts, which were never placed together. For instance, Mawangdui tombs 1 and 3 both contained inventories of burial goods. In Mawangdui tomb 1, the inventory manuscript, composed of 312 bamboo slips, was found with the burial goods in the east compartment of the tomb chamber.101 In Mawangdui tomb 3, the manuscript, composed of 402 bamboo slips, was with the burial goods in the west compartment along with an additional five wooden tablets; one wooden tablet in the east compartment was another funerary document recording the date of burial. All other tomb 3 manuscripts— texts, maps, and diagrams on silk sheets and bamboo slips (with a few wooden slips)—were stored in a lacquer box and placed in the east compartment, constituting a whole library (fig. 1.29).102 Who Was Involved? At present, there are no tombs with non-funerary manuscripts for which we can positively identify the occupant as female. This statement must be qualified to acknowledge the many tombs in which there is no trace of the skeleton of the tomb occupant or the remains are insufficient to determine the occupant’s sex. Moreover, when a judgment is based on burial goods, it must be noted 100 For the linkage between the burial goods and the gaodi shu in Kongjiapo tomb 8, see pp. 30–33 in this chapter. 101  Changsha Mawangdui yi hao Han mu, p. 130. 102  Changsha Mawangdui er san hao Han mu, pp. 43–103.

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Figure 1.29 Profile and interior of lacquer box containing manuscripts, Mawangdui tomb 3, Hunan, 168 bce. After Changsha Mawangdui er san hao Han mu, fig. 71.

that weapons are known to occur in the tombs of women as well as of men.103 In fact, burial goods considered appropriate for the tombs of men and women were often interchangeable. For instance, toiletry cases occur in both, and wigs are sometimes found in a man’s tomb (e.g., in Baoshan tomb 2). The earliest evidence of manuscripts placed in Chu tombs of the fourth century bce indicates that the practice was limited to elite, aristocratic tombs, often of people related to or close to the Chu royal lineage. Important changes had occurred by the beginning of the third century bce. First, more tombs contained manuscripts, including medium-size and small tombs belonging to people of lower social status. Next, the presence of practical, technical writings and calendars, as well as intellectual and historical writings, reflects the circulation of knowledge in wider literate circles beyond the court-based elite. Along with increased circulation, the greater use of manuscripts led to production standards for more manageable sizes of bamboo and wooden slips, which became shorter. Whereas slips usually exceed sixty centimeters for funerary inventories and other manuscripts in the older Chu tombs, by the time of the Qin empire, the length of slips had stabilized at around thirty centimeters or less (table 1.3).104 Produced in greater numbers and less easily damaged than manuscripts on very long slips, shorter-slip manuscripts facilitated the frequent, perhaps daily, use of manuscripts in both private and professional life. At the same 103 For instance, Wangshan tomb 2 contained swords. Yet the swords were placed in a side compartment, not inside the coffin as was the case in Wangshan tomb 1, which belonged to a man. 104 For an exhaustive study, see Hu Pingsheng, 2012, pp. 462–87.

time, the reduced space available for text on the bound slips was used more efficiently by fitting more graphs on the slips. For comparison, the shortest slips in the inventory documents from the tomb of Lord Yi of Zeng are seventy centimeters, and each slip contains an average of fifty graphs. The Jiudian daybook, from a little more than a century later, has between forty and fifty graphs on slips that are more than twenty centimeters shorter. Produced less than a century after the Jiudian daybook, the first Shuihudi daybook fits an average of fifty graphs on slips that measure twenty-five centimeters.105 There is no doubt that manuscript production standards set by Table 1.3

Average slip lengths of some daybook and daybook-related manuscripts

Tomb

Period

Slip length

Jiudian 56 Wangjiatai 15 Fangmatan 1 Fangmatan 1 Shuihudi 11 Shuihudi 11 Zhoujiatai 30 Zhoujiatai 30 Kongjiapo 8 Yinwan 6 Mozuizi 6

Chu Qin Qin Qin Qin Qin Qin Qin Han Han Han

46.6–48.2 cm 45 cm FMTA, 27.5 cm FMTB, 23 cm SHDA, 25 cm SHDB, 22.5 cm ZJTA, 29.6 cm ZJTB, 23.6–24 cm 33.8 cm 23.5 cm 20–22 cm

105 On the codicological features of the first daybook from Shuihudi, see Kalinowski, 2008.

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Qin government administration and continued in Han administration, along with other standards that influenced the form of books in manuscript—whether official documents, intellectual and belletristic writings, or technical literature—required efficient use of space. There must have been comparable incentives for efficiency and economy in society at large as information was increasingly transmitted in manuscripts. Given that the non-funerary manuscripts in tombs were very probably real books that tomb occupants had valued in life for personal and professional reasons, we must ask about their involvement in making the manuscripts in their possession, including the manuscripts placed in their tombs. We have already noted the relatively frequent occurrence of writing implements together with the manuscripts in a tomb, such as the writing brushes found with the manuscripts inside Xi’s coffin in Shuihudi tomb 11. Other related items are tools for preparing ink (a stone slab and pestle for grinding the dry ink balls) and the scraping knife; rulers and counting rods may also be present. These items have been found in tombs at the highest levels of society—Bajiaolang tomb 40, whose occupant was Liu Xiu—and in ordinary tombs. Writing implements and related items found in tombs with daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts are illustrated in figures 1.30–32 and summarized in table 1.4. Fenghuangshan 鳳凰山 tomb 168, at Jiangling, Hubei (burial dated 167 bce), is unusual for the special attention given to writing implements in a tomb with only an inventory of burial goods written on sixty-six bamboo slips and a document of declaration to the earth written on a bamboo tablet.106 Excavated in 1975, Fenghuangshan tomb 168 is the second discovery of a well-preserved corpse (after Mawangdui tomb 1). The occupant’s name, Sui 遂, is known from the jade seal placed in his mouth and from the document of declaration to the earth. The autopsy determined that Sui was about sixty when he died. The close connection between the burial goods, the inventory manuscript, and the declaration as a highly personal representation of Sui in life and after death is obvious first of all from the fact that the numbers of attendants and horses stated in the declaration correspond to the itemization of burial goods in the inventory manuscript and to the wooden figurines and wooden horses found in the compartments of the tomb chamber. We know from the declaration that Sui was a wu daifu 五大夫 “fifth grandee,” a mid-level rank in the Han imperial orders of rank. Among the burial goods, perhaps most revealing of his personal interests and

occupation are the items packed inside a plaited bamboo basket found in the side compartment: a round stone slab and pestle, ink balls, a writing brush in its case, a scraping knife, six blank wooden tablets, thirty bamboo counting rods, a scale and bronze weights, five wooden sticks (use uncertain), and 101 banliang 半兩 coins.107 Slip 59 in the inventory manuscript lists “one lidded basket for calculations” (jisi yihe 計笥一合), which must be the basket just described.108 Sui was most likely a local official with duties related to finance, hence the inclusion among the burial goods of a basket of items “for calculations” (coins, scale, and set of counting rods). However, manuscripts that might have represented Sui’s official duties were not placed in the tomb chamber. Rather, it appears that the writing implements and blank tablets in the basket were intended for Sui’s future use, just as he had used these materials to produce written documents during life. Fenghuangshan tomb 168 has not added to the number of non-funerary manuscripts excavated from tombs, yet it provides material evidence of one man’s involvement in manuscript production in life and in death. Fenghuangshan tomb 168 is useful for reflecting further on a tomb occupant and the personal nature of manuscripts placed in a tomb, in particular the four relatively ordinary tombs in which all six published manuscripts of the daybook text type were found. There does not seem to be a correlation between the number of manuscripts placed near the tomb occupant and the occupant’s wealth or social status. In their function as burial goods, manuscripts were different from the sets of ritual vessels, bells, chime stones, and weapons that in an earlier era signified the aristocratic status of the deceased as defined by funerary customs in a carefully graduated scale from high to low. By the third century bce, a minor official was more likely to be buried with objects that signified his social and cultural environment, his social status in that environment, and his accomplishments. Take, for instance, Xi, the occupant of Shuihudi tomb 11. On the right side of his corpse inside the coffin were the manuscripts and writing brushes; on the left side were the toiletry case and silk cap. In the uppermost level of the head compartment were another writing brush, a scraping knife, and a liubo game set. On the one hand, the manuscripts of technical literature—legal and administrative writings and daybooks— stand out as rarities amid the plethora of burial goods obtained from all Warring States, Qin, and Han tombs. On the other hand, their placement in the assemblage of the Shuihudi tomb 11 burial goods demands that we see

106 The most complete excavation report published to date is Kaogu xuebao 1993.4.

107  Kaogu xuebao 1993.4, pp. 491–95. 108 Ibid., p. 503.

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Daybooks in Archaeological Context

Figure 1.30

Writing implements and related items found in tombs with daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. Shuihudi tomb 11: (1, 2) writing brushes with cases. Zhoujiatai tomb 30: (1) bamboo counting rod, (2) cylindrical bamboo container for counting rods, (3) bamboo brush case, (4) ink box, (5) brush handle, (6) iron scraping knife. After Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, figs. 18–19; Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu, fig. 11.3–4, 6–9.

Figure 1.31 Writing implements and related items found in tombs with daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. Yinwan tomb 6: lacquerware case with stone slab for grinding ink, 21 cm long, 6.5 cm wide. Jiudian tomb 56: ink cake. After Yinwan Han mu jiandu, fig. 30; Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, plate 95.6.

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Figure 1.32 Zhoujiatai tomb 30 plaited bamboo container with manuscripts, writing implements, and other items. (1) Bamboo counting rods, (2) ink cake, (3) bamboo brush handle, (4) bamboo ink box, (5) bamboo brush case. After Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu, figs. 12–13.

the manuscripts in the larger environment of the tomb and in the context of Xi’s attributes as a person. Consider the related but contrasting environment of Wangjiatai tomb 15, which has a similar mix of technical literature (supplemented by the hexagram divination text and the text of portents) combined with items used to practice divination (board with Dipper-astrolabe type design, dice, counting rods). The tomb as a personalized environment could be adapted to accord with the attributes of the deceased. Beikangcun 北康村 tomb 34, to the north of Xi’an, Shaanxi, is one of several Qin tombs excavated between November 1999 and February 2000 at a site with tombs ranging in date from the Warring States period to the Tang and Song dynasties. The occupant of Beikangcun tomb 34 was a man named Cang 蒼, according to the graph on the bronze seal found above his head in the coffin along with

several iron tools, a bronze belt hook, and a lacquer vessel. Surrounding the skeleton in the coffin were twentyfive pottery molds for making cast-metal objects (fig. 1.33). Cang was a metal artisan who worked either in a government workshop or in his own workshop. The designs on the molds show the influence of non-Chinese peoples to the west and north, and his metal pieces were probably produced for “domestic and foreign” markets (fig. 1.34).109 Moreover, the molds had been used; that is, in the context of the tomb and funerary customs, the molds were shengqi selected from Cang’s belongings for their personal significance, not mingqi. The arrangement of the shengqi pottery molds around Cang’s skeleton in Beikangcun tomb 34 reconfirms and 109  Xi’an Beijiao Qin mu, pp. 120–33, 202, 210; Liu Yang, 2012, pp. 289–91.

53

Daybooks in Archaeological Context Table 1.4

Writing implements and related items found in tombs with daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts

Tomb

Items

Locations

Reference

Jiudian tomb 56

ink box ink cake iron scraping knife bamboo brush in brush case counting rods (21) wooden chi 尺 ruler bamboo brushes in brush cases (2) bamboo brush bronze scraping knife bamboo brush bamboo brush case iron scraping knife ink box, ink cake counting rods (25) brushes (2) inkstone iron scraping knife (3) counting rods (58)

side niche (inside the slip bundle)

Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, plates 95.6, 97.2 (black and white); fig. 168.11, p. 257. Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian, figs. 58.1–2, p. 72; fig. 16, p. 146; fig. 19, p. 148.

Fangmatan tomb 1

Shuihudi tomb 11

Zhoujiatai tomb 30

Yinwan tomb 6 Yueshan tomb 36

coffin east compartment coffin coffin head compartment head compartment tomb chamber (inside a bamboo basket together with the slip bundle)

Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, plates 10.1–2; figs. 18–19, p. 27.

Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu, figs. 53.2–4, 53.6–7, p. 63; figs. 11.4, 11.6–9, p. 195.

coffin (left)

Yinwan Han mu jiandu, fig. 30, p. 55; fig. 32, p. 56; fig. 40, p. 60.

coffin

Kaogu xuebao 2004.4, p. 549 (not reproduced).

clarifies the significance of Xi’s similarly placed manuscripts in Shuihudi tomb 11. The same idea informed the disposition of burial goods inside both coffins, one tomb occupant an official and the other an artisan. The two tombs seem to capture a moment in funerary customs as practiced in Qin culture in the late third century bce, when particular attention was given to the objects placed closest to the tomb occupant (generally mingqi and shengqi were placed in symbolic arrangements in the tomb chamber, when there was one). Objects that strongly defined the person in life became the shengqi that both commemorated and perpetuated the status achieved by that person in death: whether manuscripts or pottery molds, these objects exalted the individual and his or her place in society for the living who participated in the funeral and ensured that otherworld officials and deities acknowledged that status. In regard to religious ideas and the organization of the otherworld, it is not coincidental that the account of Dan’s resurrection placed in Fangmatan tomb 1 provides third-century bce confirmation of its bureaucratic nature. Additional confirmation comes from the document of declaration to the earth, which officially transferred the

deceased from the this-world administration to that of the otherworld and which first appeared in second-century bce tombs.110 For a local official like Xi, his manuscripts no doubt served as his introduction to the otherworld. As is evident from the preceding discussion, the involvement of tomb occupants with the manuscripts found in their tombs includes the likelihood that they themselves engaged in manuscript production. Further, to the extent that manuscripts formed part of a person’s social and cultural identity, technical literature was not categorically different from intellectual, historical, and belletristic writings. These two circumstances are clear from the range of texts copied in the tomb manuscripts and from the physical characteristics of the manuscripts. Finally, I offer some observations on evidence of the diversity of script and different hands in the tomb manuscripts, especially the daybooks. The participation of multiple copyists in the production of the first Shuihudi daybook is obvious, 110 At present, the oldest-known gaodi shu is from Xiejiaqiao 謝家 橋 tomb 1, Hubei, which gives a date corresponding to 183 bce. See Yang Kaiyong, 2009, pp. 191–94.

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Figure 1.33 Plan and profile of Beikangcun tomb 34, Shaanxi, late third century bce. After Xi’an beijiao Qin mu, fig. 83.

Figure 1.34 Two pottery molds for animal-style plaques, Beikangcun tomb 34, Shaanxi, late third century bce. After Xi’an beijiao Qin mu, figs. 84.1, 85.1.

55

Daybooks in Archaeological Context

as is the fact that copying more text to fill blank space on the surface of the slips necessarily occurred over a period of time while the daybook was already being used.111 In researching manuscripts, scholars often comment about accuracy in copying graphs and the quality of the handwriting—excellent, competent, and poor—in order to pass judgment on the copyist’s level of literacy and calligraphic skill. To be sure, the manuscripts reflect different levels of knowledge and scribal competence. This adds to the evidence that the manuscripts were used in life before being selected to serve as burial goods. If it was a case of preparing the manuscripts with the sole intention of placing them in a tomb, we might expect that those charged with the task, necessarily specialists, would have applied themselves more diligently to producing manuscripts of a standardized quality, as is the case with the potters who specialized in the manufacture of pottery imitations of bronze ritual vessels (see figs. 1.6; 1.17; 1.23, no. 2; 1.24–26). Rather, the manuscripts reflect the diversity of social and cultural levels of the people who participated in manuscript culture, whether copyists, readers, or users of manuscripts. Even seemingly miswritten graphs—keep in mind that in the Han dynasty there was still no absolute standard for orthography, and manuscript practices in all societies, premodern and modern, exhibit variable standards—and the semblance of poor handwriting should not be assumed to indicate a limited degree of knowledge, especially when that judgment is based in part on a biased view of daybooks as technical literature inferior to other types of writings regarded as the exclusive property of the literate elite. Even the elite can write poorly on occasion, and we know that the popularity of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts crossed social and cultural boundaries between elite and non-elite in ancient China.

Earlier in this chapter, I observe that the material culture of the world of the dead may reflect the world of the living but is never an exact replica. In the presentation of tomb archaeology, funerary customs, and how to understand the presence of manuscripts in tombs, I necessarily focus on an interpretation of the tomb environment in which the manuscripts were found. I also outline changes in funerary customs over time so as to indicate some of the circumstances that led to the inclusion of nonfunerary manuscripts among the burial goods. In partic-

ular, the idea of shengqi is crucial to understanding the significance of these manuscripts when used as burial goods and to speculating on ways of connecting the tomb manuscripts to manuscript culture at large. In conclusion, I would like to offer some thoughts on the kind of worldview that favored the choice of daybooks for inclusion in tombs and also on the seemingly temporal boundaries of the practice of burying non-funerary manuscripts. As indicated by archaeological excavations, a practice that began in the fourth century bce appears to have diminished or ended by the first century ce. Archaeology involves chance, but it also provides a form of representativeness that can be set alongside the evidence of history in order to sharpen our understanding of ancient China. In addition to their practical value, daybooks and their hemerological knowledge were among the material objects that gave expression to cosmological ideas in particular instantiations, including the Dipper astrolabe for divination, the liubo game set for play, and the so-called TLV mirror, which are all connected to the cord-hook diagram. TLV mirror inscriptions further associate its cosmological symbolism with the power to expel evil (qu buxiang 去不 祥).112 It is noteworthy that the fashion for TLV mirrors is first evident near the end of the second century bce, when they appear in the archaeological record, and that they increase in number at a time when the archaeological evidence of daybooks in tombs diminishes. Is it possible that new objects—the TLV mirror—and new ideas in funerary customs changed the perception of daybooks as burial goods and also changed ideas about manuscripts as burial goods in general? I have already referred to the increasing predominance of mingqi in the third century bce and the evidence in Qin culture of the use of reduced-size models in connection with the idea of the tomb as microcosm. The TLV mirror as microcosmic, apotropaic object fits into this trend, and its increased use in tombs is easy to understand. Decisions about what to put in a tomb constitute an intentional symbolic act. The vogue for placing manuscripts in the tomb chamber or in the coffin continued over a period of several centuries, but perhaps changes in ideas about shengqi made the practice less popular. By the first century bce, mingqi constituted almost the entirety of burial goods, with an increase in the number of reduced-size models. Moreover, in the same century, the use of images in the form of mural paintings—and soon stone carvings—began to appear in the new architectural setting of tombs constructed as horizontal dwellings with

111 For further discussion, see pp. 113–16 in chap. 3.

112 Tseng, 2004.

Conclusion

56 chambers and walls. Images now portrayed the tomb occupant in life, the funerary procession, and the departure for the otherworld, evoking a setting that effectively took the place of the shengqi, of which the manuscripts

thote

were a part.113 This was a decisive moment in funerary customs, when image replaced text.

113 On these developments, see Wu Hung, 2010.

CHAPTER 2

Daybooks: A Type of Popular Hemerological Manual of the Warring States, Qin, and Han Liu Lexian The term rishu 日書 “daybook” was not known before 1975, when two hemerological manuscripts were discovered in Shuihudi 睡虎地 tomb 11, Hubei, the second of which has the title Rishu written on it. Subsequent archaeological discoveries of manuscripts have continued to bring similar hemerological writings to light, and we now know that daybooks as a text type appeared no later than the Warring States period. However, even now, many people in the field of Chinese studies, including the study of early China, are not familiar with them and know very little about what daybooks are and their significance for our understanding of ancient Chinese civilization. When the discovery of the Shuihudi daybooks was first reported in 1976, the excavation team does not appear to have had a clear idea about the kind of text they had unearthed. The summary of the Shuihudi manuscripts published in the May 1976 issue of Wenwu 文物 (Cultural relics) divided the manuscripts into six groups by content, identified the rishu manuscripts as the sixth group, and described them as “a type of writing on divination” (bushi 卜筮, lit., “turtle and milfoil divination”). The brief excavation report on Shuihudi tomb 11 in the June issue of the same journal used instead the compound zhanbu 占卜 “divination” when referring to the rishu manuscripts.1 The excavators of Shuihudi tomb 11 were evidently unaware of the differences between daybooks and divination texts. As more manuscripts, including daybooks, have been discovered over the past several decades, and with advances in knowledge in relevant fields, our understanding of daybooks has improved considerably, and few scholars would now confuse daybooks with books of divination. Yet given the limited number of published manuscript sources and the amount of research being devoted to daybooks, we have not yet reached a full understanding of the textual genre and its relation to ancient Chinese hemerology. Even today, basic questions such as “What are daybooks?” generate discussion among researchers, making clear-cut answers difficult. This chapter surveys the manuscript evidence, examines the characteristics of the daybook text type, and situates daybooks within the 1  Ji Xun, 1976, p. 1; Wenwu 1976.6, p. 3.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004349315_004

larger context of ancient hemerological literature and technical occult and scientific literature. My presentation builds on the research of many scholars in order to clarify for the general reader the current state of our knowledge of daybooks and to lay a foundation for future research.

Content and Defining Features of Daybooks

To date, the label rishu has been applied to more than twenty groups of texts by archaeologists and the various archaeological institutes, museums, and universities with holdings of excavated manuscripts, whether archaeologically excavated or looted and then acquired. Most of these materials have been removed from Warring States, Qin, and Han tombs during archaeological excavations. In several instances, it is presumed that looted materials were also from tombs. In addition, there have been relevant discoveries in northwest China at the sites of Han military outposts (some discoveries date to the first half of the twentieth century). While the latter materials are few in number and fragmentary, they are invaluable textual evidence from non-tomb sites and therefore are not connected with mortuary culture as are manuscripts from tombs. A survey of all texts that have been called rishu reveals that these so-called daybooks are not all the same, and sometimes their content differs considerably. There is no consensus on the identifying characteristics of the category rishu, nor do scholars agree on criteria for determining whether a particular text is or is not a rishu. We should, therefore, begin by addressing the basic problem of definition and classification. My ideas are necessarily tentative for several reasons, most of all because only a rather limited number of the manuscripts identified as rishu in archaeological reports have been fully published and because some of the published materials are too short or too fragmentary to provide useful information. As more manuscripts are published, we will better understand the textual connections among the variety of materials discovered to date, and our knowledge of both hemerology and the manuscripts that contain hemerological information will be more complete. Nevertheless, careful

58 examination of the published manuscripts that have been the subject of research by scholars in China and internationally lays the foundation for studies in the future, when no doubt there will have been new manuscript discoveries. The term rishu first occurred on the second Shuihudi manuscript and the manuscript is important for the identification of a type of hemerological text in early China. When more than 1,100 bamboo slips were discovered inside the coffin of Xi 喜, the occupant of Shuihudi tomb 11 who died around 217 bce, they were in jumbled piles of loose slips spreading from the head to the feet of the skeleton, which was supine in the coffin.2 The first of the two bamboo-slip manuscripts now called rishu was by the right side of the skull. As reconstructed, it is composed of 166 slips, measuring about 25 centimeters long, 0.5 centimeter wide, and 0.1 centimeter thick. The second manuscript was by the lower legs and feet. As reconstructed, it has 259 slips, measuring about 23 centimeters long, 0.6 centimeter wide, and 0.1 centimeter thick. The graphs rishu 日書 are written on the verso of the last slip, slip 259 (fig. 2.1).3 The similarity between the two manuscripts was immediately obvious from the number of sections they share, and much of their content resembles information found in later almanacs and hemerological compendiums. The occurrence of the compound rizhe 日者 in ancient transmitted sources (discussed below)—literally “day-ist” and perhaps designating “hemerologist”—and occurrences of ri in references to determining auspicious and inauspicious days and times further suggest that the name rishu might have been the ancient name for hemerological writings. As for its modern use, following the precedent of naming both Shuihudi manuscripts “daybooks,” whenever texts that seemed to be similar were encountered in later manuscript discoveries, the archaeologists automatically classified them as daybooks. To date, there are three more known cases of a manuscript bearing the title Rishu. Having classified the manuscript from Kongjiapo 孔家坡 tomb 8, Hubei (burial dated 142 bce), as a daybook based on its similarity to the Shuihudi daybooks, when infrared images of both sides of slip 236 were made, there were four previously unnoticed graphs at the top of the verso of the slip: 日書[2] “daybook [2],” with a black dot written above the graphs. Although 2  See fig. 1.10 in chap. 1. 3  Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, p. 22 and plate 165. While the number of this slip in Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu is 1154 for recto and verso, the verso is numbered slip 260 in Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 140. This error is corrected in Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, p. 875, which identifies the slip as slip 259v.

liu

Figure 2.1 Rishu 日書 (Daybook) written on the verso of SHDB, slip 259. After Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, p. 1335.

Daybooks: A Type of Popular Hemerological Manual

59

slip 236 is not at the end or the beginning of the manuscript, scholars have argued that the graphs were intended as the title for the Kongjiapo manuscript.4 The next case is Shuihudi tomb 77, Hubei, a second-century bce Han tomb excavated in 2006. According to the brief excavation report for the tomb, several thousand pieces of bamboo slips as well as bamboo and wooden tablets were found in varying states of preservation, most of them in a mass defined by the rotted bamboo container that originally held the manuscripts. The slips and tablets were classified into twenty-two groups based on physical characteristics and location in the mass at the time of excavation. There are numerous slip fragments with hemerological content, but no unbroken slips, and group C, slip 82v, has rishu “daybook” written on it (we await publication of the reconstructed hemerological manuscript or manuscripts).5 Finally, the Han bamboo slips acquired by Peking University in 2009 and considered to be roughly second century bce in date include several hemerological texts with titles such as Rishu (Daybook), Riji 日忌 (Day avoidances), Riyue 日約 (Day digest), and Kanyu 堪輿 (Canopy and Chassis) written on the slips.6 When reconstructions of the Peking University manuscripts are published, we will have better knowledge of what kind of book was called “daybook” and will be able to compare the form and content of the Peking University daybook to the other hemerological manuscripts with different names. For now, however, we at least have confirmation that the name rishu was used for manuscripts in circulation in the third and second centuries bce and can infer that the features of a manuscript book named “daybook” were recognized by Warring States, Qin, and Han people. While it is an important clue for research on ancient Chinese hemerological literature broadly defined, the connection between the use of rishu as title and the type of text so named remains problematic. In the first place, there is no extant example or bibliographic record of a book named rishu in the transmitted sources of early China, nor does the term rishu even occur.7 In short, we

cannot rely on transmitted texts to inform us of the characteristics of daybooks. It is evident that we are dealing with a popular text of the sort that people valued in their daily lives but did not place in the same category as books whose titles are classified in the bibliographic treatise of the Book of Han (Han shu 漢書).8 Given the ephemeral quality of daybooks among the totality of manuscripts produced in the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods, we are hard pressed to decide on the exact meaning of the term rishu to the makers, readers, and users of daybooks. Was “daybook” an abbreviated reference to books on riji 日忌 “day avoidances” or zeri 擇日 “selecting days” (both compounds occur in the context of hemerology)?9 Did it perhaps express the utility of daybooks for everyday activities? Or was its significance simultaneously all of the above and based on the function of daybooks in a social and cultural setting that is lost to us? Many modern explanations of rishu “daybook” refer directly to the compound rizhe “day-ist, hemerologist” and sometimes suggest that daybooks were the books of day-ists,10 but only two transmitted sources mention rizhe. It is presumed that rizhe refers to a type of occult specialist, yet neither source makes clear who the day-ists were and what they did. Arguably, the older testimony is the story in Master Mo (Mozi 墨子) of Mozi’s encounter with a day-ist while traveling. The day-ist in the story appears to be a kind of itinerant soothsayer. He tells Mozi that because black is his symbolic color and on this day the deity Di 帝 killed a black dragon in the north, Mozi should not be traveling north (Mozi ignores the day-ist’s pronouncement).11 Similar hemerological prohibitions based on events associated with spirits, directions, and color symbolism occur in daybooks.12 However, the lack of a second reference to rizhe in all the pre-Han transmitted sources and excavated texts limits meaningful speculation on day-ists and their possible connection to daybooks. Sima Qian 司馬遷 (145?–86? bce) was clearly interested in day-ists as occult specialists when he composed the

4  I thank Liu Guosheng for confirmation of the graphs on slip 236v (e-mail, May 10, 2015). See also Li Ling, 2008, p. 75. 5  See Jiang Han kaogu 2008.4, pp. 31–37. 6  See Wenwu 2011.6, pp. 49–56; and Li Ling, 2011a. The original slips with transcription of the Kanyu manuscript are published in Beijing daxue cang Xi Han zhushu, vol. 5, pp. 91–143. 7  There is a Song dynasty record of a work titled Rishu (Daybook) by Tan Rong 譚融 in the “Yueling” 月令 (Monthly ordinances) division of the bibliographic chapter of the Tongzhi, vol. 1, p. 764. Based on what we know about daybooks in the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods, they were obviously different from the genre of monthly ordinances. Therefore, confirmation of whether or not

 the Rishu by Tan Rong is similar to the daybooks introduced in this chapter awaits further research. 8  See pp. 84–87 in this chapter. 9  In Wang Chong’s 王充 Lunheng 論衡 essays (first century ce), expressions such as shiri zhi shu 時日之書 “books of seasons and days” and rijin zhi shu 日禁之書 “books of day prohibitions” are used in the course of criticizing hemerological ideas and practices. See Lunheng, 24, p. 989 (“Jiri” 譏日). 10  See, for instance, Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, “Gaishu” 概述, p. 3. The main basis for the claim is Shiji, chap. 127, but the extant Shiji text is insufficient evidence to support the claim. 11  Mozi, 12, pp. 447–48 (“Guiyi” 貴義). 12  See pp. 223–25 in chap. 5.

60

liu

“Account of Day-ists” (Rizhe liezhuan 日者列傳), chapter 127 in the Records of the Scribe (Shiji 史記), which is followed by the separate “Account of Turtle and Milfoil Divination” (Guice liezhuan 龜策列傳), chapter 128. However, Sima Qian’s original text for both chapters was lost, and chapter 127 was replaced at an early date by a different account of the Han diviner Sima Jizhu 司馬季主. As evidence of Sima Qian’s intention for chapter 127, we have only the summary of the chapters of the Records of the Scribe in which he states that “the day-ists of Qi, Chu, Qin, and Zhao, each have commonly followed practices.”13 Was Sima Qian continuing a pre-Han use of the name rizhe? Or did he understand rizhe as a general term for a broad group of Han occult specialists, some of them identified by their expertise in particular hemerological systems? The evidence is inconclusive.14 We must also consider the significance of the title Rishu written on several manuscripts in relation to the practice of giving titles to books in early China. In 26 bce, Emperor Cheng appointed Liu Xiang 劉向 (79–8 bce) to lead the project of producing collated manuscript editions of books collected from throughout the realm to be deposited at court. Titles were attached to the manuscripts of every book at that time, and these titles are preserved in the Book of Han bibliographic treatise. However, even for books that had more formal status than daybooks, naming practice in early China did not follow fixed rules, nor was it regarded as necessary. Moreover, the title did not necessarily reflect the actual content of the whole manuscript. The two Shuihudi daybooks include non-hemerological content, and despite their remarkable similarity, SHDA has no title attached whereas SHDB does. In short, the identity of a book did not depend on its title, and the custom of naming books was different in the post-Han period.15 Even were we able to determine the precise meaning of the name “daybook” and the significance of its use as a book title, we still would not be able to rely on the title to clarify the defining features of the text type represented by the Shuihudi daybooks. Rather than rely on the title itself or speculate on a presumed association with day-ists, I propose that we focus on the manuscripts we now have and base our understanding of daybooks on an analysis of their form and content. As stated, we have four examples of manuscripts with “daybook” as the title. Among them, SHDB is the only example for which the use of the term rishu as a book title is unquestionable and for which the content is fully pub13  14  15 

S hiji, 130, p. 3318. See Yu Jiaxi, 1963; and Liu Lexian, 2007. See pp. 86–87 in this chapter; and pp. 109–10 in chap. 3. See Yu Jiaxi, 1985, pp. 26–35.

lished. The case of slip 236 in the Kongjiapo manuscript remains open to argument.16 So we may start with the premise that SHDB may provide concrete evidence of a text type and that other manuscripts may represent the same text type, which we can call the “daybook text type.” Given its discovery in the same tomb and its similarity in form and content, SHDA may be regarded as equivalent to SHDB and a reliable example of the daybook text type. Comparatively speaking, SHDA provides a better test case for analysis than does SHDB or any other daybook manuscript. Not only is the SHDA manuscript long, with varied content, but the bamboo slips are better preserved than SHDB’s and text fills both sides of the bound slips. With manuscripts discovered in tombs, the cords that bound the slips into a manuscript have rotted, and the slips are loose. Reconstruction of the original sequence of slips relies mainly on the position of the slips at the time of excavation and their content when reading across groups of slips. In the case of SHDA, the text on the verso provides double confirmation of the correct sequence for the text written on the recto of the same slips; only one slip sequence yields the correct text on both recto and verso. No other daybook manuscript provides the same degree of certainty as to the arrangement of the sections in their original order. Thus the reconstructed SHDA daybook gives us the most reliable representation of a daybook in its original state and is best suited to the purpose of describing the daybook text type. As detailed in appendix B, SHDA consists of eighty-seven sections (the numbered sections represent a modern judgment of the discrete units of text). Like other bamboo-slip manuscripts, the placement of text on the surface of the slips is from right to left, and the graphs are written vertically on the slips. Sometimes the text of a section is written down the entire length of the slips that constitute the section. Frequently, however, sections are arranged in horizontal registers across a set number of slips (fig. 2.2). Use of registers also facilitated different text formats, such as tables, as well as the insertion of diagrams. Sometimes one section occupies several horizontal registers; sometimes a section consists of whole slips of text and horizontal registers; sometimes different sections occupy the registers from the top to the bottom of the slips; and sometimes it is obvious that the first copyist left blank space below a section or sections occupying the upper registers and moved leftward so as to copy the next section and that a later copyist used the blank space to add more text and sections. 16 

See the discussion in Harkness, 2011, p. 99n2.

Daybooks: A Type of Popular Hemerological Manual

61 The result is a manuscript with no space left blank except on a few slips at the end of the manuscript verso. While the contents of SHDA (and other daybooks) may seem chaotic and random at first sight, closer examination reveals a pattern to the arrangement of sections, especially when we focus our attention on the sequence of sections that constituted an earlier form of the manuscript. The pattern is most evident in the sequence of sections on the recto of SHDA (fig. 2.3).17 Roughly two-thirds of the recto is occupied by eight sections in sequence, seven of which have a section heading written above the upper binding cord on the slip where the section begins: SHDA.1, “Chu” 除 (Remove), in two registers on slips 1r–13r; SHDA.3, “Qinchu” 秦除 (Qin Remove), in two registers on slips 14r–25r; SHDA.7, “Congchen” 叢辰 (Collected Branches), in one register on slips 26r–31r and whole slips 32r–46r;18 SHDA.12, “Xuange” 玄戈 (Dark Dagger-Ax), in one register on slips 47r–58r; SHDA.16, “Sui” 歲 (Year), in four registers on slips 64r–67r; SHDA.17, “Xing” 星 (Star), in one register on slips 68r–95r; and SHDA.31, “Di” 帝 (Di/Emperor), in one register on slips 96r–99r, one whole slip (slip 100r), and one register on slip 101r. The seven sections with headings all belong to the category of general hemerologies, which apply distinct hemerological systems to a variety of activities. They share features such as tables presenting the time scheme (usually months and days) accompanied by prohibitions or predictions based on the day qualifiers associated with the system. There are several sections written in lower registers on the surface of the slips beneath these seven, but they occupy a secondary place compared to the prominence of the seven sections.19 The seven general hemerologies are followed by a sequence of eight topical hemerologies related mainly to construction, earthworks, and travel. Like the preceding general hemerologies, each section has a heading written above the upper binding cord where it begins: SHDA.34, “Shiji” 室忌 (House-compound avoidances), in one register on slips 102r–103r; SHDA.35, “Tuji” 土忌 (Earth

Figure 2.2 SHDA.47, arranged in six registers on slips 140r1–6–149r1–6. The section heading “Shengzi” 生子 (Childbirth) is written above the text on slip 140r1. After Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, plates, pp. 100–101.

17  F or an earlier schematic diagram of SHDA on which fig. 2.3 is based, see Kalinowski, 2008, pp. 38–39. 18  The actual title for SHDA.7 is “Jichen” 稷辰. On the identification of Jichen with Congchen hemerology attested in transmitted sources, see Rao Zongyi and Zeng Xiantong, 1982, p. 11. 19  On general hemerologies and topical hemerologies in SHDA, see pp. 139–45 in chap. 4 and supplement 4.1. For discussion of the term “day qualifiers” and the related Chinese term shensha 神 煞 “calendar spirits,” see pp. 171–76 in chap. 4. The eighth section occupying a prominent place is SHDA.15 (slips 59r–63r), which lacks a section heading and is a topical hemerology on moving in the eight directions, not a general hemerology.

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Figure 2.3 Schematic representation of the recto of SHDA. Section numbers follow the section divisions (SHDA.1–53) listed under “First Shuihudi daybook” in appendix B. Thick twined lines indicate the position of the three binding cords at the top, middle, and bottom of the slips. Black horizontal lines reproduce the lines drawn on the original manuscript that demarcate the sections or the division of registers within a single section. Numbers in parentheses indicate the registers in sections with multiple registers. Shaded areas above the top binding cord show the location of section headings (the headings and the slip numbers on which they appear are above).

a­ voidances), in one register on slips 104r–105r, one whole slip (slip 106r), and one register on slips 107r–109r; SHDA.36, “Zuoshi” 作事 (Engaging in activity), in one register on slip 110r; SHDA.37, “Huiqi” 毀棄 (Demolish and remove), in one register on slips 111r–113r; SHDA.39, “Zhi shimen” 置室門 (House-compound gate placement), in three registers on slips 114r–126r;20 SHDA.41, “Xing” 行 (Travel), on whole slips 127r–130r; SHDA.42, “Guixing” 歸行 (Return and travel), on whole slips 131r–133r; and SHDA.43, “Daoshi” 到室 (Arrival at the house-compound), on one whole slip (slip 134r). Another seven sections of topical hemerologies— travel, childbirth, marriage, and so forth—occupy the rest of the recto either in the upper registers or on the whole surface of the remaining slips (slips 135r–166r). The differentiation between the general hemerologies with tables and the topical hemerologies—some with tables and some with diagrams—is clear in terms of the contents as well as visually on the surface of the slips. There is overlap between the two categories of hemerologies, including

references to day qualifiers from the general hemerologies in some of the topical hemerologies and examples of matching prohibitions and predictions. With regard to their relative significance, two general hemerologies are most prominent: SHDA.1 and SHDA.3, on Jianchu 建除 (Establish-Remove) hemerology; and SHDA.7, on Congchen (Collected Branches) hemerology.21 Not only do they occur first on the recto of SHDA, but their similar placement on SHDB and other manuscripts—even when the reconstructed sequence of slips is difficult to ascertain, it is clear that these hemerologies occur at the beginning—suggests that the Jianchu and Congchen hemerologies are identifying features of a type of text. Based on our analysis of SHDA and by extension of SHDB with Rishu as title, I propose that we call it the “daybook text type.” This proposal is pragmatic and is intended to facilitate our understanding of the variety of manuscripts with hemerological or occult texts that continue to be discovered regularly (whether archaeologically excavated or

20 

21 

The third register of slips 124r–126r is occupied by SHDA.40.

On Jianchu and Congchen hemerologies, see appendix C.

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looted). Criteria derived from the physical features and content of groups of manuscripts and the classification of text types based on these criteria are invaluable tools for modern research on excavated manuscripts. Before continuing to describe the daybook text type, we should mention the sections in SHDA that are indirectly related or unrelated to hemerology and that vary from one manuscript of the daybook text type to another. In the category of indirect relation, on the verso of SHDA, SHDA.60 records the day-night proportions for the twelve months of the year; SHDA.64 lists the five agents in the mutual conquest sequence and the correlation of agents to directions. This is necessary knowledge for practicing hemerology, hence its inclusion in the manuscript. There are three consecutive non-hemerological sections on the verso of SHDA: SHDA.57, the prayer and ritual for eliminating the harm of nightmare demons; SHDA.58, on domestic topomancy; and SHDA.59, on how to identify and expel harmful spirits and demons encountered in everyday life. SHDA.70 is a travel ritual with incantation that includes one of the earliest occurrences of the apotropaic dance step known as the Pace of Yu (Yu Bu 禹步). The last section on the verso, SHDA.87, has the ritual and prayer used to ensure the well-being of newborn foals. Thus while SHDA treats mostly of hemerology, the manuscript is not limited to hemerology. We might think of it as an organized miscellany: organized in the sense that the

general and topical hemerologies on the recto provide a definite framework for the organization of hemerological information on the manuscript; miscellany in the sense that a variety of other useful information finds a place in the manuscript. All of the information has the common purpose of providing people with practical knowledge for everyday use. Needless to say, the daybook text type represents a flexible format for transmitting hemerological and other knowledge. At the same time, the fact that the criteria derived from analysis of SHDA can be applied to SHDB and to other select examples of hemerological manuscripts indicates that those who made and copied manuscripts of the daybook text type followed conventional, regularized guidelines growing out of the ongoing production of technical occult manuscripts and that readers and users had expectations of daybooks based on shared ideas about their conventionality. If the manuscript fulfilled the expectations of makers and users, we need not place too much importance on whether a particular manuscript has the title Rishu inscribed on it in order to recognize the daybook text type and appreciate its function in contemporary society. In regard to SHDB and other identifiable examples of the daybook text type, many of the SHDB slips are broken, and there is no text on the verso to help in verifying the sequence of the slips and text on the recto. As a result,

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reconstruction of the SHDB slip sequence and transcription of the text are problematic. Reconstruction and transcription of SHDB rely heavily on its similarity to SHDA in regard to content, organization of sections, and arrangement on the surface of the slips. The restored manuscript of SHDB may not perfectly match the manuscript that was placed intact in Xi’s tomb, but it is a credible representation of the original. In particular, the two general hemerologies most characteristic of the daybook text type—Jianchu and Congchen—were placed prominently at the beginning of the manuscript (SHDB.1, SHDB.3, SHDB.12). In main content and structure, SHDB is obviously similar to SHDA. Placement of the Jianchu and Congchen hemerologies at the beginning of SHDA and SHDB and the many sections in both manuscripts with the same text or similar content are evidence of the conventionalized and regularized characteristics of daybooks in the late third century bce. Like SHDB, the Kongjiapo daybook manuscript (KJP) has text only on the recto of the slips; its state of preservation was worse than that of SHDB. At the initial stage of restoration, it was determined that there were more than 700 bamboo slips and slip fragments. After reconstruction, the total number of slips (including those reconstituted from several fragments) is 478, with an additional 48 fragments whose place in the original daybook is unknown. Unbroken slips measure approximately 33.8 centimeters long, 0.7 centimeter wide, and 0.1 centimeter thick. The archaeological team made a detailed record of the exact position of the slips and slip fragments at the time of excavation. After the slips were cleaned and their text was examined, the diagram of their excavated position served as an invaluable tool for reconstructing the sequence of the slips in the original manuscript (data that are not available for the Shuihudi daybooks). In general, the loose slips had not shifted far from their position when the bound and rolled manuscript was placed in Kongjiapo tomb 8. Some revisions to the published reconstruction have been proposed, but for the most part, the reconstruction is backed by solid archaeological and textual evidence.22 Thus it is certain that the Kongjiapo daybook begins with general hemerologies, starting with Jianchu (KJP.1, slips 11–121, 13–24) and Congchen (KJP.4, slips 25–261, 27–45, 262, 46–48). KJP.2–3 (slips 12–122) are topical hem-

erologies in the secondary space below KJP.1. The main daybook continues with general hemerologies, including KJP.5 on the twenty-eight stellar lodges (slips 49–65, 661, 67–76, with parallel text in SHDB.24); KJP.7 on the calendrical function of the Northern Dipper constellation (slips 78–89); KJP.8 on Xingde 刑德 (Punishment-Virtue) hemerology (slips 911–961, 912–962); and KJP.9 on times for moving based on months and directions (slips 97–100). These sections represent roughly one-fifth of the manuscript’s total length. Section headings occur occasionally throughout the manuscript. While some headings are surely missing due to damaged slips, many sections are untitled. The rest of KJP contains a mix of topical hemerologies, a few general hemerologies, and four non-hemerological sections. The non-hemerological sections are KJP.11 (slips 1031–2–1041–2) and KJP.12 (slips 105–107) on the five agents; KJP.49 (slips 2262–2282) with a blood sacrifice related to chickens; and KJP.86 (slips 458–478), which concludes the daybook with a long account of calendrical cosmology based on five-agents ideas. Overall, there is less organization in the arrangement of sections in KJP than in SHDA or SHDB, after presentation of the Jianchu and Congchen hemerologies at the beginning. Their differences aside, KJP shares key characteristics of the Shuihudi daybooks— including sections with the same or similar text—and is definitely an example of the same daybook text type. At present, the Kongjiapo daybook is the latest in date of the fully published daybooks and is separated in time from the Shuihudi daybooks by roughly three-quarters of a century.23 The Kongjiapo site is less than one hundred kilometers distant from the Shuihudi site. At the beginning of the third century bce, this region of modern Hubei was still Chu territory but came under Qin control after 278 bce and then Han control by the end of the century. Third- to second-century bce cultural, political, and social shifts are quite evident in the three daybooks. Most obvious is the disappearance from KJP of elements of older Chu hemerology retained in SHDA and SHDB, notably the Chu-style Jianchu hemerology, which occurs in SHDA.1 and SHDB.1. Rather, Jianchu hemerology in KJP.1 is the Qin-style Jianchu hemerology in SHDA.3. KJP is notable both for its emphasis on hemerology for government-related activities and agriculture and for its apparent de-emphasis of non-hemerological sections that

22  T  he contemporaneous daybook manuscript found in Zhou­ jiazhai 周家寨 tomb 8, when published, will provide fresh evidence for the reconstruction of the Kongjiapo daybook. See p. 78 in this chapter.

23  W  hen published, the Shuiquanzi 水泉子 tomb 5 rishu slips could provide an exemplar of the daybook text type manuscript dated to the late first century bce. See p. 79 in this chapter.

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treat of magical and religious topics such as rituals and incantations. For instance, KJP.78–85 concern meteorology and hemerology related mainly to agriculture, which do not occur in SHDA or SHDB, and sections on domestic topomancy in SHDA.58 and on demonology in SHDA.59 have no counterpart in KJP, not to mention the apotropaic ritual with incantation for nightmares in parallel sections of SHDA.57 and SHDB.68. Of course, differences between daybooks are not just a matter of changes in time and circumstances. The contrast between SHDA and SHDB attests the singularity of daybook manuscripts from the same time and evidently belonging to the same person (Xi). SHDA, with text on the recto and verso, is longer, better organized, and more varied in content. Compared to SHDB, SHDA also shows more obvious signs of additions made to the manuscript over time by different copyists who filled every space on the surface of the slips except for the verso of the last six slips (SHDA, slips 161v–166v), which were left blank following the incantation at the conclusion of SHDA.87. Occasional blank space on the SHDB slips would have accommodated more text had someone wished to make additions. In regard to contents, broad similarity due to overlapping sections and parallel texts does not mask obvious differences. Whereas both SHDA.1 and SHDB.1 record a Chu-style Jianchu hemerology, the nomenclature for the twelve day qualifiers and the predictions attached to each day qualifier differ. Comparison with the Chu daybook of around 300 bce from Jiudian 九店 tomb 56, Hubei, confirms the Chu origin of the hemerology and sheds light on the similarities and differences between SHDA and SHDB.24 Further, the second Jianchu hemerology in SHDB.3 is the only example of a system that differs from the self-named Qin-style Jianchu hemerology in SHDA.3, whereas the SHDA.3 Qin-style Jianchu hemerology recurs in both daybooks from the roughly contemporaneous Fangmatan 放馬灘 tomb 1, Gansu (FMTA.1, FMTB.1), and in KJP.1. As for other content, SHDA.58 on domestic topomancy and SHDA.59 on demonology do not occur in SHDB, but SHDB.65, which provides twelve-branchbased predictions on stolen objects, bringing things into the home, and illness does not occur in SHDA, although a related section occurs in the Jiudian daybook (JD.7). SHDB.81 on stem-and-branch-based predictions related to fire disasters is also not found in SHDA.25

The preceding discussion has focused on the Shuihudi and Kongjiapo daybook manuscripts because their modern reconstructions are the most reliable and therefore closest to the original appearance of the manuscripts. SHDA, SHDB, and KJP are indicative of a distinctive type of text whose shared form and content across time and space attest their common identity as daybooks, whether based on modern conjectures about how their original makers and users perceived them or on modern codicological and textual analysis of particular daybook manuscripts that define the text type. At the same time, we know from their differences that the daybook manuscripts discovered to date are not copies of the same text. The distinctive features of daybooks may be summarized in four general observations.

24  J D provides two Chu Jianchu hemerologies for comparison with SHDA and SHDB. The SHDA.1 prediction text is closer to JD.2. For discussion, see Li Ling, 1999; and Li Jiahao, 1999. 25  See Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 412–15; and Kalinowski, 2008.

1.

2.

3.

4.

The main content of daybooks is hemerology, but it is not limited to hemerology. In addition to hemerology, daybooks have background information for hemerological systems and miscellaneous information that includes magic and religion. As suggested above, daybooks are “organized miscellanies” of hemerology and other knowledge for use in daily life. Further, by the third century bce, conventionalized pieces of written hemerological and other information were already widely available to makers of daybooks and related miscellanies and could be used in making new manuscripts. It follows that there was not a fixed daybook text. Rather, the act of making a daybook involved choices about what to include. However, general hemerological systems such as Jianchu and Congchen were markers of the text’s identity as a daybook and regularly appeared at the beginning of the manuscript. People expected a daybook to be a guide for life contained on the surface of one set of bound slips. While the length of the bound-slip manuscript varied depending on the number of slips, the slips formed one manuscript unit that was rolled into a scroll. A daybook did not include everything but was a selective digest of pieces of written information fitted to a delimited space. Hemerology in daybooks addresses mainly the favorable and unfavorable nature of days based on associations between days, months, and seasons as defined by the calendar. Hemerology in daybooks is focused on maximizing positive outcomes in everyday life and shows little interest in large-scale political and military affairs. In this respect, daybooks differ from examples of astrological and h ­ emerological

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manuscripts from Mawangdui 馬王堆 tomb 3, Hunan, in which political and military matters feature prominently.

Overview of Fully Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts

Among the manuscripts that have been published in full, I identify six as belonging to the daybook text type. The oldest is the Jiudian tomb 56 daybook manuscript (JD), of around 300 bce. Next are four daybook manuscripts from the last decades of the third century bce: the two Fangmatan tomb 1 daybook manuscripts (FMTA, FMTB) and the two Shuihudi tomb 11 daybook manuscripts (SHDA, SHDB). The sixth manuscript is the Kongjiapo tomb 8 daybook manuscript (KJP) from the mid-second century bce. All six manuscripts exhibit the defining characteristics of the daybook text type. Moreover, the discovery of pairs of daybooks in a single tomb at both Fangmatan and Shuihudi suggests the degree of conventionalization attached to the text type by the makers and users of daybooks, with the result that in everyday life people had access to multiple copies of daybooks whose shared features were well known. The definition of the daybook text type is open to revision as more archaeologically excavated and looted manuscripts that have been described as rishu in preliminary reports are published. Nevertheless, the testimony of the six daybook manuscripts warrants their treatment as a text type within the wider range of hemerological texts that continues to come to light along with other examples of technical occult literature among the early Chinese manuscripts. The daybook text type facilitates our understanding of the forms in which the knowledge was put into writing, from brief, ephemeral miscellanies to elaborate compositions intended for specialists and elite readers.26 The following subsections describe the six daybook manuscripts, fully published daybook-related manuscripts (manuscripts with a large amount of hemerological content that have been called rishu but do not conform to the daybook text type and vary greatly from one another), and hemerological text fragments from Han-period military outposts in the northwest, mainly present-day Gansu. As shown in several chapters in this volume, the material from the northwest, despite the fragmentary condition of the wooden and bamboo slips and tablets, some26 

F or examples of more-specialized texts among the Mawangdui manuscripts, see p. 81 in this chapter.

times provides new information regarding hemerologies in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. The nonmortuary provenance of this material also confirms the similarity between the manuscripts excavated from tombs and popular hemerological literature circulating locally.27 Manuscripts of the Daybook Text Type The two Shuihudi daybooks have been described in detail as examples of the daybook text type. There is more to say about Shuihudi tomb 11, the man Xi buried there, and other bamboo-slip manuscripts found inside his coffin with the daybooks. The following account of all six daybook manuscripts situates them in the archaeological context of the tombs in which they were found and describes their contents. Among hemerological texts in excavated manuscripts discovered to date, these six stand out as examples of a particular type of text arising from the ongoing production and circulation of technical occult texts. The manuscripts reflect processes of conventionalization, regularization, and popularization. Their identification as the daybook text type acknowledges the features that are shared and set them apart from other manuscripts with hemerological texts, while examination of other texts in relation to the daybook text type enables a better understanding of the variety of texts circulating in manuscript culture. Jiudian Tomb 56 Daybook The Jiudian daybook manuscript (JD) was discovered in Jiudian tomb 56, one of 597 Chu tombs excavated between 1981 and 1989 at the Chu cemetery site at Jiudian, in Jiangling 江陵, Hubei.28 The excavators date tomb 56 to the early phase of the late Warring States period (ca. 300 bce). There was no wooden tomb chamber at the bottom of the vertical pit, just the wooden coffin and two shelves cut into the earth at the head and on one side of the pit. The occurrence of bamboo-slip texts in a burial that in other respects was very simple led the excavators to speculate that the deceased was most likely associated with a social rank of high-level commoner (shuren 庶人) or lowlevel gentleman (shi 士).29 Along with other burial goods, 205 bamboo slips and slip fragments were found. Among them, 145 had writing and 35 were unbroken or only slightly damaged; 12 of the slip fragments (slips 1–12) belong to a different text from the daybook, and their damaged 27  28  29 

S ee p. 99 in chap. 3, pp. 158–59 in chap. 4, and p. 218 in chap. 5. See Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, pp. 339–40. For details on the archaeological context, see pp. 17–21 in chap. 1. See Jiudian Chu jian, pp. 162–63.

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condition makes it is difficult to determine whether they were originally bound together with the daybook slips as a single manuscript. There are several speculations about the content of this second text, which is related to measurements involving grain and might be an example of an arithmetic calculation text.30 As reconstructed, the daybook has 88 slips and slip fragments (slips 13–99, 116), with an additional 21 unclassified fragments. Unbroken slips measure approximately 46.6–48.2 centimeters long, 0.6–0.8 centimeter wide, and 0.1 centimeter thick. The text is divided into fourteen sections by content. The original sequence of the slips could not be determined, and the order of the sections in the reconstruction is conjectural. The Jianchu hemerology in JD.1 uses the Chu month names, thus confirming identification of SHDA.1 and SHDB.1 as the Chu-style Jianchu system (in contrast to the Qin-style Jianchu system in SHDA.3). JD.2 is a second Jianchu hemerology, identifiable in part because of the similarity of the predictions attached to the day qualifiers to predictions in SHDA.1 and SHDB.1.31 Other sections with parallels in the Shuihudi daybooks are JD.6, a non-hemerological section on domestic topomancy (related to SHDA.58); JD.7, with twelve-branch-based predictions on stolen objects, bringing things into the home, and illness (related to SHDB.65); and JD.8, on the monthly position of Sui 歲 (Year) using Chu month names (related to SHDA.16). The Jiudian daybook includes several general hemerologies that do not occur elsewhere and several topical hemerologies, including for travel and making clothes. JD.5 is another nonhemerological section, which gives the text of the prayer chanted to the spirit Wuyi 武夷. This is the oldest example of a generic prayer text in which the word mou 某 “so and so” was a placeholder for the name of the person or spirit appropriate to the occasion when the prayer was chanted (the same usage occurs in SHDA and SHDB).

seven maps drawn on four wooden tablets were in the east end of the tomb chamber close to the deceased’s head. The slips of both manuscripts were rolled into one large bundle. FMTA was on the inside, written on slips measuring approximately 27.5 centimeters long, 0.7 centimeter wide, and 0.2 centimeter thick. FMTB was on the outside, written on slips approximately 23 centimeters long, 0.6 centimeter wide, and 0.2 centimeter thick. Six slips on the surface of the bundle, which match the slips of the FMTB daybook, record the resurrection of a man named Dan 丹 and have been treated as either the last section of the daybook (FMTB.93) or a short separate text.32 There is no consensus on the date of the burial or the copy date of the daybook manuscripts, nor is there concrete information about the deceased, only the presumption that the burial, burial goods, and manuscripts bespeak a certain status. Initially the excavators associated the identity of the deceased with the account of Dan in FMTB.93, which includes a date that probably corresponds to 239 bce. The date has been used as the approximate burial date, but other evidence in the daybooks suggests a possible later date for the manuscripts and Fangmatan tomb 1. Even an early Han date has been argued, but current opinion favors a Qin date not before 239 bce and as late as the decade following the Qin unification of the empire in 221 bce.33 In short, the Fangmatan daybooks are contemporaneous with the Shuihudi daybooks. The four daybook manuscripts reflect hemerology in the last decades of the third century bce, both north (at Fangmatan) and south (at Shuihudi). The description of FMTA and FMTB as examples of the daybook text type should begin with several distinctive features of the manuscripts.34 First, they were not copied by the same person: the form of the script and the handwriting are different. Second, FMTB has five times more slips than FMTA (73 slips in FMTA versus 388 slips in the current state of preservation of FMTB) and includes many

Fangmatan Tomb 1 Daybooks The Fangmatan daybooks (FMTA, FMTB) were found in Fangmatan tomb 1, in Tianshui 天水, Gansu, in 1986. Tomb 1 is the largest of the thirteen Qin period tombs excavated at Fangmatan, consisting of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and one wooden coffin. At the time of excavation, the 461 bamboo slips and slip fragments were inside the coffin next to the side of the skull. In addition, 30  31 

 hudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, pp. 301–2. C J D.2 has also been identified as belonging to a Congchen system; see Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, pp. 308–14. For further discussion, see appendix C.

32  T  hese slips were originally titled “Muzhuji” 墓主記 by the excavators but then retitled “Zhiguai gushi” 志怪故事 following Li Xueqin. See He Shuangquan, 1989a; Li Xueqin, 1990; and Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian, p. 127. Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 269, places the resurrection account at the end of FMTB. Whether or not the slips were bound with FMTB as a single manuscript unit is still under discussion; see Qin jiandu heji, vol. 4, p. 202. For details on the archaeological context of Fangmatan tomb 1, see pp. 21–25 in chap. 1. 33  For a summary of arguments concerning dating, see Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, “Gaishu,” pp. 1–2. 34  See Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian, p. 121 (physical description of FMTA) and p. 123 (physical description of FMTB).

68 sections not found in FMTA, but except for FMTA.13 and FMTA.15—each section occupies less than half a slip—the rest of FMTA corresponds to sections in FMTB. Given the fragmentary condition of FMTB, it is possible that these two brief sections also occurred in the original FMTB daybook but did not survive. Their sequence in each manuscript is different, but the text of the shared sections in FMTA and FMTB is nearly identical—errors included—as if copied from each other or from common sources available to the copyists of both manuscripts. Despite their similarity, I would not conclude that the entire FMTA daybook was copied from FMTB or that FMTB relied partly on FMTA, one reason being the different arrangement of Jianchu hemerology in FMTA.1 and FMTB.1.35 Yet there is evidence of rote copying of three sections in the same sequence in FMTA.7–9 and FMTB.4–6, where both manuscripts exhibit the same arrangement of text on the manuscript surface and the same errors. FMTA.7 and FMTB.4 are the identical travel hemerology based on the monthly day count, and both sections occupy the upper register across thirty-one slips in each manuscript: FMTA.7 (slips 421–721) and FMTB.4 (slips 3731, 54+251, 261–301, 40/upper1, 311–381, 42/upper+391, 40/ lower1, 411, 42/lower1, 43–531).36 The section heading is written on the first slip followed by the thirty days of the lunar month, one day per slip (fig. 2.4). Next, FMTA.8 (slips 422–532) and FMTB.5 (slips 3732, 54+252, 262–342) are identical sections occupying twelve slips in the lower register on each manuscript directly below the beginning of FMTA.7 and FMTB.4.37 They concern hemerology for visiting based on the twelve branches. Again, the section heading is written on the first slip, and both manuscripts then record the relevant information for each branch on one slip. Thus, upon reaching 35 

For FMTA.1, see Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, pp. 3–5 (original slips), 67–68 (transcription); for FMTB.1, see ibid., pp. 15–17 (original slips), 99–100 (transcription). The differences occur mainly at the end of both sections. 36  Numbering of the FMTB.4 slips reflects the new reconstruction of FMTB in Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, which retains the numbers assigned to slips and slip fragments in the earlier reconstruction in Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian (“upper” and “lower” refer to two fragments reconstructed as one slip in Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian but repositioned in the Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi reconstruction). Note that slip 373 is a slip fragment and the upper part of the slip where the section heading for FMTB.4 should appear is missing. The section heading for FMTB.5 does appear on slip 3732. 37  Note that FMTB.4, slip 40/upper, is a fragment that preserves only the graphs in the upper register and there is no slip 40/ lower with the graphs in the lower register.

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Figure 2.4 Schematic representation of the arrangement of FMTA.7–16 and FMTB.4–8. Black bars reproduce original manuscript markers at the beginning of sections. Numbers indicate the first and last slips of each section. The first and last branches in the sections are indicated for FMTA.8–9 and FMTB.5–6.

the twelfth slip (FMTA.8, slip 532; FMTB.5, slip 342), both sections conclude with the eleventh branch, xub11, and both sections mistakenly omit the entry for the twelfth branch, haib12.38 Immediately after, the identical sections FMTA.9 (slips 542–652) and FMTB.6 (slips 352–462) begin in the lower register below FMTA.7 and FMTB.4. Without 38  T  he entry for branch haib12 is attested in the parallel section of the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.31, slip 1712); Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 150.

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a ­section heading, FMTA.9 and FMTB.6 occupy the lower register of twelve slips, one slip for each of the twelve branches in a hemerology related to seeing the local official. In the upper register, the same slips record the twelfth through the twenty-third day of the travel hemerology in FMTA.7 and FMTB.4. In the lower register of both daybooks, different content occupies the space below the twenty-fourth through the thirtieth days of FMTA.7 and FMTB.4. Whoever copied the three identical hemerologies in FMTA.7–9 and FMTB.4–6 mechanically repeated the arrangement of the sections and copied the same text, including the omission of the twelfth branch in FMTA.8 and FMTB.5. The prominence of Jianchu hemerology in FMTA.1 and FMTB.1 is a major reason for including the Fangmatan daybooks in the daybook text type. Both sections are the Qin-style Jianchu hemerology and are textually related to SHDA.3 and KJP.1. Roughly three-quarters of a century later than the Fangmatan and Shuihudi daybooks, KJP.1 shows signs of textual variation from the third-century bce daybooks. In addition to Jianchu hemerology, there is a notable pattern of overlapping hemerologies between the Fangmatan daybooks, on the one hand, and the Shuihudi and Kongjiapo daybooks, on the other. The stem-based theft hemerology in FMTA.4 and FMTB.9 recurs in textually similar form in SHDB.82. Branch-based theft hemerologies in FMTA.6 and FMTB.12 have parallels in SHDA.61 and KJP.73. Textual differences between the four sections are evidence of multiple modes of written transmission. The branch-based hemerology for visiting in FMTA.8 and FMTB.5 recurs in KJP.31 with minor textual variations, and KJP.31 includes the information for haib12 that was omitted in the Fangmatan daybooks. FMTA.9 and FMTB.6, a branch-based hemerology on favorable and unfavorable times for meeting with officials, recurs in SHDA.52. The predictive system for the placement of house-compound gates in FMTB.2 recurs in SHDA.39 and KJP.61. Both of the latter sections include a labeled diagram of the gates. Finally, in regard to non-hemerological content, FMTA.10 and FMTB.48 are the same text of a ritual with incantation performed when departing for travel. Similar rituals occur in the Shuihudi daybooks and in daybook-related manuscripts.39 The greater length of FMTB and its poor state of preservation present challenges to making a full account of its characteristics as a daybook. Aside from the content shared with FMTA and other daybooks, many sections are unique to FMTB. In addition, similar hemerologies

recur in FMTB at different points in the manuscript, giving the daybook the appearance of a loosely organized collection of hemerological information. Much attention has been given to forms of divination based on the twelve pitch standards (lü 律) and five notes (yin 音) in FMTB, which are the basis for a variety of predictive systems. The longest section on pitch-standard divination is FMTB.80, which occupies more than thirty slips of the manuscript. Other sections of predictive systems related to pitch standards and notes are FMTB.53–55, 58–59, 61–63, 65, 67, 76, 78–90, and 92. Some scholars propose that the sections on pitch standards and notes may constitute an independent text that should be treated separately from FMTB.40 Given the state of preservation of the bamboo slips of the Fangmatan daybooks and the poor quality of the photographs that were first published in 2009, we are fortunate to have the 2013 publication of infrared photographs of the slips with a new reconstruction and fully annotated transcription of the daybooks.41 The new, clearer photographs of the slips have made it possible to correct previously published transcriptions and to transcribe graphs that were illegible in earlier transcriptions.

39 

43 

S ee, for instance, SHDA.70, SHDB.30. For further discussion, see pp. 119–25 in chap. 3.

Shuihudi Tomb 11 Daybooks The daybooks were not the only type of writing that was unknown before the excavation of the twelve tombs at Shuihudi between December 1975 and January 1976. The tomb consisted of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and one wooden coffin. Shuihudi tomb 11 manuscripts of legal and administrative writings were also a first in archaeology and received even greater attention than the daybooks. All the manuscripts had been placed inside the coffin, distributed around the deceased’s head and along his right side, legs, and feet.42 The excavators counted 1,155 slips (and an additional eighty slip fragments). After restoration and reconstruction, ten manuscript units were identified. Some had titles written on the verso of the first or last slip of the manuscript, and titles were assigned to the others.43 Identification of the deceased as the man named Xi is based on the manuscript with a chronology of events that includes details of Xi’s life. The modern title assigned to 40  41 

42 

S ee Cheng Shaoxuan, 2012. Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, edited by Sun Zhanyu. Roughly fifty slips are reproduced from the old photographs and marked with an asterisk. See also Sun Zhanyu’s most recent transcription and notes in Qin jiandu heji, vol. 4. Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, pp. 12–14. For details on the archaeological context, see pp. 25–29 in chap. 1. See the table of slips and manuscript units in Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, p. 12.

70 the manuscript is Biannian ji 編年記 (Chronological record). The last year recorded in the manuscript is the thirtieth year of the First Emperor of Qin, corresponding to 217 bce, which is the presumptive date of Xi’s death and burial. According to the Chronological Record, Xi was a staff scribe in the local administration of several locales in what was known as the South Commandery 南郡. He also served in a judiciary capacity in one of the locales, Yan 鄢. In the distribution of manuscripts around Xi’s corpse, the slips of SHDA were together with the slips of Fengzhen shi 封診式 (Models for sealing and examination) (original title) by the right side of the skull. The Chronological Record was at the top of the skull, and Falü dawen 法律答 問 (Answers to questions on legal principles and statutes) (assigned title) was by the right shoulder below SHDA. SHDB was by the lower legs and feet. Nearby, between the upper legs, were Yushu 語書 (Declaration document) (original title), Xiao 效 (Checking) (original title),44 Qin lü zachao 秦律雜抄 (Miscellany of Qin statutes) (assigned title), and Weili zhidao 為吏之道 (Way of being an official) (assigned title). Qin lü shiba zhong 秦律十八種 (Eighteen Qin statutes) (assigned title) was on the right side of the pelvis and upper legs.45 Kongjiapo Tomb 8 Daybook The Kongjiapo daybook was found in Kongjiapo tomb 8, in Suizhou 隨州, Hubei. Tomb 8 was excavated in 2000 and is among sixteen Han tombs excavated at Kongjiapo since the discovery of the cemetery site in 1998. The burial consisted of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and one wooden coffin; burial goods were distributed outside the coffin in the tomb chamber. The identity of the deceased and burial date are known from a wooden tablet that represents the type of burial document currently referred to as gaodi shu 告地書 “document of declaration to the earth.” Examples of this type of document have been found in other Western Han tombs, and they all take the form of the official document transferring authority over the deceased from the local administration to the underworld administration.46 In the case of the Kongjiapo tomb 8 tablet, the year date corresponds to 142 bce, and the deceased is identified as a man named Bi 辟 who held the 44  T  he original title is usually expanded to Xiaolü 效律 (Statutes on checking) in references to the Shuihudi legal and administrative writings. 45  For a diagram of the placement of manuscripts around the skeleton, see Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, p. 13; and fig. 1.10 in chap. 1 in this volume. The legal and administrative writings are translated in Hulsewé, 1985. 46  Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 3–10 (the tomb), 29–31 (the bamboo slips and wooden tablet); and pp. 29–34 in chap. 1.

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position of ku sefu 庫嗇夫 “armory overseer.”47 The tablet was found in the space above the head of the coffin at the north end of the chamber along with a bamboo-slip calendar for the year corresponding to 142 bce. The daybook manuscript was in the northeast corner of the chamber. Details of the Kongjiapo daybook’s contents have been provided. We await publication of the related manuscript found in 2014 in Zhoujiazhai 周家寨 tomb 8, a burial just several hundred meters distant from Kongjiapo tomb 8 and separated in time by less than a decade. Reports of the discovery of Zhoujiazhai tomb 8 state that the manuscript is better preserved than the Kongjiapo daybook and has the same contents.48 Daybook-Related Manuscripts Daybook-related manuscripts from five Qin and Han tombs have been published. The looted slips with hemerological content acquired by the Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum are also published and their authenticity is confirmed by text parallels in the archaeologically excavated manuscripts. Whereas the Jiudian, Fangmatan, Shuihudi, and Kongjiapo daybooks are bound-slip manuscripts, the daybook-related manuscripts include several on wooden tablets. Yueshan Tomb 36 Wooden Tablets Forty-six tombs were excavated at a cemetery site at Yueshan 岳山, Hubei, in 1986. Yueshan tomb 36 was one of the ten Qin tombs at the site (thirty-one Han tombs were excavated); the burial consisted of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and one wooden coffin. In general, the tombs are comparable to the Qin tombs at the Shuihudi cemetery site. The details of Yueshan tomb 36 compare well to Shuihudi tomb 11 in regard to the status of the tomb occupant, the presence of hemerological materials, and the burial date; that is, the tomb can be dated to approximately the last several decades of the third century bce.49 The two wooden tablets with topical hemerologies were found inside the coffin in broken pieces and are identified as tablet no. 43 and tablet no. 44. After restoration, tablet no. 43 is 23 centimeters long, 5.8 centimeters wide, and 0.55 centimeter thick, with hemerologies on both sides of the tablet (fig. 2.5). Tablet no. 44 was probably the same size as tablet no. 43, but as restored, it is about 19 centimeters long, 5 centimeters wide, and 0.55 centimeter thick, 47  48  49 

I bid., p. 197. See the section on unpublished hemerological material on p. 78 in this chapter. Kaogu xuebao 2000.4, p. 551.

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Figure 2.5 Recto and verso of tablet no. 43 from Yueshan; 23 cm high, 5.8 cm wide. Facsimile by Xu Datong. After Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, p. 173.

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72 also with hemerologies on both sides.50 The handwriting on each tablet is different, and the text on tablet no. 43 is longer, with more compact, carefully written graphs compared to tablet no. 44, which has looser, cursive handwriting. The tablet no. 43 hemerologies begin with favorable and unfavorable days for six natural resources—the five agents plus jade—and continue with people and domestic animals. There are also hemerologies concerning spirits and day qualifiers as well as sacrificial offerings and clothing. The text on tablet no. 44 is more fragmentary, but the hemerologies concern mainly illness, childbirth, travel, and grain crops. There are no general hemerologies in the two tablets, and they are not daybooks. However, the content is related to topical hemerologies occurring in the daybooks from Jiudian, Fangmatan, Shuihudi, and Kongjiapo.51 Perhaps the tablets represent an abbreviated presentation of selected hemerologies in a convenient reference format. Zhoujiatai Tomb 30 Manuscripts Zhoujiatai 周家臺 tomb 30, Hubei, is one of forty-two Qin and Han tombs excavated at the cemetery site between October 1992 and December 1993. Tomb 30 was in a cluster of eighteen tombs, and the burial can be dated to the late Qin period, around 209 bce, based on the wooden tablet calendar corresponding to that year found inside. Events recorded in another bamboo-slip calendar suggest that the deceased was a male who had been a local, low-level official; analysis of surviving teeth indicates an age between thirty and forty at the time of death. The tomb consisted of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and one wooden coffin. The bamboo-slip manuscripts were found in a plaited bamboo container placed with other burial goods in the space above the head of the coffin in the tomb chamber (the wooden tablet calendar was nearby).52 At the time of excavation, the container was rotted, and loose slips had spilled out. There were 389 slips and slip fragments of which 14 were blank. Following reconstruction, the manuscripts are identified as two calendars, one manuscript called rishu by the excavators (ZJTA), and one manuscript of miscellaneous recipes and technical occult information (ZJTB). Some of the blank slips had originally been part of the bound surface of ZJTA

50  Ibid., pp. 549–50; Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, pp. 93–111; and Liu Guosheng, 2013. 51  See the annotated transcription in Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, pp. 96–109; and Liu Guosheng, 2013, pp. 132–37. 52  Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu, pp. 189–91.

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and represent blank space left before or after the diagrams in the manuscript. The calendar with events for the thirty-fourth year of the reign of the First Emperor of Qin and corresponding to the year 213 bce does not directly concern us here. Another calendar—spanning the thirty-sixth and thirtyseventh years, corresponding to 211–210 bce—uses slips of the same size and with the same beveling at the bottom of the back sides as the ZJTA slips. Moreover, ZJTA.13 refers to the “thirty-sixth year” in an astrological system for the yearly position of the day qualifier De 德 (Virtue). The connection between ZJTA and the calendar is clear, and some scholars suggest that the two sets of slips might originally have been bound as one manuscript.53 The ZJTB recipe miscellany includes several hemerological entries among recipes to treat ailments, carry out ritual observances, and address household needs.54 As reconstructed, ZJTA has 178 slips measuring 29.3– 29.6 centimeters long, 0.5–0.7 centimeter wide, and 0.08–0.09 centimeter thick. The Jianchu and Congchen hemerologies do not occur in ZJTA. Rather, the first half of the manuscript concerns astrological predictions involving the twenty-eight stellar lodges and their use in hemerology in association with the monthly, daily, and hourly positions of the handle of the Northern Dipper constellation (ZJTA.1–5). Sections related to hemerologies or predictive systems in daybooks include ZJTA.7, on childbirth predictions (parallel in SHDB.25); ZJTA.8, on times to see local officials (parallel in SHDA.52, related to FMTA.9 and FMTB.6); and ZJTA.11, an incomplete fragment from a Guxu 孤虛 (Orphan-Empty) hemerology (related to FMTB.31 and KJP.16). ZJTA is a finely produced manuscript with elaborate and precisely executed diagrams in ZJTA.3 and ZJTA.13. ZJTA has the appearance of a hemerological miscellany different from the daybook text type. As reconstructed, ZJTB has 73 slips and slip fragments. The manuscript is roughly produced using slips 21.7–23 centimeters long, 0.4–1 centimeter wide, and 0.06–0.15 centimeter thick. The bamboo joints have not been scraped smooth on several slips, the slips are not notched at set intervals to secure the binding cords, and it is evident from the traces of rotted cord on the slips that the slips were not aligned across the top or bottom when they were bound. Different handwriting on the slips indicates that there were several copyists; traces of rotted cord on top of graphs show that the slips were bound after text 53  X  ia De’an, 2007. For a counterargument, see Cheng Shaoxuan, 2013. 54  See Chen Wei, 2003.

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was written on them. ZJTB consists of entries or ­recipes, most occupying just one or two slips, and it was not possible to determine the original sequence of slips and entries. In the published reconstruction, the ZJTB entries are arranged according to modern judgment of their content, beginning with medical recipes and, within medical recipes, with drug recipes placed before magical recipes, followed by other content, including the several hemerological entries. While ZJTB addresses mainly the treatment of ailments, the other content suggests that this roughly produced manuscript was the kind of miscellany that would have been useful in daily life. For instance, there are two entries for controlling rats (ZJTB.26–27), an entry for fattening cattle (ZJTB.28), and an entry on treating grain seeds before sowing (ZJTB.19). There are also two entries with rituals and incantations used in seasonal observances: a La 臘 day observance dedicated to Xiannong 先農 (First Tiller) to ensure a good harvest (ZJTB.18) and the practice of “washing silkworm eggs” (yucan 浴蠶) for sericulture (ZJTB.25). Five entries concern astrology or hemerology. ZJTB.23– 24 are fragmentary, and their relationship to astrology, hemerology, or both, and interpretation are uncertain. ZJTB.26 lists three sexagenary days for rat control. Two entries with connections to daybook manuscripts are Guxu (Orphan-Empty) hemerology, used to find lost horses and cattle in ZJTB.20 (FMTB.31 and KJP.16 use Guxu hemerology for other purposes, as does ZJTA.11), and the method for safe travel based on the conquest sequence of the five agents in ZJTB.21 (compare KJP.12).

HK slips. It is presumed that the 109 HK slips were looted from a tomb, but we do not know whether more than one tomb was involved; that is, we cannot ascertain whether these slips belonged to one manuscript. Therefore I treat the HK slips individually as valuable evidence but stop short of attributing them to a daybook manuscript.

Chinese University of Hong Kong Han Slips In 1994, the Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum acquired two batches of Warring States, Qin, and Han slips. Han slips classified as belonging to the category rishu “daybook” were found in each batch, in total 109 slips (HK).55 Many of the slips and slip fragments can be related to hemerology in daybook manuscripts, including Congchen hemerology (HK.9; compare SHDA.7) and Xuange hemerology (HK.10; compare SHDA.12). The excavated manuscripts confirm the authenticity of the 55 

See Xianggang Zhongwen daxue wenwuguan cang jiandu, pp. 18–51. I thank Mr. Yau Hok Wa, who oversees the accession records at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum, for confirming the date 1994 for acquisition of the slips. The two batches were acquired at the same time, accession nos. 1994.0093–0094. Each batch was a mass of jumbled slips requiring separation and conservation. During this work, it was discovered that Han slips classified as rishu occurred in both batches (I am grateful to Shen Pei for this information).

Duling Tomb 5 Wooden Tablet Duling 杜陵 tomb 5 is one of seventeen Western Han tombs excavated in 2001 in the southern suburbs of Xi’an 西安, Shaanxi. Officially designated 2001XRGM5, the single-chamber brick tomb was located just to the east of the site of the Han period town established to support the tomb complex of Emperor Xuan (r. 73–49 bce) at Duling. According to transmitted sources, burial near the tombs of Han emperors was a privilege limited to high-level officials; hence the occupant of Duling tomb 5 was likely to have been an eminent man associated with the Han court.56 The well-preserved wooden tablet (DL) found with other burial goods in the tomb measured 23 centimeters long, 4.5 centimeters wide, and 0.4 centimeter thick. The seven legible columns of text on the tablet’s recto concern favorable and unfavorable days for planting and cultivating grain crops, listed separately by type of grain. Related agricultural hemerologies occur in the excavated daybooks. In addition to being a notable example of singletopic hemerology on one tablet, the Duling tomb 5 tablet is the first discovery of hemerological material in Shaanxi from the area of the Han capital. Yinwan Tomb 6 Slips and Tablets Yinwan 尹灣 tomb 6, at Lianyungang 連雲港, Jiangsu, was among a cluster of more than ten Han tombs discovered in 1993, of which six were excavated between February and April 1993. Tomb 6 consisted of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and two coffins placed side by side: the coffin on the south was for a woman, the one on the north for a man. There was also a compartment for burial goods at the foot of the coffins. The wooden tablets and bamboo slips were found inside the man’s coffin by the legs and feet of the skeleton. At the time of excavation, the length of tablets and slips conformed roughly to the standard Han measure of one chi, or twenty-three centimeters (there was considerable shrinkage during conservation when they were dried). Inventories of burial goods confirm the identity of the man as Shi Rao 師饒, an important official in Donghai Commandery 東海郡. 56 

Zhang Mingqia and Wang Yulong, 2002.

74 One of the calendars is evidence that Shi Rao died in 10 bce or slightly later.57 Among the twenty-three wooden tablets, six are records directly related to local administration in Donghai Commandery, ten are tablets used for formal visits (ye 謁), two are records of donations of money made to Shi Rao by family members and others, two are inventories of Shi Rao’s burial goods in the tomb, two are calendars, and one is related to hemerology and predictive systems. After restoration and reconstruction, the bamboo slips were classified in four groups by content: one verse text with the title “Shenwu fu” 神烏賦 (Verse on the spirit crow), two hemerological texts, and one calendar.58 The hemerological material (YW) and calendars are important evidence of Han hemerology and of textual connections between hemerology and the calendar. The tablet D9 has three entries with predictive systems. On the recto, the diagram of the turtle is the basis for predictions related to theft (YW.3); the symmetrical diagram enclosing the sexagenary binoms is the basis for rain prediction (YW.4). On the verso, the “Liubo Board” (Boju 博局) diagram uses the design on the liubo 六博 game board to arrange the sexagenary binoms and make predictions on five topics: marriage, travel, arrest, illness, and escape (YW.5).59 Of the two hemerologies on slips, YW.1 (slips 77–89) divides one day into five time periods and assigns one of five day qualifiers to each of the time periods based on the ten stems grouped in five pairs and representing days in the sexagenary cycle. A person used the hemerology by first looking at the double entry table on slips 77–82 to determine the day, the time of day, and the associated day qualifier and then consulting the text on slips 83–89 to find the prediction for each of the five day qualifiers. Topics for prediction are seeing people, travel, arrest, illness, childbirth, escape, and theft. YW.2 (slips 91–113) is a travel hemerology based on the sexagenary binoms and an elaborate system of day qualifiers. With the exception of the rain prediction diagram possibly related to FMTB.43, Yinwan hemerologies or predictive systems have no direct counterpart in the six published daybooks. Of the three calendars, the two on wooden tablets are most relevant to hemerology. Tablet D10 is a panoptical 57  Y  inwan Han mu jiandu, pp. 162–66. 58  Ibid., pp. 1–4. 59  For a reproduction of the D9 tablet, see fig. 4.8 in chap. 4. A related diagram and prediction text are among the Peking University Han bamboo-slip manuscripts, and the title “Liubo” 六博 is written on the back of one of the slips. See Beijing daxue cang Xi Han zhushu, vol. 5, pp. 183–212.

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calendar for the year corresponding to 12 bce. The distribution of months and sexagenary binoms around the perimeter of the tablet allow the user to easily find the binom for any day of the year, and the calendar conveniently notes the days of certain major seasonal events such as solstices and equinoxes.60 Tablet D11, the calendar for the fifth month of the third year of the Yuanyan 元延 (Epochal Extension) reign period (10 bce), indicates the date on or after which Shi Rao died and identifies the positions of day qualifiers during the month. These include Jian 建 (Establish) from Jianchu hemerology and other day qualifiers that occur in excavated daybooks. The fifth-month calendar is invaluable evidence of the recording of hemerological information in calendars.61 Mozuizi Tomb 6 Slips Mozuizi 磨嘴子 tomb 6 at Wuwei 武威, Gansu, was excavated in 1959. An earlier archaeological survey of the Mozuizi site indicated a dense grouping of several hundred Han period tombs. Mozuizi tomb 6 was a hollowedout cavern structure with a single chamber containing two wooden coffins, the one on the left for the man and the one on the right for the woman. At the time of excavation, the tomb had already been opened and its contents disturbed. Approximately five hundred wooden and bamboo slips and slip fragments were found on and near the man’s coffin, among which nearly four hundred contain various chapters of the ritual classic Ceremonial Rituals (Yili 儀禮) in three separate manuscripts. These three manuscripts include marks written on the slips that suggest they were read and used during the lifetime of the deceased. Thirteen wooden slips and fragments are related to hemerology or predictive systems (WW).62 WW.1 is noteworthy because while slip 1r mentions the stems rens9 and gengs7 and a day qualifier, slip 1v is a record of grain payment involving “the disciples of the literary erudition (office)” (zhu wenxue dizi 諸文學弟子) dated from the period 28–25 bce. The record may have been made by the man buried in Mozuizi tomb 6. However, the burial date cannot be earlier than the second decade of the first century ce because money from the time of Wang Mang’s 60 

F or a reproduction of this calendar, see fig. 7.3 in chap. 7; and for further discussion, see pp. 286–89 in chap. 7. 61  Liu Lexian, 1999b; and Huang Yinong, 1999. For a facsimile reproduction of tablet D11, see fig. 4.7 in chap. 4 in this volume. 62  Wuwei Han jian, pp. 4–7 (on the tomb), 71 (on the text markers used in the Yili manuscripts). When placed in the tomb, the bound-slip manuscripts were probably placed on the coffin and became scattered over time. For a description of the Mozuizi tomb 6 Yili, see Loewe, 1993, pp. 241–42.

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Xin period was found in the tomb.63 If the record was in fact related to the tomb occupant, he perhaps served in local administration as an educator. WW.1, WW.2 (slips 2–4), and WW.3 (slips 5–7) are incomplete fragments of different hemerologies (WW.2 is stem-based and WW.3 is branch-based). Moreover, differences between each set of slips, including the appearance of the wood, indicate that they are fragments from three different manuscripts. WW.4 (slips 8–9) represents slips of a fourth manuscript, and the slip fragments designated WW.5 (slips 10–13) may be a fifth manuscript.64 Compared to the three Ceremonial Rituals manuscripts, the hemerological slips are few in number and heavily damaged; their original condition in bound-slip manuscripts is unknown. Were they bound with just a few more slips to serve as short pieces of convenient hemerological information? Were they bound into longer manuscripts that did not survive in Mozuizi tomb 6 except for these few slips? Whatever the case, it is noteworthy that the same person who read Ceremonial Rituals in the first century ce also possessed popular hemerological literature.65

a single site, and they are mixed with other fragmentary documents. Their original form as manuscripts is impossible to know. Their importance for the study of daybooks lies in the fact that they are the actual written materials left behind by Han people in real-world settings. The content of northwest hemerological fragments is often related to hemerologies found in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts from tombs. While many daybooks placed in tombs show obvious signs of having been used during life, their archaeological occurrence among burial goods in tombs and their association with the ideas and practices of the social milieu of the tomb occupants are one part of our approach to the manuscripts discovered in tombs. The northwest fragments were found at sites where the probable users were soldiers or people from lower social groups as well as officials in the local administration or others of higher social status such as the occupant of Mozuizi tomb 6, Gansu; they are invaluable evidence that hemerological information in writing circulated in society at large. The northwest hemerological material is described in two main groups: Dunhuang Han slips (Dunhuang Han jian 敦煌漢簡) and Juyan Han slips (Juyan Han jian 居延 漢簡). The term “Dunhuang Han slips” is used by researchers to designate slips and tablets found in Dunhuang and surrounding areas in Gansu, beginning with the material collected by Sir Aurel Stein in the first two decades of the twentieth century and including material excavated as recently as the 1980s. There are occasional hemerological fragments. A comprehensive compilation of photographs and transcriptions was published in 1991.66 In the 1990s, there were new excavations at Xuanquan 懸泉, Gansu, at the site of a Han settlement, which yielded new slips and tablets (see the next section, “Unpublished or Partially Published Hemerological Material”). “Juyan Han slips” refers to slips and tablets discovered in the 1930s in sites clustered around the Edsen-gol River, reaching from Inner Mongolia into Gansu. Again, there are occasional hemerological fragments.67 Discoveries in the 1970s in the same area are referred to as the “New Juyan slips.” For the New Juyan slips, photographs and transcriptions of the material from the Jiaqu houguan 甲渠候官 and Fourth Watchtower sites have been



Hemerological Slips, Slip Fragments, and Tablets Discovered at Han Sites in the Northwest The study of bamboo- and wooden-slip manuscripts began in the twentieth century with the materials discovered at the sites of Han fortifications, watchtowers, and buildings in settlements in the northwest, mainly in present-day Gansu, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang. Discoveries continue to be made. The importance of these slips for the study of the Han administration and military, as well as for aspects of social, economic, and religious life, is well known. More recently, there have been discoveries in south China of caches of discarded administrative documents in Qin and Han wells, such as the late third-century bce Qin slips and tablets found at Liye 里耶, Hunan. To date, the southern sites have not yielded any hemerological material among the documents, but there have been small discoveries of relevant Han material in the northwest. Due to the conditions in which the slips or tablets were deposited—perhaps accidentally left behind at a site, perhaps intentionally discarded in ancient waste disposal areas—rarely are more than one or two found at 63  W  uwei Han jian, pp. 8–9. 64  Ibid., pp. 136–38. 65  Ibid., pp. 82–83, notes the presence of popular hemerology alongside the classics in Mozuizi tomb 6 as evidence that Wang Chong’s criticism of hemerology in the Lunheng was directed at elite literati-officials as well as ordinary people; on this point, see pp. 91–93 in chap. 3.

66 

67 

 unhuang Han jian. For uncataloged and previously unpubD lished material in the Stein collection at the British Library, see Yingguo guojia tushuguan cang Sitanyin suohuo weikan hanwen jiandu. Juyan Han jian jiayi bian; and Juyan Han jian shiwen hejiao.

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published.68 The material from the Jianshui Jinguan 肩 水金關 site is also completely published.69 Finally, the New Juyan slips include the slips and tablets excavated at Ejina 額濟納, Inner Mongolia, in 1999–2002, which are published.70

Unpublished or Partially Published Hemerological Material

In addition to this fully published hemerological material, there are preliminary reports on other sites where manuscripts have been found, including material referred to as rishu “daybooks.” The accounts may include summaries of the contents, selected text transcriptions, and sample photographs. In some cases, the manuscript described seems similar to the daybook text type exemplified by the Jiudian, Fangmatan, Shuihudi, and Kongjiapo manuscripts, but full publication with photographs is necessary before each manuscript can be assessed in order to determine its characteristics. The following list offers brief comments on fourteen sites with unpublished hemerological manuscripts, most referred to in the Chinese literature as rishu “daybooks”: 1.

Shanghai Museum Warring States Chu bamboo slips: The looted manuscripts acquired by the Shanghai Museum in 1994 have an approximate date of 300 bce. Li Ling has reported that rishu material related to the twenty-eight stellar lodges and a topical hemerology for clothing is written on the verso of a bound-slip manuscript; on the recto are intellectual writings related to Confucius.71 2. Wangjiatai 王家臺 tomb 15, Hubei, bamboo slips: Tomb 15 was among sixteen Qin and Han tombs excavated at the Wangjiatai site in 1993. The burial consisted of a vertical pit with wooden coffin. The bamboo slips were inside the coffin in a jumbled mass. When the slips and slip fragments were separated from the mass, they were assigned numbers and were found to total 813 pieces. Wangjiatai tomb 15 dates to the Qin period, approximately the second half of the third century bce.72 The reconstructed manuscripts include administrative texts 68  69  70  71  72 

J uyan xinjian—Jiaqu houguan. See Jianshui Jinguan Han jian. See Ejina Han jian. Li Ling, 2004a, p. 405; 2007, p. 46n1. For details on the archaeological context, see pp. 34–35 in chap. 1.

and a rishu that are comparable to Shuihudi tomb 11 manuscripts. No photographs of the slips have been published. The survey of Wangjiatai tomb 15 manuscripts by Wang Mingqin describes the contents of the rishu with transcriptions of selected slips. The Jianchu hemerology is similar to the Qin-style Jianchu hemerology in SHDA.3, and the manuscript includes the Congchen hemerology. Some other content is also similar to that of the Shuihudi daybooks. Also among the Wangjiatai tomb 15 manuscripts is the milfoil-hexagram divination text identified with the Yi 易 (Changes) tradition known from textual fragments in transmitted sources as the lost Guicang 歸藏 (Returning to be stored).73 3. Peking University Qin bamboo slips: In 2010, Peking University acquired looted bamboo and wooden slips and tablets dated to the Qin period. After restoration, there are nine bamboo-slip manuscripts, which are identified by number. The whole of manuscript 2, composed of 55 slips, is identified as rishu. Manuscript 4 is a miscellany composed of 318 slips with text written on the recto and verso. Approximately 50 slips on the recto and 31 slips on the verso are related to rishu. Hemerological content in manuscript 2 and manuscript 4 is related to the published manuscripts of the daybook text type, including Jianchu hemerology. In addition, two calendars corresponding to the years 216 bce (manuscript 0) and 214 bce (manuscript 5) record the twelve day qualifiers of Jianchu hemerology by the appropriate days in each month. The Peking University calendars are the earliest calendars to include hemerological notations.74 4. Zhangjiashan 張家山 tomb 249, Hubei, bamboo slips: Zhangjiashan tomb 249 is one of three Han tombs with bamboo-slip manuscripts that were excavated at the Zhangjiashan site between December 1983 and January 1984 (tombs 247, 249, and 258). The manuscripts from Zhangjiashan tomb 247 are published.75 Zhangjiashan tomb 249 consists of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and one wooden coffin; the approximate burial date is the first half of the second century bce. The slips were found in the side compartment of the tomb chamber. Two manuscripts are identified: a calendar and a rishu. There

73  74  75 

See Wenwu 1995.1; Wang Mingqin, 2004; and Shaughnessy, 2014, pp. 142–87. See Wenwu 2012.6; and Chen Kanli, 2012. Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian [247 hao mu].

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are no details on the rishu. The slips in Zhangjiashan tomb 258 are also a calendar.76 5. Zhangjiashan tomb 127 bamboo slips: Zhangjiashan tomb 127 was excavated in 1985 in the same Han cemetery site as tombs 247, 249, and 258. Another Han tomb with bamboo slips, Zhangjiashan tomb 136, was excavated in 1988. Zhangjiashan tomb 127 consisted of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and one wooden coffin; the approximate burial date is the first two decades of the second century bce. In the side compartment of the tomb chamber, there were more than three hundred slips and slip fragments of two different sizes: one group measures 35–36.5 centimeters long, 0.6–0.7 centimeter wide, and 0.1–0.2 centimeter thick; the other group measures 17.4–17.6 centimeters long, 0.7–1.1 centimeters wide, and 0.2–0.25 centimeter thick. The slips belong to two manuscripts, which are identified as rishu. From the brief description, it appears that neither manuscript includes Jianchu hemerology or other typical general hemerologies. Zhangjiashan tomb 136 is given an approximate burial date several decades later than tomb 127. No rishu were found among the tomb 136 slips, but there is a calendar corresponding to the year 173 bce. Other manuscripts in tomb 136 include administrative and medical texts, as well as a text that corresponds to the story in Master Zhuang (Zhuangzi 莊子) of Confucius meeting Robber Zhi 盜跖.77 6. Shuanggudui 雙古堆 tomb 1 bamboo slips: Excavation of Shuanggudui tomb 1, at Fuyang 阜陽, Anhui, in 1977, yielded numerous artifacts and manuscripts related to divination, arithmetic, astrology, the calendar, and hemerology. The tomb consisted of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and one wooden coffin. Burial goods identify the occupant as the Lord of Ruyin 汝陰侯, and there is consensus that he was Xiahou Zao 夏侯灶 (d. 165 bce). Numerous slips were found in the compartment on the east side of the tomb chamber (the box containing them had been destroyed). They were heavily damaged, with the result that none of the reconstructed manuscripts provide a complete idea of their original appearance and contents. The manuscripts also include the Songs (Shi 詩), the Changes (Yi 易), and

the lexical primer Cang Jie Treatise (Cang Jie pian 倉頡篇), which have been published separately. None of the technical occult and scientific texts are published. The brief description of the slips classified as rishu fragments indicates a variety of topical hemerologies; Jianchu hemerology is not mentioned in the description. Two mantic devices (shi 式) and a third astrological device are further evidence of the knowledge represented by the manuscripts.78 7. Huxishan 虎溪山 tomb 1 bamboo slips: Huxishan tomb 1, at Yuanling 沅陵, Hunan, was excavated in 1999. It is another aristocratic burial, in this case of Wu Yang 吳陽, Lord of Yuanling 沅陵侯, who died in 162 bce. The tomb consisted of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and two wooden coffins, one nested inside the other. Bamboo slips were found in two locations in the tomb chamber: a manuscript related to local administration in Yuanling was in the compartment at the head of the tomb chamber; bamboo slips containing a rishu and a second group of slips with culinary recipes were in the side compartment. Despite the description in the brief excavation report of the so-called rishu, it is uncertain whether the slips represent a single hemerological manuscript or several distinct texts recorded in one or more manuscripts. The manuscript has been referred to as Yanshi wusheng 閻氏五勝 (Master Yan’s five conquests), which is written at the top of one slip. The presumption is that the whole manuscript was ascribed to the specialist Yan Zhao 閻昭, whose name is mentioned in the discussion of the conquest sequence of the five agents immediately below the title on the same slip and following slips. I suspect that the title Yanshi wusheng is a section heading for this discussion and is not the general title of the entire text on the slips. Other contents described in the excavation report also do not seem likely to occur in rishu. Determining whether the slips represent one manuscript or several and ascertaining the relation of their hemerological contents to daybooks are not possible at this time.79 8. Shuihudi tomb 77 bamboo slips and wooden and bamboo tablets: Mentioned above in connection with the occurrence of rishu as a manuscript title, Shuihudi tomb 77, Hubei, is a Han tomb excavated in 2006 at the same cemetery site where roughly fifty Qin and Han tombs were excavated between

76  S ee Wenwu 1985.1, pp. 1–8, 9–15. 77  For the preliminary report on Zhangjiashan tomb 127, see Wenwu 1992.9. The “Dao Zhi” (Robber Zhi) chapter of the Zhuangzi found in Zhangjiashan tomb 136 is reported to be written on forty-four bamboo slips; Wenwu 1992.9, p. 4.

78  79 

See Wenwu 1978.8, 1983.2; and Hu Pingsheng, 1998b. See Wenwu 2003.1; Liu Lexian, 2003; Zhang Chunlong, 2010; and Yan Changgui, 2010b, pp. 95–103.

78

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1975 and 1978 (including Shuihudi tomb 11). The tomb consisted of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and one wooden coffin; based on calendars found among the bamboo slips, the date of burial is not before 157 bce. The slips and tablets were packed inside a bamboo basket in the side compartment of the tomb chamber. They were classified into twentytwo groups totaling 2,137 pieces based on their physical characteristics and position in the mass defined by the basket. After restoration, the grouping of distinct manuscripts by content was in basic conformity with these twenty-two groups. Among the bound-slip manuscripts are ten calendars for the years 170–157 bce. Slips with hemerological content are all fragments (group C, slip 82v, has the title Rishu written on it). Other slips contain legal and administrative writings, prose narratives on historical figures, and a text on arithmetic. The six groups of tablets had also been bound and contain mostly legal and administrative texts.80 9. Yintai 印臺 Han tombs bamboo and wooden slips and wooden tablets: Between 2002 and 2004, nine Han tombs containing slips and tablets (Yintai tombs 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 83, 97, 112, and 115) were excavated at a large cemetery site that included Yintai, Hubei, during the excavation of 147 mainly Qin and Han tombs. The tombs were vertical-pit tombs. With the exception of tomb 112, where the bamboo slips were placed inside the coffin, all other slips and tablets were found in the burial-goods compartment of the wooden tomb chamber. The total slip count exceeds 2,300, and there are more than sixty tablets. The initial report refers to the occurrence in one or more tombs of a document of declaration to the earth recording the date when the deceased was formally transferred to the jurisdiction of the underworld administration, and mid-second century bce is indicated as the approximate time period for the group of tombs. Which manuscripts were found in which tombs is not yet reported, but the range of content in addition to rishu includes legal and administrative texts, calendars, and burial-goods inventories. Twenty-four rishu slips are published and are comparable to hemerologies in daybooks.81 10. Zhoujiazhai 周家寨 tomb 8, Hubei, bamboo slips and wooden tablet: Tomb 8 is one of twenty-two Western Han tombs excavated at the Zhoujiazhai site in 2014 (two more tombs were excavated, one Eastern 80  81 

See Jiang Han kaogu 2008.4; and Xiong Beisheng, 2010. See Zheng Zhonghua, 2009; and Liu Lexian, 2009.

11.

82 

Han and one Six Dynasties). The burial consists of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and one wooden coffin. There were 566 slips inside a bamboo basket in the side compartment of the tomb chamber, of which roughly 360 were unbroken. According to reports of the Zhoujiazhai tomb 8 discovery, the slips belong to a well-preserved daybook manuscript with many sections that have the same text as the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.1, KJP.23, KJP.61, KJP.64, and KJP.86 are specifically mentioned). Zhoujiazhai tomb 8 is only about two hundred meters distant from Kongjiapo tomb 8. In addition, the date on the wooden tablet with the document of declaration to the earth corresponds to either 140 or 134 bce. Initial information indicates a strong likelihood that this manuscript, which remains unpublished, and the Kongjiapo manuscript are two examples of closely related daybooks from the same locality and separated by less than a decade.82 Peking University Han bamboo slips: In 2009, Peking University acquired looted bamboo slips dated to the Western Han period. The total number of slips and slip fragments was 3,346. After reconstruction, the number of slips in the original manuscripts is estimated at more than 2,300. The date of the slips is presumed to be between the mid-second century and mid-first century bce. Sorting the slips by physical characteristics and content resulted in eighteen groups: sixteen are identified with specific texts, many with original titles written on the verso of one slip; two groups of slips represent as yet unclassified texts. The texts include a manuscript of the Cang Jie Treatise (mentioned above among the Shuanggudui manuscripts), a manuscript of Master Lao (Laozi 老子), several kinds of prose narratives, and several medical texts. The category of technical occult and scientific texts is represented by eight texts, all with original titles, three of which have explicitly hemerological titles: Rishu 日書 (Daybook), 695 slips and slip fragments, unbroken slips approximately forty-six centimeters long (original number of slips estimated at 350); Riyue 日約 (Day digest), 183 slips and slip fragments, unbroken slips approximately forty-six centimeters long (original number of slips estimated at 120); and Riji 日忌 (Day avoidances), 414 slips and slip fragments, unbroken slips approximately forty-six centimeters long (original See 2014 Zhongguo zhongyao kaogu faxian, pp. 80–83; and 2014 niandu quanguo shida kaogu xin faxian zhongping hui, pp. 38–40.

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number of slips estimated at 200). Among the Peking University Han slips, these three hemerological texts are notable for their length, measured in the number of slips, and for the length of the slips themselves, forty-six centimeters in contrast to the average slip length of thirty centimeters for most of the Peking University Han slips. Based on preliminary descriptions, both the Rishu and Riji manuscripts show many similarities to the published daybooks. Riyue is unusual for being organized entirely in the form of tables showing correspondences between months, days, and specific systems such as Jianchu hemerology and Congchen hemerology. Further investigation of hemerology and hemerological literature in early China await their publication.83 12. Bajiaolang 八角廊 tomb 40 bamboo slips: Bajiaolang tomb 40, at Dingzhou 定州, Hebei, was excavated in 1973. The scale of the tomb—a massive timber-frame structure with front and rear chambers—and the jade suit found inside the innermost of five nested coffins in the rear chamber indicate the burial of a member of the Han dynasty ruling family, specifically a king of the Zhongshan 中山 kingdom. The tomb was looted in the past and the interior burned. At the time of excavation, nothing in the tomb identified its occupant. A bamboo-slip manuscript from the tomb records activities for the year corresponding to 56 bce. Of the three men most likely to have been buried in Bajiaolang tomb 40 after 56 bce, majority opinion favors Liu Xiu 劉脩, King Huai 懷王 (d. 55 bce), as the tomb’s occupant. The bamboo slips were in a bamboo container in the rear chamber; all were carbonized by the fire. Among the texts on the slips, the Analects (Lunyu 論語) and Master Wen (Wenzi 文子) have received the most attention. There are no details on the reported slip fragments of rishu.84 13. Shuiquanzi 水泉子 tomb 5 wooden slips: Shuiquanzi tomb 5, Gansu, is one of fifteen Han tombs excavated at the cemetery site in 2008. The tomb consisted of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and two wooden coffins, side by side. The wooden slips were clumped on top of the coffin on the east side. One slip belongs to the record of an event dated to 72 bce. The burial date could be considerably later but still in the first century bce. There are approximately 1,400 slips and slip fragments; unbroken slips average 19–20 centimeters in length. Besides the rishu slips,

the other text is the Cang Jie Treatise (also found at Shuanggudui and in the Peking University Han slips). The rishu slips include Jianchu and Congchen hemerologies and a variety of topical hemerologies. Several slips record titles or perhaps section headings, including “Yanshi wuxing” 閻氏五行 (Master Yan’s five agents). According to the initial report, the content is both similar to and different from that of the Fangmatan and Shuihudi daybooks. We await publication of the reconstructed manuscript, which if comparable to other examples of the daybook text type would be the latest example (first century bce) discovered to date.85 14. Xuanquan 懸泉 Han slips. First identified in a 1987 survey, the Han settlement site at Xuanquan, Gansu, was excavated between 1990 and 1992 using the test trench method. The site includes a fortified area with buildings and stables. The excavators discovered more than twenty-three thousand Han slips and tablets, mainly wooden, many of which are dated administrative documents ranging from the late second century bce to the early second century ce. There are also documents on silk and paper. In addition to administrative documents, the texts include primers such as the Cang Jie Treatise, personal letters, medical recipes, divination, calendars, and hemerology.86 Transcriptions of a few examples of hemerology have been published, and their connection to hemerology in daybooks is clear.87

83  84 

See Wenwu 2011.6; and Li Ling, 2011a. See Wenwu 1981.8, pp. 1–10, 11–13.



Comparison of Daybooks to Related Technical Literature in Excavated Manuscripts

At present, we have examples of the daybook text type over a period of roughly 150 years, from the Chu-style Jiudian daybook of around 300 bce to the Kongjiapo daybook of around 142 bce. When the Shuiquanzi rishu slips are fully published, the time span might be extended another hundred years. The characteristics that define the daybook as a popular manuscript miscellany combining predominantly hemerological information with occasional non-hemerological information reflect conventions in manuscript production that both led to the formation of the daybook text type and distinguished daybooks from

85  86  87 

See Wenwu 2009.10; Zhang Cunliang and Wu Hong, 2009; and Liu Lexian, 2012a. See Wenwu 2000.5. See Dunhuang Xuanquan Han jian shicui, pp. 176–84.

80 other forms in which hemerological knowledge circulated in the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods. The contents of a daybook were not fixed, and until there are fresh daybook discoveries from later periods, we should not assume that the daybook text type continued to be produced unchanged beyond the first century bce. To be sure, hemerology continued to influence the experience of daily life, but its form as written knowledge changed and new manuscript formats emerged. Medieval Dunhuang manuscripts clearly show the formation of the almanac text type in which hemerological information and some non-hemerological information were combined in the annual production of calendars, which by the ninth century were printed as well as copied by hand. Nothing like the daybook text type is found in Dunhuang manuscripts related to hemerology. We can better understand the position of daybooks within the wider range of technical occult and scientific literature by examining related material, whether among the excavated manuscripts or in bibliographic records in transmitted sources. The discussion begins with excavated manuscripts in three categories: other hemerological texts, calendars, and texts containing technical occult knowledge. Daybooks and Other Hemerological Texts In discussing the daybooks, the term “hemerology” has been used in a wide sense that includes a variety of systems based on time and space as means of determining the favorable and unfavorable conditions affecting human activities; that is, daybooks are concerned primarily with days, but the years, seasons, months, and hours of the day may all come into play in systems that it is convenient to call “hemerology.” In addition, we have focused on aspects of daybooks that reflect their popular function in daily life in contrast to hemerological, astrological, or divinatory texts that address political, governmental, and military concerns. Detailed examination of relevant hemerological texts is beyond the scope of this chapter. It should be noted, however, that manuscripts from several sites that were produced at the same time as daybooks shed light on other aspects of hemerology in early China. In some cases, the manuscripts seem to be more specialized than daybooks, perhaps reflecting the greater involvement of hemerological specialists in producing technical literature for a more limited group of readers among the elite. On the surface, it is tempting to think that the specialized hemerological text is the source for the text with more popular appeal that is found in daybooks. The reality is more complicated. The manuscripts also do not directly reveal the role

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of calendar specialists, astrologers, diviners, and other occult specialists in the formation of technical hemerological knowledge and in the production of manuscripts that circulated the knowledge in writing. Nevertheless, differences between daybooks and other hemerological texts suggest that different types of texts served contrasting functions while sharing some basic features of hemerology. The Zidanku 子彈庫 Silk Manuscripts are a case in point. Looted from the Chu tomb at Zidanku, in Changsha 長沙, Hunan, in 1942, they are comparable in date to the Jiudian daybook (ca. 300 bce). (On their history since 1942, their physical characteristics, and their contents, see chap. 6.) Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 may be seen as a kind of calendar-based, monthly hemerological text in the sense that two narrative texts in the center (one text is oriented in the reverse direction on the silk sheet relative to the other) are surrounded by the twelve months, each month represented by a short hemerological text and a drawing of the spirit associated with it. The twelve hemerological texts show similarities with the everyday concerns of daybook hemerology (including information on marriage, domestic animals, construction, and sacrifice during the month) yet address military affairs and the fortunes of the state more prominently. The two texts in the center are best treated in relation to ling 令 “ordinances,” which are based on fixed correlations between human activities and annual, seasonal, and monthly cycles.88 There is a notable connection between these texts and the final section of the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.86), which combines cosmogony with an account of seasonal cycles, but overall, Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 is definitely unlike daybooks. In the same way, Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2 is best described as an “ordinance” text based on the five agents and is also unlike daybooks.89 Similarly, there are bamboo slips from Yinqueshan 銀雀山 tomb 1, Shandong, with texts that address correlations between yinyang and five-agents ideas and the calendar. Yinqueshan tomb 1 and tomb 2 were excavated in 1972 and are dated to the second half of the second century bce. The Yinqueshan manuscripts include the oldest version of the military book attributed to Sun Bin 孫臏 (fourth century bce) and other military works thought to have been composed in the Warring States period. The calendar-based writings are in fragmentary condition. Several are in the form of ordinances and resemble 88  O  n daybooks and the monthly ordinances tradition, see p. 154 in chap. 4. 89  See Li Ling, 2006c, pp. 142–55.

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the well-known transmitted tradition of yueling 月令 “monthly ordinances.” Correlations based on yinyang predominate and concern years, seasons, and months rather than days. Further, the texts mostly address the activities of the ruler, government, and military.90 They are hemerological literature, but they are obviously different from daybooks. The third excavated source of hemerological literature is the silk manuscripts discovered in Mawangdui tomb 3, at Changsha, Hunan, in 1973 (burial dated 168 bce).91 The tomb consisted of a vertical pit with wooden tomb chamber and three nested wooden coffins. The male occupant belonged to the Li 利 family, who were local nobility. The silk manuscripts were inside a lacquer box in the compartment on the east side of the tomb chamber, which also contained several manuscripts on bamboo and wooden slips.92 Among the examples of technical occult literature in the Mawangdui manuscripts, three manuscripts are notable for their hemerological content, which is directly related to hemerologies in daybook manuscripts. The first has been assigned the title Chuxing zhan 出行占 (Divination for travel departure). In the present reconstruction, Divination for Travel Departure consists of four rectangular pieces of silk. Text parallels with daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts occur in SHDA.45, SHDA.54, SHDA.69, SHDB.65, and ZJTA.6.93 The second text has been assigned the title Yinyang wuxing A 陰陽五行甲篇 (Yinyang and five agents A) and is related to a third text, Yinyang wuxing B 陰陽五行乙篇 (Yinyang and five agents B). Reconstruction of the two manuscripts, originally of considerable size, has been hampered by the fragmentary condition of the remaining pieces of silk. Yinyang Five Agents A and Yinyang Five

Agents B share hemerological content and include other calendar-based astrological material.94 Another pair of Mawangdui texts has been assigned the titles Xingde A 刑德甲篇 (Punishment and Virtue A) and Xingde B 刑德乙篇 (Punishment and Virtue B). The Xingde (Punishment-Virtue) system as presented in the Mawangdui manuscripts is a form of calendar-based astrology in which Xing and De are day qualifiers with different yet complementary annual cycles. A corollary system applies Xing and De to cycles of days based on the arrangement of the sexagenary binoms designating days in the “Nine Palaces” (Jiugong 九宮) diagram drawn on the manuscripts; predictions involve the correspondence between the sexagenary cycle and the five agents and are almost entirely military. In the daybooks, the relevance of the Xingde system to hemerology is evident from two occurrences of Xing (Punishment) and De (Virtue) related to their annual cycles in daybooks and daybookrelated manuscripts (FMTB.46, ZJTA.13). However, the Mawangdui manuscripts on the Xingde system are not at all like the daybooks.95 In sum, daybooks are mostly about hemerology but are not limited to hemerology, and their hemerology primarily concerns days, not calendar-based astrological systems that are applied to multiyear cycles. Further, when compared to the Yinqueshan and Mawangdui texts, the hemerological sections in daybooks present information simply and efficiently so as to facilitate application of that information to daily activities. While we can say that daybooks share content with the Yinqueshan and Mawangdui texts, they should not be equated with them.

90  91  92  93 

See Yinqueshan Han mu zhujian, vol. 2. For a study of the Yinqueshan yinyang texts, see Yates, 1994. For an overview, see Pirazzoli-t’Serstevens, 1982, pp. 41–60. For a line drawing of the lacquer box, see fig. 1.29 in chap. 1. Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 2, pp. 17–21 (photographs of the original manuscript); vol. 5, pp. 151–59 (annotated transcription). Preliminary reports on Chuxing zhan associate it with the manuscript referred to as Yinyang wuxing B 陰陽五行乙篇 and identified them as belonging to the same manuscript. This identification is now known to be incorrect, based in part on the fact that the ruled columns for text in Chuxing zhan are in black ink whereas the ruled columns in Yinyang wuxing B are in red ink; see discussion in Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 85–96.

Daybooks and Calendars Daybook hemerologies could be applied to any year, and daybooks presume the simultaneous use of calendars for determining correspondences with the days of the current year. The earliest excavated calendars are from the 94 

95 

 hangsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 1, pp. 238–72 C (photographs of Yinyang wuxing A), vol. 2, pp. 1–15 (photographs of Yinyang wuxing B), and vol. 5, pp. 65–149 (annotated transcription of both texts). Yinyang wuxing A has also been referred to as Shifa 式法; see Wenwu 2000.7. One section of Yinyang wuxing A is related to the Peking University Han manuscript titled Kanyu; see Beijing daxue cang Xi Han zhushu, vol. 5, pp. 91–143. See Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 1, pp. 211–28 (photographs of Xingde A and Xingde B), and vol. 5, pp. 1–48 (annotated transcription of both texts). For studies of the Xingde system, see Hu Wenhui, 2000, pp. 159–273; Kalinowski, 1999; and Chen Songchang, 2001.

82 Qin and Han periods; no Warring States calendars have been found.96 There are several styles of calendar, on both bound slips and tablets, and several terms are attested on the excavated calendars themselves: liri 曆日, zhiri 質日, and shiri 視日.97 The latter two may refer to calendars that record events, which are written beside a specific day, including personal events related to their owners and seasonal events such as solstices, equinoxes, and festival days. However, there is ongoing debate regarding the ancient terms and the types of calendars they denote. For convenience, liri is treated here as the general term for “calendar,” and zhiri and shiri are considered to be part of liri.98 There are two matters of note related to calendars and daybooks. First, three of the tombs containing daybooks or daybook-related manuscripts also contained calendars: Zhoujiatai tomb 30 (three calendars), Kongjiapo tomb 8 (one calendar), and Yinwan tomb 6 (three calendars). In the category of tombs with unpublished rishu material, Shuihudi tomb 77 stands out for containing ten calendars. There was also a calendar with the rishu in Zhangjiashan tomb 249, and two calendars are among the Qin slips acquired by Peking University along with rishu. Further, in the case of Zhoujiatai tomb 30, ZJTA and the two-year calendar for the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh years of the reign of the First Emperor of Qin (corresponding to 211– 210 bce) may have formed a single manuscript unit. Even if the two sets of slips were bound separately, the close relationship between hemerological text and calendar is evidenced in the statement in ZJTA.13 that De (Virtue) is positioned at the agent Metal in the thirty-sixth year (211 bce).99 Second, we know of three excavated calendars that record the day qualifiers of hemerological systems directly on the calendar. On the Yinwan wooden tablet calendar for the fifth month of the third year of the Yuanyan reign 96  S ee Liu Lexian, 2011. 97  For discussion of the terms for calendars, see Deng Wenkuan, 2003; and Kudō Motoo, 2014. The term zhiri is first attested on the three Qin calendars from the Yuelu Academy 岳麓書院 in Changsha, Hunan; see Yuelu shuyuan cang Qin jian, vol. 1, pp. 47, 67, 91. For shiri, see the Yinqueshan Han calendar (134 bce) discussed on pp. 278–84 in chap. 7. The recently published Jinguan Han slips include a fragmented calendar dated to the sixth year of the Yuanshi reign period (6 ce) that is titled Yuanshi liunian liri 元始六年磿日 (reading 磿 as li 曆). Thus, the name liri was in use no later than the late Western Han; see Jianshui Jinguan Han jian, vol. 2.2, p. 157. See the discussion in Liu Lexian, 2011, pp. 356–59; and Yang Xiaoliang, 2015. 98  See Li Ling, 2008. For detailed presentation of calendars in early China, see chap. 7. 99  See p. 72 in this chapter.

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period (10 bce), the following day qualifiers are associated with the days of the month, all of which occur in daybook hemerologies (see fig. 4.7 in chap. 4): Jian 建 (Establish), Fanzhi 反支 (Reverse Branch), Jieyan 解衍 (Unbindand-Spread), Fu 復 (Return), Xian 臽 (Pit), Yuexing 月刑 (Month Punishment), and Yuesha 月殺 (Month Killer).100 As mentioned, it has been reported that two of the Qin calendars in the Peking University slips record the twelve day qualifiers of Jianchu hemerology.101 The practice of recording hemerological information on the calendar anticipates the medieval calendars called juzhu li 具注曆 “fully annotated calendar” (discussed in the “Daybooks and Later Hemerological Texts” section below).

Daybooks as One among Multiple Sources of Technical Occult Knowledge The variety of excavated manuscripts now available shows that technical knowledge in different areas—including hemerology, astrology, meteorology, medicine, ritual practices, and magic—was put into writing and the written knowledge was then copied in manuscript miscellanies without an obvious main subject. For instance, the second daybook-related manuscript from Zhoujiatai (ZJTB) combines medical recipes—using drugs, rituals, and incantations—with hemerology, everyday household remedies (such as rat control), and seasonal rituals. Rather than describe ZJTB as a hemerological text that borrows from medicine or a medical text that borrows from hemerology, it is best to acknowledge that the manuscript is a miscellany made possible by the amount of written technical knowledge available in the third century bce. Daybooks include some non-hemerological sections, so the daybook itself offered a format for including other relevant knowledge along with hemerology. The Mawangdui tomb 3 medical manuscripts demonstrate that hemerology was included in medical texts, and daybooks were a likely source of this information. Borrowing from hemerology is especially clear in the manuscript on gestation and childbirth, which has been assigned the title Taichan shu 胎產書 (Book of the generation of the fetus). The two diagrams at the right end of the silk sheet are both hemerological. The first corresponds to the childbirth hemerology in SHDA.48 and KJP.74 (the same diagram also occurs in the Peking University Han bamboo-slip manuscript titled Rishu and in the 100  See Yinwan Han mu jiandu, pp. 22, 128; and Liu Lexian, 1999a. See also pp. 172–73 in chap. 4. 101  The calendars are for the thirty-first year (216 bce) and the thirty-third year (214 bce) of the First Emperor of Qin; see Chen Kanli, 2012, pp. 90–91.

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Zhoujiazhai daybook manuscript).102 The second occurs only in the Book of the Generation of the Fetus and appears without explanation. The title written in the center of the diagram is “Nanfang Yu cang” 南方禹藏 (Entombment according to Yu with south orientation). The text explaining the hemerological method occurs in the Mawangdui manuscript assigned the title Zaliao fang 雜療方 (Recipes for various cures), in which it is referred to as “the method of the afterbirth burial diagram for entombment according to Yu” (Yu cang maibaotu fa 禹藏埋胞圖法). The goal is to ensure the well-being of the newborn infant by safely burying the afterbirth. The hemerological method relies on the monthly cycles of Dashi 大時 (Great Period) and Xiaoshi 小時 (Small Period) in determining the direction in which to bury the afterbirth, cycles that are part of daybook hemerology.103 Similarly, the military text from Zhangjiashan tomb 247 includes hemerology, with a likely source being daybooks. The text has the original title Gailu 蓋盧, for the name of the late sixth-century bce king of the state of Wu 吳, Helu 闔盧, and is written as a dialogue between the king and his adviser Wu Zixu 伍子胥 of Chu. Each of the king’s questions addresses a topic in military strategy and seeks to elicit Wu Zixu’s teaching. One exchange concerns how to determine favorable and unfavorable circumstances for battle. Wu Zixu’s teaching is threefold. First, rely on the seasonal cycle of the five agents. Second, rely on the seasonal cycle of yin and yang. Third, rely on hemerology for months and days, and here Wu Zixu names three day qualifiers related to the day qualifiers in daybooks: Dichong 地衝 (Earth Clash), Richong 日衝 (Day Clash), and Rixian 日臽 (Day Pit).104 The inclusion of hemerological day qualifiers in this teaching indicates the complementarity between the basic ideas of correlative cosmology and hemerology (five-agents and yinyang ideas occur in other teachings in Gailu, and the same complementarity is evident in the Yinqueshan texts). The ideas are not likely to have been part of the sixthcentury bce worldview and probably belong to the third and second centuries bce, when hemerology was circulating in daybooks. The non-hemerological sections of daybooks, which presumably had different origins before becoming part of the written technical knowledge available for use across

a range of manuscripts that includes daybooks, form an important category of textual sharing between daybooks and other manuscripts. A few examples in the broad area of predictive systems and divination other than turtle divination and milfoil-hexagram divination are the sections on domestic topomancy in JD.6 and SHDA.58, divination based on the twelve pitch standards and five notes in FMTB.80 and other sections, dream divination and the apotropaic ritual with incantation for nightmares in SHDB.68, and prediction based on the “Liubo Board” diagram in YW.5. The demonological text in SHDA.59 reveals an important element of avoiding misfortune in daily life and acquiring protection from spirits and demons. It is our good fortune that the text survived because it was included in a daybook. FMTA.10, FMTB.48, SHDA.70, and SHDB.30 are methods for performing the ritual and incantation ensuring safe travel and are evidence of a religious worldview operating alongside travel hemerology. The texts of rituals and incantations in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts may be treated as evidence of the technical occult literature that was also behind the occurrence of ritual and magic in Mawangdui medical manuscripts. Two areas of technical literature are notably absent in daybooks: astrology and divination by turtle and milfoilhexagram. Despite obvious connections between astrology and the calendar, none of the references in daybooks to the twenty-eight stellar lodges (xiu 宿), Sui 歲 (Year) (denoting Jupiter in some astrological contexts), or other seemingly astrological entities concern their motion in relation to events occurring in the sky. All such astrological terms in daybooks have been transposed into calendrical entities that are correlated with other data in order to signify time or direction in purely hemerological systems. Some earlier studies of astrology in daybooks failed to recognize this fundamental hemerological orientation.105 Thus daybooks are quite distinct from the Mawangdui astrological manuscript assigned the title Wuxing zhan 五星占 (Prognostics of the five planets), which combines descriptions of the motion of the five planets with astrological predictions, and the manuscript with drawings of clouds, comets, parhelia, and other sky phenomena assigned the title Tianwen qixiang zazhan 天文氣象雜占 (Assorted astrological and meteorological prognostics). It is significant that neither turtle nor milfoil-hexagram divination is part of the non-hemerological content of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. Favorable and unfavorable days for performing turtle and milfoil

102  See Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 4, p. 133; and 2014 Zhongguo zhongyao kaogu faxian, pp. 80–83. 103  See Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 4, pp. 134–35; and Hu Wenhui, 2000, pp. 88–134. On Dashi and Xiaoshi monthly cycles, see pp. 174–75 in chap. 4. 104  See the discussion in Liu Lexian, 2006b.

105  F or further discussion, see Kalinowski, 1996; and Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 53–63.

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divination occasionally occur in sections of miscellaneous hemerology along with a variety of activities. For instance, SHDA.38 associates the prohibition on turtle and milfoil divination with the deity Shanghuang 上皇 (Supreme Eminence): 毋以子卜筮害於上皇

Do not practice turtle and milfoil divination on the day zib1; it injures Supreme Eminence.106 In regard to the conventional topics for hemerology or divination and conventional predictive language, there are similarities between the Jiudian daybook and the excavated fourth- to third-century bce manuscripts of Chu divination and offering records (which record turtle and milfoil divination performed for elite patrons), as well as between later daybooks and the Shuanggudui manuscript of Changes hexagram divination.107 Some scholars point to these similarities to argue that daybooks developed out of the records of turtle and milfoil divination made by diviners for their patrons, with the Jiudian daybook as proof.108 This argument fails to recognize the marked difference between turtle and milfoil divination, on the one hand, and the diversity of hemerological systems and other predictive methods, on the other. It is entirely plausible that during the fourth and third centuries bce, conventions in turtle and milfoil divination—some no doubt going back to the beginning of the millennium—were in the background of newer developments in hemerology, but the formation of a body of hemerological knowledge and the production of hemerological manuscripts were not accomplished simply by borrowing the written records of turtle and milfoil diviners. While hemerology interacted with turtle and milfoilhexagram divination in everyday life in the third and second centuries bce, the clearest sign of differences between these forms of divination and hemerology is the absence of the methods of turtle and milfoil-hexagram divination in daybooks. We need only look to the Wangjiatai slips (with rishu and the Returning to Be Stored tradition of the Changes) and the Shuanggudui slips (with rishu and the Changes) to see that turtle and milfoil-hexagram divina-

106  S HDA.38, slip 101r2; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 197. 107  For a list of divination topics in the Shuanggudui Changes, see table 4.4 in chap. 4. 108  Kudō Motoo, 2000; 2011, pp. 213–35.

tion were not part of the mix of hemerological and nonhemerological content in daybooks.109 Precisely how hemerology, astrology, and divination interacted in various social, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual settings raises historical issues that merit further research. Past studies were dependent on transmitted sources, and mainly on a few key texts such as the Changes and several astrological treatises rather than the range of primary sources, including excavated manuscripts, now available to us. Daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts are especially valuable as evidence of ideas and practices among social groups in the local communities where the manuscripts were produced and circulated.

Daybooks from the Perspective of the Bibliographic Treatise of the Book of Han

Daybooks are frequently compared to the lost books whose titles are recorded in the earliest extant bibliography for ancient China, the bibliographic treatise of the Book of Han, mainly to books classified in the division “Shushu” 數術 (Calculations and arts). In fact, most modern studies of excavated manuscripts by Chinese and Western scholars rely on the Book of Han bibliographic treatise for studying excavated texts and their classification. Based on now-lost bibliographic records made at the end of the first century bce by Liu Xiang and his son Liu Xin 劉歆 (46 bce–23 ce), in which they described the manuscripts of all important literature deposited at the Han court, the Book of Han treatise is the invaluable guide to the classification and transmission of Warring States, Qin, and Western Han texts. Nevertheless, both the bibliographic treatise and the records made by Liu Xiang and Liu Xin were compiled with certain purposes and underlying principles in mind, which need to be addressed when we use the treatise to study excavated texts. When Liu Xiang received Emperor Cheng’s command to produce fair copies of manuscripts for the court library, a sixfold classification of literature was proposed. Liu Xiang had charge of the first three divisions: “Liuyi” 六藝 (Six arts) (the classics, with the Changes in the first subdivision and Confucius’s Analects in the seventh of nine subdivisions), “Zhuzi” 諸子 (The masters) (the intellectual works, beginning with the Confucians), and “Shifu” 詩賦 (Songs and verse). Other court officials were entrusted with the last three divisions: Ren Hong 任宏, from 109  See Han Ziqiang, 2004; Li Xueqin, 2006, pp. 296–301; Lian Shaoming, 1996; Wang Mingqin, 1996; and Li Jiahao, 1997.

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the military office, for “Bingshu” 兵書 (Military books); Yin Xian 尹咸, from the office of the Grand Scribe 太史 (in charge of astrology), for “Shushu” (Calculations and arts); and Li Zhuguo 李柱國, from the medical office, for “Fangji” 方技 (Recipes and techniques) (medicine).110 These six divisions of literature form the basis of the Book of Han bibliographic treatise. The problem of applying the classification of the bibliographic treatise to all excavated texts and discussion of the issues that arise are beyond the scope of this chapter, which is therefore limited to presenting in brief the six subdivisions of the “Calculations and Arts” division. It is, however, unrealistic to think that we would be able to attribute daybooks directly to a book in the “Calculations and Arts” division. As a type of popular hemerological miscellany, daybooks were meant to be used locally for practical, everyday purposes; their production was timesensitive and fluid, allowing for the inclusion of a variety of hemerological and non-hemerological sections according to need. They were, in short, not at all the kind of book that would have been collected, collated, and copied in a new manuscript edition under Yin Xian’s direction at the Han court at the end of the first century bce. Nevertheless, the technical hemerological terms in the book titles and the range of non-hemerological topics included in the “Calculations and Arts” division may offer clues to the relationship between the knowledge in daybooks and the specialized occult and scientific knowledge in books with more limited circulation among astrologers, calendar specialists, diviners, and others, including members of the elite such as the occupants of Mawangdui tomb 3 and Yinqueshan tomb 1. In looking at the six subdivisions, it is important to keep in mind that the first attestation of the term shushu “calculations and arts” is in the Book of Han bibliographic treatise, and it may have been devised at the time of the first-century bce imperial book project in order to accommodate books that were considered to belong together for classificatory purposes. Books classified under “Calculations and Arts” range from the science of the stars and calendar making to divination, demonology, and physiognomy. “Occult and scientific” is a reasonable English paraphrase of shushu, whether as a description of the literature or of the ideas and practices that informed the literature. Further, use of the term shushu in modern research conducted by Chinese scholars on the history of ideas in early China has a definite counterpart in modern studies of occult sciences

and sciences in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. In both cases, the terms are employed to facilitate discussion and enhance our understanding of an ancient point of view.111 Especially in the present context, the significance of the term shushu is mainly bibliographic and applies to texts and their contents. We can see connections between daybooks and the books whose titles survive in the “Calculations and Arts” division of the Book of Han bibliographic treatise. The conclusion that the knowledge represented by the books in this division is part of the background knowledge of daybook hemerology is plausible. Yet we lack sufficient evidence of the actual contents of the multi-scroll books known to the elite attached to the Han court and are not able to judge in what ways daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts were both like and not like specialized hemerological literature. The hemerological literature occurring along with other examples of technical occult and scientific literature in the Mawangdui manuscripts gives us a basis for comparison, and when the Han manuscripts acquired by Peking University are fully published, they will also give us a better understanding of the place of daybooks. At present, however, we cannot identify with precision the relationship between the specialists in a variety of occult arts including hemerology and the specialized literature in the bibliographic treatise, nor do we know the involvement of those specialists in the production of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. Nevertheless, comparison with the bibliographic treatise shows that the content of daybooks—hemerological and non-hemerological—was part of a larger body of written knowledge and that daybooks transmitted the knowledge for everyday use. The following review of the “Calculations and Arts” division in the bibliographic treatise quotes the first sentence of the summaries that conclude the six subdivisions. In the formulaic structure of the summaries, this sentence is followed by quotations from two classics, the Changes and the Documents (Shu 書), in all but two summaries. After the quotation, every summary is the same in validating the correct use of the ideas in the books of the subdivision while criticizing their abusive use (it is clear that popular hemerology in daybooks would have been judged abusive in the eyes of the compilers of the bibliographic treatise).

110  Han shu, 30, p. 1701.

111  See pp. 4–5 in the introduction to this volume.

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“Tianwen” (Heaven Patterns) “Heaven Patterns” puts in sequence the twenty-eight stellar lodges and tracks the five planets, sun, and moon so as to record the signs of auspiciousness and inauspiciousness.112

The titles in the “Tianwen” 天文 (Heaven patterns) subdivision refer to various aspects of astrology, including comets and lunisolar rings, and to meteorological events such as clouds, rain, and rainbows. As noted, in daybooks the twenty-eight stellar lodges and other seemingly astrological entities have been transposed to purely calendrical functions used in hemerological calculations and do not refer to actual celestial bodies in the hemerologies in which they occur.113 Rain prediction occurs in several daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts (FMTB.43, 44; SHDB.40; KJP.78, 79, 84; YW.4), but in general there is no obvious connection between the “Heaven Patterns” subdivision and daybooks.

“Lipu” (Calendars and Chronologies) “Calendars and Chronologies” puts in sequence the positions of the four seasons, corrects the junctions for the equinoxes and solstices, and determines the solar stations where the sun, moon, and five planets meet so as to examine the true conditions of cold and hot and of killing and generating.114

Many titles in the “Lipu” 曆譜 (Calendars and chronologies) subdivision include the word li “calendar.” The two titles with pu “chronology” appear to be year-based historical records of rulers. In other respects, there are similarities between observations for making the calendar and for astrology, including references to the sun, moon, five planets, and twenty-eight stellar lodges and the use of the sundial. There are two titles on computation (suan 算), a reflection of the arithmetical element of calendar making but also a pragmatic decision about how to classify books on arithmetic in the bibliographic treatise. While hemerology requires a calendar, the specialized literature in this subdivision is unlikely to have directly influenced daybooks. However, there is occasional information related to technical aspects of calendar making in daybooks, such as the day-night proportions for the twelve months (FMTB.11, 18; SHDA.16, 60; SHDB.2) and the stellar lodges 112  H  an shu, 30, p. 1765. 113  See Kalinowski, 1996; and Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 53–63. 114  Han shu, 30, p. 1767.

that mark the position of the sun on the first day of the months (JD.9), both used to adjust the lunar calendar to the solar cycle.115

“Wuxing” (Five Agents) “Five Agents” concerns the manifestations of the five constants.116

The short opening sentence of “Wuxing” 五行 (Five agents) introduces the quotation of the “Great Model” (Hongfan 洪範) chapter of the Documents, which was the canonical origin of five-agents correlative cosmology for Han literati-officials. The separate treatise on the five agents in the Book of Han expounds the five-agents ideology that informed Han correlative cosmology. In addition to the bibliographic subdivision “Five Agents” in the “Calculations and Arts” division, books regarded as more authoritative are listed in two divisions of the bibliographic treatise. In the “Six Arts” division, the “Shu” 書 (Documents) subdivision lists two works on the five agents, one of which is by Liu Xiang. In “The Masters” division, the “Yinyang jia” 陰陽家 (Yinyang experts) subdivision lists works attributed to the fifth-century bce astrologer Ziwei 子韋 and to Zou Yan 鄒衍, the third-century bce figure closely associated with the formation of Qin and Han five-agents ideology.117 The “Five Agents” subdivision extends the list of books with titles referring to the five agents and yinyang. At the same time, this subdivision contains titles of specifically hemerological books, which can be recognized by terms also attested in excavated hemerological texts and daybooks, such as Congchen (Collected Branches), Xingde (Punishment-Virtue), Guxu (Orphan-Empty), and Kanyu 堪輿 (Canopy and Chassis). None of the hemerological books listed in the “Five Agents” subdivision are shorter than five scrolls (juan 卷), and the longest is twenty-three scrolls. Presumably, these books contained hemerological information related to the hemerological sections of daybooks but were more specialized. A related issue is the connection between these book titles and the specialists mentioned by Chu Shaosun 褚少孫 (first century bce) in his addendum to the lost 115  J D.9 is translated on p. 157 in chap. 4. For discussion of the day-night proportions for the twelve months, see pp. 155–56 in chap. 4. 116  Han shu, 30, p. 1769. 117  Han shu, 30, pp. 1705, 1733. Also relevant are works classified in the “Bingshu” 兵書 (Military books) division, in the “Yinyang” 陰陽 (Yinyang) subdivision; Han shu, 30, pp. 1759–60.

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account of rizhe “day-ists” in the Records of the Scribe. Chu Shaosun repeated a story he had been told about the time when Emperor Wu (r. 140–87 bce) gathered experts—referred to as zhanjia 占家 “divination experts” in the story—to decide if taking a wife on a certain day was permitted (the exact day is not specified). Seven experts were identified by specialty: five-agents expert, Canopy and Chassis expert, Establish-Remove expert, Collected Branches expert, calendar expert, “heaven-man” (tianren 天人) expert, and Grand One (Taiyi 太一) expert. The experts each responded differently, from “greatly auspicious” to “greatly inauspicious.”118 According to the story, Emperor Wu affirmed the dominance of the five agents as the ruling ideology. We are left with a series of questions. Did the book titles in the bibliographic treatise similarly represent the texts of experts in competing hemerological systems, or were they compendiums organized by particular hemerologies? What was the relation between the “divination experts” in Chu Shaosun’s story and the specialists whose books were listed in the bibliographic treatise? Finally, between the “Heaven Patterns,” “Calendars and Chronologies,” and “Five Agents” subdivisions, what was the connection between all the people involved and hemerology?

non-hemerological sections of daybooks on subjects such as dream divination, prayers and incantations, exorcistic and apotropaic magic, demonology, and everyday predictive systems involving clothing, household objects, and agricultural products. One title, Bianguai gaojiu 變怪誥咎 (To declare the harm of mutant prodigies), is noteworthy in that the graph gao 誥 “declare” is probably a mistake for jie 詰 “spellbind.” In that case, the corrected title Bianguai jiejiu 變怪詰咎 (To spellbind the harm of mutant prodigies) may be related to the demonology in SHDA.59 and its section heading “Jie” (Spellbinding).122



“Shigui” (Milfoil and Turtle) “Milfoil and Turtle” constitutes what the sages utilize.119

The short opening sentence of “Shigui” 蓍龜 (Milfoil and turtle) is followed by one quotation from the Documents and two quotations from the Changes. Similarly, titles of books related to the Changes and milfoil-hexagram divination are listed in the “Six Arts” division in the “Changes” subdivision.120 There is no reason to associate the “Milfoil and Turtle” subdivision with hemerology and daybooks.

“Zazhan” (Miscellaneous Divination) “Miscellaneous Divination” records the signs of the hundred activities and examines the verifications of good and bad.121

The “Zazhan” 雜占 (Miscellaneous divination) subdivision lists a number of book titles that are relevant to the 118  119  120  121 

S hiji, 127, p. 3222. Han shu, 30, p. 1771. Ibid., 30, p. 1703. Ibid., 30, p. 1773.



“Xingfa” (Form Structures) “Form Structures” greatly raises up the natural conformation of the Nine Regions to locate walled cities and domiciles and configures with measurements the bone model for humankind and the six domestic animals, as well as the distinguishing characteristics of vessels and things, so as to discover the nobility or ignobility and the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness that they exhibit.123

The titles in the “Xingfa” 形法 (Form structures) subdivision represent books on topomancy and on various forms of physiognomy (reading the signs of people, animals, and objects). Domestic topomancy does occur among the non-hemerological sections of daybooks (JD.6, SHDA.58).

Daybooks and Later Hemerological Texts

Among the excavated hemerological material currently available to us, the six daybooks that serve to define the daybook text type exhibit distinctive characteristics that set them apart from the manuscripts described as daybook-related and are evidence of conventionalization in the formation of a text type intended for practical, everyday use. Whether longer or shorter, daybook manuscripts constituted one surface of bound slips on which people found necessary hemerological information, beginning with Jianchu hemerology, which was placed at the front. No manuscript is identical to another, yet parallel texts among the manuscripts show that they share pieces of written information. At present, the documented time period for the production and circulation of daybooks is between the end of the fourth century bce (represented by the ca. 300 bce date 122  S ee Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 248–50. 123  Han shu, 30, p. 1775.

88 assigned to the Jiudian daybook) and the late first century bce (based on the conjecture that the Shuiquanzi rishu may belong to the daybook text type). The contents of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts depended on the compilers and copyists who added or deleted material according to their wishes and needs. Given the time sensitivity and textual fluidity of the texts, few people would have regarded daybooks as items that should be carefully preserved for a long time; daybooks were ephemeral products. During the centuries and decades when the daybook text type was current and popular, there were many daybooks as well as daybook-related manuscripts in circulation, which ensured the survival of the pieces of written information they contained. We do not know how long daybooks remained current and in circulation. Nevertheless, first- and second-century ce hemerological fragments from Han sites in the northwest are important evidence of the continued, popular circulation of the hemerologies found in daybooks, whether or not the daybook text type as we know it remained in circulation. We also know that other popular hemerological texts continued the transmission of pieces of written hemerological information in manuscripts and ephemera. For instance, the first-century ce Assay of Arguments (Lunheng 論衡) by Wang Chong 王充 (27– ca. 100) offers indirect attestation of popular hemerological texts. Wang Chong’s refutation of popular hemerological ideas and practices exposed the falsity of the ubiquitous “books of day prohibitions” (rijin zhi shu 日禁之書) and “books of seasons and days” (shiri zhi shu 時日之書). These two terms probably refer to popular hemerological literature in general and not to a specific text or text type.124 We also have examples in medieval manuscripts that prove the continuous transmission of the contents of ancient daybooks beyond the lifetime of the daybooks themselves. To give one example, both the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.12) and the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany (ZJTB.21) describe methods for ensuring safe travel using five-agents ideas (to go south, which is Fire, use something associated with Water, because Water conquers Fire; to go west, which is Metal, use something associated with Fire, because Fire conquers Metal; and so forth). Both sections state that the five-agents methods eliminate the need to use travel hemerology to determine the favorable travel day. The ZJTB.21 method recurs more than a millennium later in the ninth- or tenth-century Dunhuang manuscript miscellany copied by Yin Anren 尹安仁 on the verso of P2661, to which Yin gave the title Zhu zalüe deyao chaozi 124  Lunheng, 24, p. 989 (“Jiri”); Kalinowski, 2011a, p. 243.

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yiben 諸雜略得要抄子一本 (All-miscellany digest that obtains their essence in a single copy).125 The KJP.12 method recurs in the textual record in Japan in the fifteenthcentury Examining the Secret Records of Auspicious Days (Kichinichikō hiden 吉日考秘傳).126 A paper manuscript found in 1997 in Yanghai 洋海 tomb 1, at Turfan, Xinjiang (burial dated ca. 479), is a miscellany that combines Changes hexagram divination, hemerology, and a fragment of a calendar corresponding to the years 478–79 with Jianchu hemerology day qualifiers written on it. One hemerological passage precedes the Changes divination text on the recto and does not have an immediate counterpart in the ancient daybooks; a second hemerological passage added later in different handwriting on the verso is related to topical hemerologies in daybooks on travel, clothing, construction, sacrifice, and the like.127 As for the calendar, Qin calendars with Jianchu hemerology day qualifiers have been reported for the Qin slips acquired by Peking University, and the oldest Dunhuang calendar, for years corresponding to 450–51, includes the day qualifiers of Jianchu hemerology and other shensha 神煞 “calendar spirits,” the medieval term for such day qualifiers.128 Dunhuang calendars include some Tang calendars dating to the ninth and tenth centuries; the term juzhu li “fully annotated calendar” began to appear on the tenth-century calendars. The Tang calendars not only record the day qualifiers of various hemerological systems but also offer statements on favorable or unfavorable indications for specific activities such as travel, marriage, and other standard hemerological topics.129 These calendars show the medieval trend toward the formation of an almanac that combines the calendar with supplementary information added in the body of the calendar and distributed in the spaces surrounding the calendar on the sheet(s) of paper. S-P6, a printed calendar for the year corresponding to 877 (Qianfu 乾符 reign period, fourth year), is an excellent example of a Tang almanac with hemerological and non-hemerological texts added

125   P2661v, col. 160. For a general description of P2661v, see Kalinowski, 2003b, pp. 252–53; for another example of parallels between P2661v and ancient daybooks, see pp. 119–24 in chap. 3. 126  See Nakamura Shōhachi, 1985, pp. 435–36. 127  Xinhuo Tulufan chutu wenxian, vol. 1, pp. 151–61. 128  Deng Wenkuan, 1996, pp. 101–6. For details on the term shensha, which appears first in medieval sources and is still used in modern Chinese studies, see pp. 171–72 in chap. 4. 129  For fully annotated calendars in the Dunhuang corpus, see Deng Wenkuan, 1996.

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to the calendar.130 To the extent that the almanac incorporates a variety of hemerological information found in hemerological literature, the almanac might be seen as subsuming the function of the hemerological literature. Whether this process of subsumption and the expanded function of the calendar go back to the Han period and influenced the function of the daybook as a separate work to be consulted together with the calendar is uncertain, but we should not ignore the possibility. Yet the formation of the “fully annotated calendar” or almanac in the Tang period did not replace separate works of hemerology. There are more than seventy Dunhuang manuscripts (many fragmentary) related to hemerology in the Pelliot and Stein collections. Most are miscellanies with overlapping but not identical content. None resembles the daybook text type.131 Transmitted sources refer to a popular Tang hemerological book called Baiji li 百忌曆 (Hundred avoidance calendar) attributed to the seventh-century occult specialist Lü Cai 呂才. Although it is lost in China, an early eighteenth-century manuscript of this title was evidently handed down in Japan through generations of the Abe 安倍 family lineage of occult specialists. Parallel passages in the Japanese manuscript and Dunhuang hemerological manuscripts confirm the antiquity of the Japanese manuscript. In addition, S-P6 includes a passage on “Lü Cai’s marriage hemerology.”132 Later books intended to be of practical use preserve more materials that facilitate comparison with daybooks. The Yuan, Ming, and Qing almanacs and comprehensive hemerological compendiums provide much valuable information. Two notable compendiums in circulation in printed editions since the Yuan period are Elucidating the Origin of Calendrical Matters (Lishi mingyuan 曆事明原), compiled by Cao Zhengui 曹震圭, and Great Compendium of Calendrical Methods and Almanacs, Organized by Categories (Leibian lifa tongshu daquan 類編曆法通書大全). Cao Zhengui’s work is in five chapters: the first four are organized around the day qualifiers, or shensha “calendar spirits” in the terminology of the work, with explanations of their cycles or positions, and the fifth is an overview of various hemerological systems.133 The Great Compendium is an encyclopedic compilation for everyday use that focuses on hemerology. It contains both hemerological and non-hemerological content. For

instance, chapter 30, titled “Yingzao zhaijing” 營造宅經 (Domestic construction classic), is entirely devoted to domestic topomancy.134 These works are comparable in function to daybooks but could be applied on a larger scale. Finally, there are the officially sponsored Qing compendiums such as Investigation into Stars and the Calendar (Xingli kaoyuan 星曆考原) and Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions (Xieji bianfang shu 協紀辨方書), which are the most comprehensive compilations of hemerological methods.135 While their content may represent later developments in hemerology, they are invaluable sources of evidence for interpreting hemerology in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. Japanese onmyōdō 陰陽道 literature—much of it drawn from medieval Chinese sources—also sheds light on the ancient Chinese hemerological literature, including daybooks.136

130  131  132  133 

S ee Hua Lan, 2005. Kalinowski, 2003b, pp. 251–88. Huang Zhengjian, 2001, pp. 244–46; Kalinowski, 2003b, p. 202. The Lishi mingyuan is stored in the Gyujang-gag 奎章閣 library in Korea.

Conclusion The modern rediscovery of daybooks from ancient tombs is serendipitous. Let me emphasize again the value of identifying the daybook text type as exemplified by the six daybooks from Jiudian, Fangmatan, Shuihudi, and Kongjiapo. Transmitted sources have already informed us of the relative importance of hemerology in the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods alongside other technical occult and scientific knowledge broadly related to the calendar and everyday human activities. The “Calculations and Arts” division of the Book of Han bibliographic treatise and its subdivisions document the extent of specialized hemerological literature as part of the knowledge associated with the calendar, astrology, and divination. Wang Chong’s Assay of Arguments portrays one literatiintellectual’s attack on the wide array of occult ideas and practices current in his day, including an especially vehement attack on hemerology for the very fact of its popular acceptance. The modern excavation of Warring States, Qin, and Han manuscripts has brought to light the evidence that had disappeared from the transmitted written record. As miscellanies that were produced locally and used locally, daybooks were not in the same category as the classics or works of history and refined literature, or even the specialized literature in the “Calculations and Arts” division 134  L eibian lifa tongshu daquan, 30, pp. 678–82. 135  On Xingli kaoyuan and Xieji bianfang shu, see pp. 342–47 in chap. 9. 136  See Nakamura Shōhachi, 1985; and Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 263–74.

90 of the bibliographic treatise. Like many other kinds of ­documents for daily use, daybooks were useful to particular people for a limited time; they were, as stated in the title of this chapter, a type of popular hemerological manual. This chapter presents an account of our current knowledge of daybooks based on the fully published daybooks

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and daybook-related manuscripts. It offers no more than a beginning point for research that will continue as more of the relevant materials are published and new manuscript materials are discovered. We may look forward to the advancement of our knowledge not only of ancient Chinese hemerology but of the whole range of technical occult knowledge of which hemerology is a part.

CHAPTER 3

Daybooks in the Context of Manuscript Culture and Popular Culture Studies Donald Harper Like other archaeological artifacts, manuscripts found in Warring States, Qin, and Han tomb and non-tomb sites since the twentieth century are not easy to explain. Most often the newly discovered manuscripts are without precedent in texts that were transmitted down through the centuries and survive today in printed editions. Excavated manuscripts, unexpected modern intrusions in the record of civilization based on transmitted texts, are new sources of Chinese history. At the same time, their existence necessitates reevaluation of text-based research. Philology as a method of determining correct readings in the printed editions of transmitted Chinese texts is different when manuscripts found in a single tomb or in more than one site give us multiple copies of a text and when the variance among them is the result of the active process of manuscript production. We must learn to appreciate the manuscript as cultural object and as material support for the text written on it. We must reconsider our ideas about the function of writing, manuscript production, and literacy based on the new manuscript evidence. In light of the haphazardness of archaeological excavation and instances of looted manuscripts, we must address the question of whether the manuscripts we now have are representative of contemporaneous manuscript culture and consider their relation to the transmitted texts. Finally, we must admit how little we know about the regional, social, and cultural realities of the people who produced and used the manuscripts. We are outsiders, modern readers trying to simultaneously use the manuscripts as sources of history and re-create the experience of their original users. The study of Warring States, Qin, and Han manuscript culture includes all manuscripts. Daybooks and daybookrelated manuscripts are a special category. On the one hand, manuscript examples of historical, intellectual, and literary texts, as well as of technical occult and scientific literature, mostly represent manuscript production for the elite, whose social status was associated with literacy and access to positions of authority in government.1 Daybook manuscripts, on the other hand, have the appearance of an established type of miscellany that contains information—hemerological and non-hemerological—used

by various social groups in the course of everyday life in local communities. Some of the contents indicate shared knowledge among manuscripts intended either for elite readers or for users in general. The silk-sheet manuscripts with texts on astrology, divination, and medicine from Mawangdui 馬王堆 tomb 3, Hunan (burial dated 168 bce), bespeak a literature that specialists produced for the elite. However, daybooks with their hemerologies and diverse information—five-agents correlations, topomancy, incantations, and rituals—were not simply abbreviated versions of the specialists’ texts. They warrant classification as a distinct text type with its own characteristics and function in manuscript culture. Beneath their diversity, daybooks provided their original readers and users with practical information and transmitted a shared worldview. Wang Chong 王充 (27–ca. 100) may have been familiar with manuscripts like the examples of daybooks we have today when he included all of society in his criticism of hemerology (zeri 擇日 “selecting days”) as the common custom of the times (first century ce): “People of the age—stupid or intelligent, paragon or fool, lord or commoner alike—are led to believe out of fear and dread and dare not violate (hemerological prescriptions). No one is able to discern when in the past this began, so they treat it like the books of heaven and earth or the art of sages.”2 My suggestion that Wang Chong’s rhetoric was informed by the type of text restored to us through the modern excavation of daybook manuscripts raises the second set of issues examined in this chapter, which requires modern mediation between the manuscripts as artifacts of popular culture and received knowledge in transmitted texts. For the statement quoted, the process of mediation includes assessing the ideological background of Wang Chong’s notion of popular credulity in his lifetime while treating his statement and daybook manuscripts equally as historical evidence, making modern sociological presumptions that need not represent Wang Chong’s view of social structure and its cultural implications, and expecting that we can situate daybook manuscripts in an original setting reconstituted in part from transmitted texts.

1  For my use of the term “the elite” in connection with literacy and manuscript culture, see pp. 103–4 in this chapter.

2  Lunheng, 24, p. 1008 (“Biansui” 辨祟); Kalinowski, 2011a, p. 216.

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Wang Chong did not mention “daybook” in the statement, but elsewhere he referred to the abundance and diversity of “books of day prohibitions” (rijin zhi shu 日禁之書) and “books of seasons and days” (shiri zhi shu 時日之書), which he used as evidence in his refutation of hemerological ideas and practices.3 Wang Chong used the names to designate the literature in general; they did not specifically denote the daybook text type for which we have manuscript examples. Note the contrast in the statement between the habitual acts prompted by fear and the conception of a body of knowledge with an uncertain origin in the past, which I correlate with what we call “hemerology.” Wang Chong addressed both the acts as common custom and the body of knowledge. Unlike others who, in his view, mistakenly attributed hemerology to sages and “books of heaven and earth” (tiandi zhi shu 天地之書)—one of his terms for the prophecy literature of his day—Wang Chong belittled the acts and the body of knowledge.4 The statement encapsulates the problem of the study of popular culture in early China. To begin, although some in society—let us call them “the elite”—reflected on their existence in terms of ideas explaining worldviews and the bodies of knowledge formed from ideas, they shared with other social groups the same existence as measured in common attitudes and daily acts. Current work on popular culture in premodern societies no longer presumes that the word “popular” in “popular culture” signifies the divide separating the intellectual, literate elite from the world of the folk, or that popular culture by definition was deficient and dependent on the dominant culture of the elite. A sociology that deems ideas, practices, and cultural products to be popular in their opposition to elite culture is suspect, and vice versa. In the 1990s, Roger Chartier identified the problem and proposed the solution: A sociology implying that the classification of social groups corresponds strictly to a classification of cultural products or practices can no longer be accepted uncritically. It is clear that the appropriation of texts, codes, or values in a given society may be a more distinctive factor than the always illusory correspondence between a series of cultural artifacts and a specific socio-cultural level. The “popular” cannot be found ready-made in a set of texts or habits that merely need to be identified, listed, and described. 3  Lunheng, 24, p. 989 (“Jiri” 譏日); Kalinowski, 2011a, p. 243. 4  Wang Chong’s understanding of “books of heaven and earth” is more explicit in the second occurrence of the term. See Lunheng, 26, p. 1072 (“Shizhi” 實知); Kalinowski, 2011a, p. 199.

Above all, the “popular” can indicate a kind of relation, a way of using cultural products or norms that are shared, more or less, by society at large, but understood, defined, and used in styles that vary.5 Chartier advised historians and sociologists to address popular culture by examining how social groups in a given time and place interact differently with common sets of ideas, practices, and artifacts rather than isolating “cultural sets defined in themselves as popular.”6 This advice applies to Wang Chong’s statement, which provides a point of entry to popular culture in China in the first century. Wang Chong’s rhetoric was most attuned to the different uses of hemerology within the elite, loosely defined for the moment as anyone who thought of “selecting days” as a body of knowledge. As with other cases of popular credulity singled out for criticism in his essays, Wang Chong’s presentation of the evidence and his refutation were intended for people like himself, people who appreciated an argument and its reasons. For instance, his discussion of gui 鬼 “ghosts and demons” offers seven suppositions that he represents as discrete ideas about gui current in his day but that I read as a rhetorical device for classifying the ideas, the better to refute them. Contemporary readers of Wang Chong knew how to connect the seven suppositions to the common knowledge of the times in a way that the modern reader does not.7 In regard to the relation between hemerology and habitual acts in everyday life, the modern reader of Wang Chong’s Assay of Arguments (Lunheng 論衡) is left to guess the pattern of variation in society at large from the standpoint of local actors in communities no matter what their social background. Daybooks and daybookrelated manuscripts offer evidence that is more personal: they are manuscripts that Warring States, Qin, and Han people once held, saw, or perhaps only heard about. They are cultural artifacts, or realia, that were once an active part of everyday experience. Their physical characteristics, content, provenance from tomb and non-tomb sites, and association with people—the deceased or the local inhabitants—all provide sociologically significant information. The modern reader of daybooks must remain openly curious about the cultural effect on someone’s life of written information collected in one manuscript, from 5  Chartier, 1995, p. 89. 6  Ibid. Chartier applies the term “appropriation” to the uses of discourses and models in specific practices that actualize them across social groups, in contrast to other social theorists’ use of the term. 7  Lunheng, 22, pp. 931–41 (“Dinggui” 訂鬼); Kalinowski, 2011a, pp. 272–81.

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

illiterate members of the local community to critics like Wang Chong, and at the same time identify the factors in manuscript culture that motivated daybook production as cultural artifact. The following presentation of the daybook as a text type alternates between the perspectives of manuscript culture and popular culture and between the evidence of manuscripts and of transmitted texts. There is no other way to proceed given the unique contribution of daybooks to our understanding of literacy and manuscript culture in early China and their identity as products of popular culture. Western critical thinking about texts in manuscript and manuscripts as cultural products has focused on medieval Europe overlapping the early period of printed texts and print culture in Europe. This is due in part to the limited number of surviving manuscripts older than the twelfth century and also to social and cultural changes that occurred as a greater variety of texts were composed in vernacular languages, not Latin, and manuscripts or printed texts were more available (and more people wanted them).8 The social and cultural circumstances in early China were different, as is the modern reappearance of Warring States, Qin, and Han manuscripts where there had been none. There is much to learn from daybooks about manuscript culture and popular culture in early China. History composed from transmitted texts has been changed. This chapter focuses not on writing history but on describing and interpreting daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts as realia of manuscript culture and popular culture. Starting from the daybook found in Jiudian 九店 tomb 56, Hubei, and ending with the hemerological fragments found at non-tomb sites in northwest China involves a geographic reach extending from south to north and a chronological span of five centuries. We are left with the textual remains of the cultural aggregate formed from people living and acting in their localities. Every strategy for studying the manuscripts has limitations that we encounter as soon as we want to ascertain how the physical characteristics and text of one manuscript were elements of someone’s life and how manuscripts collectively constituted written knowledge. Recent work on manuscript culture argues that the interconnection of knowledge with text formation and manuscript production occurred at the level of the anonymous production of manuscripts; that is, the text or texts were the product of many hands

8  For an overview of manuscript culture in medieval Europe from the perspectives of the “new philology” and “material philology,” see Nichols, 1990, 1997, and 2015; and Wenzel, 1990.

93 copying manuscripts, not an ideal structure separable from the materiality of the “manuscript matrix.”9 The idea of the manuscript matrix is apt for thinking about daybooks and the relationship not only between daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts but also between daybooks and medical or technical occult literature in manuscripts from Mawangdui and other sites. The manuscripts we have indicate that there was already a large amount of relevant written knowledge by the third and second centuries bce, and the same pieces of text recur in different combinations in manuscripts from several sites.10 The original makers or copyists viewed the many manuscripts known to them as sources of knowledge ready to be recopied in new manuscripts. Conventions in manuscript culture influenced decisions about the combination of pieces of text to copy and also account for the modern identification of the daybook text type based on manuscripts that share hemerological content and format. Allowing for the possibility of identical manuscript copies—not yet encountered among the excavated manuscripts—the total number of combinations was the sum of manuscripts. The term “manuscript matrix” captures the ongoing process of written knowledge being circulated because people chose to copy it, and daybooks were one result. Daybooks were produced by those who could write and read—in addition to the elite and specialists, however defined, we must include ordinary soldiers and artisans among the literate—but we should count all who knew of daybooks as users. Again, we encounter limitations in our sources of evidence and our capacity for substantive interpretation. We can guess the social, cultural, and economic incentives for some people to possess daybooks and hypothesize that daybooks circulating locally influenced the life of whole communities, yet we also recognize that they were produced with particular social groups in mind. The abundance of written information in daybooks did not apply uniformly to everyone, and we can be certain that the information was not received equally by everyone. The modern reader of daybook manuscripts realizes that the daybook as cultural product was involved in broad 9  Nichols (1990, pp. 7–9; 2015) addresses the significance of the manuscript matrix in the manuscript culture of medieval Europe. 10  One example is the diagram with a pair of human figures surrounded by the twelve branches and used to determine fortune based on birthday. It occurs in SHDA.48, KJP.74, and HK.2 as well as in a Mawangdui tomb 3 medical manuscript, the Han manuscripts acquired by Peking University, and the recently discovered Zhoujiazhai 周家寨 tomb 8 manuscript. See p. 189 in chap. 4; and Harper, 1998, pp. 372–73.

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interactions between people and among social groups but is unable to reconstruct the details of these interactions from the manuscripts. Let us not ask the impossible of texts and be grateful for what the daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts give us. Most important is their condition of having once been realia in Warring States, Qin, and Han society. We treat them as historical evidence alongside transmitted texts, but they are fundamentally different from transmitted historiography and literary works of the period. We do not know the people who used them, but we know that the physical manuscripts and written information are exactly what these people had and used in everyday life. This chapter is organized in four parts. First, I examine transmitted historical sources related to Wang Jing 王景 (first century ce) and Cai Yong 蔡邕 (132–192). Both men’s engagement with hemerology and hemerological literature is a necessary complement to Wang Chong’s views. Events associated with them that occur near the end of the period for which we have daybook manuscripts are relevant to situating daybooks in manuscript culture and popular culture. Turning to the manuscripts, I address in sequence: makers, readers, users, and the issue of literacy; the form and function of daybook manuscripts; and daybooks in everyday life.

Hemerology and Hemerological Literature through the Lens of Late Han Historiography

Wang Jing’s life and career are presented in the collective account of “skillful officials” (xunli 循吏) in the Book of Later Han (Hou Han shu 後漢書).11 Well educated, expert in the Changes (Yi 易), and versed in astrology and occult knowledge, Wang Jing became famous in the 60s for a series of Yellow River water-control projects and for the great favor shown him by Emperor Ming (r. 58–75). In the 80s, he held two regional administrative posts, the second as chief administrator of Lujiang 廬江 (in present-day Anhui), where he died in office. By the first century, the region of Lujiang had a long history of human settlement and the ruins of the Que reservoir (Quebei 芍陂), built for irrigation in earlier times, but when he arrived, Wang Jing encountered a populace that had no knowledge of farming with ox and plow and a chronic shortage of food despite an abundance of arable land: “Then Jing mobilized officials and the populace to restore the abandoned (reservoir); he taught them to till the soil with plows, more than doubling the land under cultivation; and the region 11  Hou Han shu, 76, pp. 2464–66.

was fertile and productive. Afterward he engraved covenants on stelae to make the populace know the regular prohibitions (changjin 常禁). Further, he instructed them in silkworm cultivation and weaving and created a system of regulations. All was placed on view in the villages, and in the region of Lujiang those very texts are handed down.”12 Our concern is with Wang Jing’s acts after carrying out agricultural reforms: he created two written records that were displayed in public places and were still being handed down after his death. First were the stelae engraved with prohibitions. They were Wang Jing’s local adaptation of government-issued “monthly ordinances” (yue­ ling 月令) or “seasonal ordinances” (shiling 時令), such as the inscription discovered on the earthen wall inside the Han government compound at the site of Xuanquan 懸泉, Gansu, in the 1990s. The inscription, dated to 5 ce, gives the text of the court rescript promulgating the monthly ordinances. Of ten ordinances recorded on the wall for the first month of spring, the first “prohibits cutting down trees” ( jinzhi famu 禁止伐木); the second to the ninth begin with the injunctive wu 毋 “do not” and range from not killing insects and animal fetuses to not building walls; the tenth ordinance stipulates that bird and animal bones must be buried.13 The idea of government organized around a calendar of ordinances for ruler and ruled existed in the Warring States period. The monthly ordinance calendar declared the correct human activities that were to be observed according to season, especially agricultural activities. Knowing what to do and what not to do was correlated with harmony in the natural, social, and political realms.14 Inasmuch as the monthly ordinance calendar was institutionalized in Han government, Wang Jing’s stelae inscribed with prohibitions for the people of Lujiang were not unique. Rather, the account of Wang Jing in the Book of Later Han highlights his acts in order to idealize perfect local government. At the same time, the account concludes with a passage concerning Wang Jing’s involvement with divination and occult literature, including popular hemerological texts. Han historiography most often represented the monthly ordinances as the proper use of the calendar in opposition to the abusive ideas 12  Ibid., 76, p. 2466. 13   Dunhuang Xuanquan yueling zhaotiao, pp. 4–5. For discussion of the monthly ordinances in government and full presentation of the Xuanquan wall inscription, see Sanft, 2009 (a critical edition of the Chinese text and translation for the first month of spring are provided on pp. 179–80). 14  Harper, 1999, pp. 831–32.

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and practices of popular hemerology; that is, there was recognition of common ground and the need to dismiss the latter without prejudicing the former.15 Reading what Wang Jing thought about divination and the proper use of hemerology complicates that simple dichotomy. Unlike the Lujiang passage, the second passage is not attached to a specific historical event but serves to introduce the work that Wang Jing had compiled, the Dark Fundament of the Great Expansion (Dayan xuanji 大衍玄基): Jing thought that everything recorded in the Six Classics (Liujing 六經) partook of divination and that undertaking affairs or leading a life was rooted in the milfoil and turtle.16 Yet the multitude of books was a jumble of errors; auspicious was inauspicious and vice versa. Then he gathered up the texts of all the experts in calculations and arts (shushu 數術)— prohibitions and avoidances for tomb and domicile (zhongzhai jinji 冢宅禁忌), Canopy and Chassis day signs (Kanyu rixiang 堪輿日相),17 and the like—and taking what was suited for practical use, he collected them to make the Dark Fundament of the Great Expansion.18 The title, which alludes to hexagram divination with milfoil stalks in the Changes, was not listed in later bibliographies, and there is no trace of the work in transmitted literature.19 The passage is a story half told. When did Wang Jing embrace divination as the root idea of the governmentapproved classics and life—in youth, middle age, old age? 15  The criticism of hemerology was part of the broader criticism of the misuse of five-agents and yinyang ideas as part of technical occult and scientific knowledge; see pp. 107–8 in this chapter. See also Harper, 1999, pp. 832–33; 2010b, pp. 71–72. 16  According to Han shu, 6, p. 212, Emperor Wu (r. 140–87 bce) was the first Han ruler to promote the Six Classics—Changes, Songs (Shi 詩), Documents (Shu 書), Spring and Autumn (Chunqiu 春秋), Rites (Li 禮), Music (Yue 樂)—at court. Sorting stalks of milfoil determined the trigrams and hexagrams of the Changes; cracking the turtle plastron was the basis for shell divination. 17  Kanyu hemerology occurs in the Han manuscripts acquired by Peking University; see Li Ling, 2011a, pp. 82–83. A related text occurs in the Mawangdui silk manuscripts in Yinyang wuxing A 陰陽五行甲篇; see Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, pp. 93–98. My translation “day signs” for rixiang is tentative. 18   Hou Han shu, 76, p. 2466. 19  The phrase “calculation of the great expansion” (dayan zhi shu 大衍之數) refers to the method of sorting stalks to form trigrams and hexagrams. See Yijing, 7, 20a–23a (“Xici” 繫辭); and Nielsen, 2003, pp. 39–43.

95 Was he the kind of person Wang Chong dismissed for treating hemerology “like the books of heaven and earth or the art of sages”? Did he have copies of the books that were “a jumble of errors” and the texts of experts when he selected “what was suited for practical use”? What kind of text was the Dark Fundament? Was it a compendium of all the experts’ texts edited for practical use, or perhaps a digest of hemerological information organized by topic for convenient reference? From the passage, I surmise that Wang Jing valued the literature of the “books of day prohibitions” belittled by Wang Chong; was concerned about people being misled by bad manuscript copies; and made his own book to serve the everyday practical needs of many people, presumably in the locality where he lived at the time. Wang Jing’s intention with the Dark Fundament can be related to his stelae prohibitions and his written instructions for silkworm cultivation and weaving in Lujiang. Initially prepared for public display, both texts circulated in manuscript copies in Lujiang after his lifetime; both texts were known to a socially diverse group of readers and users in local manuscript culture. Note also Wang Jing’s criterion that the contents of the Dark Fundament be “be suited for practical use” (shi yu shiyong 適於事用), that is, be useful for everyday situations. Monthly ordinances, hemerological information, and farming methods were all “practical use” knowledge for agriculture. For silkworm cultivation in particular, the Zhoujiatai 周家臺 tomb 30 recipe miscellany has an example of the ritual with incantation for washing silkworm eggs meant to ensure an abundance of cocoons (ZJTB.25). The same written information no doubt recurred in other miscellanies and books on sericulture.20 The same Zhoujiatai manuscript also includes Guxu 孤虛 (Orphan-Empty) hemerology used to find lost horses 20  The existence of Han technical literature on sericulture is confirmed by Zheng Xuan’s 鄭玄 (127–200) commentary on Zhou li, 30, 5a (“Mazhi” 馬質), which has the only extant quotation from the Canshu 蠶書: “The silkworm is dragon essence. When the month corresponds to Great Fire (second month), then wash the eggs” (蠶為龍精月直大火則浴其種). Zheng Xuan quoted the Canshu to explain the main text of the Zhou li, which concerns a horse prohibition: due to the correlation between silkworms, dragons, and horses, activities involving silkworms could be harmful to horses. In light of the ZJTB.25 silkworm-eggwashing ritual with incantation, it seems likely that the section of the lost Canshu on washing silkworm eggs included similar content. The ZJTB.25 incantation was chanted on the gengwu7 day, which, according to SHDA.30, is a good day for activities related to sericulture. For further discussion of Han customs related to sericulture, see Wang Guihai, 2013, pp. 79–82.

96 and cattle (ZJTB.20),21 the travel ritual based on the conquest sequence of the five agents (ZJTB.21),22 drug recipes for ailments and body care (ZJTB.1–10), ritual treatments for ailments (ZJTB.11–17, 30), the recipe for a treatment for seeds before planting so that the heads of grain would not be malformed (ZJTB.19), recipes for eliminating rats and fattening cattle (ZJTB.26–28), and the long entry on the sacrifice to First Tiller (Xiannong 先農) (ZJTB.18).23 The Zhoujiatai manuscript met Wang Jing’s “practical use” criterion at the level of popular miscellany no matter how disparate the contents might have appeared to Wang Jing or may appear to the modern reader. Filtered through historiography, Wang Jing’s life and works—including written works—inform our reading of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. We see one of the elite in the role of government official involved at the local level in manuscript culture and popular culture. The evidence of written knowledge on public display indicates the influence of the written text on all of society regardless of social group. The distinction between the books that were “a jumble of errors” and the “texts of all the experts in calculations and arts” is useful to us in thinking about connections between daybook manuscripts and more specialized medical or technical occult texts. Wang Jing’s insistence on practical use is also relevant for thinking about categories of knowledge and how knowledge was received by different social groups. Distinctions between acts as common custom and hemerology as a body of knowledge, or between one type of activity or knowledge and another—again, medical and occult come to mind—look different when we judge them according to practical use, and we can employ “practical use” as a means of identifying what was shared among social groups in everyday life. Cai Yong’s memorial gives us the court-centered perspective on hemerology through the eyes of a prominent literati-official. In 177 Emperor Ling (r. 168–89) demanded from officials a plan of action for addressing recent omens and social unrest. Cai Yong responded with seven matters to be rectified. The first was the court’s inattention to ritual and sacrifice coupled with its reliance on the Grand Scribe (Taishi 太史) and hemerological texts: “Recently (the court) employs instead the Grand Scribe while ignoring the greatness of rites and reverence; it employs books of prohibitions and avoidances (jinji zhi shu

21  See pp. 134–36 in this chapter. 22  See pp. 117–18 in this chapter. 23  See pp. 310–11 in chap. 8.

harper 禁忌之書) and obstinately places trust in trivia; and as a

consequence the great canons are diminished.”24 In the third century, Sima Biao 司馬彪 listed the Grand Scribe’s duties at the Later Han court in his treatise on government offices, and his description bears on Cai Yong’s criticism: “Has charge of the seasons of heaven and the star-based calendar. At the end of every year memorializes the court with the calendar for the new year. For all events of sacrifice, mourning, and taking a wife in the realm, has charge of memorializing good days as well as prohibitions and avoidances for seasonal intervals. Whenever there are the favorable responses of auspicious omens or calamities and prodigies in the realm, has charge of recording them.”25 Emperor Ling’s reign was seen in historiography as the time when Han rule collapsed. He acceded to power in 168 at the age of twelve, having been chosen to succeed Emperor Huan (r. 147–67) when the latter died without sons and without a designated heir apparent. In 177 Emperor Ling was in his early twenties. The corps of palace eunuchs controlled court administration.26 Cai Yong’s account in the Book of Later Han sketches the broader context for the memorial on the seven matters before quoting the memorial in full, including details such as court officials who delighted Emperor Ling with vulgar folk entertainments and court appointments given to several tens of marketplace vendors and commoners who were selfproclaimed “filial sons” (xiaozi 孝子) from the town established at the site of Emperor Huan’s tomb, Xuanling 宣陵. The “filial sons of Xuanling” were the subject of Cai Yong’s seventh matter, and after quoting the memorial, the Book of Later Han notes that Emperor Ling demoted them to lesser positions away from court. The narrative frame of the Book of Later Han and the memorial itself link omens and social unrest to the conduct of the ruler and his court. The memorial’s references to “books of prohibitions and avoidances” and “obstinate trust in trivia” echo Wang Chong’s criticism of “books of day prohibitions” and people’s ignorant reliance on hemerology regardless of their social standing. However, Sima Biao’s treatise on Later Han government offices describes without criticism the Grand Scribe’s production of the calendar and control of

24   Hou Han shu, 60B, pp. 1993–94. 25  The passage translated is Sima Biao’s “original commentary” (benzhu 本注) on his treatise on Later Han government offices. See Hou Han shu, “Zhi” 志, 25, p. 3572. The set of treatises composed by Sima Biao was appended to the Hou Han shu in the sixth century. On the treatises and Sima Biao’s auto-commentary, see Mansvelt-Beck, 1990, pp. 1–2, 202–3. 26  For a summary of Emperor Ling’s reign, see Crespigny, 2007, pp. 510–17.

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hemerology for sacrifice, mourning, marriage, and seasonal observances. These functions were normal and necessary to the court and the “realm” (guo 國) beyond the court. Further, in 175, Cai Yong participated in the courtordered discussion on the accuracy of the calendar and defended the office of the Grand Scribe against the accusations of opponents.27 Cai Yong’s representation of the Grand Scribe in the 177 memorial is shaped by his rhetoric and intention to criticize. He exaggerates. The Grand Scribe is the emblem of imbalance at court, and his control of the calendar and hemerology is directly correlated with popular hemerology in “books of prohibitions and avoidances.” The “books of prohibitions and avoidances” are products of the preoccupation with trivia that weaken the high culture of the elite, and in Cai Yong’s rhetoric, they are the perfect foil for the vulgarity currently flourishing at court (to the detriment of “rites and reverence”). His memorial treats hemerology as an element of popular culture shared by the elite and nonelite. I do not think Cai Yong intended to refute hemerology in the manner of Wang Chong. At issue was the balance between normative conduct and popular abuse of norms reflected in hemerology, which was an ever-present concern for government and literati-officials like Cai Yong. I also do not read the rhetorical language in Cai Yong’s memorial as proof that in the 170s the Grand Scribe at court produced “books of prohibitions and avoidances” of the type that circulated in contemporary manuscript culture. There was, however, a legacy in medieval occult literature. The Book of Sui (Sui shu 隨書) bibliographic treatise lists the title Grand Scribe Hundred Avoidance Calendar Diagrams (Taishi baiji litu 太史百忌曆圖) and a similarly titled book from the previous Liang dynasty among several “hundred avoidance calendar” works in the subdivision for hemerology. The best explanation for the titles is prestige by association, due no doubt to historiography and the memory of the ancient Grand Scribes of Han.28

27   Hou Han shu, “Zhi,” 2, pp. 3037–40. The account of the incident names two officials in the office of the Grand Scribe who were responsible for the calendar, Guo Xiang 郭香 and Liu Gu 劉固. 28   Sui shu, 34, p. 1035. See, however, Sui shu jingji zhi kaozheng, p. 575, which cites Cai Yong’s memorial and Sima Biao’s description of the Grand Scribe as evidence that the Grand Scribe did produce “books of prohibitions and avoidances” and further argues that a third hemerological calendar work by Gaotang Long 高堂隆 (d. 237) was probably produced when Gaotang was Grand Scribe at the Wei 魏 court.



Makers and Users of Daybooks

From Wang Chong, to Wang Jing and Cai Yong, there are consistent references to hemerological texts circulating in manuscript culture and contrasting perspectives on popular culture and hemerology. The evidence suggests a society in which hemerological knowledge—how much of it was part of local custom and spread orally is hard to say—had become written knowledge that engaged social groups who were involved with manuscript culture in different ways. All textual evidence of the past, both transmitted sources and rediscovered manuscripts, is contingent on circumstances that provide us with parts of a lost whole. When we examine daybooks and daybookrelated manuscripts for signs of the interpenetration of manuscript culture and popular culture, new parts of the whole become evident. This section focuses on who made daybooks and who used them, and begins with discussion of literacy. Literacy During the past few decades, studies of premodern manuscript and print culture have used modern ideas of literacy to address the wider influence of texts and written knowledge in society beyond the highly educated elite whose literacy we associate with the legacy of historiography, intellectual writings, and fine literature handed down in transmitted texts. Reference to “functional literacy” is common, with understandings that draw on the term’s meaning in defining the objectives of international literacy programs. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) continues to be the key international organization promoting literacy and still uses the definition of functional literacy it adopted in 1978: “A person is functionally literate who can engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning of his group and community and also for enabling him to continue to use reading, writing and calculation for his own and the community’s development.”29 The UNESCO definition associates literacy with political, economic, and social goals related to international development, world peace, and the dignity of the individual in modern society—none of which is relevant to early China. However, the idea of functional literacy focuses our attention on how one person’s literacy has an effect on the “functioning of the group and community”; that is, literacy has consequences for how local communities function regardless of the numbers of illiterate and literate inhabitants or the levels of literacy in whatever way we choose to 29   EFA Global Monitoring Report 2006, p. 154.

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define levels. Use of the term “functional literacy” requires a further qualification: neither today nor in the past does or did the dominant authority—whether a social group, institution, or government—control how people use written texts. Literacy can produce conformity, but it is an illusion to expect literacy to inculcate in all people the norms and models of the dominant authority. Like other cultural products, what is transmitted in manuscripts and printed books is used across society in ways that are both similar and different for their many users, and not necessarily according to a normative plan.30 The notion of functional literacy, like modern ideas of manuscript culture and popular culture, allows us to situate ancient daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts as realia in the life of the community.31 We focus not on bibliographic classification of the daybook but on how people singly or by social group experienced daybooks among all examples of written text that they encountered in everyday circumstances. What cultural significance was attached to written text and to the text as physical object? Where did daybooks fit among the kinds of knowledge or information that was committed to writing in manuscripts? I offer one example of a different kind of text as an indication of the variety of uses for written text in the third century bce in circumstances that anyone would have encountered. The Shuihudi 睡虎地 tomb 11 administrative manuscripts describe the written record of oral statements made when government officials investigated legal cases in their localities. Written from the perspective of government administration and officials, they allow us to imagine the experiences of everyone involved in such cases. The following example concerns the process of cross-examination: 凡訊獄必先盡聼其言而書之各展其辭雖知其訑勿庸輒詰 其辭已盡書而毋解乃以詰者詰之

Whenever conducting interrogations in a legal case, it is required to first listen to people’s words entirely and write them down, letting all give their statements. Even when it is known that they lie, do not immediately cross-examine them (with the written text). When their statements are entirely written down, and some parts are not explained, then use those parts (of the written text) to cross-examine them.32 30  Chartier, 1995, pp. 89–90. 31  Hanson (1991, pp. 161–63) makes a similar point in her examination of literacy and illiteracy in Greco-Roman Egypt. 32   Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 148 (“Fengzhen shi” 封診式). For discussion of xun 訊 “interrogate” and jie 詰 “cross-examine” as

The process depended on the presence of the document with the written text of people’s statements. Officials relied on the document to confront the illiterate and literate alike when the statements were dubious. “Cross-examine them (with the written text)” and “use those parts (of the written text) to cross-examine them” are English circumlocutions that render jie 詰 as a verb meaning “crossexamine” in legal usage while emphasizing the efficacy of written text over oral utterance. In the first Shuihudi daybook, the same word-graph is used in the heading title of SHDA.59 in the sense of “spellbinding” or magical control of the spirit world.33 In the example of cross-examination, we do not know whether people were shown the document with their statements to read, or—depending on literacy—look at but not read, yet the scene crystallizes expectations they had about literacy and written text in the functioning of the community. One difficulty we encounter when viewing daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts from the perspective of functional literacy and everyday circumstances is that none of the complete (or relatively complete) manuscripts came from non-tomb sites. The simplicity of Jiudian tomb 56 perhaps indicates a lower social level in relation to other tombs with the manuscripts, which in some cases were the burials of local officials (Fangmatan 放馬灘 tomb 1, Shuihudi tomb 11, Kongjiapo 孔家坡 tomb 8), but the typology of tombs in cemeteries is an inaccurate means of distinguishing social levels and gauging people’s place in the local community, especially in view of the fact that simple tombs still indicate a status that allowed the deceased to be interred in the cemetery.34 Functional literacy and the socially diverse engagement with daybooks might be guessed from content. (The characteristics of daybooks as informational and technical literature are discussed in the “Form and Function of Daybook Manuscripts” section below.) However, even if we argue that many ideas and activities described in daybooks were common to the local society—while some, such as the horse ritual with incantation in SHDA.87, were specifically for the upper levels—we should not assume that our classification of daybook content replicates the cultural attitudes and functioning of local society; it also does not address the issue of literacy and manuscript culture. technical legal terms, see Barbieri-Low and Yates, 2015, pp. 156– 58 (the entire passage on conducting interrogations is translated on p. 156). 33  Harper, 1985, pp. 471–79. See pp. 129–30 in this chapter; and pp. 226–27 in chap. 5. 34  Thote (2010, pp. 227–29) addresses the issue of local society and social hierarchy as indicated by the typology of tombs in Warring States cemeteries.

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

Figure 3.1 Remains of the watchtower at Chagan chuanji, Ejina region. Photograph of site looking west and site plan. After Ejina Han jian, fig. 4 and plate 4.2.

What we would like to have is evidence of ordinary people using daybooks or, if not a manuscript of the daybook text type as we define it, at least some evidence of written knowledge. One undamaged wooden slip and four slip fragments found together in 2002 in excavations in the Ejina 額濟納 region, which extends from Gansu to Inner Mongolia, provide precisely this evidence. The site was a watchtower manned by Han soldiers, probably in the first century ce, designated “Chagan chuanji” 察干川吉 in the excavation report (fig. 3.1). The slips were found in the first of two rooms of a structure built on the north side of the watchtower, where excavators also found a few more slip fragments as well as potsherds, wooden objects, grain, and traces of a stove. Soldiers at the watchtower probably used the room for cooking and other daily needs.

99 The slips all have content related to travel. The undamaged slip, 2002ESCSF1:2, probably belonged to the same original manuscript as the fragments 2002ESCSF1:3 and 2002ESCSF1:5. Slip 2002ESCSF1:2 records a travel ritual with incantation; the two fragments concern favorable and unfavorable times and directions (fig. 3.2). The other two fragments, 2002ESCSF1:4 and 2002ESCSF1:14, treat of the conquest sequence of the five agents for safe travel and could be from the same manuscript.35 Text parallels can be identified for each: between 2002ESCSF1:2 and FMTA.10 and FMTB.48, between 2002ESCSF1:3 and SHDA.42, between 2002ESCSF1:5 and SHDB.65, between 2002ESCSF1:4 and KJP.12 and ZJTB.21, and between 2002ESCSF1:14 and KJP.12. For 2002ESCSF1:5, there is an additional parallel in the Mawangdui silk-sheet manuscript assigned the title Chuxing zhan 出行占 (Divination for travel departure).36 In the first century, soldiers conscripted and sent from their localities to serve on the northwest frontier had manuscripts with content like the third- and second-century bce daybooks from Fangmatan, Shuihudi, and Kongjiapo and also like Mawangdui technical occult manuscripts. Finding hemerological texts at a first-century Han watchtower is valuable confirmation of their everyday use by soldiers. More hemerological fragments have been found at other non-tomb sites in the northwest. Literacy instruction for ordinary officials and soldiers is well documented at the same sites and was usual during their period of service. Military and administrative settlement sites in the north and south have yielded fragmentary copies of lexical primers as well as random slips and tablets used to write the arithmetical table of multiples known as “nine nines” (jiujiu 九九), to write the binoms of the sexagenary cycle, and simply to practice writing (fig. 3.3). Additional evidence indicates that lower-level officials and soldiers were able to make written lists, compose brief communications, manage accounts, and write personal letters.37 The discoveries at settlement sites confirm Cui Shi’s 崔實 (d. ca. 170) account of elementary education in his locality, where youths between the ages of nine and fourteen were taught lexical primers, the sexagenary cycle, and “nine nines” as well as the Filial Piety Classic (Xiao jing 孝經) and the Analects (Lunyu 論語).38 Wang Chong 35   Ejina Han jian, pp. 282–87. Liu Guosheng (2014, p. 220) judges the five fragments to be similar to one another in regard to the wood material and the handwriting. 36  See Liu Lexian, 2010, pp. 164–66. Liu Lexian (2012b, p. 94) compares SHDB.65 with Chuxing zhan. See also p. 81n93 in chap. 2. 37  For military education and local education based on transmitted sources as well as excavated manuscripts and documents, see Xing Yitian, 2011b, pp. 585–94, 595–651; and Yates, 2011, pp. 360–64. 38   Simin yueling, pp. 9 (“Zheng yue” 正月), 71 (“Shiyi yue” 十一月).

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Figure 3.3 Writing practice on two wooden documents from well no. 7 at the Dongpailou 東牌樓 settlement site, Changsha 長沙, Hunan, second century ce. Left to right: slip with the sexagenary binoms jiazi1 甲子, yichou2 乙丑, and bingyin3 丙寅; tablet with repeated writing of yuan 掾. Facsimile by Xu Datong. After Changsha Dongpailou Dong Han jiandu, p. 60.

Figure 3.2 Three wooden slips from room 1 at Chagan chuanji. Left to right: 2002ESCSF1:2, 2002ESCSF1:3, 2002ESCSF1:5. After Ejina Han jian, pp. 282, 284–85.

was eight in 34 ce when he learned to write at school in his native Shangyu 上虞 (in present-day Zhejiang) in a class of more than a hundred youths. In his recollection, “those who committed infractions were punished” and “some were whipped for misshapen handwriting.” His own handwriting “improved daily, and I never committed infractions.” After Wang Chong left the class, he studied the Analects and the Documents (Shu 書).39 For the first century, historiography also documents the government system of schools that sent teachers to villages throughout the Han realm.40 We cannot measure it, but we can assume that, between learning locally and returning home with literacy skills acquired during conscripted service, a number of people from lower levels of society were functionally literate in their community by the first century. They did not have to know the Analects to participate in manuscript culture, and the level of literacy gained from lexical primers, the sexagenary cycle, and “nine nines” was adequate for reading and copying hemerological texts like the manuscripts 39   Lunheng, 30, p. 1188 (“Ziji” 自紀). 40  See Han shu, 12, p. 355; ibid., 24A, pp. 1121–22.

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we have today. Certainly, the illiterate were the majority in local communities, but I suspect that functional literacy at the lower levels of society played a role in involving the illiterate in popular hemerological literature and making them users of the manuscripts. Archaeological evidence of artisan literacy in the first and second centuries does not shed light on the wider role of artisans in the community or in manuscript culture, but we must include their use of writing in speculation on functional literacy.41 Third-century bce evidence is scant but suggests similar circumstances for functional literacy in local communities. Shuihudi administrative texts provide information on government rules for the office of shi 史 “scribe” in local administration and in the capital. In respect to Qin government, the office of scribe, and literacy, two details stand out. First, government education for scribes was restricted to sons of scribes; that is, the office was hereditary. Second, only people who received government education were allowed to serve in the office. Others were able to write, but the rules barred them from serving as government scribes.42 Administrative texts from Zhangjiashan 張家山 tomb 247, Hubei (burial dated to the 180s bce), indicate that early Han government followed Qin rules. The Zhangjiashan government statute on the offices of scribe, bu 卜 “diviner,” and zhu 祝 “incantor” reiterates the practice of educating sons of scribes and specifies that students who did poorly on the annual government examination were barred from becoming scribes; they were, however, literate participants in local manuscript culture. Diviner was also a hereditary office and required literacy, but holding the office depended on performing acts of divination and achieving the stipulated rate of verified outcomes; again, those who did not succeed continued to practice divination locally. Incantors were tested for ability to chant and knowledge of sacrificial ritual.43 For the modern reader, the statute bears witness to government practice, yet we know that functional literacy and manuscript culture were elements of community life outside government. All who held office as scribes, diviners, or incantors had dual status: they belonged to the government, and they belonged to the community. On the one hand, they participated in the maintenance of dominant political power by Qin and Han governments; on the other hand, in their social identity, they were associated with others in the

41  On craftsman’s literacy in the Qin and Han periods, see BarbieriLow, 2011, and esp. pp. 397–99. 42  For a discussion of the evidence, see Yates, 2011, pp. 345–49. 43  Ibid., pp. 349–57; Barbieri-Low and Yates, 2015, pp. 1084–1111.

101 community who were literate, practiced divination, and performed ritual acts. In 2002 at Liye 里耶, Hunan, more than thirty-seven thousand pieces of wooden and bamboo documents discarded by the Qin administration of Qianling 遷陵 were discovered in well no. 1, an abandoned well shaft inside the ancient city site.44 Some documents have dates corresponding to years between 222 and 208 bce. At the time, Qianling was a county (xian 縣) under the jurisdiction of Dongting Commandery 洞庭郡. The material was the accumulation of several decades of documents produced in day-to-day operations and reveals the extent of reliance on written communication in government throughout the Qin empire (Qianling was situated on the periphery in the southwest). The Shuihudi administrative texts specify when processes had to be transacted in writing; Liye well no. 1 contained the material reality of those written transactions. For us, the well is an accidental archive and proof of an organization that produced a large volume of written documents daily. The Liye slips and tablets are partially published, and publication of the entire well archive is forthcoming. In connection with literacy and manuscript culture at Qianling—and, by extension, the empire—in the last quarter of the third century bce, one wooden tablet stands out: no. 6-1, with the “nine nines” table written neatly on the recto in six horizontal registers down the length of the tablet and the surface of the verso used for writing practice (fig. 3.4). A second Liye copy of the “nine nines” table has not yet been published. Whoever wrote the graphs on no. 6-1v was practicing a few common graphs in the standard administration vocabulary. None form a statement, and the graphs were seemingly picked at random, with some repeated for practice. More than a dozen slips and tablets in published Liye material were used for writing practice, sometimes on what was the blank verso of an old document and always graphs related to administrative work (fig. 3.5).45 Tablet no. 6-1r is the oldest example of the “nine nines” table, carefully prepared as if intended for instruction. We do not know how it and the other slips and tablets came to be used for writing practice, and we cannot explain 44   Liye fajue baogao, p. 179. See also Yates, 2013. 45  Obvious examples of writing practice published in Liye Qin jian, vol. 1, include (+ indicates fragments belonging to the same original slip or tablet as reconstructed) plate 19, 8-53; plate 23, 8-68; plates 23 and 236, 8-70+8-1913; plates 43 and 49, 8-176+8-215; plates 50 and 57, 8-219+8-310; plate 106, 8-745; plate 108, 8-753; plate 176, 8-1437; plate 178, 8-1446; plate 179, 8-1448; plates 184 and 185, 8-1471+8-1480; plate 186, 8-1485; plate 187, 8-1486+8-1487; plates 212 and 220, 8-1613+8-1708.

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Figure 3.5 Tablet no. 8-1437 from well no. 1, Liye, Hunan, with writing practice on the verso. After Liye Qin jian, vol. 1, plates, p. 176.

Figure 3.4 Tablet no. 6-1 from well no. 1, Liye, Hunan, with “nine nines” table on the recto (right) and writing practice on the verso (left). After Liye Qin jian, vol. 1, plates, p. 9.

how the Liye realia of literacy instruction and writing practice are related to evidence of instruction for government scribes in the Shuihudi and Zhangjiashan administrative texts. My guess is that the high value placed on written communication put a comparable value on functional literacy, that in addition to scribes, other people in government service were expected to handle written documents and to learn to write, and that the means of

learning was routinized. Moreover, in the third century bce, government itself was symptomatic of elements of manuscript culture in general, including the spread of the ability to write across social groups, the use of written text to facilitate and epitomize the activities of people collectively and singly (administrative documents were one manifestation, daybooks were another), the amount of general knowledge and specialist knowledge suited for conversion to written information, the efficiency of manuscripts for recording written and visual information compared to oral transmission (tables and diagrams in daybooks are examples), and the economy of manuscript production using the writing brush to apply carbon ink to

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

easily processed slips of wood and bamboo tied together in series to make the material support for texts. Seen in broad perspective, the production of popular hemerological literature and the production of administrative documents were outcomes of manuscript technology applied to forms of practical, technical knowledge. To be sure, the third century bce also witnessed the consolidation of manuscript culture in other areas. Among the elite, ideas of literature as oral and written text, of distinguishing literature by content—historiographic, speculative, preceptive—and by ascription to the originator, and of fine literature were firmly fixed; transmitted texts and newly discovered manuscripts are proof. Daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts are evidence of the area in manuscript culture in which the interests of the elite intersected with the proliferation of written knowledge and the participation of less literate social groups. I cannot proceed without finally explaining how my use of the term “the elite” as a social label is connected to the issue of literacy and the role literacy played in forming social identity and status in the fourth to third centuries bce and later. Modern studies of early China address social change through the use of transmitted sources and archaeology while recognizing the methodological problem of correlating social status described in normative texts with the archaeological evidence of tombs, cemeteries, and settlements.46 Reliance on transmitted texts leads to one type of reductionism, the spotlight effect that makes certain facts appear to be causes while other evidence is left in the dark or made to appear of secondary significance, nor does archaeological evidence extend to all of society or show social structures and functions in operation. There are revealing points of convergence. Texts describe and archaeology confirms two related changes in society across the geographic expanse that was increasingly controlled in the third century bce by the preunification state of Qin and became the consolidated dominion of the Qin empire in 221 bce. The lineage-based hierarchy of the ruling group weakened as the composition of social groups diversified and display of wealth marked social status.47 Concurrently, the more powerful states—notably Qin and Chu—had the most refined systems of administrative ge46  Falkenhausen (2006, pp. 392–94) addresses the methodological issues for the Warring States period. 47  Falkenhausen (2006, pp. 382–92) presents archaeological evidence from Warring States tombs in Chu cemeteries. Lewis (1999, pp. 606–8) describes the government institutions that concentrated political and economic power in the hands of the rulers of regional states and made wealth the basis for status rather than hereditary privilege.

103 ography by which to control local communities and efficiently exploit their human and material resources so as to benefit the ruler.48 The Liye well archive attests to the omnipresence of centralized Qin government in local society and of government officials serving the ruler. One modern definition of the elite in late Warring States, Qin, and Han forms of autocratic government refers to government-based systems of “ranks” ( jue 爵), which were used to rank adult males in Qin and other states since the fourth century bce and were adopted by the Han government.49 Privileges and material benefits were granted by the government according to a person’s rank. Administrative texts in Qin and Han manuscripts show that ranks were widely distributed among households in local communities and that women were not excluded. Those not ranked were identified as shiwu 士伍, loosely “commoner,” including people who had lost their ranks. Convicts and slaves were below commoners in the government’s model society.50 During the Han dynasty, those ranked at the very top were the nobles of their time, including the highest level of government officials, above whom were select members of the ruling family.51 We are less able to correlate rank and privilege with cultural, economic, and lineagebased status in local society for those below the top. My first use of “the elite” describes elite social status as “associated with literacy and access to positions of authority in government.” I mean that literacy was an elite attribute without presuming that the elite were uniformly literate, that the skill of literacy was defined by elite experience alone, or that the function of literacy focused wholly on the elite’s access to government and power. Nevertheless, levels of literacy marked social differences between highly literate elite readers of fine literature, on the one hand, and functionally literate readers and users of administrative documents and daybooks, on the other. Highly literate elite readers knew the technical literature of specialists on astrology, divination, or medicine, and they knew the popular hemerological literature. Like Wang Chong, Wang Jing, and Cai Yong in the first and second centuries ce, the third-century bce elite responded differently to the 48  For an account of the fourth-century bce political and economic reforms in Qin initiated by Shang Yang 商鞅, see Lewis, 1999, pp. 611–16. 49  Ibid., pp. 612–13. 50  For the most recent overview of the Qin and Han systems of ranks based on the manuscript evidence, see Barbieri-Low and Yates, 2015, pp. 214–15, 225–27, and 873–81; on commoner status based on manuscript evidence, see Yates, 1987. See also Loewe, 2010. 51  Loewe, 2010, pp. 305–7.

104 t­otality of texts circulating in manuscript culture, to the more popular varieties of technical literature, and to the uses of texts by other, less literate social groups.52 Whether based on contemporaneous ranks or on modern strategies for addressing social status—including levels of literacy from high to low—precise social boundaries in manuscript culture as it developed between roughly the fourth century bce and the second century ce remain undetermined. I presume the probability that the elite at the higher levels were highly literate but cannot specify the social level where literacy was functional and no longer marked elite status in local society. To be sure, the great majority of the populace—ordinary farmers and artisans or slaves and convicts—were not elite and not literate, but what prevented commoners in the community or people at the bottom of the government-assigned ranks from acquiring the skill of literacy and participating in manuscript culture? And what impeded their ability to advance to higher levels of literacy and perhaps higher social status? In this regard, the place of written knowledge and technical literature (including hemerological literature) in the life of the community and in government administration influenced literacy and participation in manuscript culture. Who Made Daybooks? The Jiudian tomb 56 daybook provides a point of reference around 300 bce for the formation of technical literature in manuscript culture, the broad participation of social groups and specialists, and the place of hemerological texts both in the category of technical occult literature and in the hands of readers and users in everyday life. There were no remains of the skeleton in the coffin, but the deceased is presumed to have been a man of lower social status based on the tomb and burial goods. The Jiudian cemetery was near the ancient Chu capital, and it is useful to see the tomb 56 manuscript in relation to manuscripts from two other contemporary tombs in the vicinity. Several kilometers to the north of Jiudian, the aristocrat and high court official Shao Tuo 邵陀 was buried around 316 bce in Baoshan 包山 tomb 2. Guodian 郭店 tomb 1 lies about midway between the Jiudian and 52   Hanfeizi, 5, p. 109 (“Wangzheng” 亡徵), identifies hemerology (“using seasons and days”), necromancy (“engaging demons and spirits”), divination (“trusting the turtle and milfoil”), and demonolatry (“loving to make sacrificial offerings”) among the many causes for the destruction of a ruler’s state. Daybooks and other manuscript examples of occult technical literature suggest that Han Fei’s condemnation was directed to the texts as well as to the activities.

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Baoshan cemeteries. Like Jiudian tomb 56, Guodian tomb 1 has an approximate date of 300 bce. The manuscripts in each tomb reflect manuscript culture in Chu during the several decades before Qin occupied the region in 278 bce and three-quarters of a century before the two daybook manuscripts from the tomb of Xi 喜, the Qin official buried around 217 bce in the Shuihudi cemetery (in the northern part of former Chu territory occupied by Qin). The Baoshan manuscripts can be divided into administrative texts, funerary texts, and the divination and offering record. Most of the bamboo slips are more than sixty centimeters in length, and the quality of production is good, which is to be expected in manuscripts made for an aristocrat. We have manuscript examples of divination and offering records going back to the early fourth century bce in Chu. The records treat of acts performed by diviners and ritual specialists for the patron, for whom the manuscript served as a personal record of their services. Unlike daybooks, the divination and offering records were made for an exclusive readership. (The relation of the fiftyfour-slip Baoshan manuscript containing the divination and offering record to the Jiudian daybook manuscript is discussed below.) The Guodian manuscripts are intellectual literature. During the work of restoration and text reconstruction, one basis for determining distinct text units in the mass of loose, jumbled slips was the different lengths of the slips, which vary between approximately fifteen and thirtytwo centimeters. However, determination of manuscript units is uncertain because texts written on slips of the same length did not necessarily belong to the same physical manuscript as originally bound. The identity of the deceased and his relationship with the intellectual texts as reader are also uncertain. Nevertheless, the variety of texts and the fact that some recur in the Chu manuscripts held by the Shanghai Museum as well as in Mawangdui manuscripts are invaluable evidence of manuscript culture and readers among the elite.53 The Jiudian daybook is technical literature, one of two technical texts written on the 205 slips and slip fragments found in the tomb. Thirty-five unbroken slips belonging to the daybook measured 46.6 to 48.2 centimeters in length. Whether the second text was written on slips of the same length cannot be determined from its twelve slip fragments; that is, we do not know whether the second 53  Richter (2013, pp. 19–24) offers a concise account of the recurrence of certain texts in Guodian, Mawangdui, and Shanghai Museum manuscripts; pp. 25–32 address the codicological features of the Guodian tomb 1 manuscripts, including the matter of determining the manuscript units.

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

text belonged to the same manuscript as the daybook. The handwriting on both is similar, and the quality of the original manuscript(s) is comparable to that of the Baoshan and Guodian manuscripts (fig. 3.6). The second text names several items that have not been identified and gives numerical measurements for the items, but no one has successfully explained the content. Conjectures include a process using agricultural products, a fermentation technique, and an example of applied arithmetic calculation.54 The modern reconstruction of the daybook is divided into fourteen sections by content. The original sequence of the slips could not be determined, and the order of the sections in the reconstruction is conjectural. Taking the Baoshan, Guodian, and Jiudian manuscripts as a group, I offer three observations about manuscript culture in the region of the Chu capital during the decades before and after 300 bce, focusing on hemerological texts. First, from the standpoint of manuscript production, the manuscripts are comparable in quality. Transmitted sources claim that slip lengths were standardized, longer slips for important texts and shorter slips for ordinary use. Excavated manuscripts do not confirm consistent application of a standardized system in manuscript production.55 Nevertheless, the choice of sixty centimeters (Baoshan), forty-eight centimeters (Jiudian), or thirty-two centimeters (Guodian) was deliberate and had an effect on how the finished manuscript was used. For practicality, manuscripts made of shorter slips were easier to handle, easier to store, easier to transport, and less likely to break. The maker of the Jiudian daybook chose to copy the text on longer slips. The choice was not random, and anyone— regardless of social level—who read or used the manuscript before it was placed in the tomb was aware of its features as one manuscript among many in local manuscript culture. Second, conventions of manuscript production that we identify as the daybook text type are present in the Jiudian manuscript and were preceded by earlier developments in hemerological literature leading to the formation of the type. Based on current evidence, I would not date the appearance of hemerological texts earlier than the fourth century bce, coinciding with the increased production of manuscripts as well as an increase in readers and users. 54  For description of the fragments of the second text and its content, see Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, p. 302. 55  For discussions of slip length based on transmitted sources and excavated manuscripts, see Tsien, 2004, pp. 115–18; and Richter, 2013, pp. 25–32. Testimony on standard slip lengths based on the type of text being copied occurs only in Han and later transmitted sources.

105

Figure 3.6 Comparison of slips from Jiudian tomb 56, Baoshan tomb 2, and Guodian tomb 1. Left to right: JD.3, slip 41 (middle section of slip); Baoshan divination and offering record, slip 198 (lower section of slip); Guodian Laozi C 老子丙, slip 11 (whole slip). After Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu, plate 112; Baoshan Chu jian, plate 88; Guodian Chu mu zhujian, p. 10.

106 Also reflecting social and cultural changes, daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts were produced for many people, in contrast to divination and offering records produced by diviners and ritual specialists exclusively for patrons among the elite.56 Obvious evidence in the Jiudian daybook includes the statement attached to one day qualifier in the JD.2 hemerology that “the lord of the state obtains the yearly harvest; small men have fourfold success” (邦君得年小夫四成), meaning that all social groups benefited; and the incantation in JD.5, which was a generic incantation text for anyone to use, as indicated by the word mou 某 “so and so” written in the text, to be replaced with the appropriate name of the person or spirit each time the incantation ritual was performed. The first occurrence of the usage is in JD.5, and, based on subsequent manuscripts, it was the standard form in which to transcribe incantation texts for general circulation in writing. While the first two observations are descriptive and address the characteristics of the Jiudian daybook as cultural artifact (the “what”), the third concerns the probable “who” in regard to the production and use of hemerological texts and daybooks in particular. In 300 bce, the Chu elite had privileged access to old traditions of turtle and milfoil divination as an aid to managing daily life. The Baoshan divination and offering record and other manuscript examples of the text type show that matters for divination were routinized in four broad categories: well-being, success at court, security of the household, and illness. Based on the results of divination, elite life was punctuated by the routine of sacrifices and offerings made to ancestors and spirits. The elite relied on the services of teams of diviners and ritual specialists, who did everything; identifying them as the makers of the manuscript records is a prima facie case.57 Diviners and ritual specialists already had old textual models for recording the technical process of divination 56  The fourth century bce is often treated as transitional in the emergence of a manuscript culture in which manuscripts were produced in increasing numbers and acquired by individuals for personal use. See Tsien, 2004, pp. 10–12. For archaeological perspectives on society and culture in this transitional period (derived in large part from analysis of Chu cemeteries), see Falkenhausen, 2006, pp. 370–99. For translation of the divination and offering record from Baoshan tomb 2, see Cook, 2006, pp. 153–210. 57  We know that diviners and ritual specialists served several elite patrons because the divination and offering records from Wangshan 望山 tomb 1 and Tianxingguan 天星觀 tomb 1, both at Jiangling 江陵, Hubei, refer to the same diviner, Fan Huozhi 范獲志. For identification of the diviner’s name, see Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, p. 278n2.

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and offering rituals, including incantation texts for the patron to use with the patron’s name written directly in the text (the precedent for generic incantation texts in later occult literature).58 In the late Warring States period, turtle and milfoil divination remained socially exclusive while hemerology was inclusive, yet they were allied forms of knowledge relevant for daily life. Significant activities based on hemerologies in the Jiudian daybook had the elite in mind, for instance, “beneficial to see lords and kings as well as noble people,” “beneficial … to gird the sword and wear the cap,” and “beneficial … for carriages and horses.”59 Other social groups in Chu did not have divination and offering records, but the elite clientele had those as well as hemerological texts. The first two hemerologies in the Jiudian daybook emphasize favorable and unfavorable days for sacrifice to such an extent that I suspect the elite were the main beneficiaries of its hemerological knowledge, which they applied to the same daily routine as the indications of turtle and milfoil divination. Among the twelve day qualifiers of the Jianchu 建除 (Establish-Remove) hemerology in JD.1, two indicate favorable days and two unfavorable days for sacrifice.60 The importance of sacrifice is more pronounced in the similar hemerology in JD.2, in which the set of twelve day qualifiers includes information about sacrifice for eight. The text of one in particular is more detailed than a simple indication of favorable or unfavorable: 是謂陽日百事順成邦君得年小夫四成以爲上下之禱祠 [1] 神饗之乃盈其志

This is called Yang day. The hundred affairs are smoothly accomplished. The lord of the state obtains the yearly harvest; small men have fourfold success. Making prayers and offerings from high to low, the [1] spirits61 relish it, and so (people) fulfill their aim.62

58  For discussion of this type of incantation text in the Geling 葛陵 tomb 1 divination and offering record, see Song Huaqiang, 2010, pp. 280–85. The tomb occupant and patron was Lord Cheng of Pingye 平夜君成, who in the incantation texts is referred to by the first-person pronoun wo 我 and as “petty servant Cheng” (小臣成). 59  The phrases occur in JD.3 (slip 42), JD.1 (slip 132), and JD.2 (slip 36), respectively. 60  In JD.1, the first and fourth day qualifiers of Jianchu hemerology are favorable for sacrifice, the third and seventh are unfavorable. 61  For the missing graph, the parallel text in SHDA.1 has qun 群, so “multitude of spirits.” 62   J D.2, slip 26; Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, p. 308.

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

The predictive tone—people’s aim is fulfilled through their prayers and offerings, which the spirits relish—is reminiscent of the language of the Baoshan divination and offering record. I see the Jiudian daybook as the product of its time and place (Chu, ca. 300 bce). Examples of daybooks from the end of the third century bce also reflect their time, including more topics relevant to the daily life of the populace and to the greater involvement of government authority in daily life. So who produced the daybooks that over the course of the third century bce occupied an important place in local society and achieved a conventionalized form that we identify based on excavated manuscript examples? I think everyone was involved—specialists and the community. On the one hand, many ideas about favorable and unfavorable times for the activities of life were the common cultural inheritance from a past without beginning (paraphrasing Wang Chong’s observation on hemerology that “no one is able to discern when in the past this began”), and as in other premodern civilizations, it was inevitable that the knowledge would be written and the texts would be popular. On the other hand, astrologers and calendar specialists were producing new knowledge of time and the cosmos that had to be fitted to society and its functions. We do not know the origin of the Jianchu hemerology in the Jiudian daybook (JD.1). However, the hemerology undoubtedly borrowed the calculation of the Dipper as astrological pointer in the cycle of the twelve months, the Doujian 斗建 (Dipper Establishment).63 The silk manuscripts from the Chu tomb at Zidanku 子彈庫, Changsha, are products of Chu manuscript culture of around 300 bce. The Zidanku tomb was more elaborate than Jiudian tomb 56, but it was still simple compared to aristocratic burials such as Baoshan tomb 2. I place the social status of the man buried inside somewhere between the man buried in Jiudian tomb 56 and Shao Tuo in Baoshan tomb 2. The well-known Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 was made in the form of a calendar with the months placed along the four sides of the silk sheet surrounding the pair of texts in the center. Text statements for the months include hemerological information, occasionally on military activity and also on everyday activities such as marriage and construction. The newly conserved silk manuscript fragments from the Zidanku tomb referred to as Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2 and Zidanku Silk Manuscript 3 are further proof that the making of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts involved the knowledge of astrologers and calendar specialists. There were at least two separate texts, which Li Ling identifies as a text of seasonal 63  On the Dipper Establishment, see pp. 163–64 in chap. 4.

107 ordinances related to five-agents cycles and a text on military hemerology.64 The Jiudian daybook and the more specialized texts on the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts reflect manuscript culture in action, with participation by specialists and the community. While the manuscripts are evidence of hemerology as an expanding body of knowledge across geographic and cultural regions, it is difficult to assess what was old and what was new in the fourth and third centuries bce and, likewise, which specialists were involved and the reach of common ideas that spread among local communities then and in subsequent centuries. Specialists in divination, ritual, astrology, the calendar, medicine, and other areas of technical occult and scientific knowledge were producing written texts. Some texts were surely intended for their exclusive use and were esoteric; to date, no manuscripts of esoteric texts have been found. Some texts were specialized and circulated among the elite who wanted to acquire the knowledge and the manuscripts; manuscripts from Mawangdui tomb 3 and Zhangjiashan tomb 247 include late third- and second-century bce examples.65 Daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts include assortments of information in addition to hemerology that are different in every manuscript; they were more popular and more available to readers and users in local communities. Excavated manuscripts are material proof of written knowledge and people’s involvement with it in their manuscripts, but neither the manuscripts nor archaeology tells us how new patterns of manuscript production affected the lives and knowledge of the specialists as it facilitated connections across social groups, and neither explains how individuals and social groups responded to the manuscripts as realia in their local communities. We have some evidence of the dynamic aspect of manuscript culture in Wang Chong’s statements and in events associated with Wang Jing and Cai Yong. Another source of evidence is the classified presentation of hemerological literature in the bibliographic treatise of the Book of Han (Han shu 漢書). The titles listed in the treatise, statements regarding ascription, and other information reflect the content of the records of the manuscripts collected at the Han court made by Liu Xiang 劉向 and Liu Xin 劉歆 at the end of the first century bce, meaning that all the titles were recent manuscript copies of court and government approved books. There were no daybooks, which is not 64  See pp. 266–67 in chap. 6. 65  Technical literature found among the Zhangjiashan tomb 247 manuscripts includes texts on medicine and arithmetic; see Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian [247 hao mu].

108 to say that no one at court had daybooks. For manuscript culture studies, the value of the bibliographic treatise lies in the light it sheds on the people behind the manuscripts from the perspective of the government-centered Han literati-elite. Titles related to hemerological knowledge are in the division “Shushu” 數術 (Calculations and arts), with two exceptions: the subdivision “Yinyang jia” 陰陽家 (Yinyang experts) in the “Zhuzi” 諸子 (The masters) division, and the subdivision “Yinyang” 陰陽 (Yinyang) in the “Bingshu” 兵書 (Military books)” division.66 The summary following the subdivision “Yinyang Experts” repeats the theme that Sima Tan 司馬談 expressed first in the second century bce when he included yinyang arts in his appraisal of the intellectual legacy of the past. The knowledge in their writings originated with officials who created the first calendar at the beginning of historical time in order to give the people a secure life based on the regular succession of seasons and years. However, this good knowledge was abused: “prohibitions and avoidances” (jinji) proliferated, the knowledge was mired in “small calculations” (xiaoshu 小數) and “abandoned the affairs of humankind to rely on demons and spirits” (she renshi er ren guishen 舍人事而任鬼神).67 The same theme recurs in the summaries of two subdivisions in the “Calculations and Arts” division. The subdivision “Lipu” 曆譜 (Calendars and chronologies) tells that sages and geniuses understood how the seasons were coordinated with planetary cycles and other celestial phenomena, but disaster arose from “small men” (xiaoren 小人) who “ruined what was great and made it small” (huai da yiwei xiao 壞大以爲小); the subdivision “Wuxing” 五行 (Five agents) decries “experts in small calculations” (xiaoshu jia 小數家) who misused knowledge of fiveagents cycles to practice fortune-telling, which then became popular.68 Note the recurrent reference to “small calculations,” “experts in small calculations,” “small men,” and “making the great small,” all signs that the great, once pure knowledge had become corrupted by popular use. Authority, authenticity, and the abuse of knowledge make up a constant refrain in the bibliographic treatise, no matter the category of literature. Rather than set hemerological literature in that government-centered ideological context, I propose rereading the summaries as evidence of the widespread production of hemerological literature in contemporaneous manuscript culture at large. Approved books in the court collection were 66   Han shu, 30, pp. 1733–35, 1759–60. 67  Ibid., 30, pp. 1734–35. 68  Ibid., 30, pp. 1767, 1769.

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multi-scroll manuscripts such as the Wind Lord’s OrphanEmpty (Fenghou Guxu 風后孤虛) in twenty scrolls, ostensibly the sum of the specialists’ knowledge of Guxu (Orphan-Empty) hemerology ascribed to a patron spirit of hemerology, whereas in the Fangmatan and Kongjiapo daybooks, Guxu hemerology is presented on several slips among the hundreds of slips and numerous sections of the daybooks (FMTB.31, KJP.16).69 Including occurrences in the Zhoujiatai manuscripts (ZJTA.11, ZJTB.20), the applications of Guxu hemerology are different in each manuscript and concern everyday matters such as death, marriage, theft, and stolen animals. Transmitted sources contain scant evidence of Guxu hemerology among the specialists, but the context always concerns occult calculations and esoteric strategies, in sharp contrast to the ordinariness of daybooks.70 Given the Wind Lord’s Orphan-Empty in twenty scrolls and Guxu hemerology in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, we recognize the differences and the connection between the two kinds of text—one specialized and known to the elite, one popular and widely available—and see the actuality of popular hemerological miscellanies circulating freely in local manuscript culture following a dynamic that no person or institution determined. The summaries in the Book of Han bibliographic treatise blame “experts in small calculations” for producing popular hemerological texts, but as I read them, we must ask whether the accusation is sociologically valid, whether hemerological knowledge was different in different types of texts, and whether the types of texts defined distinct social and cultural levels. In essence, how we treat the bibliographic treatise summaries raises the problem of modern studies of popular culture addressed at the beginning of this chapter. The evidence of the daybook manuscripts and the textual connections between them, the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, and several Mawangdui manuscripts demonstrate that daybooks were not cultural products that define a particular social group but were shared. Hemerological texts circulating in manuscript culture engaged people of different social levels in common ideas and practices. The rhetoric of difference, abuse, and vulgarity in the summaries was one expression of the place of hemerology in daily life in society at large. We must add other evidence, such as Wang Jing’s conviction that “undertaking affairs or leading a life was rooted in the milfoil and turtle” (hence his production of a hemerological text) and local acts of people making daybooks. The range of archaeological 69  Ibid., 30, p. 1768. 70  See pp. 133–36 in this chapter.

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

contexts in which daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts have been discovered indicates that their function in daily life was shared across social groups; they are artifacts of popular culture. The question of who produced hemerological texts is necessarily linked to the place of daybooks in popular culture. Specialists and literate people were involved, but already, with the Jiudian daybook, the circumstances were not the same as diviners and ritual specialists making divination and offering records for their elite patrons. The Jiudian daybook does not represent the first time someone copied written hemerological knowledge for everyday use. The information was generally available, as were transcriptions of generic incantation texts such as the one copied in JD.5 and other pieces of written occult knowledge that appeared in daybooks later in the third century bce. The manuscript matrix and the anonymous production of manuscripts are relevant ideas for our understanding of who produced daybooks and how the written knowledge circulated in manuscript culture. The daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts were clearly not hemerological literature written by specialists for specialists, and their form suggests that people expected daybooks to be useful without the help of specialists.71 Rather than assume that hemerological knowledge already existed fully formed in the heads of specialists before and during ongoing manuscript production and that the manuscript was simply copied from this ideal master text, we need to consider the effect of manuscript culture on everyone involved— specialists and nonspecialists, makers and users—and on ideas and practices. We need to consider how the manuscripts and every act of copying them served as the matrix where the hemerological knowledge that informed people’s ideas and everyday activities coalesced. The attempt to identify specialists and to treat daybooks as the product of their ideas is, in my judgment, not the way to examine the collective evidence of hemerology in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. We may presume that astrologers and calendar specialists were involved but that their involvement cannot be treated in isolation from multiple circumstances surrounding the production and circulation of daybooks. Even murkier is the role of the rizhe 日者, literally “day-ist,” perhaps an exponent of hemerology, that is, the Chinese equivalent of a hemerologist. Yet the compound rizhe occurs in just two transmitted texts in pre-Han and Han literature, and neither source provides clarity. Further, despite recent claims, no evidence supports equating the text-type name 71  See pp. 116–18 in this chapter.

109 rishu “daybook” with rizhe “day-ist” and treating the former as the book of the latter.72 In the Master Mo (Mozi 墨子) story about Mozi traveling north, the rizhe meets Mozi on the road and gives him hemerological advice that Mozi dismisses. No doubt Mozi’s dismissal of the itinerant soothsayer (which is how the rizhe is portrayed) is the point of the story.73 There is no connection between the rizhe in this story and two compounds that occur in a passage in the Zuo Chronicle (Zuozhuan 左傳): riguan 日官 “day office” and riyu 日御 “day director.” The event in the Zuo Chronicle is dated to the first decade of the seventh century bce and concerns an occasion when the “day office” at court failed to record an eclipse of the sun. The narrative then shifts to explaining the government functions and status of the day office and day director. Despite the seeming historicity of riguan and riyu in this single occurrence, they occur nowhere else in transmitted sources, and the functions associated with them are normally associated with the court shi “scribe,” whose astrological and calendrical functions are thoroughly documented.74 Then there are references to rizhe in the Records of the Scribe (Shiji 史記). Sima Qian’s 司馬遷 (145?–86? bce) original plan for his Records included one chapter devoted to turtle and milfoil divination preceded by the chapter on rizhe, “Rizhe liezhuan” 日者列傳 (Account of rizhe). However, the chapter prepared by Sima Qian was lost by the first century bce and replaced with a narrative about the Han diviner Sima Jizhu 司馬季主.75 In an addendum to the Sima Jizhu account, Chu Shaosun 褚少孫 (first century bce) passed along the story he had heard about hemerological specialists summoned to Emperor Wu’s (r. 140–87 bce) court, but the story refers to them as zhanjia 占家 “divination experts,” not rizhe “day-ists.”76 72   Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, “Gaishu,” p. 3, is a strong version of the assumption that rishu were produced by and for rizhe: “There is a consensus in the scholarly world that daybooks (rishu) were the reference books kept by day-ists (rizhe).” The same basic assumption recurs in other recent publications, as if equating rishu and rizhe is obvious and requires no justification. Yet we cannot read any of the daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts without acknowledging that the manuscripts were not exclusively for occult specialists and that the connection between the archaeologically rediscovered text type and the category of specialist known in only two transmitted texts as rizhe is a problem requiring critical inquiry. 73   Mozi, 12, pp. 447–48 (“Guiyi” 貴義). The rizhe “day-ist” told Mozi that the day and his direction of travel were harmful. 74   Zuozhuan, 7, 24a (Huan 17). 75   Shiji, chap. 127; Shiji, chap. 128, on turtle and milfoil divination, was also lost and replaced. 76  See pp. 86–87 in chap. 2.

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In addition to the lost chapter with rizhe in its title, we have Sima Qian’s summary of the Records of the Scribe in which he explains his purpose in composing each chapter. His explanation of the rizhe chapter is grammatically simple. However, the compound rizhe is as likely to have meant the general noun “day-ism” or “hemerology” as “those who practice day-ism” or “day-ists/hemerologists.” Here is the summary with both interpretations of rizhe incorporated: In regard to “the practice of day-ism”/“those who practice day-ism” in Qi, Chu, Qin, and Zhao, each has commonly followed practices (Qi Chu Qin Zhao wei rizhe ge you su suoyong 齊楚秦趙為日者各有俗所用).77 Wanting to survey their broad significance, I composed the sixty-seventh account of “day-ism”/“dayists” (rizhe liezhuan 日者列傳).78 Whether or not we understand the terms “hemerology” or “hemerologist,” Sima Qian’s reference to Qi and Chu (the north-south axis) and Qin and Zhao (the west-east axis) indicates the ubiquity of hemerology throughout the Han realm.79 I suspect that what Sima Qian found most interesting about rizhe was popularity across regions and shared ideas and practices. Both meanings for rizhe are plausible, and I cannot decide which meaning Sima Qian intended.80 We are left 77  The translation “each has commonly followed practices” for 各有俗所用 understands su 俗 as referring to the common customs of the different regions, in accord with the eighthcentury “Suoyin” 索隱 commentary by Sima Zhen 司馬貞, which notes that because the original Shiji chapter was lost, “the means of knowing the customs of all the regions is lacking” (無以知諸國之俗). Watson (1993, p. 425) translates similarly: “The customs of the diviners of lucky days differ in the regions of Qi, Chu, Qin, and Zhao.” Pokora (1987, p. 229) translates differently: “Every diviner of lucky and unlucky days in Ch’i, Ch’u, Ch’in, and Chao had methods he used on a regular basis.” 78   Shiji, 130, p. 3318. 79  The same usage occurs in Shiji, 129, p. 3279, for merchants who travel in every direction in the realm (the regions are listed in the order Qi, Qin, Chu, Zhao). 80  The single word ri also denotes day-ism/hemerology in Han texts and was used verbally (“to practice day-ism”). See, for instance, “Those who trust in demons and spirits lose the proper counsel; those who trust in days lose the proper times” (信鬼神者失謀, 信日者失時), in Liu Xiang’s Shuoyuan, 20, p. 201 (“Fanzhi” 反質). I treat as post-Han the occurrence of the term rizhe in Hou Han shu, 82A, p. 2703, in the introduction to the account of the practitioners of the occult arts (fangshu 方術), which lists rizhe among the ten traditions; that is, rizhe refers to the knowledge, not to the person. The introduction is

with a weak case for identifying a group known as the rizhe among the specialists involved with hemerological literature and daybooks. Moreover, the historical connections between the hemerological specialists called zhanjia “divination experts” in Chu Shaosun’s story, hemerological books listed in the bibliographic treatise, and daybook manuscripts are impossible to determine. The problem of relating particular people to types of literature and relating transmitted texts to archaeological and manuscript evidence again arises. We must continue to remind ourselves that the study of daybooks in manuscript culture is recent, beginning in 1975, when the pair of daybooks was found in Shuihudi tomb 11. Further, daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts constitute our main evidence of popular culture seen through the manuscript realia. The manuscripts and their users are the primary focus of this chapter.

The Form and Function of Daybook Manuscripts

In chapter 2, Liu Lexian aptly describes the daybook text type as “organized miscellany.” Among the six manuscript examples, the first Shuihudi daybook (SHDA) is closest in its modern reconstruction to the daybook manuscript that was placed in tomb 11 in the third century bce, and it is the most useful manuscript for examining the characteristics of the daybook text type.81 To review the four main points set out in chapter 2: first, daybooks have both hemerological and non-hemerological sections; second, no one daybook manuscript is exactly like another, yet Jianchu hemerology and other general hemerologies regularly occupy space at the front; third, the daybook was a digest of information contained in one scroll; fourth, daybook hemerology is intended for the activities of everyday life, not for large-scale political and military affairs.82 I take for granted that the text type came about in the process of people making hemerological miscellanies and that the title rishu did not need to be attached to the manuscript in order to make its difference from miscellanies that we refer to as daybook-related manuscripts recognizable. The following discussion of daybook form and function focuses on particular daybooks and daybook-related presumably by the Hou Han shu compiler Fan Ye 范曄 (398– 446). Li Xian’s 李賢 (651–684) commentary glosses rizhe as an “art” (shu 術) but also refers to Sima Jizhu in the current version of Shiji, chap. 127, as being a rizhe (Hou Han shu, 82A, p. 2704n10). 81  See p. 60 in chap. 2. 82  See pp. 65–66 in chap. 2.

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

manuscripts as realia in the lives of their makers and users. Issues to be examined range from manuscript production (the manuscript was open to additions over time and by different hands until no blank space remained on the surface of bound slips), to the explanatory, communicative quality of language meant to engage readers (who were made to understand that the guidance in daybooks replaced reliance on specialists), to the relationship between the daybook as the prescriptive template for action and what people really did. Making the Manuscript and Textual Strategies Up to now, I have used the terms “maker” and “copyist” nearly interchangeably to refer to the people involved in producing a manuscript, from making the material support for text—bound bamboo and wooden slips for daybooks and most daybook-related manuscripts discovered to date—to planning and copying the manuscript’s contents. The usage is appropriate for the practical reason that we lack information about the stages of manuscript production and the division of labor. There is also reason to think that the functions covered by both words overlapped significantly, especially in the production of daybooks and other personal-use miscellanies; that is, “making” the manuscript included both the material and nonmaterial elements of manuscript production. The act of binding slips together to make the manuscript influenced how the text was arranged on the manuscript surface. When the text was written on separate slips before they were bound, writing and slip-binding were interdependent activities, and the roles of making the physical manuscript and copying the text were combined. Even at the stage of writing on the manuscript, the copyist made the text, which bore the signs of the copyist’s handiwork. Given the interdependent relationship between the material form of the manuscript surface, the form of the text transferred to it, and the people involved in the process, I continue to use “maker” and “copyist” in this broadly inclusive sense. Making the daybook manuscript began with the material support, the slips. The usual practice was to bind the slips in three places—top, middle, bottom—and to notch each slip at the appropriate places, securing the binding cords on the slip. The position of the binding cords across the surface of the bound slips demarcates two large spaces above and below the middle binding cord; hence the manuscripts often arrange text, tables, or diagrams in upper and lower registers. In manuscripts that bear written section headings, the narrow band of space between the top binding cord and the top of the slips is used not for text but rather for raised section headings. When used consistently (such as on the recto

111 of SHDA), the raised headings give prominence to those sections, which may occupy whole slips moving leftward across the bound surface, the upper register in a two-register format, or several registers in a multi-register format, as determined by the text, table, or diagram to be copied. A heading may also be written in lower registers for sections that are lower on the manuscript surface (see fig. 2.3 in chap. 2). Based on the evidence of excavated manuscripts, the daybook’s maker often chose to bind the slips to make a manuscript, the length of which was determined by the number of slips bound together, and then write on the prefabricated surface. The alternative was to write on the slips first and bind them afterward. Pre-binding is most obvious when the slips have been arranged in reconstructed sequence and the traces or residue of rotted binding cords never mask written graphs or other marks in ink across the entire surface, indicating that writing was done with the binding cords already in place. When binding-cord traces mask graphs, we assume that binding came after the text was written on unbound slips. Two scenarios are possible. First, the text may have been written on unbound slips with or without deciding beforehand the length of the manuscript or taking steps to avoid having the binding cords mask the text. Second, the slips may have been prepared in advance for the final stage of binding, which involved choosing the number of notched slips, laying them out in one sequence or several sequences in order to form the whole surface of the finished manuscript, and taking care to avoid writing where notches indicated that the binding cords would later be attached to the slips. In this scenario, a few masked graphs might mean that an inattentive copyist sometimes forgot to leave blank space next to the notches to allow for the binding cords.83 Diagrams in daybooks are good indicators of pre-binding or advance preparation. If the manuscripts were not pre-bound, advance preparation also had to include spacing the slips so as to account for the thickness of the cords between bound slips. Otherwise the shape and design of diagrams—squares, circles, angles, diagonal lines—would be distorted and misaligned when the slips were bound.84 As it happens, the clearest example of pre-binding is the first Zhoujiatai manuscript (ZJTA). Four of the thirteen sections are diagrams, two of which have complex designs and occupy multiple slips. ZJTA.3 (slips 156–181) is the “Twenty-Eight Hourly Lodge” diagram composed of 83  This is exactly what seems to have occurred when the Kongjiapo daybook was copied on unbound slips; see Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 31. 84  See pp. 178–79 in chap. 4.

112 the Day Court at its center, two concentric circles, angled lines dividing the band defined by the circles into twentyeight equal segments, and strings of written graphs that sometimes cross from one slip to another to conform to the angle of the twenty-eight segments drawn across several slips (see fig. 4.13 in chap. 4). ZJTA.13 (slips 266–308) is composed of five “Day Court” diagrams arranged in a cross (see fig. 4.12 in chap. 4). There are no masked graphs on the ZJTA manuscript, and pre-binding of the slips is certain.85 Although the Kongjiapo daybook includes diagrams of similar complexity, several masked graphs indicate advance preparation and binding after writing.86 For the Jiudian, Fangmatan, and Shuihudi daybooks, the manuscript publications and tomb excavation reports do not give specific information about binding. Based on the published photographs, my impression is that the slips were either pre-bound or prepared in advance. Use of the bound-slip surface of the manuscript was guided by the materiality of the closely attached vertical slips, with horizontal spaces defined by the binding cords. When text was arranged in registers rather than on whole slips, the upper and lower registers were already differentiated by the binding cords (see fig. 2.3 in chap. 2). Further arrangement of the surface in an alternating pattern of whole slips and multiple registers arose from this basic circumstance, and the process of transferring hemerological knowledge onto the manuscript object involved how the daybook maker used text, tables, and diagrams when presenting hemerological information. Tables and diagrams interspersed with text gave the manuscript a visual quality, and the element of visuality affected the manuscript user’s experience. General hemerologies such as Jianchu hemerology often involve a calendar-like twelvefold schema based on months. For Jianchu hemerology, the table is the most convenient form for displaying which of the twelve branches are matched with which Jianchu day qualifiers across the twelve months. Tables are used in all Jianchu hemerology sections at the beginning of the six daybook manuscripts, one slip for each month, for each branch, or for each day qualifier, depending on the form of the table.87 In two manuscripts, the table is in the upper register and the separate list of day qualifiers with predictive statements 85   Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu, p. 154. 86   Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 31. 87  The arrangement of the Jianchu hemerology tables by months, day qualifiers, or branches in the six examples of the daybook text type are JD.1, FMTA.1, FMTB.1, KJP.1 (month); SHDA.1 (day qualifier); SHDB.1 (branch).

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on their significance for activities is directly below in the lower register (JD.1, SHDA.1). The other manuscripts put the list of day qualifiers after the table, and in three manuscripts (FMTA.1, FMTB.1, KJP.1), unrelated hemerological sections fill the register below the Jianchu table. The daybook maker chose whether or not to use a table at the time of production. There are several examples of hemerological information arranged in a table in one daybook but given in continuous prose style without the table in the corresponding section in another daybook. Tables were visually more communicative than a passage of text and their information was more easily scanned by the user.88 The daybook maker utilized the visual efficacy of diagrams to structure hemerological knowledge both at the level of arranging the contents on the manuscript surface and communicating the knowledge to the user. In daybook manuscripts diagrams appear above and below the middle binding cord on the manuscript surface, sometimes occupying the whole vertical space of the slips, and guide the eye to discern the discrete units of text in surrounding registers and sections, which sometimes present information related to the diagrams. Most important, of course, is that the visual details of the diagram itself communicate the hemerological method with little or no text explanation. The original daybook users knew how to read the visual information, whereas we modern readers often lack sufficient knowledge. The discussion of diagrams classified by type in chapter 4 includes several diagrams whose hemerological method has only recently been explained and several that await 88   S HDA.52, slips 157r–166r, is an example of the table format in a hemerology on meeting local officials based on the twelve branches representing days and five time periods during the day. The branches are arranged horizontally across the top of ten slips (the copyist omitted two branches, weib8 and youb10); the times of day with brief predictive statements are written beneath the branches in five separate registers down the length of the slips; and the registers are demarcated with a heavy black horizontal line (SHDA.53 occupies a narrow band of space at the bottom of the same slips in a sixth register). The related hemerology in FMTA.9 includes all twelve branches but has four rather than five times of day; FMTB.6 matches FMTA.9. Both Fangmatan daybooks arrange the text beneath each branch in a continuous vertical line without aligning the times of day and statements from one slip to the next; that is, each slip/branch forms its own prose statement and the information cannot be scanned like a table as in SHDA.52 (in FMTB.6, the hook-shaped text marker between phrases in the vertical line of text facilitates reading).

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

full explanation.89 In the case of ZJTA.13, the cruciform arrangement of five “Day Court” diagrams, the key to its interpretation was the realization that the graph zhi 置 in the surrounding text of the section is to be read as de 德 “virtue,” based on a similar graph usage in FMTB.46, and that the five “Day Court” diagrams show the yearly position of De (Virtue) in the Xingde 刑德 (PunishmentVirtue) system of calendrical astrology. Only then was it apparent that further reference in ZJTA.13 to the thirtysixth year of the First Emperor of Qin (corresponding to 211 bce), when Virtue was positioned at Metal, coincides with the Mawangdui text on the Xingde system.90 Similarly, there were several attempts to explain how to read the “Root Mountain” (Genshan 根山) diagram that occurs in SHDA.13 and KJP.23, specifically the calculation of “Yu’s split-up days” (Yu liri 禹離日), based on correlating the rows of signs in the diagram with days in the sexagenary cycle (see fig. 4.17 in chap. 4). A split-up day has a sexagenary binom divided on either side of the vertical line in the middle of the diagram, drawn so as to form the graph shan 山 “mountain” in each row. The text accompanying the diagram simply states that counting begins at the upper right with the branch and stem of the sexagenary binom for the first day of the month, but it does not provide an example using an actual sexagenary day or explain how to move through the diagram so that the stem and branch of the split-up days are on either side of the central 山. The prose section in FMTB.33 listing twelve sexagenary binoms defined as liri “split-up days” solved the question of how to count the rows of signs in the diagram and correlate them with sexagenary days. Plotting these binoms on the “Root Mountain” diagram starting from the upper right, we can deduce the one sequence that results in the binoms occurring where they should on the diagram.91 Which is more efficient, diagram or written list? From SHDA.13, KJP.23, and FMTB.33, we know that both were employed. We have to assume that the original daybook users already knew how to locate the split-up days on the “Root Mountain” diagram, whose appeal was in part the visual, interactive presence of the mountain in the middle, where split-up days occur. We might imagine the ideal daybook, in which the unity of form and function is realized. Its contents are carefully selected and arranged on the manuscript surface, and text, tables, and diagrams all serve their purpose 89  See pp. 176–92 in chap. 4. 90  See p. 181 in chap. 4. 91  See pp. 185–87 in chap. 4.

113 to aid users who consulted the daybook for their everyday needs. The initial reports on the Han hemerological manuscripts acquired by Peking University suggest that some might approach this ideal.92 Wang Jing in the first century ce intended that his Dark Fundament provide people with the correct text of useful hemerological knowledge. Although the Jiudian, Fangmatan, Shuihudi, and Kongjiapo manuscripts share features that warrant classification as the daybook text type, none comes close to being the ideal daybook. To understand why, we need to focus on the characteristics that make them miscellanies in the sense that they gather together a variety of information but also look random to the modern eye, an impression that becomes stronger when the manuscript seems to have been hastily or sloppily produced.93 Every daybook manuscript is different in its own way. For SHDA, the impression of organization on the recto does not continue on the verso, and we must consider several factors simultaneously. First, while the handwriting at the beginning of the verso, in SHDA.54, resembles the handwriting on the recto, and the same copyist probably continued to add sections on the verso, different hands obviously made additions to the verso, and the last section that might be associated with the copyist of the recto is SHDA.68. Before SHDA.68, SHDA.60 and SHDA.65–66 were written by a single different hand and fitted into leftover space at the bottom of the manuscript surface. The graphs are cursive and have a distinctive downward slant from left to right. The same handwriting does not recur, and several new hands appear to have been at work in SHDA.69–87.94 Let me suggest a copy-history of the making of SHDA. The first copyist executed a fairly organized plan for the recto, beginning the daybook with Jianchu hemerology and providing headings for most sections. Forty-three of the fifty-three sections on the recto have headings, and sections without headings are mostly in the lower part of the manuscript. On the verso, from SHDA.54 to SHDA.68, only four of the twelve sections associated with the copyist of the recto have headings (and there are no headings for the three sections in cursive handwriting); in the 92  See pp. 78–79 in chap. 2. 93  The Kongjiapo daybook shows obvious signs of careless production. See, for instance, the misshapen “Day Court” diagrams in KJP.18–20, discussed on pp. 179–81 in chap. 4. 94  Differences in handwriting on the verso of SHDA after SHDA.68 as well as in SHDA.60 and SHDA.65–66 are easily ascertained in photographs of the slips in Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, “Plates,” pp. 107–16.

114 remainder of the verso, eight of the nineteen sections have headings. We have no way of establishing a time frame for the copying. I suspect that the copyist of the recto continued on the verso in the same production period. The conjecture is based in part on SHDA.59 (slips 24v1–68v1, 24v2–68v2, 24v3–59v3) and SHDA.61 (slips 69v–82v). Both are lengthy sections with headings—addressing demonology and theft respectively—and appear consecutively on the manuscript surface. SHDA.59 is neatly arranged in three registers spread across forty-five slips; SHDA.61 is written on fourteen whole slips. SHDA.60 (slips 60v3– 68v3, 60v4–62v4) was obviously added in cursive handwriting at a later time in space left blank after SHDA.59 was completed (see fig. 3.7). The same cursive handwriting in SHDA.65–66, written at the bottom of slips 83v–99v, indicates that these sections were also later additions in leftover space. Several new copyists added SHDA.69–87 at an undetermined time, and after the last additions, six slips at the end of the manuscript verso remained blank (slips 161v–166v). This account is hypothetical, but it does draw our attention to the fact that content was added to blank spaces on the surface of SHDA over days, months, or years; that several copyists were involved; and that the daybook may have passed through several hands before it was placed in Shuihudi tomb 11. With six slips still blank on the verso, SHDA was a work in progress, and its characteristics need to be considered in that light. Examining sections that were added to the verso by different copyists adds to our appreciation of daybooks as manuscript miscellanies that involved people in reformulating hemerological and nonhemerological information that was already in circulation and recycling it in their manuscript for their own benefit. In the case of SHDA.60, whoever copied it and SHDA.65–66 in cursive handwriting to fill small leftover spaces repeated information that was already in the better-organized presentation of the day-night proportions in SHDA.16, where the twelve months are arranged in the lower half of the manuscript surface on four slips in three registers (slips 64r2–67r2, 64r3–67r3, 64r4–67r4). The quasi-table format of SHDA.16 served the double function of correlating the Qin numbered months with the Chu system of month names.95 The reverse situation applies to the three added sections on clothing hemerology on the verso, SHDA.71–73. In SHDA.8, the copyist of the recto gave brief information on the lower half of one slip (slip 26r2). After the heading “Yi” 衣 (Clothing), four sexagenary days are listed as good days for making clothing, each day having a specific positive result. The first day is dingchou14, and the article of clothing will “seduce the other person” 95  See pp. 156–57 in chap. 4.

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Figure 3.7 SHDA, slips 59v–68v. The end of SHDA.59 is shown on slip 59v3, followed by SHDA.60 in different handwriting on slips 60v3–68v3 and 60v4–62v4. Facsimile by Xu Datong. After Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, plates, pp. 107–8.

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

(meiren 媚人). The fifth and last item in the section is a prohibition on wearing a new article of clothing for the first time on the day jiwei56 in the ninth month of the Chu calendar (the sixth month in the Qin count). On the verso, the only content in SHDA.71–73 that coincides exactly with SHDA.8 is the seductive efficacy of clothing made on dingchou14, which occurs in SHDA.71 and SHDA.73. In comparing their content, we observe that SHDA.71 addresses good days for clothing, SHDA.72 avoidance days, and SHDA.73 both (hence the overlap with SHDA.71 on dingchou14 and seduction). Further, the handwriting in SHDA.71–72 looks different from the writing in SHDA.73. Although the content overlaps in some of the details, the sections do not repeat the same text. Rather, my guess is that the copyists of SHDA.71–73 had several text sources for clothing hemerology and copied three of them consecutively on the verso of SHDA. Details that are different in the sections reflect variance between comparable pieces of written hemerological knowledge circulating in multiple manuscripts as well as occasional alterations and errors made by individual copyists. There is a curious flaw on the verso. On slip 122v, the graph ma 馬 “horse” is written above the top binding cord where headings are placed. However, the seven graphs below it are the conclusion of SHDA.73 (fig. 3.8). The rest of slip 122v is blank, and slip 123v is completely blank. We assign the section number SHDA.74, but it has no content and appears to be connected to the horse ritual and incantation in the last section, SHDA.87, which has the same heading. The handwriting in SHDA.87 is different, but does SHDA.74 represent the unfulfilled intention of another copyist to include the non-hemerological horse passage? In light of the evidence of multiple hands copying and of the manuscript being a work in progress while it was already in use, the notion that SHDA was produced to be a burial object in Xi’s tomb is implausible. The argument that daybook manuscripts found in tombs are substantially different from manuscripts made for use during life—ersatz daybooks, comparable to the imitation burial goods (mingqi 明器) used in mortuary practice—has been refuted.96 Among the Jiudian, Fangmatan, Shuihudi, and Kongjiapo daybooks, SHDA is the one manuscript for which the complicated history of its production and use before it was placed in Shuihudi tomb 11 is so clearly manifest. Although we cannot make the same positive determination for the other daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts found in tombs, textual interconnections 96  The issue of daybook manuscripts and mingqi is discussed on pp. 39–47 in chap. 1.

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Figure 3.8 SHDA.73, “Yi” 衣, and SHDA.74, “Ma” 馬, on slips 119v–123v. After Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, plates, pp. 112–13.

116 between them and SHDA, as well as between the tomb manuscripts and fragments from non-tomb sites, form a consistent pattern of manuscript production and use in contemporaneous manuscript culture. In short, we may consider all daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts found in tombs to be representative of the practices of manuscript culture. Writing the Text and Lexical Strategies In many respects, the language of daybooks is simple, formulaic, and stereotypical, consisting of conventional topics related to daily activities used for both hemerology and divination; lists of favorable or unfavorable days; and standard outcomes and predictions, such as ji 吉 “auspicious,” xiong 凶 “inauspicious,” fu 富 “wealthy,” pin 貧 “poor,” and bisi 必死 “must die.” Continuities from the Jiudian daybook to the Kongjiapo daybook and between hemerological texts and excavated manuscripts that treat of divination indicate the existence of shared language familiar to elite users of turtle and milfoil divination and users of daybooks alike.97 Moreover, the original users of daybooks understood how the daybook and its presentation of information formed part of everyday experience, a reality that the modern reader of daybooks can only imagine. The task of the daybook maker or copyist would seem to have been an easy matter of transmitting the information. However, the daybook as realia was more than lists of days and activities. No matter what its exact content, the daybook manuscript projected to users its function as vade mecum, ready to consult for circumstances as they arose. An appeal to user expectation was written into the daybook text when, for instance, it offered judgments and advice in addition to plain information. The text encouraged the daybook’s users to make decisions in their own lives based on the daybook, which was the equivalent of the specialists’ pronouncements. The vade mecum function of daybooks was conventionalized, like everything else about daybooks; that is, the authoritative voice of the text was not the creation of individual daybook makers and copyists. Yet the makers and copyists shaped each manuscript not only in their choices about what to copy but also in peculiarities that occurred when copying. The primacy of the manuscript that resulted from the act of copying is one reason I do 97  For further discussion of the conventional topics and predictive language in daybooks, see pp. 151–52 in chap. 4. Shaughnessy (2014, pp. 9–11) notes the connection between daybooks and the formulaic language of hexagram and line statements in the Changes.

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not distinguish strongly between maker and copyist. In the end, the person who wrote on the manuscript surface was more than a neutral mediator who transferred the text onto its material support. The text as copied with additions, deletions, variations, and errors was made by the copyist (or copyists), and each manuscript was a unique witness to the state of the text. Viewed as an ongoing process of copying manuscripts, the ever-shifting form in which text and knowledge were collected in each manuscript constituted the aggregate body of ideas and actions circulating in manuscript culture. The examples that follow illustrate both aspects of daybooks: the conventional, authoritative voice and the influence of the maker/copyist. I apply two interpretive models: the manuscript matrix and manuscript variance. The relevance of the manuscript matrix to the study of daybooks has already been discussed. Manuscript variance addresses the evidence of each manuscript in order to evaluate differences between multiple manuscript copies of the same (or nearly the same) text and considers the role of the maker/copyist.98 Manuscript matrix and manuscript variance are useful tools for examining the simultaneously conventional and idiosyncratic elements of daybook manuscripts. The objective is not to judge whether one manuscript is better or is textually more correct than another manuscript but rather to consider the effect on the original daybook users of the text in each manuscript, exactly as they encountered it. The first examples concern advice to the daybook user when hemerologies provide conflicting indications on times for activities. SHDA.17, SHDB.24, and KJP.5 are parallel sections on the twenty-eight stellar lodges used as a day count method. The statements attached to each stellar lodge are hemerological, indicating what activities are permitted or prohibited on the stellar lodge day. All three daybooks occasionally use the generic phrases “the hundred activities are auspicious” (baishi ji 百事吉) and “the hundred activities are inauspicious” (baishi xiong 百事凶), with just one discrepancy among the manuscripts: in SHDA.17 and SHDB.24 on the stellar lodge day Triaster21 “the hundred activities are auspicious,” whereas in KJP.5 “the hundred activities are inauspicious.” Switching the generic phrase between manuscripts is interesting but is not my main concern. Rather, for Barrens11, 98  The term “variance” was adopted first by Bernard Cerquiglini to address the multiplicity of text variants that occur in any manuscript culture as copyists copy the “same” text, the form of which is determined by multiple acts of copying. See Cerquiglini, 1999, pp. 77–78 (definition of “variance”) and 13–45 (discussion of medieval European vernacular texts in manuscript).

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

about which all three daybooks agree that “the hundred activities are inauspicious,” the Kongjiapo daybook adds at the end: 雖它大吉勿用

Although in other (hemerologies) it is greatly auspicious, do not use (this day).99 The same statement is attached to the preceding stellar lodge Woman10 in KJP.5 but occurs nowhere else in the Kongjiapo daybook, nor is it given anywhere in the Shuihudi daybooks. It might be taken for another conventional statement that was included in KJP.5 but omitted in SHDA.17 and SHDB.24. Yet, unlike other hemerological information, the statement addresses advice to the reader on choosing among the hemerologies in the daybook: the stellar lodge hemerology takes precedence. Red Emperor 赤帝 inspection day hemerology in the Shuihudi and Kongjiapo daybooks has a similar statement of advice to the reader. Red Emperor inspection days are accorded the highest priority, as written in SHDA.41 and SHDB.51: 凡是有爲也必先計月中閒日苟毋直赤帝臨日它日雖有不 吉之名毋所大害

Whenever there is something (for you) to do: (You) must first calculate (your) free days during the month. So long as it does not coincide with Red Emperor inspection days, even though the other days are identified as not auspicious, there is not great harm.100 KJP.13 has a shorter version: 凡擧事苟毋直臨日它雖不吉毋大害

Whenever engaging in activity, so long as it does not coincide with the inspection days, even though others are not auspicious, there is not great harm.101 To clarify, based on the Shuihudi daybooks, the presumptive reader was a man serving in the local administration with government-granted free days (xianri 閒日) for personal use each month who needed to determine what he could expect to do on these days. The advice given was to ensure that none of the free days coincided with a Red Emperor inspection day; the other days would be all right regardless of indications from other hemerologies, and 99   K JP.5, slip 59; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 134. 100   S HDA.41, slips 129–130; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 200. 101   K JP.13, slip 110; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 140.

117 even if the time was not ideal and something happened, it would not be terrible. In the simpler KJP.13 wording, the advice is generalized to apply to anyone. What we know about popular hemerology from daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts does not suggest a synthesized body of knowledge covering all forms of hemerology and establishing general principles such as which hemerological system took precedence over another. The Kongjiapo daybook includes similar advice for both stellar lodge hemerology and Red Emperor inspection day hemerology, but I doubt that its users puzzled over which had precedence when the indications of the two systems were in conflict. Rather, the claim of precedence was part of the representation of the particular hemerology as written in the Kongjiapo daybook (and the Shuihudi daybooks, in the case of Red Emperor inspection days). I expect that other hemerologies made similar claims that either are not written in the manuscripts we have or await discovery. Jianchu hemerology was probably a common target of such claims because it was a prominent baseline for hemerology. For instance, if one of the twelve Jianchu day qualifiers indicated that a certain day was favorable, but the same day happened to be a Barrens11 day or a Red Emperor inspection day, the Kongjiapo daybook informed users to set aside Jianchu hemerology in favor of the others. While not frequent, advice of other sorts is a regular feature of daybooks and contributed to user appeal. The next two examples concern the need to have an alternative to hemerology when there was no time to wait for the hemerologically right day. Travel was the most frequent circumstance, and the methods include ritual, incantation, and the magical manipulation of the five agents. If scheduling travel on hemerologically favorable days was intended to ensure a safe trip, the alternatives used magical and ritual methods to overcome or suppress potential harm. Here I address just the statement of advice to the manuscript user, not the details of the method. In the first example, from FMTA.10 and FMTB.48, the advice is incorporated into the identical section headings for the method: “Yu xuyu xing bude zeri” 禹須臾行不得擇日 (Yu’s quick method for travel when unable to select the day). The ritual and incantation follow in the text. In the related text in one of the Ejina wooden slips (2002ESCSF1:2), the phrase preceding the method is not a formal section heading but expresses the same idea: “When (you) wish to travel in a hurry …” (欲急行). The second example is from ZJTB.21 (the recipe miscellany), which contains the five-agents method for safe travel. The text begins with advice to the reader: “When (you) are in a hurry to travel and are not able to wait for

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a good day …” (有行而急不得須良日). The method relies on the correlation between the conquest sequence of the five agents and the direction in which the person intends to travel. After listing the agent to be conquered for travel in the four cardinal directions—east-Wood (conquered by Metal), south-Fire (conquered by Water), west-Metal (conquered by Fire), north-Water (conquered by Earth)— the conclusion recapitulates the advice: “Not waiting for a good day is permitted” (毋須良日可也). The related method in KJP.12 has the section heading “Wusheng” 五勝 (Five conquests), and the method is more concrete. For each direction, the person carries a material representing the conquering agent: a piece of iron for travel to the east (Metal conquers Wood), a vessel of water for travel to the south (Water conquers Fire), a wrapped piece of earth for travel to the north (Earth conquers Water), and a wrapped piece of charcoal for travel to the west (Fire conquers Metal). The advice is given at the conclusion: “When (you) wish to go somewhere, travel carrying these things and (you) need not rely on the time” (欲有所至行操此物不以時).102 Two Ejina slip fragments treat of a similar travel method for conquering the agent in the direction of travel. One fragment concludes with this advice, notable for referring to the agents of the four directions as “thing” (wu 物): “The moment (you) are in a hurry to travel, by overcoming these things, traveling is auspicious” (即急行者越此物行吉).103 Including alternate versions of a text was another means of keeping the daybook reader informed. The following example is from the branch-based childbirth hemerology in the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.75). In the entries for the branches maob4, wub7, and xub11, text variants are explicitly introduced by the words yiyue 一曰 “another (text) says.” Here is the full text for maob4 and wub7 (the text for xub11 is fragmentary): 卯生子三日六月不死貧三妻八十年以己巳死女三日三月 不死貧卅一年以甲辰死一曰八十年庚寅死

Maob4: Giving birth to a son, if on the third day or in the sixth month he does not die, he will be poor and have three wives. At the age of eighty on the day jisi6, he will die. For a daughter, if on the third day or in the third month she does not die, she will be poor. At the age of thirty-one on the day jiachen41, she will

102  For a translation of the whole section, see p. 169 in chap. 4. 103  2002ESCSF1:4; Ejina Han jian, p. 283; the other fragment is 2002ESCSF1:14. For discussion of the use of wu “thing” to refer to the agents of the directions, see Liu Guosheng, 2014, pp. 220–21.

die. Another (text) says: At the age of eighty on the day gengyin27, she will die.104 午生子八日二月二日不死為大夫六十九年以辛未死女二 日五月六日不死善盜五十年以辛未死一曰善田

Wub7: Giving birth to a son, if on the eighth day or on the second day of the second month he does not die, he will be a grandee. At the age of sixty-nine on the day xinwei8, he will die. For a daughter, if on the second day or on the sixth day of the fifth month she does not die, she will be skilled at thievery. At the age of fifty on the day xinwei8, she will die. Another (text) says: She will be skilled at work in the fields.105 Like the usage of yiyue in transmitted texts as early as the third century bce, “another” refers to variants occurring in other written sources, which were presented to readers as alternatives to the text given first.106 The usage in KJP.75 shows daybook makers dealing with text variants in daybook manuscripts. The concern was not to raise the issue of textual correctness but rather to provide readers with information from manuscripts known to the maker. Yet there is incipient textual criticism, articulated in Wang Jing’s complaint in the first century ce, that the popular occult texts in local circulation were “a jumble of errors; auspicious was inauspicious and vice versa.”107 In modern studies of manuscript culture, variants may be treated as by-products of manuscript production by maker/copyists that changed the text over time and sometimes affected the accuracy of the information. With daybooks, we are more concerned with evaluating differences and similarities across manuscripts than with judging accuracy. The two examples that follow illustrate how analysis of manuscript variance shows that pieces of written information in daybooks remained basically the same text even as they were reshaped through continuous copying. Many factors account for the reshaping, including changes in language over time and across regions, oral transmission alongside written transmission, adaptation to changing social and cultural circumstances, choices

104   K JP.75, slip 3822; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 177. 105   K JP.75, slip 3852; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 177. 106  There are a number of occurrences of yiyue “another (text) says” in stories collected in the Hanfeizi. For the story of the cuckold who believed that he saw a demon and therefore bathed in feces in two versions and bathed in eupatorium (lan 蘭) in a third version, see Hanfeizi, 10, pp. 245–46 (“Nei chushuo” 内儲說). 107  See p. 95 in this chapter.

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

made by maker/copyists when transferring the text to the manuscript surface, and copyists’ idiosyncrasies. The first example is the travel ritual and incantation that occur in three manuscripts mentioned above: FMTA.10, FMTB.48, and Ejina slip no. 2002ESCSF1:2. Except for one graph, the text of FMTA.10 is identical to that of FMTB.48. I use only FMTB.48 for comparison with the Ejina slip because, like the Ejina text, the FMTB text is written on one whole slip (figs. 3.9, 3.10). None of the dated fragments among the Ejina slips is earlier than the mid-first century bce, and the slips from the watchtower site where slip no. 2002ESCSF1:2 was found are more likely to date to the first century ce. Thus there is a gap of two to three centuries between FMTB and the Ejina slip. Both are from the northwest, one from a tomb and the other from a watchtower manned by soldiers. On Ejina slip no. 2002ESCSF1:2, there is a blank space between graphs approximately eleven centimeters down from the top of the slip, and this is where the middle binding cord was located. We know that the Ejina slip was originally part of a bound-slip hemerological manuscript because the companion slip no. 2002ESCSF1:5r from the same watchtower has a blank space between graphs at the same position (its content concerns favorable and unfavorable times and directions). Here is the text from the two manuscripts, divided into numbered units to facilitate comparison (Old Chinese reconstruction for rhyme words in the incantations is provided in parentheses in the translation): FMTB.48, slip 165 1. 禹須臾行不得擇日 Yu’s quick method for travel when unable to select the day. 2. 出邑門 Depart through the town gate. 3. 禹步三 Perform the Pace of Yu thrice. 4. 鄉北斗質畫地 Face the Northern Dipper. Draw distinctly on the ground. 5. 視之曰禹有直五橫 Look at it and say:108 “For Yu there is the setting right of the Five Horizontals (*gwrâŋ 橫). 108  The graph transcribed as shi 視 “look at” is the one graph in FMTB.48 that differs from the text of FMTA.10, which has zhu 祝 “chant an incantation.” For confirmation of the transcription of both graphs based on infrared photographs, see Qin jiandu heji, vol. 4, pp. 31n5, 106. The alternative graphs are examples of manuscript variance produced by the copyist.

119 6. 今利行 = 毋咎 Today is favorable for travel (*grâŋ 行), and traveling is without harm (*guʔ 咎). 7. 為禹前除道 Act as Yu to go before and clear the road (*lûʔ 道).”109 Ejina slip no. 2002ESCSF1:2 1. 欲急行 When (you) wish to travel in a hurry. 2. 出邑 Depart from the town. 3. 禹步三 Perform the Pace of Yu thrice. 4. 唬睪 Shout “*Kû.” 5. 祝曰土五光 Chant the incantation, saying: “Earth has fivefold radiance (*kwâŋ 光). 6. 今日利以行 = 毋咎 Today is favorable for travel (*grâŋ), and traveling is without harm (*guʔ 咎). 7. 已辟除道 Already ward off and clear the road (*lûʔ 道).110 8. 莫敢義當 Nothing dare block me (*tâŋ 當).”111 9. 獄史壯者皆道 = 旁 Judiciary scribes and adult men all walk on the side of the road.112 We can still see the organization of the text of FMTB.48 in Ejina slip no. 2002ESCSF1:2. Although there are differences, six of the units match: nos. 1–3 and 5–7. Unit no. 4 in the two texts involves a different ritual act, and unit nos. 8–9 in the Ejina slip represent one added phrase at the end of the incantation and a concluding statement.113 Allowing for relatively minor differences between matching text units, the greatest difference occurs in unit no. 5. How did Wuheng 五橫 (Five Horizontals) become 109   F MTB.48, slip 165; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 177. 110  “Ward off” translates bi 辟; it is similar in meaning to chu 除 “clear.” According to Zhou li, 35, 10b (“Shishi” 士師), one function of the court officer named shishi was to “go before and ward off” (qianqu er bi 前驅而辟) anyone or anything in the ruler’s path. 111  It is obvious in context that the graph 義 is to be read as wo 我 “I, me.” 112   Ejina Han jian, p. 284. 113  In SHDA.70 and SHDB.30, there are two more travel departure rituals with incantations, but neither addresses the theme of a quick method for replacing travel hemerology, and only one of the incantations (SHDA.70) shows some similarity to unit nos. 6–7 in FMTB.48 and the Ejina slip.

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Figure 3.9 FMTB.48, slip 165. Facsimile by Xu Datong. After Qin jiandu heji, vol. 4, p. 300.

Figure 3.10 Ejina slip no. 2002ESCSF1:2. Facsimile by Xu Datong. After Ejina Han jian, p. 284.

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

wuguang 五光 “fivefold radiance”? In terms of sound, they are alike (*ŋâʔ-*gwrâŋ and *ŋâʔ-*kwâŋ respectively in Old Chinese reconstruction), and it is unsurprising that heng/*gwrâŋ was replaced with guang/*kwâŋ after several hundred years of copying and chanting. The text of FMTB.48 itself indicates that a cultural factor was also involved. From method title to the beginning and conclusion of the incantation, FMTB.48 represents the travel departure method as the reenactment of the Yu legend that was current in the third century bce, yet except for the Pace of Yu (Yu Bu 禹步), the figure of Yu is absent from the text of the Ejina slip. The main elements of the Yu legend are that Yu traveled the world when he labored to control the floodwaters, and he overcame every hazard; he dug into the earth and channeled the water so that it flowed from west to east, creating a civilized world in which spirits and demons submitted to his power; and his mastery of the world was the basis for certain ritual and magical methods employed by humankind.114 The Pace of Yu was the most common expression of the Yu legend in third-century bce daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, used almost any time that someone engaged the spirit world.115 Travel hemerology is associated with Yu in the Fangmatan and Shuihudi daybooks, as are some ritual methods that can be substituted for travel hemerology.116 In FMTB.48 the incantation begins by repeating the legendary moment when “Yu set right the Five Horizontals”— when Yu established world order by making water flow “horizontally” (west to east)—and ends by declaring the person using the incantation to be “acting as Yu.” On the Ejina slip, the function of the method for ensuring safe travel is the same, but there is no reenactment of the Yu legend in the incantation. I cannot explain the reason for the change. However, I have found evidence that the cultural resonance of the new beginning of the incantation (“Earth has fivefold radiance”) was connected to magical use of the five agents, specifically their colors, and that together with the added phrase in unit no. 8 of the Ejina slip (“nothing dare block me”), the incantation resembles the charm text inscribed on a type of amulet that Han people

114  My speculations on the Warring States legend of Yu and its expression in daybooks are presented in Harper, 2012. One important source of evidence for the legend is Chuci, 3, pp. 90–99 (“Tianwen”). 115  See pp. 130–33 in this chapter. 116  For Yu-related travel hemerologies, see FMTA.7, FMTB.4, and SHDA.44; for Yu-related travel rituals, see FMTA.10, FMTB.48, SHDA.70, and SHDB.30.

121

Figure 3.11 Late Eastern Han gangmao jade amulet, from Fenghuangtai 鳳凰臺 tomb 1, Anhui; 2.2 cm high, 1 cm wide. After Kaogu 1974.3, p. 190.

fastened to their clothing, a small rectangular cube called gangmao 剛卯 “hard maob4.” Modern archaeological discoveries of Han period inscribed gangmao include wooden and stone or jade cubes with a hole bored through the center for the cord used to attach the amulet (fig. 3.11). They have been found in tomb and non-tomb sites, singly and in pairs with contrasting charm texts: on one, the text begins “first month hard maob4” (zhengyue gangmao 正月剛卯) and, on the other, “severe day stern maob4” ( jiri yanmao 疾日嚴 卯). Both texts conclude with “nothing dare block me.” The excavated amulets confirm accounts of gangmao in contemporaneous transmitted sources, including the standard wording of the charm texts. The amulet name gangmao used in transmitted sources is derived from the first charm text, and the amulet with the second charm text is sometimes called yanmao; it is said that the amulets were produced on the maob4 day of the first month. The names can further be associated with Jianchu hemerology: in the first month, yinb3 days are Jian (Establish) days and maob4 days are Chu (Remove) days; that is, maob4 days are good for apotropaic magic, whether or not gang­ mao in reality were produced only on maob4 days in the first month. At present, the oldest example of an inscribed gangmao is dated to the first century bce.117 Pre-Han examples of uninscribed jade cubes may have had a similar 117  See the account of gangmao in Sun Ji, 2011, pp. 467–68. There are three wooden gangmao from the Juyan finds; see Juyan Han jian shiwen hejiao, pp. 547 (371.1), 565 (446.17), 645 (530.9). The inscription on the first example (371.1) is damaged but does not conform to the usual amulet text; however, it includes a date corresponding to 54 bce. A jade gangmao and yanmao pair was discovered in 1972 in Fenghuangtai 鳳凰臺 tomb 1, Anhui (burial dated late second century ce); see Kaogu 1974.3, p. 190.

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magical ­function for their users, but the gangmao charm defined the amulet whose name was derived from the text inscribed on it.118 Whereas the FMTB.48 incantation was copied at a time before inscribed gangmao were popular, the Ejina slip incantation was contemporaneous with their use, and both the incantation chanted at the time of departure and the amulet worn on the user’s person served the function of protecting the user. The eight phrases of the gangmao charm were arranged in four couplets, one on each of the four faces of the cube; thus the first and third couplets occupied opposite faces, as did the second and fourth couplets. The most obvious sign of mutual influence between travel incantation and gangmao charm is the shared conclusion “nothing dare block me.”119 On the four faces of the amulet, the conclusion to the fourth couplet is juxtaposed with the second couplet on the opposite face: 赤青白黃四色是當

Red, green, white, yellow. The four colors—these are matched.120 The term sise 四色 “four colors” is equivalent to wuse 五色 “five colors” and refers to the colors of the agents in the perfect spatial arrangement of the world inhabited by humankind.121 The Ejina incantation, which begins with

118  Six small jade cubes with holes were found in the fifth-century bce tomb of Lord Yi of Zeng 曾侯乙 in Hubei, but they are uninscribed. Zeng hou Yi mu, vol. 1, p. 422, refers to the cubes as gangmao. The cubes were among many small jade and stone objects used for adornment but are not examples of inscribed gangmao amulets. 119  Second-century bce attestation of the formulaic incantation phrase “nothing dare [verb] me” (mogan wo [verb] 莫敢我 [verb]) occurs in the Mawangdui painted silk sheet with drawings of spirits and written text with the assigned title Taiyi zhutu 太一祝圖 (Grand One incantation and diagram). The phrase occurs twice in the incantation copied on the right side of the sheet as part of a departure ritual. The text is fragmentary. In the first occurrence of the phrase, the verb is xiang 鄉 “face, confront”: “nothing dare confront me.” The verb in the second occurrence is missing due to rotted silk. See Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 6, p. 103. As a point of syntax, all examples of gangmao discovered to date place the first-person pronoun wo 我 between mo 莫 “nothing” and gan 敢 “dare” (莫我敢當) rather than between gan and dang 當 “block” as in the Ejina slip and Mawangdui manuscripts (莫敢我當). 120   Text from the inscription on the jade gangmao from Fenghuangtai tomb 1; Kaogu 1974.3, p. 190. 121  For another example of sise “four colors” to denote the arrangement of space based on the five agents and colors, see Han shu, 99C, p. 4149. The term occurs in Wang Mang’s declaration on the ritual for enfeoffing nobles by granting them soil from the im-

“Earth has fivefold radiance” and concludes with “nothing dare block me,” parallels the gangmao charm juxtaposition of “the four colors—these are matched” with “nothing dare block me.” Other elements were involved in the pattern of variance between the incantations in FMTB.48 and Ejina slip no. 2002ESCSF1:2, but the example of the gangmao charm shows how the interaction of complementary cultural practices and objects shaped the incantation copied on the Ejina slip. Other notable details in FMTB.48 and the Ejina slip are, first, the magical utterance gao/*kû 睪 in unit no. 4 of the Ejina slip, which occurs in incantations in the third-century bce daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts (SHDA.57, SHDA.70, SHDB.30, SHDB.68, ZJTB.11, and ZJTB.14–16). The incantation utterance also occurs in Mawangdui medical manuscripts of approximately the same period.122 FMTB.48, unit no. 4, entails two acts that recur in manuscripts and transmitted texts, contemporaneous and later: facing in the direction of the Northern Dipper and drawing lines on the ground.123 Unit no. 9 on the Ejina slip prescribes the final act of the departure ritual: the user—in particular, government officials and adult men—must start the journey by walking on the side of the road, not down the middle. Similar prescriptions are found in the third-century bce daybooks in sections on travel hemerology and departure rituals. (See the translation of the detailed record in SHDA.41 of how to walk when departing in the second example of manuscript variance below.) FMTB.48 and the Ejina slip show that during a period of several hundred years, the travel departure method as written in the Fangmatan daybooks did not disappear but was adapted to the times. Moreover, the Ejina slip includes elements—the utterance gao, details about how to perial she 社 “altar” with its five-colored mound of soil (nobles were given the soil of the color corresponding to the direction of the land granted to them). 122  For discussion of the incantation utterance, including occurrences in Han ritual classics, see Harper, 1998, p. 291n3. 123  Two references to facing in the direction of the Dipper in magical rituals in Han transmitted sources are Han shu, 45, p. 2186, in the ritual performed by Xifu Gong 息夫躬 (first century bce) to protect himself from robbers (the ritual included using a ladle made from an east-facing mulberry branch and painted with the seven stars of the Dipper); and Han shu, 99C, p. 4190, in the account of Wang Mang’s death in 23 ce, when Wang Mang acted to protect himself from being harmed by the Han army by having the court astrologer use the Dipper astrolabe to calculate the direction in which the Dipper’s handle pointed throughout the day and rotating his mat to sit facing the direction indicated. For drawing lines on the ground, see the discussion in the following paragraphs on the P2661v parallel.

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

walk—that occur in third- and second-century bce manuscripts but not in FMTB.48. In addition to textual variance arising from copyists making manuscripts, we must recognize that people employed a variety of conventional gestures and actions in real life and that manuscripts captured these differently, depending on the time, place, and copyist. A remarkable parallel in a medieval Dunhuang manuscript with elements of both the Fangmatan and Ejina texts extends this example of manuscript variance to the other end of the first millennium ce. It is near the end of the occult miscellany copied by Yin Anren 尹安仁 on the verso of P2661, most likely in the late ninth or early tenth century (fig. 3.12). Read together with FMTB.48 and Ejina slip no. 2002ESCSF1:2, the P2661v text shows how manuscript culture and popular culture overlapped in the continuation of everyday ideas and practices across many lifetimes and in different localities. The P2661v parallel is in a group of six travel-related entries near the end of Yin Anren’s occult miscellany of mostly hemerological information to which he gave the title Zhu zalüe deyao chaozi yiben 諸雜略得要抄子一 本 (All-miscellany digest that obtains their essence in a single copy).124 A diagram composed of vertical and horizontal lines is drawn above the text. The large hook written on top of the diagram and down the right side is the standard sign marking text divisions in medieval manuscripts.125 Immediately in front of the P2661v travel departure method is an entry on the five agents and travel that is an exact text parallel for ZJTB.21. Both P2661v passages testify to the continuous written transmission of pieces of everyday knowledge collected earlier in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts and still circulating in medieval manuscript miscellanies.126 Just as differences between FMTB.48 and the Ejina slip reveal the underlying textual continuity, the new elements that appear in the P2661v text take us into medieval manuscript culture and offer further evidence of the continuous adaptation of ideas and practices in medieval popular culture: 1. 凡人欲急不擇日者 Whenever a person wishes to hurry and not select the day. 2. 出大門 Depart through the great gate. 124  See the description of P2661v in Kalinowski, 2003b, pp. 252–53. 125  Yu Xin (2006, p. 320) is incorrect to state that the standard hookshaped sign is a drawing of the Dipper when it occurs over the P2661v diagram. 126  For discussion of the parallel passages on the five agents and travel, see Harper, 2010b, pp. 45–46.

123

Figure 3.12 The travel departure method with diagram in the Dunhuang occult miscellany, P2661v, cols. 161–163, dated late ninth or early tenth century. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, division orientale du département des Manuscrits, fonds Pelliot chinois. By permission of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

3. 畫地五縱六橫一云四縱五橫 Draw on the ground the Five Verticals and the Six Horizontals.127 Another (text) says the Four Verticals and Five Horizontals.

127  Parallel passages in three Dunhuang manuscripts instruct people to draw the diagram three Chinese feet (chi 尺) to a side: P2610r, col. 125; P3288r, col. 290; and S2729v, col. 182. In col. 161, Yin Anren wrote the graph 大 below 畫, but then deleted it by placing the deletion sign 卜 to the right. He also wrote the graph for zong 縱 “vertical” differently in this sentence than in the following sentence (the signific element 彳 is on the left side rather than the usual 糸).

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4. 禹為治 [1] 道蚩尤壁兵 “Yu act to control [1] road.128 Chiyou repel weapons. 5. 五周行天下 Travel five circuits around Under-Heaven. 6. 為禍殃 Act to … misfortune and calamity.129 7. 呵吾者死流吾者亡 Whatever abuses me dies. Whatever detains me perishes.130 8. 急┐ 如律令 Quickly, quickly, in accord with statute and ordinance.”131 9. 訖奇畫上過而去物迴頭 When finished, leave by passing across the odd lines. Do not turn the head to look back.132 Although the appearance of the diagram and text on the paper scroll is neat, as a copyist, Yin Anren showed less care in the details of the text; even if he simply copied directly from another manuscript, he did nothing to correct his text source. In unit no. 1, the single word ji 急 “hurry” was probably shortened from jixing 急行 “travel in a hurry.” In unit no. 6, a verb meaning “expel, eliminate” must be missing before “misfortune and calamity.” Finally, two graphs do not represent the intended words and reflect carelessness on the part of the copyist: in unit no. 8, liu 流 “flow” is probably liu 留 “detain,” and in unit no. 9, wu 物 “thing” is obviously wu 勿 “do not.” After making allowances for copyist idiosyncrasies and changes in the wording of the incantation, it is clear that the text is related to the travel departure method in FMTB.48 and the Ejina slip. I leave aside examining the medieval circumstances, except to note that a text parallel to the P2661v passage occurs in the three copies of a text on military hemerology and divination in P2610r, P3288r, and S2729v. The military text refers only to a diagram composed of the Four Verticals and Five Horizontals (none of the manuscripts include a drawing of the diagram). Moreover, the method is for the departure of the army; that is, drawing the diagram on the ground, chanting the incantation, and stepping over the diagram at the 128  The last graph in col. 161 is not legible. 129  The sequence 為禍殃 must be missing a verb with which it would express the meaning that misfortune and calamity are to be expelled. 130  I understand liu 流 to stand for liu 留 “detain.” 131  The small sign below ji 急 is a hastily written repeat-graph sign, hence “quickly, quickly” in the translation. 132  The graph 物 must be understood as the negative wu 勿. P2661v, cols. 161–163.

end are actions taken by the army general at the time of departure.133 The occurrence of the travel departure method along with the ZJTB.21 text parallel in Yin Anren’s All-Miscellany Digest is prima facie evidence of textual survival across centuries from ancient daybook to popular medieval miscellany due to the many people who chose to copy the passage in manuscripts of their own making. In contrast, its occurrence in the three other Dunhuang manuscripts seems to be a medieval reapplication connected to military hemerology. Further reapplications of diagram and text appear in later Daoist scriptures with instructions for use in Daoist rituals.134 Despite recent arguments, it remains uncertain whether the medieval diagram was already part of the ancient travel departure method. FMTB.48, unit no. 4, does say to draw on the ground, and “setting right the Five Horizontals” does begin the incantation in unit no. 5. One of the arguments is based on the conjecture that the term “Five Horizontals” in the incantation is an abbreviated reference to the whole medieval diagram of vertical and horizontal lines, and the phrase wuhua di 五畫地 in the SHDA.70 travel departure ritual is adduced in support of this conjecture on the assumption that it means “draw five lines on the ground” and refers to drawing the same diagram.135 However, the phrase wuhua di is written 午畫地 in ZJTB.17. In early script, wu 五 and wu 午 form the shape of a cross and occur with the meaning “make a cross, make an X.” The meaning “draw an X on the ground” is the best reading of wuhua di in SHDA.70 and ZJTB.17.136 As for FMTB.48, the text of unit no. 4 does not specify what to draw; in the incantation in unit no. 5, the reference to Yu’s “setting right of the Five Horizontals” refers to the Yu legend. The connection between the words in the incantation and the pattern of lines drawn in unit no. 4 is a modern conjecture and is not proof that FMTB.48 is the earliest occurrence of the medieval diagram of vertical and horizontal lines. The drawing in unit no. 4 might

133  P2610r, cols. 125–127; P3288r, cols. 290–292; S2729v, col. 182. 134  See Huangdi Taiyi bamen rushi bijue, 15a; and Beidou zhifa wuwei jing, 7a. For other occurrences of the diagram in later occult literature and almanacs, see also Lü Yahu, 2010, p. 237; and Yu Xin, 2006, pp. 321–25. 135  For references to published versions of this argument, see Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 89n5; and Lü Yahu, 2010, p. 237. Kudō Motoo (1998, pp. 264–71) identifies occurrences of the medieval diagram in Japanese sources. 136  The meaning “make a cross” is discussed in Lü Yahu, 2010, pp. 233–36. For this usage, see also the entries for the graphs 五 and 午 in Shuowen jiezi zhu, 14B, 15b and 31b.

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have been a simple X as in SHDA.70 and ZJTB.17. I treat the medieval diagram as another case of variance. The second example of manuscript variance involves three versions of a section in SHDA.41 (slips 127r–130r), SHDB.51 (slips 132–137), and KJP.13 (slips 108–110). The version in SHDA.41 has the section heading “Xing” 行 (Travel) written at the top of slip 127r; it is also the most carefully composed among the three versions, as seen in the length of the text copied, the neat arrangement of text down the full length of four slips, and the use of large dots to demarcate divisions in the text (fig. 3.13). The following translation of SHDA.41 is divided into numbered units in order to facilitate comparison: 1. 行 Travel 2. 凡且有大行遠行若飲食聚畜牲及夫妻同衣毋以正月上 旬午二月上旬亥三月上旬申四月上旬丑五月上旬戌六月 上旬卯七月上旬子八月上旬巳九月上旬寅十月上旬未十 一月上旬辰十二月上旬酉

Whenever there is to be major travel and distant travel; or activities of drinking, eating, singing, and playing music and of gathering and raising domestic animals;137 as well as when husband and wife share clothing: Do not use the wub7 day in the first decade of the first month, the haib12 day in the first decade of the second month, the shenb9 day in the first decade of the third month, the choub2 day in the first decade of the fourth month, the xub11 day in the first decade of the fifth month, the maob4 day in the first decade of the sixth month, the zib1 day in the first decade of the seventh month, the sib6 day in the first decade of the eighth month, the yinb3 day in the first decade of the ninth month, the weib8 day in the first decade of the tenth month, the chenb5 day in the first decade of the eleventh month, and the youb10 day in the first decade of the twelfth month. 3. 凡是日赤帝恆以開臨下民而降其殃不可具為百事皆

•

毋所利即有爲也其殃不出歲中小大必至有爲而遇雨命曰 殃蚤至不出三月必有死亡志 = 至

• All these days are when Red Emperor regularly

inspects the people below and sends down his calamity. It is not permitted to engage in any of the hundred activities, which all have nothing favorable. If (you) do something, the calamity, whether minor or major, must occur before the year is out. If when doing something (you) encounter rain, the name for 137  The phrase in KJP.13 is 聚衆畜牲 “gathering the multitude and raising domestic animals,” and the copyist of SHDA.41 probably failed to write zhong 衆 “multitude” (SHDB.51 is the same).

it is “calamity arrives early.” Before three months are out there must occur observances for the dead and deceased.138 4. 凡是有爲也必先計月中閒日苟毋直赤帝臨日它日雖

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有不吉之名毋所大害

•

Whenever there is something for you to do: (You) must first calculate (your) free days during the month. So long as it does not coincide with Red Emperor inspection days, even though the other days are identified as not auspicious, there is not great harm. 5. 凡民將行出其門毋敢顧毋止直術吉從道右吉從左吝

•

小顧是謂小楮吝大顧是謂大楮凶

•

Whenever people are about to travel: Going out the gate, do not dare look back and do not stop. Walking straight down the road is auspicious. Following the right side of the road is auspicious. Following the left is unlucky. Looking back slightly: this is called “minor standstill” and is unlucky.139 Looking back entirely: this is called “major standstill” and is inauspicious.140 In all three versions, the main content is the hemerology based on the system of Red Emperor inspection days (Chidi linri 赤帝臨日) as detailed in unit nos. 2–4 above. SHDA.41, unit no. 5, concerns departure customs (not looking back when going out the gate, where to walk, technical names for different degrees of looking back). The passage on departure customs does not occur in SHDB.51 and KJP.13, nor does it recur in any other manuscripts discovered to date. Its inclusion in SHDA.41 highlights the variability in the selection and combination of pieces of written information among copyists. Other differences between SHDA.41 and SHDB.51 are minor: a missing section heading on the first slip of SHDB.51 (probably lost from the top of slip 132 along with several graphs at the beginning of unit no. 2 due to the fragmentary condition of the slip), several instances of miscopying in SHDB.51 when compared to the SHDA.41 text, and the curious matter of the SHDB copyist copying only four graphs in the upper part of slip 136, leaving the rest of the slip blank, and 138  The copyist wrote 志 =, which is a fusion form of the two graphs 之志. The translation “observances” for zhi 志 follows the word identification in Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 140n7, based on attestation in Liji, 7, 15a and 16b (“Tangong” 檀弓). The Liji Zheng Xuan commentary glosses zhi as zhangshi 章識 in the sense of the ritual marks of status and the procedures used during a funeral. 139  I understand zhu/*thraʔ 楮 in the sense of the word family related to zhu/*trakh 著 with meanings of “place, set, stand still.” See Schuessler, 2007, p. 629. 140   S HDA.41, slips 127r–130r; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 200.

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skipping to slip 137 to complete the text.141 Although we do not know the exact relationship between the two daybook manuscripts found in the same Shuihudi tomb, the overall similarity between the sections is due to shared pieces of written hemerological information in local circulation in the last quarter of the third century bce. Differences with the Kongjiapo daybook are greater. In view of the relatively short distance between the Shuihudi and Kongjiapo sites in Hubei—less than one hundred kilometers—and the interval of about eighty years between the burial dates of the two tombs, the KJP.13 version is evidence of manuscript variance over time within a delimited region as several generations of copyists produced daybooks and included the section on inspection days. KJP.13 probably had a section title, but the top of slip 108 where the title would have been written is missing. The rest of the text survives, and as in SHDA.41, the copyist used dots to demarcate divisions: 1. [?] [Title missing?] 2. 臨日正月上旬午二月亥三月申四月丑五月戌六月卯七 月子八月巳九月`寅十月未十一月辰十二月酉

Inspection days: Wub7 in the first decade of the first month, haib12 in the second month, shenb9 in the third month, choub2 in the fourth month, xub11 in the fifth month, maob4 in the sixth month, zib1 in the seventh month, sib6 in the eighth month, yinb3 in the ninth month, weib8 in the tenth month, chenb5 in the eleventh month, and youb10 in the twelfth month. 3. 帝以此日開臨下降殃不可遠行飲食歌樂聚衆畜牲凡

•

百事皆凶以有爲不出歲其殃小大必至以有爲而遇雨命曰 殃蚤至不出三月必有死亡之志

•

Emperor on these days inspects below and sends down calamity. It is not permitted to have distant travel; activities of drinking, eating, singing, and playing music; gathering the multitude; and raising domestic animals. Any of the hundred activities are all inauspicious. If (you) do something, the calamity, whether minor or major, must occur before the year is out. If when doing something (you) encounter rain, the name for it is “calamity arrives early.” Before three months are out there must be observances for the dead and deceased.

141  The graph 見 written at the top edge of slip 137 is also a curiosity.

Figure 3.13 SHDA.41, slips 127r–130r. Facsimile by Xu Datong. After Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, plates, p. 99.

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•

4. 凡擧事苟毋直臨日它雖不吉毋大害 Whenever engaging in activity, so long as it does not coincide with the inspection days, even though others are not auspicious, there is not great harm.142

•

The most obvious difference in KJP.13 is the shorter length and frequent abbreviation in comparison to the text copied in SHDA.41. One measure of abbreviation is the graph count for unit nos. 2–4: for unit no. 2, eighty-four graphs in SHDA.41 versus forty-two graphs in KJP.13; for unit no. 3, sixty graphs in SHDA.41 versus fifty-nine graphs in KJP.13; for unit no. 4, thirty-one graphs in SHDA.41 versus fifteen graphs in KJP.13. SHDA.41, unit nos. 2–4, is onethird longer than KJP.13 (175 graphs versus 116 graphs). The length of unit no. 3 in KJP.13 matches SHDA.41 less one graph, but this occurred because the KJP.13 copyist shifted content that appeared in SHDA.41, unit no. 2, to unit no. 3 in KJP.13 and reformulated it: the activities to be avoided on inspection days in SHDA.41, unit no. 2, became the list of prohibited activities in KJP.13, unit no. 3. Another element of change is noticeable in the abbreviated form of KJP.13: the text de-emphasizes the identification of inspection day hemerology with Red Emperor. Indeed, there is no Red Emperor in KJP.13. Unit no. 3 states that “Emperor on these days inspects below and sends down calamity”; unit no. 4 refers only to “inspection days” without mention of Red Emperor or Emperor. Moreover, unit no. 2 begins the list of the prohibited branches for each month with the heading “inspection days” (linri 臨 日), which is not found in SHDA.41 and SHDB.51. Just as the focus on Yu as popular cultural figure shifted between the travel ritual in the Fangmatan daybooks and the Ejina slip, identification of the hemerology with Red Emperor in the Shuihudi daybooks has lessened in the Kongjiapo daybook, which concentrates on the system of “inspection days” in itself. Religious ideas and activities were certainly involved in Red Emperor inspection day hemerology and are addressed in chapter 5 as part of a broader examination of spirits, religion, and hemerology.143 Given that daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts are currently the main and often the only evidence of religion in everyday life for the roughly four centuries covered by the manuscripts, correlating their content with what people really did raises issues not just of the hemerological frame for religion 142   K JP.13, slips 108–110; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 140. Four graphs, 以生子不, are written at the bottom of slip 110, directly beneath 害, but are unrelated to KJP.13 or to daybook sections before and after. 143  See pp. 237–38 in chap. 5.

in the manuscripts but also of the hemerological frame for everyday life as formulated in the written text. We do not know how literally we should read the content of the daybooks that we have now for evidence of what people thought and did, although we know that daybooks were their realia. For instance, in SHDA.41, unit no. 5, the initial statements advising users to not look back when departing for travel and to not stop recur in other manuscripts, and the probability is high that the statements were common knowledge and the advice generally followed in everyday life. I wonder whether the same correspondence between text and action in real-life circumstances applied to the distinction between the two types of looking back: looking back slightly (technical name, “minor standstill”) and looking back entirely (technical name, “major standstill”). Rather than try to second-guess the likelihood that readers and users followed a piece of written advice in a daybook in particular cases, I propose focusing on the overall effect of the daybook as cultural product on everyday life. Treated as a whole product, the daybook was simultaneously a practical guide that supplied information in a convenient form and a cultural fabrication that met people’s expectations and made the daybook manuscript something they wanted. Whether or not the technical names “minor standstill” and “major standstill” were common knowledge, they constituted part of the written information found in the daybook, and once formed, the daybook text type, no matter what its content, projected an image of reality to users that they fitted to the circumstances of their lives.

Daybooks in Everyday Life

I return to the daybook as text type to consider how the currently available examples of daybook manuscripts might have influenced their users in thought and action and to address the problem of popular culture from the perspective of daybooks as cultural products that, in Chartier’s words, were “shared, more or less, by society at large, but understood, defined, and used in styles that vary.”144 The daybook text type was one manuscript/product among manuscripts with varied hemerological and non-hemerological content, all of them indicative of the circulation of technical occult literature in the form of miscellanies and all of them evidence of the involvement of manuscripts in popular culture. Limiting the evidence to the daybook manuscripts from Jiudian, Fangmatan, Shuihudi, and Kongjiapo highlights the daybook as both 144  Chartier, 1995, p. 89.

128 practical guide and cultural fabrication set down on the surface of bound slips that were the manuscript’s material support. Placement of Jianchu hemerology and other general hemerologies at the front fixed the frame of hemerology and the calendar for the whole manuscript as “organized miscellany,” while the inclusion of rituals and magical methods—and in the case of the Kongjiapo daybook, the calendar-based cosmogony—covered other modes of human knowledge and action in the conventionalized written presentation. Whatever its length or content, the manuscript bespoke completeness; that is, the daybook manuscript signified the ideal of completeness and the function of everyday vade mecum in a way that other manuscripts did not. The manuscript evidence does not clarify the relationship of hemerologists, astrologers, or other specialists to daybook composition and production, yet one effect of the daybook was to serve as a substitute for the specialists. At the same time, no two daybooks were alike. Each manuscript was another effort to organize—or, better, to reorganize—existing pieces of information on the delimited space of its bound slips. The length of the manuscript, the choice of contents, adjustments to the wording of the text, and arrangement of the text with diagrams on the manuscript surface were parts of an ad hoc process that included multiple hands adding content to blank space over time, redundancies, and occasional carelessness. For readers and users, the written information in the daybook manuscript was super-inscribed on existing patterns of everyday life. On the one hand, daybooks repeated cultural knowledge shared among people in their locales. On the other hand, once the shared knowledge was reformulated in a book—now organized as part of hemerology and other technical occult knowledge—the daybook produced a template for everyday life that informed what people thought and did. Daybook manuscripts were involved in a reflexive relationship between daybooks, cultural conventions, and people’s experiences and expectations. The daybook added a new element to popular culture; it was more than the sum of the information it contained. The number of daybooks and the variety of daybook-related manuscripts discovered to date are a measure of their influence as realia in the lived experience of their original readers and users. The challenge for popular culture studies today is to identify patterns of influence while avoiding arguments that try to provide cause-and-effect explanations for cultural products, as if the products can be classified, assigned to particular social groups, and used as predictors of thought and behavior in those groups. Early

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attempts to describe daybook manuscripts tend to make presumptions that closer scrutiny does not bear out, for instance, equating daybook (rishu) and day-ist/hemerologist (rizhe);145 equating the content of the Shuihudi and Fangmatan daybooks with the customs of the lower social orders, in contrast to those of the higher social orders, in the regions of Chu culture and Qin culture; or assuming that government officials and members of the higher social orders used daybooks instrumentally as guides to local customs for the purpose of social and political control.146 By now the amount and variety of manuscript evidence and its archaeological provenance require a more nuanced assessment of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. We must learn to recognize the signs of knowledge and conventions shared across social groups in different regions and to examine the involvement of groups and individuals with daybooks as everyday realia. How, for instance, did local, late third-century bce users of the Fangmatan daybooks utilize the details of the travel ritual in FMTA.10 and FMTB.48? And how can we relate their engagement to the users—no doubt ordinary soldiers—of the manuscript represented by the extant Ejina slip no. 2002ESCSF1:2 several centuries later? Four examples of daybook content from the Jiudian, Fangmatan, Shuihudi, and Kongjiapo manuscripts raise the related issues of the daybook’s self-proclaimed status as necessary for everyday life, the influence of the daybook as realia on the lives of users, and how we today read the manuscripts for evidence of popular culture. The first example is the entry that begins the section “Jie” (Spellbinding) in SHDA.59, which is the prologue for the seventy entries that follow it. Written in the “conventional, authoritative voice” described in the “Writing the Text and Lexical Strategies” section above, the prologue both establishes the identity of “Spellbinding” as a text that might have circulated on its own as a demonography and sheds light on cultural attitudes about the spirit world and uncanny events in everyday life. The Pace of Yu serves as the second example. Wide attestation in Qin and Han daybooks, daybook-related manuscripts, and medical manuscripts proves its ubiquity in ritual or magical activities. However, no text explains exactly how to perform the Pace of Yu, which may indicate its popularity (if the lack 145  See p. 109 in this chapter. 146  For a nuanced discussion of the issues, see Poo, 1998, pp. 88–92. Kudō Motoo (1990, pp. 35–37) argues that the Shuihudi tomb 11 daybooks were part of a pragmatic Qin policy of using daybooks to provide officials with knowledge of local Chu customs, the better to apply Qin legal codes in local government; for the same argument, see Kudō Motoo, 1998, pp. 158–59.

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

of explanation means that everyone already knew how to perform it). The third example is Guxu (Orphan-Empty) hemerology based on the sexagenary cycle. Each manuscript in which it occurs applies Orphan-Empty hemerology to a different everyday matter, and the manuscripts differ over the correlation of Orphan and Empty branches with directions in space. How do we explain these divergences from one manuscript to another? And how do we explain the ordinary use of Orphan-Empty hemerology in daybooks versus its use by occult specialists in transmitted sources? The fourth example concerns daybooks as records of anniversaries or memorable events connected to spirits and cultural figures—Yu, Chiyou 蚩尤, Oxherd 牽牛, Weaver Maid 織女, Nüwa 女媧—because these days influenced the choices people made about their own lives. Legends and cultural memory were encoded in hemerology and set forth in daybooks. As everyday life realia, the daybook was more than a practical vade mecum; it informed people’s connections to their shared culture. The “Spellbinding” Prologue Among the daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, SHDA.59 is a unique text whose title “Jie” (Spellbinding), referring to “magical control of the spirit world,” occurs only in SHDA.59.147 Following the prologue, seventy separate entries briefly describe a demonic or uncanny event, identify the cause (if a demon, identified by name), and specify the remedy, which is a simple but magically efficacious act that eliminates the hazard: throwing shoes, white stones, or dog feces at the demon; attacking it with weapons; fumigation; and so forth. Events that do not involve the direct activity of a named demon include bouts of emotional distress (anger, anxiety, sorrow) and environmental hazards at home (invasion by noisome creatures, fire, lightning, wind). Although the sequence of entries does not follow an organized classification of events by type, cumulatively the entries constitute a guide for people in their homes and communities: SHDA.59 is the realization of the notion that forewarned is forearmed. Textual similarities with the Dunhuang manuscript P2682, titled Baize jingguai tu 白澤精怪圖 (White Marsh diagrams of spectral prodigies), indicate that the popular medieval demonography associated with the protector spirit White Marsh had antecedents in pre-Han technical occult literature as restored to us in SHDA.59.148 147  On the legal meaning of the word jie in the Shuihudi tomb 11 manuscripts, see p. 98 in this chapter. 148  Identification of SHDA.59 as a type of “demonography” was first proposed in Harper, 1985; Harper, 1996, is a translation of the manuscript text.

129 My concern here is with the demonography as an existing text type that someone chose to copy in the first Shuihudi daybook. (For details on what SHDA.59 tells us about the spirit world and everyday religion, see chapter 5.) More specifically, how did daybook users respond to SHDA.59 in its place among the daybook sections, and how did the text influence their ideas and actions? The prologue reads like a promise to provide knowledge that protects people from harm if they just pay attention and follow instructions (fig. 3.14). 詰咎鬼害民罔行為民不祥告如詰之道令民毋麗凶殃鬼之 所惡彼屈臥箕坐連行奇立

To spellbind odious demons. People-harming Wanghang bogles (*gâŋ 行) treat people unpropitiously (*s-jaŋ 祥). Declare the way to spellbind them and let the people not encounter the inauspicious and calamitous (*Ɂaŋ 殃). What demons detest are, namely, reclining in a crouch, sitting like a winnowing basket, linked walking, and the one-legged stand.149 My parsing of the first eleven graphs as translated in the first two sentences understands wanghang 罔行 (*maŋɁ-gâŋ) to be an alternate form of the demon name Wangliang 罔兩 (*maŋɁ-raŋɁ) attested in transmitted texts as denoting malevolent demons that harass people (the word “bogles” is meant to suggest an English equivalent in popular ideas about demons).150 The whole rhymed statement matches the legend recorded in the Zuo Chronicle of the nine talismanic cauldrons cast by Yu when he created a civilized world for humankind. The images of the spirits and demons were replicated in the metal of the cauldrons for the people to see, know, and control: “Thus the people entered stream, marsh, mountain, and forest and did not encounter the unseemly. Chimei 螭魅 goblins and Wangliang bogles—none could accost them.”151 The legend of Yu’s cauldrons validated the claim of popular medieval demonographies that they would keep people safe from demonic harm.152 Given Yu’s omnipresence in daybooks, readers of SHDA.59 may have recognized the culturally embedded link between prologue and legend. 149   S HDA.59, slips 24v1–26v1; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 212. 150  For a different interpretation, see p. 226 in chap. 5. Another difference of interpretation is my treatment of jiugui 咎鬼 as the compound “odious demons” based on occurrences in excavated materials. For details on the identification of Wanghang as Wangliang, see Harper, 1985, pp. 481–83. 151   Zuozhuan, 21, 16a (Xuan 3). 152  See Harper, 1985, pp. 490–92.

130

harper

Transmitted sources also attest three of the four postures in the list of “what demons detest” in connection with culturally significant gestures and exercises (lianxing 連行 “linked walking” is the exception). Among them, “sitting like a winnowing basket” (jizuo 箕坐), legs extended and spread to expose the genitals, signaled disrespect and aversion and was a well-known position for sexual intercourse.153 The list is an example of cultural information fitted to the authoritative voice of the prologue. None of the postures are used against a demon in the SHDA.59 entries that follow, nor do transmitted sources document their magical efficacy against demons. Yet they were wellknown gestures, and it is not surprising that their range of signification includes apotropaic uses as indicated in the prologue. The Pace of Yu Sixteen occurrences of the Pace of Yu in five third-century bce daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts provide the most striking evidence of Yu in popular culture at the end of the Warring States period and the beginning of the Qin empire. In contrast to the four postures in the SHDA.59 prologue, the Pace of Yu was a conventional magical gesture that people made with their own feet in a three-part routine as is clear from manuscript references to performing the “three paces of the Pace of Yu” (Yu Bu san bu 禹步三步) or performing it thrice (Yu Bu san).154 Four occurrences in the Fangmatan and Shuihudi daybooks are part of travel rituals, but none of the twelve occurrences in nine recipes of the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany (ZJTB) are related to travel: eight recipes treat ailments, with eleven occurrences of the Pace of Yu, and the twelfth occurrence is the sacrificial ritual for First Tiller. Three of the ailment recipes are for dental decay, and the graph of the ailment name qu 齲 (*kwaɁ) puns visually and aurally with Yu (*WaɁ), making the Pace of Yu one component of the simple but culturally complex treatments.

Figure 3.14 SHDA.59, slips 24v–26v, with the prologue on slips 24v1–26v1. Facsimile by Xu Datong. After Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, plates, pp. 104–5.

153  See ibid., pp. 483–90. 154  The expression “Yu Bu” without the number three also occurs. For the sixteen occurrences, see FMTA.10 (Yu Bu san, one occurrence), FMTB.48 (Yu Bu san, one occurrence), SHDA.70 (Yu Bu san, one occurrence), SHDB.30 (Yu Bu san, one occurrence), ZJTB.11 (Yu Bu san bu, one occurrence; Yu Bu, one occurrence), ZJTB.12 (Yu Bu san bu, one occurrence), ZJTB.13 (Yu Bu san bu, one occurrence), ZJTB.14 (Yu Bu san, one occurrence), ZJTB.15 (Yu Bu san bu, one occurrence; Yu Bu, one occurrence), ZJTB.16 (Yu Bu san, one occurrence; Yu Bu san bu, one occurrence), ZJTB.17 (Yu Bu san, one occurrence), ZJTB.18 (Yu Bu san, one occurrence), and ZJTB.30 (Yu Bu san bu, one occurrence). For additional perspectives on the Pace of Yu, see pp. 330–32 in chap. 8.

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

The ZJTB.13 dental decay recipe is more elaborate than the others.155 The person is told to begin the ritual by looking at a chariot—the word ju 車 (*ka) for the assembly of chassis and wheels puns with the ailment name—then perform the Pace of Yu and chant an incantation that invokes the chariot with the words fuju jufu 輔車車輔 (*baɁ-ka *ka-baɁ) “chassis and chariot, chariot and chassis.” The compound fuju is attested in a popular saying recorded in the Zuo Chronicle, where it denotes jaws and teeth.156 In ZJTB.13 the chariot and the teeth are magically exchangeable. For the next step in the recipe, the person must surreptitiously remove the linchpin from the chariot axle, because, in the language of the manuscript’s users, the word “linchpin” also puns with “dental decay,” and the ZJTB copyist wrote “linchpin” with yu 禹 in the graph to indicate the sound of the word.157 Finally, the person is told to keep the linchpin hidden at home in the roof. Moreover, dental decay will recur if anyone sees the linchpin. There is one last detail to explain: in ancient China, one denotation of yu 禹 was “bug,” and it was common knowledge that bugs caused dental decay, for which the treatment was to remove the bugs (in the graph qu 齲, the 禹 on the right side indicates both the sound of the word and the bug etiology). Bug removal in ZJTB.13 is accomplished by using the linchpin as a substitute. Yu the legendary culture hero, the chariot, the gesture mimicking Yu walking, the bugs that cause dental decay, and linchpins all play their part in this example of illness as a cultural construct. Attestation of the Pace of Yu in Han manuscripts between the second century bce and the first century ce includes eight occurrences in Mawangdui tomb 3 medical manuscripts, seven in magical rituals to treat ailments (lizard bite, warts, inguinal swelling, abscess, child sprite) and one in a travel-related ritual;158 one occurrence as a therapeutic exercise in the Zhangjiashan tomb 247 medical manuscript titled Yinshu 引書 (Pulling book), which states that the Pace of Yu “benefits the area of the thighs”;159 one occurrence on a slip with a magical ritual from the Xuanquan settlement site;160 and the occurrence in the 155  For discussion of this recipe (my interpretation of the incantation in ZJTB.13 differs slightly), see p. 329 in chap. 8. 156   Zuozhuan, 12, 22a (Xi 5), and commentary (which is reconfirmed by ZJTB.13). 157  For paleographic analysis of the use of 禹 as the phonetic element in writing the graph for “linchpin,” which has the orthography xia 舝 in transmitted texts, see Qiu Xigui, 1992, p. 12. 158  See Harper, 1998, p. 168. 159   Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian [247 hao mu], p. 298 (Yinshu, slip 101). 160   Dunhuang Xuanquan Han jian jingcui, p. 182 (slip no. II0214③:71).

131 travel ritual and incantation on Ejina slip no. 2002ESCSF1:2 (discussed above). We can expect the number of occurrences to increase as more manuscripts are published.161 The manuscript evidence of people performing the Pace of Yu over a period of roughly three centuries makes a prima facie case for its popularity. Yet although the connection between Yu’s years of walking across the world in the Chinese flood myth and the Pace of Yu seems obvious, the origin of the gesture and the explanation for its popularity by the second half of the third century bce remain elusive. In contrast to the manuscript evidence of everyday use, there is just one occurrence of the term “Yu Bu” and one indirect reference in pre-Han and Han transmitted texts, both in intellectual writings that connect Yu’s manner of walking to the flood myth. Neither source documents the popular practice of the Pace of Yu, but they provide suggestive testimony. According to a surviving fragment of the pre-Han text Master Shi (Shizi 尸子), Yu was afflicted with “withering on one side” (pianku 偏枯), no doubt akin to hemiparesis, because of his labor. He was unable to walk forward with one foot passing the other, which “people call the Pace of Yu” (ren yue Yu Bu 人曰禹步).162 The Han writer Yang Xiong 揚雄 (53 bce–18 ce) considered Yu one of several legendary figures whose image had been appropriated and misused: “The shaman’s pace aggrandizes Yu” (wubu duo Yu 巫步多禹).163 After the Han dynasty, Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐 (215–282) also connected Yu’s manner of walking to shamans (wu), observing that “down to the present, this is what shamans call the Pace of Yu” (zhijin wu cheng Yu Bu shiye 至今巫稱禹步是也). The first text to describe the method of performing the Pace of Yu is the Embracing Simplicity Master (Baopuzi 抱朴子) by Ge Hong 葛洪 (283–343), who describes it in relation to medieval Daoism.164 Modern explanations focus on religious themes and associate the original Pace of Yu with Yu as a cult figure and the conception of his affliction as the initiatory illness that shamans experienced. At some point, these ideas were enriched by astrological and cosmological systems that made the Pace of Yu the basis for the practice 161   The preliminary excavation report for four Han tombs at Laoguanshan 老官山, in Chengdu 成都, Sichuan, transcribes a wooden tablet from Laoguanshan tomb 1 with a magical ritual for determining the sex of a child that uses the Pace of Yu; see Kaogu 2014.7, p. 62 (tablet no. 206). 162   Shizi, pp. 17–18 (“Junzhi” 君治). 163   Fayan, p. 317 (“Chong Li” 重黎). 164  See Huangfu Mi’s statement in Diwang shiji, p. 14; and Ge Hong’s description of the method in Baopuzi, 17, pp. 302–3 (“Dengshe” 登涉).

132 of bugang 步罡 “pacing the mainstay” in Daoist ritual and meditation. As described in Embracing Simplicity Master, the three paces entailed three steps each for a total of nine steps performed as a ritualized limp: starting with the right foot in front of the left foot, the left foot stepped past the right foot, the right foot stepped in front of the left foot again, and the left foot was dragged even with the right foot, completing the first pace; the right foot led in the second pace; and the left foot led once again in the third pace. The same nine steps marked a path along the stars of the Northern Dipper.165 The manuscript evidence constitutes a problem for the notion of a transition from shamanism to Daoist religion by way of astrology and cosmology. Do daybooks and other manuscripts discovered to date reflect a different, popular form of the Pace of Yu—including the exercise for the thighs—while the social group of wu “shamans” continued to practice a more exclusive and spiritually authentic ritual gesture in its communications with the spirit world? Did people in general and shamans all use the name Yu Bu? Viewed from the perspective of medieval Daoism, how do we account for the astrological and cosmological elements of the Pace of Yu in ritual and meditation? In FMTA.10 and FMTB.48, facing the Northern Dipper came between performing the Pace of Yu and reciting the incantation in the sequence of actions, but the constellation had its own magical function in the travel ritual, and the Pace of Yu was not a walk along its stars.166 How can we even be certain that the “three paces of the Pace of Yu” in daybooks consisted of nine steps (associated with nine stars in the Dipper in Daoism), stepping forward twice and dragging the foot once in each pace? One modern commentary interprets the ancient testimony that Yu was unable to walk “with one foot passing the other” to mean that he hopped on both legs.167 Was the Pace of Yu in the manuscripts performed by hopping? These are unanswerable questions given the current state of our knowledge. Raising them serves to raise the larger question of how we study popular culture and to underscore the importance of judging the manuscript evidence on an equal footing with transmitted sources and taking all evidence into account when speculating on developments in religion. There are several possible lines 165  For a concise account of the medieval Daoist Pace of Yu, see Andersen, 2008. The description of the three paces is based on Baopuzi, 17, pp. 302–3 (“Dengshe”). 166  See pp. 119–22 in this chapter. 167  See Chen Qiyou’s 陳奇猷 commentary in Lüshi chunqiu, 20, p. 1403n14 (“Xinglun” 行論).

harper

of inquiry for the Pace of Yu. First, the Pace of Yu was one of a number of customs connected to Yu attested in daybooks, including sections on travel hemerology that name Yu in the section heading and marriage hemerology.168 Mawangdui tomb 3 medical manuscripts identify Yu with childbirth and sexual techniques.169 Evidence of Yu as a cult figure is found in transmitted sources that describe veneration of Yu among Warring States followers of Mozi, and Mohist self-mortification practices were modeled on Yu and the flood myth.170 The quasi-religious character of Mohist organization suggests how a social group of wu could have used Yu and the Pace of Yu. Yet, when considering particular religious groups and society at large, the uses of Yu cannot be treated as discrete and unconnected to the cultural whole. In view of the popular uses of Yu and the Pace of Yu described in manuscripts and the absence of evidence for shamanism, we should acknowledge the incompleteness of the picture while considering how daybooks contributed to the formation of popular cultural practices such as the Pace of Yu. Might not statements in the Master Shi and by Yang Xiong regarding the Pace of Yu signify acknowledgment by ancient intellectuals of an idea in contemporary popular culture, something circulating in daybooks and other manuscripts? Yang Xiong referred to it as the wubu “shaman’s pace.” Long before the first century, the label wu was ambiguous and was applied with disapprobation to unsanctioned magical or religious practices. Was Yang Xiong referring to the Pace of Yu as popular practice? Did he read the popular manuscripts, and did he see people perform the Pace of Yu in everyday life? I suspect so, just as I suspect that Yang Xiong knew the simple practices for counteracting demons described in SHDA.59 and saw people throw shoes, stones, and feces. Like other ritual acts and magic in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, the Pace of Yu was probably simple to perform, so simple that written explanation of the method was unnecessary. Moreover, the Pace of Yu was not the only magical item attributed to Yu. In the second Shuihudi daybook travel ritual, the Yu talisman (Yu fu 禹符) was used in combination with the Pace of Yu. Originally written in the bottom register of SHDB.30, slips 1023–1073, most of the text is missing due to damaged slips. After the initial reference to the Yu talisman on slip 1043, the word fu “talisman” recurs twice: once when the person is directed to throw it on the ground before 168   F MTA.7–8, 10; FMTB.4–5, 48; SHDA.13, 44, 55, 67; KJP.23–24. 169  See Harper, 1998, pp. 357–58, 367, 374–81, 404–6. 170   Zhuangzi, 8, pp. 289–90 (“Tianxia” 天下).

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

performing the Pace of Yu (slip 1063), and once at the end, just before the person gets in the chariot and departs (slip 1073).171 There are gaps in the text, but it is unlikely that the method of making the Yu talisman was described. The Yu talisman is mentioned nowhere else in excavated manuscripts and transmitted texts. Nevertheless, the single occurrence in SHDB.30 gives us a new perspective on the Pace of Yu as part of the stock of acts and materials attributed to Yu in Qin and Han popular culture. For now, involvement of the wu and shamanism in the early history of the Pace of Yu remains a plausible but undocumented speculation. Medieval Daoism incorporated many ideas and practices from the ancient core of hemerology, astrology, and correlative cosmology along with elements of popular, everyday religion. Conjectures about the Daoist Pace of Yu and “pacing the mainstay” lie outside the scope of this chapter. Yet the prominence of the Pace of Yu in Qin and Han daybooks, daybook-related manuscripts, and medical manuscripts indicates that the popular circulation of technical occult knowledge in these manuscripts should be included as one probable influence on Daoist religion. To be sure, knowledge of the Pace of Yu may have been recorded in ancient manuscripts that circulated in greater secrecy—not yet rediscovered in modern times—and that transmitted a more esoteric religious idea of the Pace of Yu into the medieval period. However, the success of Daoist religion in the medieval period grew out of its roots in the religious life of local communities, and daybooks give us that view of the Pace of Yu in everyday life. Orphan-Empty Hemerology Orphan-Empty hemerology is based on a simple variable of the ten stems and twelve branches of the sexagenary cycle when they are arranged in six decades beginning with the jiazi1 decade (n1–n10). Upon reaching the combination of the tenth stem guis10 with the tenth branch youb10 (guiyou10), the sequence of stems returns to jias1, while the branches xub11 and haib12 are unused; the second decade begins with jiaxu11 (n11–n20). The third through sixth decades are jiashen21 (n21–n30), jiawu31 (n31–n40), jiachen41 (n41–n50), and jiayin51 (n51–n60). In each decade, the two unused branches are designated Orphan branches (Guchen 孤辰) in the sequence of branches for that decade. In Orphan-Empty hemerology, the absence of the pair of Orphan branches in one of the jias1-based decades is balanced by the presence of two Empty branches (Xuwei 虛位), which are always the fifth and sixth positions in 171   Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 240.

133 the sequence and correlated with the absent Orphan branches in the missing eleventh and twelfth positions (table 3.1).172 Regarded in terms of spatial arrangement, the branches in the fifth and eleventh positions and the sixth and twelfth positions are diametrically opposed, and Orphan-Empty hemerology in daybooks and daybookrelated manuscripts utilizes directions in space as well as in time (table 3.2). In transmitted sources there are two first-century bce references to Orphan-Empty hemerology. The first is Chu Shaosun’s addendum to the chapter on turtle and milfoil divination in the Records of the Scribe. In speculating on imperfection and incompleteness as existing in all things—even divination was not a flawless method of knowing the unknown—Chu Shaosun named OrphanEmpty hemerology as proof of incompleteness in the stems and branches of the sexagenary cycle.173 He did not give details on how the hemerology worked. The second reference is in the title Wind Lord’s Orphan-Empty, one of the hemerological works classified in the “Five Agents” subdivision of the “Calculations and Arts” division in the Book of Han bibliographic treatise. This lost book has been given as an example of the contrast between the knowledge of specialists contained in manuscripts composed of many scrolls and the hemerological information that appears in daybooks. Again, we have no details on the hemerology, but the title is listed with multi-scroll works on hemerology and astrology in the second half of the “Five Agents” subdivision devoted to specific systems.174 Orphan-Empty hemerology as specialist knowledge is again evident in the Book of Later Han collective account of practitioners of the occult arts (fangshu 方術), compiled by Fan Ye 范曄 (398–446) based on older sources. The introduction to the account lists the ten traditional arts, including Orphan-Empty hemerology.175 Two subsequent passages refer to the use of Orphan-Empty hemerology in successful military strategies by specialists in the 160s: Zhao Yan 趙彥 in 160 and Fan Zhizhang 樊志張 in 165.176 Zhao Yan’s strategy included attacking a rebel force by “proceeding from the Orphan branch to strike the 172  The earliest complete list of Orphan-Empty branches in transmitted sources is in Pei Yin’s 裴駰 (fifth century) commentary on the occurrence of the term in Shiji, 128, p. 3237n5, which is the basis for table 3.1. 173   Shiji, 128, p. 3237. Other examples of imperfection and incompleteness are flaws in gold and jade as well as the variability of events in nature and among humankind. 174  See p. 108 in this chapter; Han shu, 30, pp. 1768–69. 175   Hou Han shu, 82A, p. 2703. 176  Ibid., 82B, pp. 2732–33.

134 Table 3.1

harper Orphan branches and corresponding Empty branches in Orphan-Empty hemerology according to Pei Yin’s commentary on Shiji

The six decades

n1–n10 n11–n20 n21–n30 n31–n40 n41–n50 n51–n60

jiazi1–guiyou10 jiaxu11–guiwei20 jiashen21–guisi30 jiawu31–guimao40 jiachen41–guichou50 jiayin51–guihai60

Orphan branches

Empty branches

xu b11, hai b12 shen b9, you b10 wu b7, wei b8 chen b5, si b6 yin b3, maob4 zi b1, chou b2

chen b5, si b6 yin b3, mao b4 zi b1, chou b2 xu b11, hai b12 shen b9, you b10 wu b7, wei b8

Source: Shiji, 128, p. 3237n5.

Table 3.2 Standard directions for the Orphan and Empty branches The six decades

Orphan branches (n)

jiazi1, n1–n10

hai b12 xu b11 you b10 shen b9 wei b8 wu b7 si b6 chen b5 maob4 yin b3 chou b2 zi b1

jiaxu11 , n11–n20 jiashen21, n21–n30 jiawu31, n31–n40 jiachen41, n41–n50 jiayin51, n51–n60

Empty position” (cong Gu ji Xu 從孤擊虛); when the Han army was surrounded by a Qiang 羌 barbarian force, Fan Zhizhang proposed to the commanding general that he “take advantage of the Empty position as a point of exit” (cheng Xu yinchu 乘虛引出). Transmitted sources all indicate that specialists practiced Orphan-Empty hemerology in Han times. There is no indication that many people used it for everyday purposes. Daybooks correct this misimpression. The second Fangmatan daybook and the Kongjiapo daybook both have sections dedicated to Orphan-Empty hemerology: in FMTB.31, the application of the hemerology is death; in KJP.16, marriage. In addition, eight slips of the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany record Orphan-Empty hemerology for use in locating lost horses and cattle (ZJTB.20); and one fragmentary slip of the other Zhoujiatai manuscript refers

Empty branches (n ± 6)

N-NW W-NW W W-SW S-SW S S-SE E-SE E E-NE N-NE N

si b6 chen b5 maob4 yin b3 chou b2 zi b1 hai b12 xu b11 you b10 shen b9 wei b8 wu b7

S-SE E-SE E E-NE N-NE N N-NW W-NW W W-SW S-SW S

to Orphan-Empty hemerology in relation to theft, but the rest of the section is missing (ZJTA.11). The presentation of information varies among FMTB.31, KJP.16, and ZJTB.20. All three sections list the six jias1-based decades sequentially. For each decade, FMTB.31 and KJP.16 first identify the Empty positions and then the Orphan branches. ZJTB.20 reverses the order, with Orphan branches first. FMTB.31 and KJP.16 also assign directions to the Orphan and the Empty positions. The directions for the jiayin51 decade in FMTB.31 are missing because graphs written on the slip are illegible.177 The text of KJP.16 is complete (see fig. 3.15 and table 3.3).

177   F MTB.31, slip 1202.

135

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Table 3.3 The Empty and Orphan directions in KJP.16 compared to the two sets of directions in ZJTB.20

The six decades

Figure 3.15

Spatial arrangement of Orphan-Empty branches based on KJP.16.

The different format of ZJTB.20 leads to the issue of the difference between the hemerological systems as presented in the three manuscripts. Two sets of directions are included in ZJTB.20, but they are not part of the formula for the pairs of Orphan and Empty branches arranged by decade as in FMTB.31 and KJP.16. The first set (slips 355–360) is in the sequence of phrases that conclude the six entries for the decades, after the formula identifying Orphan and Empty branches. The second set (slips 360–362) occurs at the end of ZJTB.20 in the explanation of the method for finding horses and cattle using Orphan-Empty hemerology. According to the explanation, to find the animals in the jiazi1 decade, the user must search in the northwest; in the jiaxu11 decade, the west; in the jiashen21 decade, the south; in the jiawu31 decade, the southeast; in the jiachen41 decade, the east; in the jiayin51 decade, the north. These directions correspond to the Orphan directions as given in KJP.16. Presumably many users of ZJTB.20 knew this information without being told explicitly. The first set of directions is problematic because only two of the directions correspond to the Empty directions as given in KJP.16; the other four are different (see table 3.3). How did the original users of ZJTB.20 understand the relationship between the two sets of directions? The following example presents the problem using the jiazi1 decade in ZJTB.20. First, the Orphan-Empty formula followed by the direction: 甲子旬戌亥為孤辰巳為虛道東南入

jiazi1, n1–n10 jiaxu11, n11–n20 jiashen21, n21–n30 jiawu31, n31–n40 jiachen41, n41–n50 jiayin51, n51–n60

KJP.16 Empty direction

Orphan direction

ZJTB.20 “enters “search in” from” (slips (slips 355–360) 361–362)

SE

NW

SE

NW

E

W

SW

W

N

S

S

S

NW

SE

NW

SE

W

E

S

E

S

N

N

N

Jiazi1 decade: xub11 and haib12 are Orphan; chenb5 and sib6 are Empty. Enters from southeast.178 Note that the direction follows immediately after the word “Empty,” but syntactically the phrase is separate from the preceding formula. The meaning of “enters from southeast” is connected to the matching phrase for the jiazi1 decade in the explanation at the end of ZJTB.20: 甲子亡馬牛求西北方

On jiazi1 for lost horses and cattle, search in the northwest direction.179 As it happens, in KJP.16, northwest is the Orphan direction in the jiazi1 decade and southeast is the Empty direction. The directions for the fourth decade in ZJTB.20 (jiawu31) also match the KJP.16 directions of Orphan (southeast) and Empty (northwest), which are the inverse of the first decade (jiazi1). However, the directions given in the final phrases of the second, third, fifth, and

178   Z JTB.20, slip 355; Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu, p. 133. Dao 道 “from” is replaced by cong 從 “from” in the text for the other five decades on slips 356–360. 179   Z JTB.20, slip 361; Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu, p. 133.

136 sixth decades in ZJTB.20 do not match the KJP.16 Empty directions (see table 3.3). Note especially the repetition of the same direction in ZJTB.20 for the third and sixth decades, jiashen21 (south) and jiayin51 (north). For the second decade (jiaxu11), KJP.16 pairs Orphan-west with Emptyeast, but ZJTB.20 has west and southwest (neither southwest nor northeast occurs as a possible Orphan or Empty direction in KJP.16). For the fifth decade (jiachen41), KJP.16 pairs Orphan-east with Empty-west, but ZJTB.20 has east and south. As written in ZJTB.20, the Orphan-Empty method does not maintain the expected opposition between directions in Orphan-Empty hemerology as specified in KJP.16 and FMTB.31. For the modern reader, there is the further problem of not knowing how the hemerological method was applied to everyday life. In the jiazi1 decade, what entity “enters from southeast”—might it be thieves?—with the result that the lost animals will be found in the northwest? And how is it that in the third decade (jiashen21), south is the direction for both “entering” and “searching”? We might think that the ZJTB.20 text is incorrect. Yet the variation of the pattern linking the first (jiazi1) and fourth (jiawu31) decades (northwest-southeast axis), the third (jiashen21) and sixth (jiayin51) decades (south-north axis), and the second (jiaxu11) and fifth (jiachen41) decades (west-east axis) seems deliberate, and some people no doubt used the method as written in ZJTB.20. I am reminded of the popular misinformation decried by Wang Jing when he made his own correct version of the text for practical, everyday use by collating and editing occult manuscripts.180 We, however, lack sufficient evidence for judging, and even were more evidence to be discovered, I would still advise applying the concepts of manuscript matrix and manuscript variance to Orphan-Empty hemerology in FMTB.31, KJP.16, and ZJTB.20. As noted, the objective in manuscript culture studies is not to identify textual error and establish the correct text but rather to consider how pieces of written text and the information they contained were copied in many manuscripts, and how those manuscripts collectively influenced the ideas and activities of the people who used them. Hemerology and Cultural Memory The last example focuses briefly on an aspect of hemerology in daybooks that is examined in detail in chapter 5: days for which the hemerological significance is their association with anniversaries of spirits and cultural figures

180  See p. 95 in this chapter.

harper

or events in myth and legend.181 The relevant manuscript evidence is presented in chapter 5, including the occurrence in the Kongjiapo daybook of days that are associated with named spirits and cultural figures in the parallel passage in the first Shuihudi daybook; the association was eliminated in the Kongjiapo manuscript. As Yan Changgui observes, there was a gradual shift in hemerology toward correlative systems based on five-agents and yinyang ideas, and the custom of remembering the past through hemerology weakened. In the Kongjiapo daybook, two sections still attest to hemerology and cultural memory. KJP.22 identifies four days in the sexagenary cycle when travel in one of the four directions is prohibited because the days are associated with the Queen Mother of the West 西王 母 (dingyou34, west), Gun 鮌 (renxu59, north), Yu (bingxu23, south), and Nüwa 女媧 and Son of Heaven 天子 (gengs7, east). In KJP.32, slip 173 is broken and text is missing in front of the occurrence of “Oxherd day” in a list of days prohibited for marriage; slip 183 identifies the twentieth day of each month as Chiyou’s death anniversary, prohibited for conducting funerals and assembling soldiers. The other occurrences are from the Jiudian daybook and the first Shuihudi daybook. JD.4 prohibits activities on the five maob4 and five haib12 days because of events involving Di 帝 (probably Shun 舜) and Yu. SHDA.9 prohibits shaman activities on the five choub2 days because they mark the anniversary of Di’s killing of Shaman Xian 巫咸. SHDA.50 identifies two days in the sexagenary cycle prohibited for marriage because they are days when Oxherd obtained Weaver Maid. SHDA.55 includes the same information about Oxherd and Weaver Maid, adding more marriage prohibitions for the days when Yu obtained the Woman of Tu Mountain 梌山之女 and when Heaven caused the high mountain to collapse (the named spirits and cultural figures do not occur in the parallel section in KJP.32, which refers only to the days). SHDA.83 gives the death anniversaries of Rain General (Yushi 雨師) and three agricultural spirits. The occurrences are few in number and are not a prominent feature of the daybooks in which they appear. They are, however, indicative of the involvement of manuscript culture in popular culture and of the shifting forms of knowledge shared across social groups. Spirits, cultural figures, and their significant days did not have to be written down to be remembered, but by the time of the Jiudian daybook, this cultural knowledge was circulating in a new mode and was combined with other written information that people expected to find in daybooks. We must treat daybooks not only as hemerological 181  See pp. 231–43 in chap. 5.

Daybooks In The Context Of Manuscript Culture

literature, but also as both an expression of shared culture and an object that influenced people’s responses to their culture. Conclusion Daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts represent one portion of Warring States, Qin, and Han hemerological literature, which itself was one portion of the technical occult and scientific literature that contributed to total manuscript output during the formative centuries of Chinese manuscript culture. Since the 1950s, archaeology and the serendipitous discovery of whole manuscripts among the burial goods in tombs have placed manuscript culture studies for early China on a new footing. Moreover, daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts have been found with a frequency that facilitates research on manuscript culture by providing multiple examples of closely related texts copied by different hands at different places over a period of several centuries. This chapter addresses some of the issues raised by the sizable and still growing body of evidence. We can expect daybooks and daybookrelated manuscripts to continue to be of importance for the field of manuscript culture studies along with several other well-represented groups of ancient Chinese manuscripts, including intellectual and historical writings, works on medicine, and legal and administrative texts. In regard to manuscript production, ancient literacy, and the social status of manuscript users, study of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts widens our view of who participated in manuscript culture and changes our understanding of the people involved, both elite and nonelite.

137 For popular culture studies, the daybooks and daybookrelated manuscripts are the type of evidence that society normally discards. They were produced in response to user demand at a time when manuscripts had become the material outlet for written information across social groups. The manuscripts were valued everyday realia, and as we read them today, we can recognize their function in people’s lives at home and in the community. Daybooks no doubt shared hemerological content with the multiscroll books of specialists produced in fine copies for the Han court, the titles of which are recorded in the Book of Han bibliographic treatise. However, when a daybook manuscript became damaged and unusable, it was simply replaced by a comparable, locally produced substitute that suited the user’s needs until it, too, was replaced. The brief and variable sections on Orphan-Empty hemerology in daybooks indicate the ephemeral quality of daybooks as contrasted with a work such as the twenty-scroll Wind Lord’s Orphan-Empty. It bears repeating that hemerology in daybooks was not different in kind from hemerology in more specialized works—Mawangdui manuscripts testify to the similarity—and ideas that informed correlative cosmology were fundamental for daybook hemerology. We must treat the “popular” as grounded in shared ideas and cultural dispositions in Warring States, Qin, and Han society. For ideas to find broad acceptance, influence action, and shape people’s worldview, cultural and intellectual interaction was required in society at large. Daybooks played a role in this process.

CHAPTER 4

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks: Ideas and Practices Marc Kalinowski The first studies of daybooks and their contents coincided with publication of the Shuihudi 睡虎地 tomb 11 manuscripts at the beginning of the 1980s. By now there have been hundreds of articles and monographs, not to mention myriad research papers and notes posted online at Chinese websites devoted to the excavated ancient Chinese manuscripts as well as unpublished papers.1 Anyone seeking to assess the state of the field in an area that has been little explored outside China and Japan not only faces a tidal wave of specialized research already available but also must be prepared to keep abreast of continual changes. These include new discoveries of daybooks and related manuscripts with initial details to be obtained from brief reports in archaeological journals; publication of previously unpublished daybooks; improvements in publication standards, including better reproductions of the manuscripts and revised text transcriptions; and the deepening of knowledge arising from the reading and interpretation of the manuscripts. Rather than presenting an exhaustive discussion of the state of the field in daybook studies, this chapter introduces the essential core of the daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts: hemerologies and predictions. I look at the manuscripts from an internal perspective, centered on the texts themselves as invaluable evidence of a popular text type in the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods and on the place of daybooks in collective representations of everyday life in those times.2 In general, hemerological and predictive sections of daybooks encompass two interlinked elements: first, the temporal and spatial information that serves as the basis for indicating favorable or unfavorable times and locations 1  Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu, 1981, is the excavation report for Shuihudi tomb 11 and includes the first photographs with transcriptions of the two Shuihudi daybooks. As of this writing, the main websites for bamboo and silk manuscripts are at Wuhan University (www.bsm.org.cn) and Fudan University, Shanghai (www.gwz .fudan.edu.cn). On the bsm.org website, Zhang Guoyan (2017) has compiled a comprehensive bibliography of Chinese publications related to daybooks. 2  For definition of the daybook text type, see pp. 65–66 in chap. 2. For a recent English-language overview of Qin and Han hemerological ideas and practices as documented by excavated and transmitted texts, see Liu Tseng-kuei, 2009.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004349315_006

for engaging in an action (the input) and, second, the ensemble of everyday activities and factual details subject to the prescriptions of the calendar (the output). While linked, the issues raised by each component of hemerological discourse concern distinct fields of investigation. Whereas the input data pose problems of technical knowledge connected to the very nature of hemerology in China and its relation to the calendar and astrology, as well as to correlative cosmology, the output data involve us in the effort to reconstruct the cultural history of the society at the time the manuscripts were produced by using the random evidence available. The wealth and unprecedented nature of the information contained in daybooks—whether output or input—are such that I find it practical, even inevitable, to address them separately. The first part of this chapter examines the everyday activities and factual details (the output) in order to situate daybooks as a text type in the social and cultural context of their production and reception. The second part addresses the technical aspects of the daybooks, my goal being to survey the techniques used by hemerologists and diviners to construct their systems and to detail ideas about the calendar and cosmology on which they depended.

Daily Activities and Life Expectations in the Daybooks

The sections in daybooks that provide factual details related to daily life may be divided into three groups. First, there are general hemerologies in which the prescriptions and prohibitions generated by the input system concern multiple activities that lack an obvious link from one to another. The section heading, if one is given, is usually the name of the input system. In daybooks, these sections are at the beginning of the manuscript. This is confirmed by the first Shuihudi daybook (SHDA), in which the daybook text fills the front and back surfaces of the bound slips so that the correct sequence of slips and arrangement of sections in a reconstruction is obvious, and, to a lesser extent, by the reconstructed Kongjiapo 孔家坡 tomb 8 daybook (KJP), for which the evidence of its original arrangement is very good. Although the reconstructed sequence of slips and sections for other daybooks is less certain, it tends

139

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks

to reinforce the evidence of SHDA and KJP. Next are the topical hemerologies dealing with a single activity, which is identified in the section heading (if given). Finally, rather than prescribe favorable or unfavorable times for undertaking an action, some sections predict what will happen when a certain event occurs on a specific day. The predictive sections provide information about the life expectations of the daybook producers and users. General Hemerologies The number of general hemerologies varies among daybooks but, on average, general hemerologies account for between twenty and thirty percent of all sections.3 When the hemerologies that mention four or fewer different activities are left aside, the number of sections grouped under general hemerologies is reduced to just a few, primarily those dealing with the Jianchu 建除 (EstablishRemove) and Congchen 叢辰 (Collected Branches) systems, which occur at the beginning of SHDA, SHDB, and KJP.4 In the six published daybooks that represent the daybook text type, a total of twelve Jianchu and Congchen sections are distributed as follows (by tomb site): Jiudian 九店 tomb 56 (ca. 300 bce): Jianchu sections, JD.1 and JD.2. Fangmatan 放馬灘 tomb 1 (after 238 bce): Jianchu sections, FMTA.1 and FMTB.1. Shuihudi 睡虎地 tomb 11 (217 bce): Chu 楚 Jianchu sections, SHDA.1 and SHDB.1; Qin 秦 Jianchu section, SHDA.3; Jianchu section, SHDB.3; Congchen sections, SHDA.7 and SHDB.12. Kongjiapo 孔家坡 tomb 8 (142 bce): Jianchu section, KJP.1; Congchen section, KJP.4. All the Jianchu and Congchen sections show the distribution of day qualifiers specific to each system for the days and months of the calendar year in tables, followed by lists of what should or should not be done on days associated with a specific day qualifier.5 The prescriptive language is extremely concise and can be reduced to three alternative pairs: favorable/unfavorable (li 利/bu li 不利), permitted/not permitted (ke 可/bu ke 不可), and auspicious/ inauspicious ( ji 吉/xiong 凶). The Jiudian daybook shows a clear preference for the favorable/unfavorable pair in contrast to the preference for permitted/not permitted in 3  See supplement 4.1 in this chapter. 4  Another important general hemerology often seen in the daybooks is based on the twenty-eight stellar lodges (SHDA.17, SHDB.24, KJP.5, ZJTA.4). On the Jianchu and Congchen systems, see appendix C. 5  For the meaning of the term “day qualifier” and the hemerological notion to which it refers, see pp. 171–72 in this chapter.

the Fangmatan daybooks. These preferences might reflect differences between daybooks and hemerology in the region of Chu (Jiudian) versus those in Qin (Fangmatan).6 In the Jiudian and Fangmatan daybooks, the lists of activities recommended or not recommended for the same day in the same general hemerology are not consistent enough to reveal the logic that may underlie the groupings. Here, for instance, are the prescriptions associated with Jian 建 (Establish), the first day qualifier of the Jianchu system: JD.1 凡建日大吉利以取妻祭祀築室立社稷帶劍冠

Jian (Establish) days: Greatly auspicious. Favorable for taking a wife, for sacrifices and cults, for building a house, for erecting altars to the gods of the soil and grain, and for wearing one’s sword and ceremonial cap.7 FMTA.1 建日良日殹可為嗇夫可以祝祠可以畜六生不可入黔首

Jian (Establish) days: A good day. Permitted to be an overseer; permitted for prayers and cults; permitted for breeding domestic animals. Not permitted for bringing common people into the home.8 In both daybooks, Establish days are auspicious days and favorable for the observance of cults, yet the other prescriptions concern different activities. At the same time, a survey of the twelve Jianchu and Congchen sections of the six published daybooks provides a remarkably detailed view of the range of activities and events that were subject to hemerological prescriptions. In the classification presented in supplement 4.2, there are more than thirty categories of topics and activities, with cults and sacrifices the most frequent (“Cults, rituals, magic,” sixtyseven occurrences), followed by marriage (fifty occurrences). Matters related to the household economy (“Bringing in and out,” forty-eight occurrences) and construction (“Housing, construction, demolition, earthworks,” twenty-eight occurrences) form a combined seventy-six 6  The two Jianchu sections in the Jiudian daybook (JD.1, JD.2) use the form “favorable/unfavorable” twenty-five times and the form “permitted/not permitted” only once, whereas the two relevant sections in the Fangmatan daybooks (FMTA.1, FMTB.1) have thirtynine “permitted/not permitted” and four “favorable/unfavorable.” The Han daybook from Kongjiapo (KJP.1, KJP.4), whose content is closely related to the Fangmatan manuscripts, also shows a clear preference for the pair “permitted/not permitted” (thirty-one occurrences) rather than “favorable/unfavorable” (eight occurrences). 7  J D.1, slip 132; Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, p. 305. 8  F MTA.1, slip 13; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 99.

140 occurrences. Travel is well represented (“Traveling, going in and out, staying home,” thirty-nine occurrences). The frequency count decreases to single occurrences for categories such as “Forestry” and “Learning to write.” Quantitative treatment of the data is problematic. First, given their often poor state of preservation—missing or broken slips, illegible text—the manuscripts themselves do not provide a sufficiently reliable basis for statistical analysis without allowing for a considerable margin of error in the results. Second, graph variation permits divergent interpretations of the meaning of a word. This is the case with the expression 飲樂, which can be read either as yin yue “drinking and playing music” and understood as an abbreviation of yin shi ge yue 飲食歌樂 “drinking and eating, singing and playing music” or as yin yao 飲藥 “ingesting a medicine” by slightly modifying the writing of the second graph.9 At times a word can be understood in different ways, as with chu 除 in chu buxiang 除不祥, which evidently refers to the ritual practice of “eliminating/exorcising bad influences,” whereas chu di 除地 might mean simply “cleaning/purifying a place.” Yet another type of difficulty arises when we try to group expressions denoting specific activities into larger domains. In general, these groupings are clear enough, and the title given to the category in supplement 4.2 reflects fairly well the activities included. Under “Marriage,” for instance, the two main expressions “taking a wife” (qu qi/fu 娶妻/婦) and “marrying off a daughter/child” ( jia nü/zi 嫁女/子) refer unambiguously to matrimonial alliances. The same holds for the “Hunting, fishing” category, which contains about ten expressions equally related to the activity of hunting or fishing. However, it is not as easy to give titles to some categories that include numerous related yet different activities. For instance, the activities in “Housing, construction, demolition, earthworks” clearly belong to the same domain—constituting construction in general—yet the category title represents only a portion of the activities, which include constructing (zhu 築) a house, a granary, an animal pen, or a stable; demolishing (huai 壞) a wall or an enclosure; piercing/ making a hole (chuan 穿) for a window or door opening; digging (zao 鑿) a well or an irrigation channel; covering (gai 蓋) with a roof; and so forth. Considering these difficulties, which require in-depth study based on the entirety of the available daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, this presentation is limited to a brief overview of the categories of activities that occur 9  The expression yin yao occurs only once in KJP.4, slip 38; the three other occurrences are all written yin yue, including in KJP.1, slip 14. See the category “Illness” in supplement 4.2.

kalinowski

in the prescriptions of the twelve Jianchu and Congchen sections of the six published daybooks. For convenience, the data from supplement 4.2 are arranged in five divisions representing major clusters of activities, with titles ranging from “Personal Life” to “Culture and Society,” and for each category, I note the number of sections in which the activities occur as well as the total number of occurrences (see table 4.1). Under “Personal Life,” the most occurrences concern the favorable days for making or wearing garments. It is evident that the Jianchu and Congchen sections barely address personal life, which is more developed in the hemerologies of other sections, in particular sections that also treat of intimate life (including personal hygiene, sexual life, and dreams).10 The “Life Stages” division brings together the main events that mark a life from birth to death. Most often, these events are subject to rather detailed predictions, as when birth or illness on such and such day is judged favorable or unfavorable in terms of its influence on the destiny of the newborn child or on the outcome of the illness. At the same time, there is a notable scarcity of hemerological prescriptions concerning burials, which seems surprising given the importance that people in those times attached to strict observance of the protocols of funerary rites.11 “Government-Related Life” contains elements that testify to the high degree to which daybooks were involved in the regimentation of public activities. Except in the Jiudian daybook, the central figure that emerges is the sefu 嗇夫 “overseer,” an official during the Qin and Han periods in charge of the local administration, mostly at the county (xian 縣) level, as has been reconfirmed by archaeology.12 Matters related to the cap, belt, sword and chariot—synecdoche for men who were government functionaries— may be said to indicate the prescribed and proscribed days for accomplishing an action in an official setting. Areas of activity connected to government include the political, such as to perform official duties (linguan 臨官), ask for an audience (qingye 請謁), plan (moushi 謀事), 10  See pp. 143–45 in this chapter. 11  The low number of prescriptions related to burials for Jianchu and Congchen is partly addressed by higher numbers in topical hemerologies, such as KJP.5, 32, 34, 35, 76 and SHDA.11, 38, 55, 86. On burial regulations in Shuihudi legal and administrative manuscripts, see Gao Chongwen, 2011. For a study of burial observances in transmitted texts in relation to the daybooks, see Liu Tseng-kuei, 2009, pp. 918–21; and Liu Zenggui, 2013. 12  On sefu in the Qin and Han periods, see Hulsewé, 1985, p. 36n5. Bi 辟, the man buried in Kongjiapo tomb 8, held the title ku sefu 庫嗇夫 “armory overseer”; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 197.

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks Table 4.1

Types of activities and the number of sections (sec.) and occurrences (occ.) in the Jianchu and Congchen sections of the six published daybooks “Personal Life,” 13 occurrences

clothing family, kinship learning to write

6 sec., 9 occ. 2 sec., 3 occ. 1 sec., 1 occ. “Life Stages,” 103 occurrences

marriage illness birth funerals death

11 sec., 50 occ. 7 sec., 14 occ. 6 sec., 29 occ. 4 sec., 9 occ. 1 sec., 1 occ. “Government-Related Life,” 117 occurrences

politics, dealing with people cap, belt, sword, chariot officials military affairs, conflicts legal matters, disputes

10 sec., 22 occ. 9 sec., 23 occ. 8 sec., 26 occ. 8 sec., 23 occ. 8 sec., 23 occ.

“Domestic Life,” 147 occurrences

bringing in and out (people, animals, goods) housing, construction, demolition, earthworks water management hunting, fishing domestic animals storing meteorology purifying, disposals forestry killing (animals)

12 sec., 48 occ. 12 sec., 28 occ. 8 sec., 10 occ. 7 sec., 11 occ. 6 sec., 6 occ. 4 sec., 4 occ. 3 sec., 37 occ. 2 sec., 3 occ. 1 sec., 1 occ. 1 sec., 1 occ.

“Culture and Society,” 229 occurrences

cults, rituals, magic general activities traveling, going in and out, staying home lost items, runaway persons seeing people food, drink, music, singing robbers, bandits speech, oral agreements markets, trade moving

12 sec., 67 occ. 11 sec., 44 occ. 11 sec., 39 occ. 9 sec., 25 occ. 7 sec., 17 occ. 4 sec., 20 occ. 4 sec., 7 occ. 4 sec., 5 occ. 2 sec., 2 occ. 1 sec., 2 occ.

141 and gather people ( juzhong 聚眾); the judicial, such as to incriminate (ze 責), arrest (puren 撲人), and incarcerate (xi 繫); and the military, such as to go on a campaign (chuzheng 出徵), wage war (gongfa 攻伐), and surround a city (weicheng 圍城). The fourth and fifth divisions represent more than half the total number of occurrences. They are also the richest in information about the daily life and social environment of the full range of people for whom the daybooks were intended. The “Domestic Life” division includes activities directly related to the house compound. Foremost are its construction and maintenance. As with the domus of the Roman period, buildings reserved for human habitation adjoined the animal pens and stable, pigsty and attached latrine, well, and family altars and were surrounded by the outer enclosure wall, beyond which lay cultivated fields delimited by low walls and irrigation channels. Equally prominent are prescriptions regulating the circulation of people and goods in and out of the house compound. Whether the incoming (ru 入) and outgoing (chu 出) were related to people in general (ren 人, qianshou 黔首), temporary residents (yuren 寓人, jiren 寄人), servants and slaves (chen qie 臣妾, nu bi 奴婢), animals (chusheng 畜牲), or grains (hesu 禾粟) and goods (cai 材, huo 貨), the residence was the center of a domestic economy that was strictly regulated by calendrical prescriptions.13 Activities in the “Bringing in and out” category are clearly predominant in the Fangmatan daybooks (thirteen occurrences) and Kongjiapo daybook (ten occurrences), compared to the Jiudian daybook (six occurrences). Other categories in this division represent activities related to rural life: harvests, animal breeding, forest and water management, and hunting and fishing. Curiously, activities associated with work in the fields are totally absent in the Jianchu and Congchen sections, although they do occur in the topical hemerologies. The activities in the “Culture and Society” division are more disparate. Cultic activities predominate and are generally introduced by verbs meaning to sacrifice ( ji 祭), worship (si 祀, ci 祠), invoke (zhu 祝), pray (dao 禱), exorcise ( jie 解), and eliminate (shui 說, chu 除), occurring either singly or in compound form. With the exception of the domestic spirits of the gate and the road, the recipients of sacrifices are rarely mentioned.14 Based on the 13  The expression chu ru 出入 is common in legal and administrative excavated manuscripts and documents when referring to registration by local officials of what was received (ru) and what was sent out (chu). On temporary residents, see He Runkun, 1991. 14  On the recipients of prayers and offerings in the daybooks, see p. 143 in this chapter and pp. 225–26 in chap. 5.

142 occurrences of cultic activities in the Jianchu and Congchen sections, the importance of cultic activities is proportionately greater in the Jiudian daybook, with nineteen occurrences in the “Cults, rituals, magic” category— perhaps an indication of their importance in the Chu region around 300 bce—versus just six in the Qin daybooks from Fangmatan and eight in the Han daybook from Kongjiapo. Travel prescriptions follow cultic activities in prominence: to move, go far away, go to the mountains, return home, stay at home, enter a city, or enter a country. Who traveled (sometimes over great distances) and why are not specified.15 Robbery and the pursuit of thieves and fugitives are another major concern. Predictive sections of the daybooks show that thefts took place mainly in domestic contexts, that the thief often resided in the house, and that the suspects were servants or slaves. These areas of concern overlapped with legal affairs, as reflected in the “Legal matters, disputes” category, which treats mostly of arresting bandits.16 The “Seeing people” category is also associated with government activities, since the person one expects to see is typically a superior (junshang 君上) or the local official (li 吏).17 Finally, a notable feature is the near absence of prescriptions related to the marketplace and trade, in sharp contrast to the circulation of goods in and out of the house compound. This overview of daily life as reflected in the twelve Jianchu and Congchen sections of the six published daybooks that represent the daybook text type concludes with two observations on the nature of these texts. First, the laconic and stereotypical quality of the language used 15  Valuable information on travel can be drawn from the event calendars (zhiri 質日) found in Qin and Han tombs together with daybooks and other types of written documents. For a discussion of the problem of terminology and the exact meaning of zhiri 質日 (sometimes written shiri 視日), see Liu Lexian, 2011, pp. 355–58. These event calendars usually record travel undertaken by tomb occupants shortly before they died, which kept them away from their home county, sometimes for several months; see Loewe, 2004, pp. 53–59. Worth mentioning is the event calendar from Yinwan 尹灣 tomb 6, Jiangsu (burial dated 10 bce), since it was found together with two hemerologies on travel (YW.1–2) bearing codicological features similar to the calendar itself, suggesting that they might have originally belonged in the same bundle of slips. On the Yinwan event calendar and hemerologies, see Liu Lexian, 1999b; and Huang Yinong, 1999. 16  On the relationship between daybooks and legal documents, see Lin Jianming, 1987; and Kudō Motoo, 1990, 1993. 17  The section in the first Shuihudi daybook dealing with auspicious times for seeing someone has the heading “Li” 吏 (Local official), making it clear that the person to be seen, at least in this case, is an official (SHDA.52). On li in the Qin and Han periods, see Lin Jianming, 1991.

kalinowski

to describe the activities indicates a well-established textual tradition. Even if the arrangement and distribution of activities for the days differ among manuscripts, the terminology itself hardly changes. With few exceptions, the same grammatical usages and linguistic conventions that are attested for Chu around 300 bce in the Jiudian daybook occur nearly two centuries later in the Han daybook from Kongjiapo. Second, the range of activities found in the Jianchu and Congchen sections addresses nearly every aspect of daily life mentioned in the entire body of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. We could even say that given their placement at the very beginning of the Shuihudi and Kongjiapo daybooks, the Jianchu and Congchen sections in themselves would have satisfied the needs of someone seeking guidance in selecting the propitious moment for undertaking any activity. Topical Hemerologies The Han wooden tablet discovered in a tomb at Duling 杜陵, Shaanxi, in the tomb complex of Emperor Xuan and dated around 49 bce is a good example of a miscellany with hemerological prescriptions entirely devoted to one type of activity. All seven legible sections concern agriculture. The first section identifies good days for initiating work in the fields; the other six indicate the best days for grain plants, millet, beans, hemp, barley, and rice.18 When topical hemerologies occur in the larger context of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, they either take the form of a simple, short list of days, as on the Duling tablet, or are associated with a day qualifier. The following examples are from the Kongjiapo daybook: 井良日辛巳辛丑忌五卯五亥丁酉乙巳

Good days for wells: xinsi18 and xinchou38. Avoidances: the five maob4, the five haib12, dingyou34, and yisi42.19 禹窮日入月二日七日九日旬三旬八二旬二日二旬五日不 可行

Yu’s Qiong (Exhaust) days: On day two, seven, nine, thirteen, eighteen, twenty-two, and twenty-five of the month, it is not permitted to travel.20 It should be noted that the idea of topical hemerology is contextual and does not mean that there was just one type of activity immutably attached to a given sequence of days or input system. Guxu 孤虛 (Orphan-Empty) 18  For a reproduction with annotated transcription of the Duling tablet, see Zhang Mingqia and Wang Yulong, 2002. 19   K JP.51, slip 230; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 160. 20   K JP.24, slip 1511; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 146.

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hemerology provides a good example: in the Kongjiapo daybook, it applies to days for marriage; in the second Fangmatan daybook, to days when there are demonic influences because of a death; and in the two Zhoujiatai 周家臺 tomb 30 manuscripts, to days associated with thieves and stolen animals.21 Another example is that Xian 臽 (Pit) days are associated with prescriptions for marriage and travel in one Shuihudi daybook (SHDA) but Pit day hemerology is presented without any indication of its use in the other Shuihudi daybook (SHDB).22 Needless to say, topical hemerologies should be considered on a caseby-case basis and in their original textual environment. A look at SHDA, the reconstruction of which most reliably represents its original form, should provide a sense of the arrangement of topical sections within a single daybook. Based on the summary of SHDA in appendix B, forty-six of a total of eighty-seven sections are topical hemerologies. In addition, if we focus on the sections written in the upper part of the recto of the manuscript that have headings written in the upper margin (slips 1r–166r), we notice an obvious regularity in the ordering of sections (see table 4.2).23 First are the general hemerologies common to most daybooks, such as the Jianchu and Congchen systems. These are followed by a remarkably well-ordered sequence of topical hemerologies dealing with construction (slips 102r–126r), travel (slips 127r–139r), and more diffuse hemerologies for birth, marriage, and visits to the local official (slips 140r–166r).24 Although the Kongjiapo daybook also arranges topical hemerologies in clusters, mainly those for construction and travel, the neat composition of SHDA sets it apart from the other published daybooks.25 The topical hemerologies contain an abundance of concrete details that are not found in the general hemerologies. For instance, whereas the Jianchu and Congchen 21  See KJP.16, FMTB.31, ZJTA.11, ZJTB.20. See also pp. 133–36 in chap. 3. 22   S HDA.46, SHDB.28. For Pit days, see also FMTB.18. 23  Only SHDA.15 does not have a title written in the upper margin. Liu Lexian (1994, pp. 86–91) assigns the title “Qian xi” 遷徙 (Moving) to this section. For a list of topical hemerologies in SHDA, see supplement 4.1. 24  On the codicology and editorial characteristics of the first Shuihudi daybook, see Kalinowski, 2008. See also fig. 2.3 and pp. 60–63 in chap. 2. 25  For clusters related to construction and travel in the Kongjiapo daybook, see KJP.43–46 and KJP.57–62 (construction); and KJP.21–24, KJP.26 (traveling and moving). For details regarding the sections written on the lower part of the recto of SHDA and the layout of the verso of the manuscript, see Kalinowski, 2008, pp. 19–22.

Table 4.2 Section headings written in the upper margin of the recto of SHDA and the section content Slips (recto)

Heading in upper margin System/topic

1r–13r 14r–25r 26r–46r 47r–58r 59r–63r 64r–67r 68r–95r 96r–101r 102r–103r 104r–109r 110r 111r–113r 114r–126r 127r–130r 131r–133r 134r–139r 140r–149r 150r–154r 155r–156r2 1561 157r–166r

“Chu” 除 “Qin chu” 秦除 “Jichen” 稷辰 “Xuange” 玄戈 [“Qianxi” 遷徙] “Sui” 歲 “Xing” 星 “Di” 啻 “Shiji” 室忌 “Tuji” 土忌 “Zuoshi” 作事 “Huiqi” 毀棄 “Zhi shimen” 置室 門 “Xing” 行 “Guixing” 歸行 “Daoshi” 到室 “Shengzi” 生子 “Renzi” 人字 “Quqi” 取妻 “Zuo nüzi” 作女子 “Li” 吏

Jianchu hemerology (Chu) Jianchu hemerology (Qin) Congchen hemerology Xuange hemerology [moving] Sui system Stellar Lodge hemerology Di/Emperor hemerology construction construction construction construction construction traveling traveling traveling birth birth marriage dealing with women seeing the local official

sections almost never mention the recipients of a celebration in regard to cults and sacrifices, they are identified rather frequently in the topical sections.26 Similarly, prescriptions on travel in the topical sections include specifications such as the type of travel (by land, by water) or the distance covered by the traveler (from one hundred to one thousand li).27 Although the topical hemerologies are more detailed than the general hemerologies, there is little variation in the activities mentioned in either. Hence the fivefold division of activities presented above for the twelve Jianchu and Congchen sections of the six published daybooks may be extended to all sections of a

26  For instance, ci fumu 祠父母 “perform a ritual to (your deceased) father and mother” (SHDA.19) and ci Shixian 祠史先 “perform a ritual to First Scribe” (SHDA.76). For more details on instances of sacrifice and the recipients, see pp. 225–26 in chap. 5. 27  See FMTB.33 and KJP.22. For studies of ideas and practices related to travel in the daybooks, see Wang Zijin, 1993b, 2012; and Liu Zenggui, 2001.

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Table 4.3 Types of activity in hemerologies and the number of sections (sec.) for each category in SHDA “Personal Life”

clothing family, kinship bathing

7 sec. 5 sec. 1 sec. “Life Stages”

marriage birth funerals death illness

12 sec. 5 sec. 5 sec. 4 sec. 3 sec. “Government-Related Life”

“Culture and Society”

traveling, going in and out, staying home cults, rituals, magic general activities food, drink, music, singing markets, trade lost items, runaway persons seeing people robbers, bandits moving searching, contacting people speech, oral agreements divination

19 sec. 12 sec. 10 sec. 6 sec. 5 sec. 4 sec. 4 sec. 4 sec. 2 sec. 2 sec. 1 sec. 1 sec.

single daybook. SHDA serves as an example of the types of activity found in one daybook (see table 4.3).28

Notice first of all that the list of categories is little changed: nearly all categories found in the Jianchu and Congchen sections of the six daybooks have equivalents in SHDA considered as a whole daybook. The several new categories in table 4.3—such as “Divination” in “Culture and Society,” “Making beds” and “Rats seen at the doorway” in “Domestic Life,” and “Bathing” in “Personal Life”— are mostly single occurrences and rare even in the other daybooks.29 Counting the total number of occurrences of an activity in each section of SHDA would produce slightly different results. Nevertheless, taking the categories with more sections as one indication of the most representative activities in SHDA, the rate is proportional to the figures for the twelve Jianchu and Congchen sections in the six daybooks. As with the latter, “Housing, construction, demolition, earthworks” (twenty-one sections), “Traveling, going in and out, staying home” (nineteen sections), “Bringing in and out (people, animals, goods)” (sixteen sections), and “Cults, rituals, magic” (twelve sections) stand out from the other activities. This confirms the conventional and stereotypical character of daybooks, both on the lexical level and on the level of the realities of life affected by hemerology. Recognizing that this analysis would have to be extended to all daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, I wish to make two final observations based on the data presented thus far. The first concerns agriculture, which is

28  The number given for each category of activity covers the whole range of hemerological and predictive sections in the daybook, including the Jianchu and Congchen sections (SHDA.1, SHDA.3, SHDA.7).

29  Other activities specific to SHDA are placed in existing categories, such as fan fen 燔糞 “burning refuse” in the “Purifying, disposals” category of “Domestic Life,” and fuqi tongyi 夫妻同衣 “husband and wife sharing clothes” (that is, sexual intercourse) in the “Family, kinship” category of “Personal Life.”

politics, dealing with people cap, belt, sword, chariot officials military affairs, conflicts legal matters, disputes

5 sec. 4 sec. 7 sec. 4 sec. 4 sec.

“Domestic Life”

housing, construction, demolition, earthworks bringing in and out domestic animals killing (animals) farming, plants water management hunting, fishing forestry storing purifying, disposals meteorology making beds rats seen at the doorway

21 sec. 16 sec. 10 sec. 10 sec. 5 sec. 4 sec. 4 sec. 4 sec. 2 sec. 3 sec. 1 sec. 1 sec. 1 sec.

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missing in the Jianchu and Congchen sections yet is represented in the “Domestic Life” division by the category “Farming, plants” (five sections) in SHDA. It is the same for animal breeding, with categories for “Domestic animals” (ten sections) and for “Killing (animals)” (ten sections, listing days when slaughtering them is prohibited).30 Second, the “Government-Related Life” division presents the same profile as in the Jianchu and Congchen list, but four of the five categories are represented by half the number of sections with occurrences. The exception is “Officials,” with seven sections, compared to eight in the Jianchu and Congchen list. Further, the sections all belong to the general hemerologies.31 Such variations among manuscripts are not easily explained, yet they need to be considered in relation to the motivations of the compilers who were responsible for the diverse array of hemerologies that were included in daybooks. Predictions and Predictive Systems Studies of the contents of daybooks usually do not distinguish between hemerological and predictive sections. There are several reasons for this. First, both types of sections draw on input data of a calendrical nature; hence there is nothing about the way they note positions in time that differentiates them. Second, there is an implicit predictive dimension in any hemerological prescription. To say that a certain day is unfavorable for accomplishing an action necessarily entails that the person who does not respect the prohibition should expect his or her enterprise to be cut short. The very terms “auspicious” ( ji) and “inauspicious” (xiong), ubiquitous in hemerological sections, express a determination for the future that is lucky or unlucky, whether near or distant in time. Third, as is evident in the following examples from the Jianchu section of the Kongjiapo daybook, general hemerologies may provide detailed predictions for some day qualifiers and for others have only prohibitions, and it is unclear why the predictions are applied selectively to particular activities.

30  For activities related to planting and tilling, see SHDA.4–6, 84–85; for auspicious and inauspicious times for husbandry, see SHDA.3, 7, 17, 22–24, 25, 27–28, 30; for prohibitions related to the slaughtering of animals, see SHDA.7, 17, 22–23, 27, 31, 35, 46, 68, 80. 31  The “Politics, dealing with people” category is reduced from ten sections to five; “Cap, belt, sword, chariot” from nine to four; “Military affairs” and “Legal matters” from eight to four. In addition to the Jianchu and Congchen sections (SHDA.1, 3, 7), other general hemerologies that mention activities related to official life are SHDA.17, 38, 46.

執日不可以行以是不亡必執入縣官可以逐盜圍得

Zhi (Seize) days: Not permitted for traveling; if someone does travel, and if (he or she) does not get lost, (he or she) will be seized and taken to the county office. Permitted for chasing thieves; the thieves will be encircled and caught.32 破日可以伐木壞垣毀器它毋可有為

Po (Crush) days: Permitted for cutting down trees, demolishing enclosure walls, and dismantling tools. To do anything else is forbidden.33 In some instances—especially for proscribed activities—the function of prediction is not so much to predict what will happen if the prohibition is not observed as to reinforce the function of prediction to constrain people from acting, in the same way that the statement of a law in legal texts is followed by the specific punishment incurred by the offender. Indeed, not infrequently within a given hemerological section, the predictions inevitably become predictions of death.34 The following example from the Kongjiapo daybook concerns day prohibitions for cutting down trees: 甲子乙丑伐榆父死庚辛伐桑妻死丙寅丁卯己巳伐棗[1]母 死壬癸伐[2]少子死

On jiazi1 and yichou2, if an elm tree is cut down, the father will die; on gengs7 and xins8, if a mulberry tree is cut down, the wife will die; on bingyin3, dingmao4, and jisi6, if a jujube tree [1] is cut down, the mother will die; on rens9 and guis10, if a [2] is cut down, the youngest child will die.35 Quite often, however, the sections in daybooks are, properly speaking, predictive. There is a circumstantial aspect to the events when they occur—such as theft and illness—and the text reflects this circumstantial quality. In sections related to theft, for instance, the first step is 32   K JP.1, slip 18; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 129. 33   K JP.1, slip 19; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 129. 34  In SHDA.35, for instance, all the predictions attached to avoidance days for earthworks, building enclosure walls, planting trees, and killing pigs involve death (si 死, bi si 必死, bi huo si 必或死, bi you si zhe 必有死者). 35   K JP.2, slips 32–62; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 130–31. The lacunae are due to illegible graphs on the original slips. A related passage in SHDB.15, slip 67, lists avoidance days for the five trees based on the ten stems as follows: jias1-yis2, elm; bings3dings4, jujube; wus5-jis6, mulberry; gengs7-xins8, plum (li 李); rens9guis10, lacquer (qi 漆).

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to identify the person responsible for the theft based on the day it occurred, either a resident (zhongren 中人) or an outsider (wairen 外人), a man or a woman. The next step is to precisely describe the person’s physical appearance based on his or her resemblance to the animal associated with the branch of the day in question in the cycle of twelve branches and animals (zib1-rat, choub2-ox, yinb3tiger, and so forth). The final step is to recount how the person entered the house, how the person got out, where the person is hidden (pigsty, granary, close to the house, in the nearby hills), and whether the person can be caught and the stolen item retrieved.36 The following example is from FMTA: 辰虫殹以亡盜者從東方入有從出取者藏谿谷窌穴中外人 殹其為人長頸小首小目女子為巫男子為祝名

Chenb5 is the Reptile. If something is lost, the thief entered from the east and went out the same way; what was taken is hidden in a hole by the valley creek; the person is an outsider. As for appearance, the neck is long, the head and eyes small. If it is a woman, she is a shamaness; if a man, he is an invoker. The name …37 In sections on illness, the prediction also relies on determining the day when the illness began. Circumstantial signs related to the prediction include identification of foods that have been transmitters of the illness, the spirit-world cause (ancestors as well as various other spirits and demons), and the fortunate or fatal outcome.38 The following example from SHDB is based on the day-corre36  See SHDB.82, FMTA.4 (day input data based on the ten stems); and SHDA.61, FMTA.6, KJP.73 (day input data based on the twelve branches). On the twelve cyclical animals, see appendix C. For studies on robbers and robberies in the daybooks, see Long Jianyi, 2004; Yang Ying, 2005; and Song Yanping, 2008. 37   F MTA.6, slip 34; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 78. The entry is incomplete at the end, where the text should list the names used by the thief but the copyist did not write them. Chong (Reptile), the cyclical animal correlated with chenb5, is written with the variant graph 蟲 in KJP.73. The traditional association between chenb5 and Long 龍 (Dragon) is not seen in the daybooks, even though in FMTB.80, slip 218, Dragon is associated with Guxian 姑洗, the pitch standard of the third month of spring (correlated with chenb5). See “Pitch-standard divination” in appendix C. 38  See SHDA.18, SHDB.66, KJP.68 (day input data based on the ten stems); and KJP.70 (day input data based on the twelve branches). On illness and magical medicine in the daybooks, see Harper, 1990, 2001. See also the discussion of spirits that cause illness on pp. 220–25 in chap. 5.

lations of the ten stems and the correlation between the stems and the five agents: 丙丁有疾王父為眚得赤肉雄鷄酒庚辛病壬閒癸作煩及歲 皆在南方其人赤色死火日

When illness occurs on bings3 or dings4, the cursing spirit is deceased grandfather. It is obtained from red meat, rooster, or ale. On gengs7 or xins8 the illness becomes manifest, on rens9 there is respite, and on guis10 there is recovery. When Fever and Year are both in the south, if the person’s complexion is red, death will occur on a Fire day.39 The term “red meat” may refer to raw meat. However, the color fits the five-agents correspondences of Fire with bings3-dings4, south, and red. The progress of the illness also conforms to five-agents ideas: the illness becomes manifest on gengs7-xins8 (Metal) because Fire conquers Metal, but there is respite and recovery on rens9-guis10 (Water) because Water conquers Fire. Death is equally subject to prediction. Predictions in sections on death generally indicate the location affected by deleterious influences due to a death—the deceased’s family home (shi 室), a neighboring residence, the ward (li 里)—and the consequences, including death of men, women, and children; infants born with malformations; harm to domestic animals; and fires.40 KJP.63 lists death predictions for days based on the twelve branches. Here are the first three and last three branches on the list: 子死其咎在里中必見血丑死其咎在室必有死者三人寅死 其咎在西四室必有火起

Death on zib1: The curse will fall on the ward, and there must be manifestations of blood. Death on choub2: The curse will fall on the home, and three people must die. Death on yinb3: The curse will fall on the fourth house to the west, and there must be outbreaks of fire.41

39   S HDB.66, slip 183; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 246. Fan 煩 (Fever) and Sui 歲 (Year) are day qualifiers moving in the four quarters and the center in relation to the ten stems. For translation of a parallel passage in SHDA.18, see Harper, 2001, pp. 110–14. 40  See SHDB.76 (day input data based on the four seasons and the ten stems); and SHDA.62, KJP.63 (day input data based on the twelve branches). See also the discussion of the “Death CorpseGhost” diagram on pp. 190–91 in this chapter and pp. 216–20 in chap. 5. 41   K JP.63, slip 3001–3021; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 167.

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks 酉死不出三月必有小子死戌死其咎在室六畜亥死其咎在 室六畜

Death on youb10: Within three months, one of the young children must die. Death on xub11: The curse will fall on the home, affecting the six domestic animals. Death on haib12: The curse will fall on the home, affecting the six domestic animals.42 Some predictive sections address longer-range matters in addition to the immediate circumstances and consequences of events such as theft, illness, and death. Their purpose may be to predict a family’s destiny based on the orientation of the gate to their residence, the destiny of a newborn child, or the outcome of a marriage. These sections are rich in details on how the producers and users of daybooks imagined the outcomes of individual lives, and placing the data together with the classified data of the types of activity mentioned across the hemerological sections produces a more complete view of life expectations in those times. The sections with predictions about the destiny of newborn children are of particular interest. Three of the six published daybooks have a section with predictions based on the day of birth: SHDA.47 and SHDB.80 list predictions for every binom of the sexagenary cycle, and KJP.75 lists predictions for each of the twelve branches. In addition, several general hemerologies include predictions about newborn children. Only the two Fangmatan daybooks lack evidence.43 Here, I have grouped the predictions in six categories: “Personal tastes,” “Character traits,” “Constitution and health,” “Family,” “Prosperity,” and “Social fate” (see supplement 4.3). The predictions tend to presume a male child. However, boys and girls are considered separately in each category; hence the predictions are keyed to both sexes. Predictions in the “Character traits” category are mostly positive: the child will have a pleasant nature (ai 愛), be happy (le 樂), be skilled at handwork (gong qiao 工巧), and possess beauty (mei 美). Martial virtues—warrior instinct (wu 武, xi dou 喜鬬), strength (you li 有力), and courage (yong 勇)—prevail over goodness (liang 良) and wisdom (sheng 聖), which barely occur. Predictions in the “Personal tastes” category range from being dedicated to home and family (hao shijia 好室家) and enjoying the 42   K JP.63, slip 310–311; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 167. 43  There is no obvious reason for the absence of predictions on childbirth in the Fangmatan daybooks. Such predictions do occur in the Qin hemerological manuscript from Wangjiatai 王家臺 tomb 15 (Wang Mingqin, 2004, p. 45), and in the Hong Kong hemerological slips (HK.22). For a study of childbirth prediction in the daybooks, see Poo, 2005.

147 pleasures of life (hao le 好樂) to having a passion for conversation (hao yanyu 好言語), women (hao nüzi 好女子), and hunting (hao tianlie 好田獵). Pathological fondness for alcohol (shi jiu er ji 嗜酒而疾) represents a rare negative prediction. By contrast, predictions in the “Constitution and health” category are far from auspicious. The child may be stillborn (zi bu chan 子不產), die prematurely (bu shou 不壽, wu zhong 無終), have many illnesses (duo bing 多病), be incapacitated (long 癃), be malformed (bu zheng 不正), or suffer from madness (kuang 狂). Predictions in the “Family” category tend to be similarly negative, including being orphaned in early childhood (shao gu 少孤), not having younger siblings (wu di 無弟) or having younger siblings who inevitably die, and, for a girl, being several times a widow (fu gua 復寡). Predictions for the “Prosperity” category conform to what could be expected. The child may live in poverty (pin 貧), be born into prosperity ( fu 富, gu 穀), or come into wealth later in life (hou fu 後富). Another possibility is being neither rich nor poor (pin fu ban 貧富半). The “Social fate” category is richly documented and diverse. Some unfortunate children may be imprisoned (chang xi qiu 嘗繫囚), suffer exile (qu qi bang 去其邦), or become robbers (dao 盜); others may become successful farmers (shan tian 善田). A preponderance of predictions promises a certain reputation for the child, whether locally (wei yi jie 為邑傑) or throughout the land (wen bang 聞邦), and may include specific signs of status, such as being granted a rank by the government (you jue 有爵) or serving a lord (shi jun 事君) and enjoying his favor (you chong 有寵). Occupations range from the highest aspirations— belonging to the nobility as a lord (shangjun 上君) (one occurrence), being a high minister (shangqing 上卿) (one occurrence), being a grandee (dafu 大夫) (three occurrences)—to more modest and certainly more accessible positions such as local officials, both high (dali 大吏) (three occurrences) and low (li 吏) (nine occurrences). The destiny of the least-favored children is to become someone’s manservant or maidservant (chen qie 臣接) (five occurrences) or, surprisingly, to become a male or female shaman (xi 覡, dawu 大巫, wu 巫) (seven occurrences). Their status was obviously unenviable, as was that of the exclusively female occupation of healer (yi 醫) (two occurrences).44 44  The term yi “healer” has a clearly depreciative meaning in the predictions. See, for instance, SHDB.80, slips 243–244: “A child born on a renyin39 day: Inauspicious; if a girl, she will be a healer” (renyin sheng bu ji nüzi wei yi 寅壬生不吉女子為醫). The same applies to male and female shamans, as in KJP.61, slip 2802:

148 Apart from shaman or healer, occupations or positions of status for girls in the hemerological sections on newborn children include merchant (nü wei gu 女為賈) or robber (nannü wei dao 男女為盜), as well as marriage to a lord (shangjun qi 上君妻) or an overseer (sefu qi 嗇夫妻). Hemerological sections on marriage from the perspective of the man who marries (qu qi 娶妻) provide more information about women and their marital status.45 Love was a major factor in the couple’s life (fu ai qi 夫愛妻, qi ai fu 妻愛夫). At the same time, it was feared that a wife might abandon her husband’s household (qi qi 妻棄) or not even appear there (bu dao 不到); another fear was to have married a shamaness (wu). Marriage predictions also portray spouses as jealous (du 妒), bad-tempered (han 悍), quarrelsome (duo she 多舌), and unstable (bu ning 不甯). They also address concerns about the birth of children: will the children die at birth (yi zi si 以子死), will the woman give birth to many children (duo zi 多子), will there be male children (sui you wu nan 雖有無男)? Finally, predictions based on the design of residences emphasize the family and the fate of its members.46 In regard to vocabulary and types of activity, the predictions in these sections add nothing new to what may be learned from the sections on newborn children. It seems as though these forms of proto-horoscopy and domestic topomancy drew on the same pool of stereotypes and cultural representations in order to meet the expectations of the public to whom the predictions were addressed. The World of Rishu: Representation and Reality The factual details provided by daybooks may be taken as representative of the activities and aspirations of social groups living at a given time and in a given place. Yet the abbreviated and highly stereotypical style of the prescriptions does not facilitate the task of the historian who wishes to reconstruct the social reality behind these representations. Sometimes the occurrence of textual variants may indicate something about the cultural affiliations and dates of the manuscripts, as in the case of the term qianshou 黔首 “black heads” to denote the com“if (he or she) does not become a shaman, (he or she) will be a madman (or madwoman)” (bu wu nai kuang 不巫乃狂). 45  A few predictions on a girl who is to be married occur independently in SHDA.55, and they are all negative. On marriage observances in the daybooks, see Wang Guijun, 1988; Huang Yinong, 2002a; Gao Bing, 2005; and Zhao Yupei, 2005. 46  There are two types of predictions related to houses: those based on the position of the gate in a house compound (zhi shi men 置室門) (SHDA.39, KJP.61, FMTB.2); and those based on the location, shape, and inner arrangement of the house compound (JD.6, SHDA.58).

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mon people. Typical of Qin usage, the term occurs in the Jianchu hemerology sections of the Fangmatan daybooks but is not found in the corresponding Jianchu section of the first Shuihudi daybook, which uses ren 人 “people.”47 According to the Records of the Scribe (Shiji 史記), the use of “black heads” was imposed by decree of the First Emperor of Qin in 221 bce. Should we conclude that the Fangmatan daybook manuscripts were necessarily copied after that date, which calls into question the generally accepted judgment that the Fangmatan tomb predates 221 bce? Conversely, was the Shuihudi daybook necessarily copied before 221 bce, despite firm evidence that the tomb dates to around 217 bce and postdates the First Emperor’s decree? Inasmuch as research on the Fangmatan daybooks has tended to regard them as older, the issue would seem to affect how we judge the relationship between the Fangmatan and Shuihudi daybooks.48 Textual variants related to regional differences raise problems of the same sort even if they seem self-evident at first sight. For instance, the Shuihudi daybooks use two kinds of month names: one that is specific to the state of Chu, and one that represents general usage.49 Does this allow us to identify the hemerologies that use Chu month names with Chu culture, and those that use the other month names with Qin culture?50 Similarly, how should we interpret the fact that ritual activities designated by the terms ji 祭 and jisi 祭祀 “sacrifice” in the Jiudian daybook are systematically referred to by the terms ci 祠 and cisi 祠祀 “worship” in the Fangmatan and Kongjiapo daybooks? The variant is all the more noteworthy because in the Shuihudi daybooks, the term ji “sacrifice” occurs 47  See FMTA.1, slips 13, 161; and FMTB.1, slips 141, 171; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, pp. 67, 99. For the corresponding Shuihudi daybook passage see SHDA.3, slips 14r2, 17r2; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 183. 48  While the burial date of Shuihudi tomb 11 (ca. 217 bce) is not in question, the burial date of Fangmatan tomb 1 remains a matter of debate; see Ebine Ryōsuke, 2012. On related problems of using graph taboos for dating manuscripts in the Qin and early Western Han periods, see Lai Guolong, 2008; and Feng Yicheng, 2012. See also pp. 24–25 in chap. 1. 49  See the discussion of Chu month names on pp. 156–57 in this chapter. 50  Curiously, SHDA.16 has a table of Qin months with corresponding Chu month names, yet the Chu-style Jianchu system in SHDA.1 does not use the Chu month names (which are found in the parallel Jianchu section of the Jiudian daybook, JD.1). On attempts to distinguish between Chu and Qin hemerologies in the Shuihudi daybooks, see Li Xueqin, 1985; Liu Xinfang, 1992; Liu Xinfang, 1997; Lin Jianming, 1993; Wang Zijin, 1993a; Hu Wenhui, 2000, pp. 74–87; Liu Lexian, 2010, pp. 123–27, 214–30; and Yan Changgui, 2010a, pp. 34–49.

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks

exclusively in the Jianchu sections described as the Chu hemerological system (and seemingly continuing the Chu linguistic usage attested in the Jiudian daybook).51 Viewed in broad perspective, the six daybook manuscripts that we treat as exemplifying the daybook text type exhibit differences in their composition that might be attributed to changes occurring between the date of the Jiudian daybook and the date of the Kongjiapo daybook, that is, between the final decades of the Warring States period and the first half of the Western Han period. A noticeable feature of the Kongjiapo daybook is the absence of non-hemerological sections related to rituals and magic, as well as the great importance accorded to theoretical sections, in particular those on meteorology and calendrical cosmology, which are grouped together at the end of the manuscript.52 In light of the preliminary report on Zhoujiazhai 周家寨 tomb 8 (burial dated ca. 140– 134 bce) and the similarity of the daybook manuscript discovered there to the contemporaneous Kongjiapo tomb 8 daybook found nearby, we may first note that daybooks like the Kongjiapo daybook were circulating in the same locality.53 Second, we need to consider the possibility that the emphasis on cosmological speculations in the Kongjiapo daybook reflects an intellectual trend in daybook production. Other differences among the daybooks may be evidence of regional characteristics along with certain related social, cultural, and political differences. The southern, Churegion daybook from Jiudian, Hubei, and the northern, Qin-region daybooks from Fangmatan, Gansu, came from tombs located roughly one thousand kilometers apart and separated in time by about a century. Comparison of the topics and activities for both the general and topical hemerologies in the Jiudian daybook (JD) and the first Fangmatan daybook (FMTA) clarifies their differences (see supplement 4.4). The daybooks have much in common, even though some activities occur only in the Jiudian daybook or the Fangmatan daybook. Further, the main differences have already been noted for the Jianchu and Congchen hemerological sections of all six published daybooks. First, there is a proportionately greater emphasis on religious activity in the Jiudian daybook, with ­twenty-one occurrences in the “Cults, rituals, magic” cat51  For occurrences of ji, see SHDA.1 and SHDB.1; for occurrences of ci, see SHDA.3, SHDA.7, SHDB.3, and SHDB.12. It is also worth mentioning that the term jishi 祭室 “sacrificial hall” in JD.6 is written cishi 祠室 “worship hall” in the parallel version in SHDA.58. 52   K JP.78–86, slips 398–478. 53  See p. 78 in chap. 2.

149 egory compared to only three occurrences in the same category in the first Fangmatan daybook. Second, in the “Officials” category, the title sefu “overseer” does not occur in the Jiudian daybook;54 instead, we find xiaofu 小夫 “petty man” and bangjun 邦君 “lord of state,” and the category “Seeing people” in the Jiudian daybook has the only occurrence of gongwang 公王 “sire and king.”55 While keeping in mind that particular details of the manuscripts indicate specificities linked to their temporal and geographic distribution, the actors brought into play in the hemerologies, the settings in which their activities take place, and their foretold fortunes point to a fairly well-defined segment of society. The main setting, as noted, is the family residence, the enclosed space with its outbuildings that was the center of a domestic economy based on agriculture and livestock. Details provided by the topomancy sections of the daybooks are a valuable complement to knowledge about the rural habitat during the Qin and Han periods acquired from archaeological evidence and transmitted texts.56 In these sections, the family members mentioned most often are the head of the household (zhu 主), his spouse, and their sons and daughters, and parents and children bear collective responsibility for the misfortune incurred by violation of a calendar prohibition.57 In accord with topographic formations at construction sites, certain residences are more suitable for people who hold a rank (you jue zhe 有爵者) and others more for the common people (renmin 人民). Prescriptions concerning favorable dates for construction 54  Topics and activities listed in supplement 4.4 are grouped in categories following the same principle as in supplement 4.2. The presence or absence of a category is relevant only in the context of JD and FMTA. For instance, the domain “Cap, belt, sword, chariot” does not occur in FMTA but occurs two times in FMTB (FMTB.16, slip 3621; FMTB.34, slip 128). 55  See JD.3. The term gongwang occurs as wanggong (king and sire) in the parallel section of SHDA.53. There is also houwang 侯王 (lord and king) in SHDA.7. 56  See Yun Jaesok, 1995; He Runkun, 1996; Yan Changgui and Mei Li, 2002; and Liu Xinning, 2012. 57  References to grandchildren (sunzi 孫子) and the spouses of children (changzi fu 長子婦, zhongzi fu 中子婦) are rare but do occur; see FMTB.19, SHDA.31. The case of a commoner living in a ward (mou li shiwu 某里士伍) whose house was sealed together with his wife and children (qi zi 妻子), servants (chen qie 臣接), clothing and sundry articles (yi qi 衣器), and domestic animals (chu chan 畜產) is recorded in one of the Shuihudi legal texts. See Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 149 (“Fengzhen shi” 封診式); and Hulsewé, 1985, pp. 184–85. On the composition of the family based on information from daybooks and other excavated documents, see Li Jiemin, 2006; Zhao Yupei, 2005; and Yun Jaesok, 2013, pp. 404–8.

150 work occasionally mention community buildings such as a government hall or a storehouse (guan fu 官府).58 While we do not lack information about the residence as a single structure, we know very little about the placement of structures in relation to one another, nor do we know about the size and density of the communities where they were built. Nishijima Sadao correctly observed that it is difficult to draw a clear line between rural and urban milieus during the Han period because “towns usually had some peasants living within their walls and peasant villages differed little in outward appearance from the towns.”59 The basic form of collective habitat in the daybooks seems to be the planned village, the ward (li 里) or townward (liyi 里邑). The Kongjiapo daybook passage concerning predictions about death (KJP.63)—“the curse will fall on the ward,” “the curse will fall on the fourth house to the west”—is one example in which the houses in a ward are obviously aligned in an orthogonal grid.60 As for larger settlements, the daybooks do not appear to be concerned with anything larger than the county as the center of local administration (xian guan 縣官). In the reconstruction of the Jiudian daybook the editors placed the slip that begins with a general statement on “the way to survey the land, establish the city, and create the town” (凡相坦樹邦作邑 之道) at the head of the section on domestic topomancy (JD.6), indicating that the construction of individual residences followed an urban plan at the level of a town (yi 邑).61 The section next describes individual residences based on their orientation with respect to the eight directions and continues with further criteria such as the shape of the main house and other structural features. These details are the basis for enumerating favorable and unfavorable circumstances for the occupants. According to the text, certain elements of a house will be more favorable for the gentleman (junzi 君子) and others for the common

58  There are also references to the construction of storehouses (wei fu 為府) in SHDA.3, FMTA.1, and KJP.1. 59  Twitchett and Loewe, 1986, p. 551. 60  See the passage from KJP.63 translated on pp. 146–47 in this chapter. For discussion of rural settlements belonging to the ward (li) and town-ward (liyi) types as opposed to “countryside settlements” (xiangye juluo 鄉野聚落) under the Qin and Han based on archaeological excavations, see Xing Yitian, 2011b, pp. 250–340 (esp. pp. 287–94 on the evidence found in excavated textual materials from Shuihudi and Juyan). 61   J D.6, slip 45. The editors of the revised transcription of the Jiudian daybook in Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, p. 317n1, suggest that bang 邦 “city” might be a miswriting of feng 封, in which case the compound shu feng would mean “erect boundary marks.”

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people (renmin), thus introducing the idea of social diversity among the inhabitants. In the daybook hemerologies, when the text mentions the status or position of the people to whom the prescriptions apply, these are mainly local or regional administrators, whether high (dali) or low (xiaoli), and, in the Qin and Han daybooks, overseers (sefu). Servants (chen qie), domestic slaves (nu bi), and temporary residents (yuren, jiren) are among those affected by the prescriptions, even if their involvement is indirect. The actors in the predictive sections are more diversified. As seen above in predictions on newborn children, prominent positions such as lord or minister await certain favored children, but the function of local administrator also occupies a premier grade. In this context, the male or female shaman constitutes the emblematic figure of adverse destiny (shaman is absent from the general and topical hemerologies), representing the opposite of social success in an official career. It is difficult to evaluate the part played by ideology in the depreciation of shamans, but the frequency of their occurrence in the predictive sections is certainly proportionate to their actual presence in society, even if the compilers of these sections equated them with madmen (bu wu nai kuang 不巫乃狂).62 The gentleman (junzi), presented in an example above, is evidenced in most of the daybooks.63 The following prediction from the Kongjiapo daybook on the day and direction of wind shows that it is mainly his standard of living rather than his moral values that distinguishes him from his opposite, the petty man (xiaoren 小人). 正月戊己有北風發屋折木命曰饑小人賣子君子賣衣君子 憂小人流

If in the first month on wus5 or jis6 there is north wind, it will rip off roofs and uproot trees. It will be a sign of starvation. The petty man will sell his children while the gentleman will sell his garments; the gentleman will live in anxiety while the petty man will become a vagabond.64 On the subject of actors, let me note the absence of the standard Han period classification of society into four levels: officers (shi 士), farmers (nong 農), artisans (gong 工),

62   K JP.61, slip 2802. On the status of shamans in the late Warring States, Qin, and Han periods, see Falkenhausen, 1995; and Li Ling, 2006b, pp. 30–61. 63   J D.6; FMTA.1; FMTB.1–2, 82; KJP.1, 79; SHDA.58; SHDB.1, 81; ZJTB.11. 64   K JP.69, slip 414; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 180.

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks

and merchants (shang 商).65 Even though agricultural activities are subject to calendrical prescriptions, the word nong (farmer) does not appear in daybooks and daybookrelated manuscripts. Rather, based on the day of birth, a child is predicted to have a talent for field work (shan tian) in the same way that he or she is predisposed to steal (shan dao 善盜).66 Similarly, merchants and trade are designated by synonyms such as gu 賈 or gushi 賈市, as witnessed by the newborn girl who is predicted to become a merchant (nü wei gu).67 Artisans are also missing as a profession, whereas the activities of handcraft or manufacturing—in construction, production of clothing, and so forth—are widespread. The social organization that emerges from the representation of activities and actors in the daybooks suggests a kind of monolithic structure composed of two levels: on the one hand, the elites and their families, consisting mainly of the local administrators; on the other, the people, the commoners, and— probably on yet another level—the amorphous mass of servants and domestic slaves. While the activities that were regulated by the calendar are quite diverse and varied, we must keep in mind that they applied to the pattern of life that existed in local communities across geographic regions. The Jiudian cemetery was located by the old capital of Chu at Ying 郢 (near present-day Jingzhou 荊州), and the daybook from Jiudian tomb 56 predates the conquest of the region in 278 bce. The other daybook manuscripts come from the remote northwest (Fangmatan) or from areas of Chu culture that fell under Qin and then Han administration in the third century bce (Shuihudi and Kongjiapo). Similarities of terminology in the daybooks show that a written tradition had formed by the end of the fourth century bce and is first evidenced in the Jiudian daybook. However, the singularity of the Jiudian daybook must not be overlooked. It is the oldest known representative of the text type, it is the only pre-Qin representative from the area of ancient Chu culture, and it differs from later Qin and Han daybooks in several ways. With regard to the language of the hemerologies in the Jiudian daybook, there is a discursive style in some sections that, without being literary, is also not as stereotypical as the language in later daybooks, in which simple lists of activities are matched with prescriptions and predictions one after the 65  See Han shu, 24A, pp. 1117–18. The four-level classification gained acceptance in the Western Han period, which might explain its absence in Qin and early Han daybooks; see Barbieri-Low, 2007, pp. 36–40. 66   K JP.75. 67   S HDA.47.

151 other. In some passages, a subordinate clause or comment is introduced by expressions such as shi gu 是故 “therefore,” which, although standard usage in ancient texts, is absent from the other daybooks.68 Concerning the contents, I have noted the clear predominance of prescriptions related to religious activities in the Jiudian daybook, coupled with a reduced focus on local administration in whatever form it occurs, and the near absence of prescriptions related to household matters, especially the category “Bringing in and out (people, animals, goods)” in supplement 4.2, in sharp contrast to the Qin and Han daybooks. We have no contemporaneous daybook from the Qin cultural area or elsewhere for comparison; hence it is impossible to determine the extent to which the particularities of the Jiudian daybook are due to its region of production (Chu) or to its age (ca. 300 bce). Yet over time, and especially after the Qin unification of the empire in 221 bce, Qin hemerological usages gained influence, and these were followed in turn by those of the Han, so that, by the time of the Kongjiapo manuscript, the result was a daybook that no longer exhibited the hybrid quality of the two Shuihudi daybooks produced in the same region roughly seventy years earlier.69 As is already evident in the Jiudian daybook, the process of hemerological ideas and practices becoming part of the cultural habitus and affecting the experience of daily life in local communities was accompanied by the production of daybooks and related manuscript miscellanies, and the rapid formation of the popular hemerological literature occurred in a context of continuous recopying, innovation, and recomposition. This circumstance accounts for both the composite yet structured quality of the daybooks themselves and their relation to other miscellanies—all produced and copied anonymously. Beyond regional specificities, the most remarkable aspect of the daybooks discovered to date is the local character and dimension of everyday life that underlies the information they provide. They were produced locally and were probably meant to be consumed locally. In this regard, daybooks are ideal sources for a functional and contextualized approach

68   J D.2, slips 32–33; Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, p. 309. However, the Qin and Han daybooks occasionally note a variant reading of the text using expressions such as yi yue 一曰 “another (hemerology) says,” which shows the existence of a critical approach to the transmission of the body of written hemerological knowledge in daybooks. For further discussion of textual strategies in daybooks, see pp. 116–27 in chap. 3. 69  For a comparative treatment of the Shuihudi, Kongjiapo, and Fangmatan daybooks, see Yan Changgui, 2012.

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Table 4.4 Divination topics in the Changes from Shuanggudui tomb 1, Fuyang, 165 bce “Life Stages”

birth illness longevity

卜子 卜病 卜壽 “Government-Related Life”

officials

politics, dealing with people military affairs, conflicts legal matters, disputes

卜大人，卜人君，卜有士之 君，卜大臣，卜吏，卜食稅 者，卜居官 卜臨官，卜臨官立眾，卜事 卜攻戰，卜軍 卜有罪者，卜繫囚

“Everyday Life”

housing hunting, fishing traveling lost items, runaway persons weather and other natural events

卜邑，卜居家，卜家室 卜田魚，卜田 卜行 卜亡者，卜求 卜雨，卜齊，卜歲，卜星

to the study of hemerological practices in late Warring States, Qin, and early Han popular culture.70 Finally, I want to point out that hemerology was not a special case in those times. A variety of mantic arts were being adapted to particular clienteles, and manuscripts were part of the process. Several Mawangdui 馬王 堆 tomb 3 astrological and meteorological manuscripts, for instance, focus mostly on predictions related to war and government affairs.71 Then there is the interesting case of the divination manual using the Changes (Yi 易) discovered in Shuanggudui 雙古堆 tomb 1, at Fuyang 阜陽, Anhui (the tomb of Xiahou Zao 夏侯灶, Lord of Ruyin 汝陰侯; burial dated 165 bce).72 In addition to giving the oracle statements from the Changes for each hexagram, the manual contains divination topics with short 70  For further discussion of daybooks as sources for the study of popular culture, see chap. 3. 71  On Mawangdui astrological manuscripts, see Liu Lexian, 2004; and Kalinowski, 1999. On military hemerology, see Liu Lexian, 2010, pp. 231–43; and Hu Wenhui, 2000, pp. 220–52. 72  See Hu Pingsheng, 1998a; Han Ziqiang, 2004; and Shaughnessy, 2001; 2014, pp. 189–279.

predictions. In table 4.4, these topics are arranged in three categories for comparison with the topics and activities in the daybooks. Among the twenty-nine divination topics and predictions, fourteen concern government-related life; hence the Shuanggudui manuscript has a clear political appearance. Yet the range of people mentioned—from the upper reaches of power (daren 大人, renjun 人君, dachen 大臣) down to low-level officials (li 吏)—does not allow us to situate the manuscript in a precise and socially marked functional context in the same way as can be done for the daybooks. Nevertheless, it is remarkable to see that the terms designating the activities are essentially the same in the Shuanggudui manuscript and the daybooks, suggesting that a common lexical pool was the source for the classification of reality into tradition-sanctioned categories and that both the Changes hexagram diviners and the makers of the daybooks drew on it for the material necessary to organize their writings.73

Techniques and Systems

We turn now to the technical aspects of hemerology, to the various means employed by hemerologists to determine the moments and orientations favorable for taking action and to predict the course of events. Here, too, progress in research over the past several decades has been remarkable. We now understand most of the methods and operations described in the daybooks, we can reconstruct their original forms based on the different versions available to us, and we can classify them relative to one another and in relation to transmitted sources. Research has also shown the significance of hemerology in late Warring States, Qin, and Han cultural life, whether for government or for everyday life, or for nonprofessional diviners and itinerant practitioners or for court astrologers and calendrical experts. The many parallels that connect this body of knowledge to medieval manuscripts preserved in China and Japan, to the large compendiums compiled by imperial command during the Qing period, and even to the popular almanacs circulating today in East Asia show the daybooks to be texts of prime importance for tracing the development of hemerological ideas and practices over the long term from the fourth century bce to modern times. As in the discussion of daily activities and life expectations, the focus is on the daybooks themselves, seeking above all to show in what way the characteristic 73  See Shaughnessy, 2014, pp. 9–11. On producers and users of daybooks, see pp. 104–10 in chap. 3.

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Figure 4.1 Fuxi (right) and Nüwa (left) surrounded by four smaller deities, possibly related to the four seasons. Wu Liang shrine, ink rubbing of carved stone relief, chamber 2, south wall, Eastern Han. After Chavannes, 1909, vol. 2, plate 60, no. 123.

features of their technical content are related to the milieus in which they were transmitted and to their intended use. The Year Cycle and Its Subdivisions The calendar year provides hemerology with the cosmological framework within which interactions between the natural and human worlds play out. A notable feature of the earliest Chinese cosmogonic accounts is that the ordering of time and space culminates with the establishment of the four seasons and the creation of the year (cheng sui 成歲, wei sui 為歲). One of the texts written in the center of Zidanku 子彈庫 Silk Manuscript 1, contemporary with the Jiudian daybook (ca. 300 bce), describes a primordial couple who, after first stabilizing the surrounding space, give birth to four sons. In darkness, before the appearance of the sun and moon, these four sons initiate a cosmic dance at the end of which the year (sui), identified with the course of the four seasons (sishi 四時), takes shape.74 An Eastern Han carved stone relief shows the primeval couple Fuxi 伏羲 (the male, carrying the square) and Nüwa 女媧 (the female, with the compass) surrounded by four smaller beings (depicted, like Fuxi and Nüwa, with human bodies and serpentine tails), who 74   On early cosmogonies as reflected in excavated texts, see Kalinowski, 2004. On the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, see chap. 6 in this volume.

might well be the deities of the four seasons mentioned in the Zidanku Silk Manuscript (fig. 4.1).75 Except for the Kongjiapo daybook, which does contain a cosmogonic account (KJP.86) (see the discussion of the five agents below), daybooks are primarily technical texts without an explicit link to speculations about the origin and structure of the physical world. The very notion of qi 氣 “vital force,” so evident in contemporaneous writings on the natural world, hardly occurs in the daybooks.76 Two points, nevertheless, should be noted. First, hemerology in the daybooks remains within the frame defined by the calendar year. For instance, the Jiudian and Shuihudi daybooks describe the movement of the day qualifier Sui 歲 (Year) each month through the four quarters and seasons in an annual cycle that is unrelated to the twelve-year cycle based on the sidereal revolution of Jupiter, or suixing 歲星 “year star.”77 Even 75  See Zeng Xiantong, 2005, pp. 219–21. For the names given to the four seasonal deities in Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, see Li Ling, 1985, pp. 69–70. 76  As noted by Graham (1989, pp. 325–30), the elaboration of correlative systems in the domain of divination and of predictive sciences in general followed its own ways independent of (I would rather say “parallel to”) the development of the philosophy of qi 氣 during the fourth and third centuries bce. 77   J D.8, SHDA.16, SHDA.18, SHDB.66. On the monthly movement of Sui in relation to the four seasonal quarters, see the discussion of day qualifiers below and table 4.20. On the twelve-year cycle

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more remarkable is the section in the Kongjiapo daybook that describes another system associated with Jupiter in transmitted texts in which it is known as the “Shetige yearcount” (Shetige jinian 攝提格紀年). The Kongjiapo system is unusual in that it is not related to a twelve-year cycle based on the planet Jupiter but rather applies the twelve terms—Shetige, Dan’e 單閼, and so forth—as day qualifiers that are said to “control the year” (si sui 司歲) in a random, noncyclic way based on the branch component of the sexagenary binom of the first day of the new year.78 Here is the beginning of the text, branches zib1 and choub2: 正月子朔攝提挌司歲四海有兵有年丑朔單閼司歲實日 秋食

When the branch of the first day of the first month is zib1, Shetige controls the year: There is war in the four seas; there is a good harvest. When the branch of the first day of the first month is choub2, Dan’e controls the year: An eclipse of the sun occurs in autumn.79 Second, the calendar year is primarily the seasonal year. The four seasons succeed one another in the rhythmic pattern of the generation and decay of all things: birth (sheng 生) in spring, growth (zhang 長) in summer, withdrawal (shou 收) in autumn, and concealment (zang 藏) in winter.80 The four seasons as such do not determine the calendrical prescriptions in the daybooks. Rather, the seasonal cycle is manifest through the correlated units of space and time, mainly months, days, hours, and directions. When the seasons do form part of the hemerological data, they serve to structure the other data on which the hemerologies depend: stems, branches, sexagenary binoms, stellar lodges, directions (see table 4.5). In these hemerologies, the favorable or unfavorable nature of of Jupiter and the so-called counter-Jupiter theory, see Major, 1993, pp. 74, 92–94, 118–20, 126. In light of the evidence provided by excavated texts, application of the “counter-Jupiter” theory to the revolutions of day qualifiers such as Taisui 太歲 (Great Year) or Taiyin 太陰 (Great Yin) is highly problematic. See Kalinowski, 1999, pp. 148–54; and Tao Lei, 2003, pp. 73–97. 78  On the standard Shetige cycle in relation to the Jupiter yearcount, see the astrological treatise in Shiji, 27, pp. 1313–16; and Major, 1993, pp. 120–23. The hemerology involving the revolution of Xing 刑 (Punishment) and De 德 (Virtue) in relation to the five agents in FMTB.46 and ZJTA.13 is the only hemerological cycle exceeding the calendar year in the daybooks. The full account of this cycle occurs in the several Mawangdui Xingde texts. See Kalinowski, 1999, pp. 160–66. 79   K JP.80, slips 4271–4281; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 181. 80  The alignment of the cycle of the generation and decay of all things with the seasonal year is a basic feature of cosmological ideas in Qin and Han texts. Shiji, 130, p. 3290, for instance, defines this fourfold cycle as “the great path followed by heavenly processes.”

Table 4.5 Occurrences of the four seasons in the six published daybooks Input data

Daybook section

seasons and stems

JD.3; FMTB.36; SHDA.34, 54, 68; SHDB.33, 34, 76; KJP.58 Total: 9 seasons and branches FMTB.21, 35, 39 (2x); SHDA.2, 31, 35 (2x), 46, 50, 79, 80; SHDB.22; KJP.32, 58, 59 Total: 16 seasons and binoms FMTB.33, 35(2x); SHDA.42, 79 (2x); SHDB.79; KJP.21, 58, 59 Total: 10 seasons, branches, and stems SHDA.31; KJP.58 Total: 2 seasons and stellar lodges SHDA.55; KJP.77 Total: 2 seasons and directions FMTB.33; SHDA.32, 79; KJP.43, 59, 60, 62 Total: 7 months, seasons, and JD.12 directions Total: 1

d­ irections and days (denoted by stem, branch, binom, and stellar lodge) varies according to the time of year when a particular action is undertaken. The months (not included in table 4.5) are equally present in the sense that reference to a season is usually accompanied by reference to the three months that compose it: “during the three months of spring” (chun sanyue 春三月), “during the three months of summer” (xia sanyue 夏三月), and so forth. This brings us to the months, which occupy an important place in the daybooks, but like the seasons, they are not referenced for their own sake as they are in the transmitted tradition of yueling 月令 “monthly ordinances.”81 In daybooks, the month (yue) is an empirical unit of time corresponding to the lunar month of the civil calendar. The first day of the month is referred to as shuori 朔日 “conjunction day,” or “new-moon day,” and it and other 81  As a text type, the monthly ordinances that appear in several versions in late Warring States, Qin, and Han works set out regulations for bringing the state into harmony with the cosmos. Even though there is a clear distinction between daybooks and the monthly ordinances tradition, both share a cosmology, and several observances and prohibitions that occur in daybooks have parallels in received versions of the monthly ordinances. See Poo, 1998, pp. 85–92.

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Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks Table 4.6 Day-night proportions for the twelve months of the year and related correspondences Month

Day-night proportions

Correspondence with solstices and equinoxes

Correspondence with the 100-ke system

Correspondence with the 24-hour system

Correspondence with the qi heng systema

XI XII I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X

5/11 6/10 7/9 8/8 9/7 10/6 11/5 10/6 9/7 8/8 7/9 6/10

winter solstice

31.25/68.75

7:30/16:30

spring equinox

50/50

12:00

summer solstice

68.75/31.25

16:30/7:30

autumn equinox

50/50

12:00

7 outer circle 6 5 4 middle circle 3 2 1 inner circle 2 3 4 middle circle 5 6

a The qi heng 七衡 “seven celestial circles” system is presented in the Gnomon of Zhou (Zhou bi 周髀).

terms for lunar phases—notably the full moon (wangri 望日) and the last day of a lunation (huiri 晦日)—are part of the input data taken into account in the hemerologies. Most notably, the daybooks do not mention intercalary months (runyue 閏月), nor do they distinguish between “long months” of thirty days and “short months” of twenty-nine days.82 Even more striking is the absence of references to the seasonal markers (jieqi 節氣), especially in light of the fact that they are commonly used in excavated bamboo and wooden calendars of the Han period, mainly in connection with the solstices and equinoxes.83 Their absence in no way implies that daybooks disregard the lunisolar nature of the calendar. On the contrary, there are at least four different ways of adjusting the months to the seasonal cycle. The first is to arrange them in groups of three months for 82   For instances of hemerologies based on lunar phases, see SHDA.9, 56; SHDB.39; and KJP.55, 57. For hemerologies giving a list of the thirty days of the month, see FMTA.7 and FMTB.4. The Hong Kong hemerological slips include a slip recording long months (dayue 大月) and short months (xiaoyue 小月), but it is certainly a fragment from a calendar, not from a daybook (HK.21, slip 76). 83  The oldest occurrence of the standard set of twenty-four seasonal markers remains Huainanzi, 3, pp. 98–102 (“Tianwen xun” 天 文訓). The seasonal markers appear in excavated Han calendars, beginning with the Kongjiapo calendar corresponding to the year 142 bce, but they are usually just the two solstices, the two equinoxes, and the “four seasonal beginnings” (sili 四立). For more details, see fig. 4.3 in this chapter and pp. 282–86 in chap. 7.

each season, resulting in four isomorphic sets consisting of an initial month (meng 孟), median month (zhong 仲), and terminal month ( ji 季).84 The second method, which intersects with the first, uses the Doujian 斗建 (Dipper Establishment) function of the Northern Dipper (Beidou 北斗), or Ursa Major, which serves to mark the months and adjust them with respect to the seasons.85 The third method, properly solar, consists in adjusting the months to the sidereal revolution of the sun by reference to the twelve stellar lodges that mark the approximate position of the sun for the twelve months of the year (see below for further discussion of the hemerological applications of the system of twelve monthly lodges in the daybooks). The fourth method is in the form of a list giving the daytime and nighttime proportions for each of the twelve months. Tables based on the division of the day into sixteen units appear in the second Fangmatan daybook and both Shuihudi daybooks; the Kongjiapo daybook lacks the day-night proportion table.86 The table does not appear to have had a particular hemerological application, its main 84  For an example of seasonal arrangement by three-month groups, see SHDA.79. With a few exceptions, the terms meng, zhong, and ji do not occur in daybooks to mark the sequence of months in a season. 85  See p. 163 in this chapter for the precise definition of Doujian (Dipper Establishment) from one of the Yinqueshan 銀雀山 tomb 1 occult miscellanies. 86   S HDA.16, 60; SHDB.2; FMTB.11, 18; HK.21, slip 76. Tables showing day-night proportions for the twelve months of the year are widely used in the medieval calendars from Dunhuang (with a

156 function being to situate the twelve months with respect to the solar year: the second and eighth months with the period of the equinoxes, when the day-night proportion is an equal 8/8; the fifth month with the summer solstice, the longest days of the year, with the day-night proportion being 11/5; and the eleventh month with the winter solstice, the shortest days of the year, with the day-night proportion being 5/11 (see table. 4.6).87 By converting the ratios in table 4.6 to the system of one hundred graduations (ke 刻) of the clepsydra and to the modern twenty-four-hour division of the day, we can determine that the ratios apply to a day-night variation at a latitude of approximately 52 degrees north, which is considerably higher than for the Qin and Han capitals (at approximately 34 degrees north).88 Several hypotheses explain the phenomenon by placing the ratios in the context of contemporaneous representations of space and time. There is, for instance, an evident structural parallelism between the system of day-night proportions and the qi heng 七衡 “seven celestial circles” centered on the pole, which, in the cosmography of the Gnomon of Zhou (Zhou bi 周髀), represent the sun’s trajectories for the twelve periods of the tropical year (see table 4.6).89 Alternatively, Wang Chong 王充 (27–ca. 100) considers the system of day-night proportions to represent the astronomical model of the tian shiliu dao 天十六道 “sixteen celestial paths” followed by the sun over the course of one year (he is the only Han writer to mention the system). This serves as the basis for Wang Chong’s denunciation of the competing model, the jiu dao 九道 “nine paths,” defended by his contemporaries.90 Another hypothesis involves Han period stone sundials (rigui 日晷) marked with graduations indicating a day-night ratio of 69/31 at the summer solstice, which is basically identical to the ratio of the sixteen-division system (11/5 = 68.75/31.25).91 Finally, based on the daybooks themselves, it has been argued that the system of day-night proportions is related to the division of the day into sixteen time periods (discussed below). ratio of 50/50 for the equinoxes); see Arrault and Martzloff, 2003, pp. 102–3. 87  This form of keying the months to the seasonal cycle is characteristic of the so-called Xia standard (Xia zheng 夏正), with the first month of the calendar year (zhengyue 正月) connected to the first month of spring (meng chun 孟春; branch yinb3). 88  See Wu Jiabi, 2003, pp. 260–64. 89  See Cullen, 1996, pp. 183–88, 221–23; and Zeng Xiantong, 2005, pp. 235–40. 90   Lunheng, 11, p. 488 (“Shuo ri” 說日). See Li Jiemin, 1996, pp. 81– 82; and Zeng Xiantong, 2005, pp. 238–39. 91  See Wu Jiabi, 2003, pp. 255–63.

kalinowski Table 4.7 Correspondence between Qin numbered months and Chu month names with day-night proportions for each month as given in SHDA.16 Qin numbered month

Chu month name

Day-night proportions

X XI XII I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

Dongxi 冬夕 Quxi 屈夕 Yuanxi 援夕 Jingyi 刑夷 Xiayi 夏夷 Fangyue 紡月 Qiyue 七月 Bayue 八月 Jiuyue 九月 Shiyue 十月 Cuanyue 爨月 Xianma 獻馬

6/10 5/11 (winter solstice) 6/10 7/9 8/8 (spring equinox) 9/7 10/6 11/5 (summer solstice) 10/6 9/7 8/8 (autumn equinox) 7/9

十月 十一月 十二月 正月 二月 三月 四月 五月 六月 七月 八月 九月

Note: Qin months are based on the Xia standard month-count.

The discovery and publication of the Shuihudi daybooks have also provided evidence of extensive use of the previously little-known month names specific to the ancient state of Chu, including their relationship to the seasonal year. SHDA.16 facilitates hemerological use of the Chu month system with a table listing the Qin months in sequence, numbered from one (I) to twelve (XII) with the tenth month (X) as the beginning of the year. The Chu month name and the day-night proportions associated with each month are given beneath each Qin month, marking their adjustment to the seasonal year (see table 4.7).92 The SHDA table of Qin and Chu months has raised questions about the calendar in use in Chu before the Qin occupation of the ancient Chu homeland with its capital at Ying in 278 bce. Points of debate concern which month in the Chu calendar was considered the first month, or zhengyue 正月, as well as the adjustment of months to the solar cycle and the beginning of the Chu civil year (suishou 歲首).

92  The keying of the months based on the seasonal year corresponds to the Xia standard calendar (I = first month of spring); see n87 and table 4.6. For other occurrences of Chu month names in the first Shuihudi daybook, see SHDA.8 and SHDA.37. Curiously, the Chu terminology is not used in SHDB.

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For instance, the fact that the SHDA list begins with the Qin tenth month (X)—the beginning of winter, according to the Xia standard month-count used by Qin (the corresponding Chu month name is Dongxi 冬夕)—and not with the Qin first month (I) (Chu name, Jingyi 刑夷) could be interpreted in relation to the decision of the last Qin kings to begin the Qin civil year with the tenth month. However, viewed from the perspective of Chu month names, Dongxi 冬夕 at the head of the list could be understood as signifying the first month of the Chu calendar year in relation to the Chu months designated by numbers, from Qiyue 七月 (Seventh Month) to Shiyue 十月 (Tenth Month) (counting back from seven, Dongxi corresponds to the first month). Publication of the manuscripts from Baoshan 包山 tomb 2 (burial dated ca. 316 bce) and of the Jiudian daybook has served to intensify the debate, and the question of the exact nature of the Chu calendar is not yet resolved.93 I would note, however, that the evidence of the Jiudian daybook confirms that, at least in hemerological circles, the adjustment of months to the solar cycle did not differ from the Xia standard month-count attested in all daybooks. The passage concerns identification of the new-moon day of each Chu month relative to the position of the sun among the stellar lodges. The list of months and new-moon days begins with the Chu month Jingyi—the Qin first month (I), or zhengyue—and supplies an argument for Jingyi having also been the first month of the Chu calendar year: 荊 朔於營室夏 奎享月胃夏 畢八月東井九月柳十月

[4] 獻馬房冬 心 […] The new-moon day of Jingyi (Qin month I in SHDA, beginning of spring) is in House13; of Xiayi (month II, middle of spring), in Straddler15; of Xiangyue (month III, end of spring),94 in Stomach17; of Xiaxi (month IV, beginning of summer),95 in Net19; of Bayue (month V, middle of summer), in Well22; of Jiuyue (month VI, end of summer), in Willow24; of Shiyue (month VII, beginning of autumn) [4]; of Xianma (month IX, end of autumn), in Chamber4; of Dongxi (month X, beginning of winter), in Heart5 […]96 93  For ongoing arguments on these questions, see Chen Wei, 1996, pp. 1–9; 2010, pp. 69–81; Liu Binhui, 1991, 2007; Wang Shengli, 1988; 1990; 2007, pp. 220–50; and Bing Shangbai, 1999. 94  Corresponds to Fangyue 紡月 in table 4.7. 95  Corresponds to Qiyue 七月 in table 4.7. 96   J D.9, slip 78; Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, pp. 326–27. Variant graphs in several Chu month names are attested in other paleographic and manuscript materials; see Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 105–6. See the discussion of this passage in Chen Wei, 2010, pp. 69–74. As shown below, stellar lodge House13 marked the si-

Table 4.8 Examples of day designations other than sexagenary binoms, stems, and branches in the six published daybooks numerical day-count lunar phases stellar lodges five agents five notes day qualifiers

ershi 二十 “twentieth (day)” ruyue yiri 入月一日 “first day in the month” xun wuri 旬五日 “fifteenth day” shuori 朔日 “new-moon day” houwang yiri 後望一日 “first day after full moon” Wei 胃 (Stomach17) Huori 火日 “Fire day” Gongri 宮日 “Gong day” liri 離日 “split-up day”

Turning to days, we arrive at the heart of the hemerologies. In the daybooks, there are no fewer than nine different ways of designating the days of a month. The sexagenary signs—stems, branches, and binoms—dominate, followed by the less frequent practice of numbering the days in a month from one to thirty (occasionally dividing a month into three decades, xun 旬). Other forms of day notation, such as reference to the five agents or the stellar lodges, are infrequent and may occur no more than once, as is the case for the five musical notes (wuyin 五音).97 The days associated with a day qualifier, when they are identified, are nearly always given as sexagenary signs or as numbers (see table 4.8). Finally, whenever the designations are not followed by the term ri 日 “day,” they may equally indicate positions in space rather than in time (see discussion below). The day itself is divided into time periods. Setting aside transmitted sources and considering only the evidence of written materials found in Han period tombs or in the northwest military outposts, more than fifty different names are attested for times of day. Texts that present dereal position of the sun at the beginning of spring in the late Warring States, Qin, and Han periods, corresponding to the first month of the calendar year according to the Xia standard (I = Jingyi). Scholars who argue for the Jingyi month-count are Zeng Xiantong, 2005, pp. 230–42; Chen Wei, 1996, pp. 1–9; 2010, pp. 74–78; Li Jiahao, 2001, pp. 26–27; and Song Huaqiang, 2010, pp. 52–54. The Dongxi month-count is mainly and nearly exclusively supported by Liu Binhui (1991, 2007). 97   Five-note days occur only once in a prediction on death (FMTB.23). For five-agents days, see FMTB.39, slip 140; SHDB.66; HK.14; YS.1. There is also a reference to five-agents days in the hemerological slips from Shuiquanzi 水泉子 tomb 5, Gansu; see Wenwu 2009.10, p. 91. The stellar lodge day-count is discussed on pp. 165–66 in this chapter.

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the names in the form of a complete list are rare, and some names as written seem to have been local variants of the generally accepted names for the same units of time.98 Through the diversity, we may discern what appears to have been the most widely used system in regional administration, which is a system of sixteen time periods or hours. One piece of empirical evidence comes from government regulations for the couriers transporting official documents. The regulations stipulate that the couriers were required to travel 160 li (approximately 66.5 kilometers) in the period of one day and one night, indicating that the basic time unit corresponded to a distance of 10 li and was equivalent to one-sixteenth of an entire day.99 The nomenclature attached to the system of sixteen hours remains unclear. The wooden tablet from Xuanquan 懸泉, Gansu, discovered in 1992 and dated to the first or second century ce, has not simplified the matter. Composed in the form of a table in three registers, it gives thirty-two hour names. In addition, “tenth month” and “twelfth month” are written in large graphs at the top of the tablet; hence, the hour names are associated specifically with the winter months that precede and follow the winter solstice (fig. 4.2). Some scholars cite the Xuanquan tablet as evidence that the reason for the profusion of different names for the time periods in a day might be that the names varied by season.100 The situation for the daybooks is similar, but to a lesser extent. The time periods form a mostly closed system, and the division of the day is further affected by the hemerological context in which it occurs. Thus some hemerologies are based on a simple duality of morning-evening or day-night. Hemerologies with four or five time periods generally are correlated with the cardinal directions; those with divisions of ten or twelve, with the ten stems or twelve branches. There can be as many as twenty-eight divisions to match the twenty-eight stellar lodges.101 For the history of Chinese horometry, the systems composed of twelve and sixteen time periods are the most significant. In transmitted sources, the oldest attestation of the twelve double hours matched with all twelve branches dates to the third century ce and was the standardized, traditional 98  For the list of the fifty-two time units in the northwestern documents, see Zhang Defang, 2004, pp. 210–12. 99  See Li Jiemin, 1996, pp. 86–88. 100  See Zhang Defang, 2004, pp. 190–208. On the possible adaptation of the time-division system to seasonal change, see Ren Jie, 2009; and Lü Shihao, 2012, pp. 116–18. 101  For studies related to time divisions of the day based on excavated texts and artifacts, see Chen Jiujin, 1983; Wang Lixing, 1986; Zeng Xiantong, 1992; and Qu Anjing, 1994.

Figure 4.2 The Xuanquan tablet inscribed with thirty-two hour names. Facsimile by Xu Datong. After Zhang Defang, 2004, p. 190, and color plate.

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Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks Table 4.9 Comparison of the traditional system of the twelve time periods of the day with the Shuiquanzi hemerological slips and the Kongjiapo and Shuihudi daybooks Traditional system

Shuiquanzi KJP.7

KJP.70 SHDB.64

1 zib1 2 choub2 3 yinb3 4 maob4 5 chenb5 6 sib6 7 wub7 8 weib8 9 shenb9 10 youb10 11 xub11 12 haib12

夜半 鷄鳴 平旦 日出 食時 隅中 日中 日昳 暮餔 日入 昏時 人定

雞鳴 平旦 日出 蚤食 暮食 — 日昳 — 暮市 — 黃昏 人定

夜半 鷄鳴 平旦 日出 食時 隅中 日中 日昳 晡食 日入 黃昏 人定

midnight cockcrow level dawn sunrise mealtime mid-morning midday sun-decline dinnertime sunset dusk all-still

夜過半 鷄鳴 平旦 日出 食時 — 日昳 日入 昏 夕 人定 夜半

人定 — — 日出 食時 暮食 日中 日失 下市 舂日 牛羊入 黃昏

system in later centuries. Today the oldest evidence is the third century bce list of hour names and branches in the second Shuihudi daybook (SHDB.64), which is not identical to the traditional system. For the second century bce, the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.70 and KJP.7) is not identical to the Shuihudi daybook or to the traditional system. However, the hemerological slips from Shuiquanzi 水泉子 tomb 5, Gansu (burial dated ca. 72 bce), basically match the traditional system (see table 4.9).102 The most notable difference is the absence of “midnight” (yeban 夜半) in SHDB.64 and KJP.70. For the time period corresponding to zib1 “midnight” in the traditional system, SHDB.64 has “all-still” (rending 人定), correlated with haib12 in the traditional system, and KJP.70 has “cockcrow” ( jiming 鷄鳴), correlated with choub2 in the traditional system. “Midnight” occurs in KJP.7 but is followed by “past midnight” (ye guo ban 夜過半), which might show the influence of the sixteen-time-periods system.103 Among the several different terms for time periods in the second half of the day in SHDB.64, the most notable

102  The first occurrence in transmitted texts of the traditional twelve time periods of the day is Du Yu’s 杜預 (222–284) commentary on Zuozhuan, 43, 4b (Zhao 5). For the Shuiquanzi list, see Zhang Cunliang and Wu Hong, 2009, p. 90. On the terminology of the twelve time periods, see Shang Minjie, 1997a; and Li Tianhong, 2011. 103   K JP.7 has “midnight” but not on the standard position (zib1). For the variants in SHDB.64, see Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 365–68.

is “cattle-in” (niuyang ru 牛羊入) drawn from rural life, which occurs nowhere else.104 The system of sixteen time periods was not used after the Han period. Han documents from the northwest clearly show such a system in operation during the Han, and as we now know, it was already used in the Qin. The time-period system was probably connected to the system of sixteen day-night proportions discussed above, even though the day-night proportions in the daybooks apply to the monthly variation in the length of days and nights between two solstices, never explicitly to the divisions of the day.105 The Fangmatan daybooks have the only complete sequence of the sixteen time periods of the day, applied to a system for predicting the gender of an unborn child. The very fact that the daybooks use it indicates that the sixteen-time-periods system was relevant for Qin hemerology and was known to the readers and users of daybooks.106 However, in the Fangmatan daybooks, the sixteen names were obviously adapted from the twelve-periods system by the simple device of adding a time period either before (wei 未) or after (guo 過) the periods midnight, sunrise, noontime, and sunset (see table 4.10).107 Spatial orientations occur frequently as secondary input in hemerologies and, like the time periods of the day, are arranged in enclosed, dial-like systems.108 For instance, on a given day, it is favorable to undertake 104  In the traditional system, “dusk” (huanghun 黃昏) is connected to xub11 and “all-still” (rending 人定) to haib12. In KJP.70, the sequence is off by one position until “dusk” and “all-still,” which are in the same position as in the traditional system. For variants in SHDB.64, see Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 365–68. 105  Regulations concerning the clepsydra in the Qin administrative documents discovered at Liye 里耶, Hunan, often use the phrase shui shiyi ke 水十一刻 “water-level eleven graduations.” The meaning is unclear but seems to indicate a link between the graduation system of the clepsydra and the day-night proportions at the solstices (11/5, 5/11); see Li Xueqin, 2003, p. 75; and Ren Jie, 2009, pp. 458–59. 106  In FMTA.3 and FMTB.40, the sequence of hours begins with “level dawn” and ends with “cockcrow.” The child born at level dawn will be a girl; at sunrise, a boy. The sequence then alternates between girl and boy, resulting in eight hours each for female and male births. 107  It is also worth noting that in the sixteen-time-periods system, the distribution of the time units is unequal between “midnight” and “noontime” and between “noontime” and “midnight” but is equal (8/8) for a division of the day between “sunrise” and “sunset.” 108   Directions occur in fifteen out of eighty-seven sections in SHDA.15–16, 18, 32–33, 36–37, 39, 42, 45, 61, 72–73, 77, 79; and in seventeen out of eighty-seven sections in KJP.9–10, 12, 14–16, 28, 43, 58–62, 66, 69, 73, 79.

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Table 4.10 The relationship between the traditional twelve time periods and the sixteen time periods in the Fangmatan daybooks Traditional system 1

midnight

FMTA.3 and FMTB.40 夜半

2 3 4 5 6 7

cockcrow level dawn sunrise mealtime mid-morning noontime

鷄鳴 平旦 日出 食時 隅中 日中

8 9

sun-decline dinnertime

日昳 晡食

10 11 12

sunset dusk all-still

日入 黃昏 人定

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

夜中 夜過中 雞鳴 平旦 日出 夙食 莫食 日中 日過中 日則 日下則 日未入 日入 昏 夜莫 夜未中

past midnight

past midday

before sunset

before midnight

construction to the east and also acceptable to the south, but it is unfavorable to the north and prohibited to the west. The four cardinal directions and four intermediary directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, northwest) are followed by the stems and branches of the sexagenary cycle and the twenty-eight stellar lodges and other elements as the most frequently named markers of direction. Thus, in the same way that the annual cycle of seasons, months, and days provided hemerologists with a self-sufficient temporal framework, so, too, did spatial orientations constitute a self-contained realm. The Sexagenary Cycle The practice of counting days in a cycle of sixty using the sexagenary binoms formed by combining one term from the series of ten stems (tiangan 天干) with another from the series of twelve branches (dizhi 地支) was already in use in the Shang period. The cycle begins with the day jiazi1 (composed of the stem jias1 and the branch zib1) and continues to the sixtieth day, guihai60 (composed of guis10 and haib12). The notation of days in an ever-recurring cycle of the sexagenary binoms, which underlies the cycles of seasons, months, and numerically-counted days of the month, constitutes the essential element of the calen-

dars that circulated simultaneously with the daybooks.109 Han wooden tablets with panoptical calendars deserve particular attention because they are structured as representations of the sexagenary cycle itself, in contrast to the sequential time line of months and days found on most excavated calendars. The panoptical calendar from Jinguan 金關, at Jianshui 肩水, Gansu, is an excellent example of the type. The year is not identified on the calendar but can be deduced as the third year of the Wufeng 五鳳 (Five Phoenix) reign period (55 bce) (fig. 4.3).110 The sixty binoms are arranged counterclockwise around the sides of the tablet: n11–n15 (from jiaxu11 to wuyin15) on the top, n16–n39 (from jimao16 to ren­ yin39) on the left, n40–n45 (from guimao40 to wushen45) on the bottom, and n46–n10 (from jiyou46 to guiyou10) on the right.111 The twelve months are written at the outer edge on the top and bottom of the tablet (numbered I–XII in fig. 4.3), and each month is identified as a large (da 大) month of 30 days (I 30 represents the first month as a large month) or a small (xiao 小) month of 29 days (II 29 represents the second month as a small month) for the current year. To read the calendar, the user goes to the desired month, finds the binom of its first day, and counts counterclockwise for either thirty or twenty-nine binoms to where that month ends and the next month begins. Thus, starting from the first day (n15, wuyin15) of the first month (I 30), the user would reach the last day (n9, renshen9) of the twelfth month (XII 30) after 355 days and nearly six complete revolutions around the tablet. Significant dates 109  For the sexagenary cycle and its components with numerical codes see tables 0.4 and 0.5 in this volume. For the early use of the sexagenary cycle in Shang and Zhou times, see A. Smith, 2011. 110  Tablet 73EJT29: 117A. See Jianshui Jinguan Han jian, vol. 3.1, pp. 159–60 (photograph); vol. 3.3, p. 100 (transcription). On the tablet verso (73EJT29: 117B), there is a list of days in the second month of the same year, starting from wushen45 (II-1). The details of the Jinguan panoptical calendar match the panoptical calendar for the first year of the Yuanyan 元延 reign period (12 bce) from Yinwan tomb 6, Jiangsu; Yinwan Han mu jiandu, tablet D10, p. 21 (photograph), p. 127 (transcription); for a facsimile reproduction, see fig. 7.3 in chap. 7 in this volume. 111  On the original tablet, the binom jiaxu11 (n11) is written twice: once as the first day of the eleventh month on the top outer edge of the tablet (beneath XI 29 in fig. 4.3), and again above guiyou10 (n10 in fig. 4.3) on the top right side of the tablet. Since the first day of the eleventh month was indeed a jiaxu11 day, the second jiaxu11 is an error and is not reproduced in fig. 4.3. For a modern reconstruction of the calendar, see Zhang Peiyu, 1990, p. 86.

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Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks Table 4.11 The system of Orphan and Empty branches The six decades

Branches for Orphan the six decades branches

Empty branches

n1–n10

zib1–youb10

xub11, haib12

chenb5, sib6

xub11–weib8

shenb9, youb10 yinb3, maob4

shenb9–sib6

wub7, weib8

zib1, choub2

wub7–maob4

chenb5, sib6

xub11, haib12

chenb5–choub2

yinb3, maob4

shenb9, youb10

yinb3–haib12

zib1, choub2

wub7, weib8

n11–n20 n21–n30 n31–40 n41–n50 n51–n60

Figure 4.3 Schematic representation of the Jinguan panoptical calendar of the year corresponding to 55 bce (Wufeng 3 五鳳三年). The eight seasonal markers and other events are recorded by the appropriate binom in the sexagenary day count. For convenience, the month and numerical day count are added in brackets. For instance, “Beginning of spring” recorded by n9 is the twelfth month, day 30 [XII/30].

in this calendar year are noted beneath the appropriate binom, including the eight seasonal markers, the three Fu 伏 (Retreat) days, and the year-end La 臘 festival.112 The sexagenary cycle also dominates hemerology in the daybooks. Even though the binoms and their stem and branch components constitute at least 80 percent of the input data, daybooks do not provide separate lists of the sexagenary binoms like those provided for the day-night proportions or even for the five agents. We may assume 112  Wufeng 3 (55 bce) was a regular year of twelve months divided into seven months of 30 days and five months of 29 days; thus the year comprised 355 days. Note that in Wufeng 3, Lichun 立春 (Beginning of Spring) was precisely the last day of the calendar year (next to n9 in fig. 4.3); that is, the thirtieth day of the twelfth month (XII-30, or February 4, 54 bce) (see Zhang Peiyu, 1990, p. 86). For the eight seasonal nodes, the La festival, and the Retreat days in Han excavated calendars, see pp. 282–89 in chap. 7.

jiazi1– guiyou10 jiaxu11– guiwei20 jiashen21– guisi30 jiawu31– guimao40 jiachen41– guichou50 jiayin51– guihai60

that hemerologists and daybook users were thoroughly familiar with the sexagenary binom day-count.113 Specific hemerologies, however, are structured by their arrangement of the complete sexagenary cycle. Binoms are arranged in groups whose characteristics exhibit symmetries inherent in the sexagenary cycle and which also serve additional hemerological functions. Common examples are the six ten-stem cycles traditionally called liujia 六甲 “six jias1” (n1–n10, n11–n20, n21–n30, n31–n40, n41–n50, n51–n60) and the five twelve-branch cycles called wuzi 五子 “five zib1” (n1–n12, n13–n24, n25–n36, n37–n48, n49– n60).114 Groupings that are more complex may draw on elements external to the cycle, such as the system traditionally called Nayin 納音 (Containing Notes) in which the binoms are arranged in five groups of twelve based on their correlation to the five notes of the pentatonic scale.115 The Guxu (Orphan-Empty) system combines the ten-stem cycle and the twelve-branch cycle; in each stem-based decade, the two missing branches become the Orphan branches (Guchen 孤辰), and the branches 113  According to Han shu, 24A, p. 1122, training in the sexagenary cycle (liujia 六甲) was part of the basic knowledge taught in local schools to children at the age of eight. 114  For the list of the sixty binoms arranged in twelve groups according to their branch components (five zib1, five choub2, five yinb3, and so forth), see SHDB.78. See also the “Rain Prediction” diagram (fig. 4.18) in this chapter. 115  For the Nayin system, see “Five-notes sexagenary system” in appendix C.

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Figure 4.4 The “Day Court” diagram with its basic components: months, I–XII; stems, s1–s10; branches, b1–b12; stellar lodges, x1–x28.

positioned o­ pposite them in the temporal or spatial plan are the Empty positions (Xuwei 虛位) (see table 4.11).116 The predominance of sexagenary hemerology in the daybooks becomes all the more evident when we see that, in addition to marking dates in time, the ten stems and the twelve branches are used to determine orientations in space. Archaeological discoveries in recent decades have revealed the existence of a minimal structure composed of a central cross, which forms an orthogonal division corresponding to the ersheng 二繩 “two cords” in the Master of Huainan (Huainanzi 淮南子) account of cosmological structure, and four right angles in the corners opening to the exterior, the sigou 四鉤 “four hooks” mentioned in the Master of Huainan.117 This structure, now generally called the “cord-hook” diagram, appears on a large variety of media: silk and bamboo-slip manuscripts as well as devices such as the second-century bce Dipper astrolabe (Beidou shi 北斗式) discovered in Shuanggudui tomb 1.118 116  For uses of the Guxu system in the daybooks, see Liu Lexian, 2010, pp. 244–50. See also pp. 133–36 in chap. 3. 117   Huainanzi, 3, p. 96 (“Tianwen xun”). 118  For examples of early uses of the cord-hook diagram, see Kalinowski, 1999, pp. 135–45; for a recent survey of Han mantic devices (shi 式), see Kalinowski, 2013.

The diagram also occurs in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. In one section of the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.18), the cord-hook diagram is labeled with the name “Riting” 日廷 (Day Court). First-century ce attestation of the name occurs in the discussion of hemerology in the Assay of Arguments (Lunheng 論衡), and its exact meaning there is now clear.119 Evidence in the first Zhoujiatai daybook-related manuscript indicates that “Day Court” was the name for the diagram in the third century bce; thus it seems appropriate in the context of hemerology to call it the “ ‘Day Court’ diagram” (fig. 4.4).120 The primary function of the “Day Court” diagram is to indicate positions in space and in time in the manner of a compass; the orientations can extend from a basic four to eight, twelve, sixteen, and up to twenty-four positions. The elements most often associated with the diagram in the daybooks are the ten stems, the twelve branches, the twelve lunar months, and the twenty-eight stellar lodges, as well as the implicit symbolism of time (the four

119  Lunheng, 25, p. 1032 (“Jieshu” 詰術); Kalinowski, 2011a, p. 257. 120  See ZJTA.5 for an occurrence of the word ting, which appears to be an abbreviated reference to Riting (Day Court).

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Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks Table 4.12 Pit days for the twelve months of the year and the distribution of the middle stems wus5 and jis6 in relation to their location on the Dipper astrolabe from Shuanggudui tomb 1 Pit 臽 days

Shuanggudui Dipper astrolabe

I II III

rens9 guis10 wus5

north

rens9 guis10 wus5 northeast corner

IV V VI

jias1 yis2 wus5

east

jias1 yis2 wus5 southeast corner

VII VIII IX

bings3 dings4 jis6

south

bings3 dings4 jis6 southwest corner

X XI XII

gengs7 xins8 jis6

west

gengs7 xins8 jis6 northwest corner

s­ easons) and space (the five quarters) on which the whole diagram is based.121 The great flexibility of the diagram and the intimate connection that it establishes between spatial and temporal coordinates give it an obvious cosmological dimension. In connection with hemerology, its role is mainly to invest the stems and branches of the sexagenary cycle with symbolic and astro-calendrical significations that are immediately perceptible when the ten stems and the twelve branches are distributed around the two cords and the four hooks. The ten stems are arranged in pairs in the four seasonal quarters, beginning with east-spring-Wood ( jias1-yis2); the middle pair of stems, wus5-jis6, is associated with the center and the agent Earth. However, wus5 and jis6 may also be split and each stem doubled in order to assign them to the four points on the perimeter where 121  Graham (1989, p. 343) has observed that the basic correlation between the four seasons and the four directions, no doubt older than the five agents, played the determinant role in shaping the cosmological worldview of the Eastern Zhou. This predominance of seasons and directions was also the precondition for the existence of all other sets of correspondences, including those related to the practice of hemerology and calendrical astrology.

the seasons intersect. This arrangement is used in Xian 臽 (Pit) day hemerology, in which the doubled stems wus5 and jis6 combine with the other eight stems to become a series of twelve stems attached to the twelve months. The same arrangement occurs on the early Han examples of Dipper astrolabes, where the doubled stems wus5 and jis6 represent the simen 四門 “four gates” that provide for the passage from one season to another (see table 4.12).122 The seasonal order also informs the sequence of the twelve branches, beginning with zib1 at the north extremity of one of the cords representing the midpoint of the season winter. The other seasonal midpoints follow in succession at the remaining three cord extremities: maob4 (eastspring), wub7 (south-summer), youb10 (west-autumn). The other eight branches are distributed two by two among the extremities of the four hooks. This arrangement represents the transfer to the “Day Court” diagram of the Doujian 斗建 (Dipper Establishment) method, which itself is based on using the three stars of the handle of the Northern Dipper for orientation by observing the handle’s position on the horizon at dusk over the course of the year. The earliest definition of the Dipper Establishment method appears in one of the bamboo-slip miscellanies from Yinqueshan 銀雀山 tomb 1, Shandong (second half of the second century bce): 斗建正月斗昏建寅

Dipper Establishment: In the first month, the Dipper at dusk establishes yinb3.123 Following yinb3, whose position is E-NE and marks the beginning of spring, each month of the civil calendar is associated with the orientation of the handle of the Dipper and a branch, which results in correlations between the four seasons, the twelve months, and the twelve branches as markers of direction (see table 4.13). Use of the Dipper Establishment method to fix the succession of months gives the “Day Court” diagram a uniquely dynamic quality. The arrangement of the stems and branches of the sexagenary cycle on the diagram represents more than a static spatial plan; it also represents the involvement of the stems and branches in the ­unceasing 122  Lists of Pit days occur in SHDA.46, SHDB.28, and FMTB.18. See Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 175–79, 351; and Liu Xinfang, 1993. On the notion of “four gates” in relation to Dipper astrolabes, see Kalinowski, 1983, pp. 374–81; and Li Ling, 2006c, pp. 95–96. Fig. 4.5 in this chapter shows the location of stems wus5 and jis6 in the four corners of the Shuanggudui Dipper astrolabe. 123   Yinqueshan Han mu zhujian, vol. 2, p. 238, slip 2020.

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Table 4.13 The keying of the twelve months to the twelve branches according to the Dipper Establishment method Season

Month

Branch

Orientation

spring

I II III

yinb3 maob4 chenb5

E-NE E E-SE

summer

IV V VI

sib6 wub7 weib8

S-SE S S-SW

autumn

VII VIII IX

shenb9 youb10 xub11

W-SW W W-NW

winter

X XI XII

haib12 zib1 choub2

N-NW N N-NE

cycle of months and seasons. For all these elements of the diagram, the movement is clockwise or leftward (zuo xing 左行), according to the Chinese terminology (the observer is presumed to be facing south). From the perspective of sky observation, the leftward movement reproduces the apparent daily and annual rotation of the vault of heaven overhead from north to east, south, and west with respect to the earth’s horizon.124 The Twenty-Eight Stellar Lodges Several features of the hemerological use of the twentyeight stellar lodges within the framework of the “Day Court” diagram are also seen in transmitted texts and on mantic devices such as the Dipper astrolabe, beginning with their conventional grouping in four seasonal quarters, with seven lodges in each quarter.125 The first lodge is Horn1 (α Virginis), located in the southeast corner of 124  On the Dipper Establishment method and its astronomical background, see Kalinowski, 1983, pp. 343–52; Major, 1993, pp. 88–92, 106–8; Cullen, 1996, pp. 43–49; and Kalinowski, 2013, pp. 344–47. 125  Table 0.7 in this volume provides a list of the twenty-eight stellar lodges. For excavated Han mantic devices and artifacts with representations of the twenty-eight stellar lodges, see Kalinowski, 2013, pp. 352–54. The Dipper astrolabe has two sets of stellar lodges: one on the movable disk (related to the twelve months) and another around the perimeter of the square base combined with the stems and branches.

the “Day Court” diagram (marked as x1 in fig. 4.4) on the position chenb5; on the Shuanggudui Dipper astrolabe, the lodge Horn1 is further aligned with the handle of the Dipper in its function of orientation (fig. 4.5).126 The sequential arrangement of the stellar lodges is counterclockwise or rightward (you zhuan 右轉) around the diagram (from north to west, south, and east). The rightward sequence of the twenty-eight lodges in the layout of the “Day Court” diagram represents the annual revolution of the sun and planets from west to east against the background of the fixed stars, as opposed to the daily and annual movement of the vault of heaven from east to west with respect to the horizon, which is represented on the “Day Court” diagram by the leftward sequence of the seasons, months, and twelve branches. The combination of leftward and rightward movements as represented by the “Day Court” diagram is a feature of a number of hemerological systems described in the daybooks; further, most often, the entities that move have no astronomical reality. While they may seem to have the quality of fictive celestial bodies, these entities do not differ in their uses from other types of day qualifiers that are wholly calendrical and have no known celestial counterpart. The principal uses of the twenty-eight stellar lodges in the daybooks are calendrical and hemerological. The twelve lodges that mark the approximate position of the sun for the twelve months of the civil calendar— the richan 日躔 “solar stations”—always remain the same in a fixed correspondence with the months.127 The Jiudian daybook gives us the list of the twelve yuexing 月星 “monthly lodges” around 300 bce.128 We may refer to the “Day Court” diagram to show the relationship between the months as determined by the orientation of the 126  During the Qin and Han periods, the Dipper handle was in rough alignment with the stellar lodges connected to chenb5 (Horn1 and Gullet2). The Shiji describes the position of the Northern Dipper relative to neighboring constellations. See the discussion in Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 3, pp. 232–33; and Sun and Kistemaker, 1997, star maps 1 and 3. 127  See SHDA.12; SHDB.24; ZJTA.1; FMTB.64; KJP.5. The correlations between months and stellar lodges on the movable disk of the Dipper astrolabe are the same as in the daybooks: month I is connected to House13 (x13 in fig. 4.5), month II to Straddler15 (x15), and so forth. For a full account of this fixed series of monthly lodges in excavated material and transmitted texts, see Kalinowski, 1996, pp. 74–75. 128   J D.9. See p. 157 in this chapter. In the Jiudian daybook, the lodge associated with the ninth month (Xianma) is Chamber4, whereas the ninth month lodge is Base3 in all other occurrences (see table 4.14). The terms yuexiu 月宿 “monthly lodge” and shuoxiu 朔宿 “new-moon lodge” are used in later transmitted texts but do not occur in the daybooks. In general, the daybooks do not

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Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks

Figure 4.5 The Dipper astrolabe from Shuanggudui tomb 1; lacquered wood, base size 13.5 cm. After Kalinowski, 2013, p. 342.

Table 4.14 The twelve monthly lodges in the daybooks, correlated with the Dipper Establishment method Season

Month Dipper orientation

Sun’s position on the Day Court

I II III

yinb3 E-NE maob4 E chenb5 E-SE

House13 Shi 室 Straddler15 Kui 奎 Stomach17 Wei 胃

N-NW W-NW W

IV summer V VI

sib6 wub7 weib8

Net19 Well22 Willow24

W-SW S-SW S

VII autumn VIII IX

shenb9 W-SW Spread26 youb10 W Horn1 xub11 W-NW Base3

Zhang 張 S-SE Jiao 角 E-SE Di 氐 E

haib12 N-NW zib1 N choub2 N-NE

Xin 心 Dou 斗 Nü 女

spring

winter

X XI XII

S-SE S S-SW

Heart5 Dipper8 Woman10

Bi 畢 Jing 井 Liu 柳

E-NE N-NE N

 use xiu as a technical word referring to the system of twentyeight stellar lodges (there is one occurrence in FMTB.8 and two occurrences in ZJTA.5). Rather, they are referred to as xing 星 “star.” Note also the term yuexing ri 月星日 “monthly-star day” denoting the first day of the month in the Mawangdui manuscript Chuxing zhan 出行占; see Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 87–88,

Dipper Establishment method and by the sun’s position at the twelve stellar lodges that constitute the monthly lodges (table 4.14). The orientation of the monthly lodges on the diagram can be inferred from their associated branches. For the first month (I), the Dipper handle at dusk points to yinb3, or E-NE on the “Day Court” diagram; the sun is located at House13, whose position corresponds to haib12, or N-NW on the diagram. In successive months, the two movements run in opposite directions (leftward for the Dipper, rightward for the stellar lodges) and cross at the solstices: in the south between the fifth month (V) and the sixth month (VI) and in the north between the eleventh month (XI) and the twelfth month (XII).129 The monthly lodges are also the basis for using the sequence of twenty-eight stellar lodges to count the days of each month. Hemerologies in the Shuihudi daybooks provide the oldest evidence of the stellar lodge daycount. The method identifies the monthly lodge for each month as simultaneously the first day (shuori 朔日 “newmoon day”) of that month. For instance, the monthly 283–84. I suspect that it is equivalent to yuexiu ri 月宿日 “monthly lodge day” as a designation of the first day of a given month and not an error for yueshuo ri 月朔日 “new-moon day.” 129  In later accounts of the Liuren 六壬 system of calendrical astrology derived from the early uses of the Dipper astrolabe, the branch-stellar lodge relation representing the movement of the Dipper’s handle (as opposed to the movement of the sun) is simplified into a branch-branch relation: I = yin b3-hai b12, II = mao b4-xu b11, III = chenb5-you b10, IV = sib6-shenb9, V = wub7-weib8, VI = weib8-wub7, and so forth. See Kalinowski, 1983, pp. 282–84.

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lodge of the first month, House13, is also the first day of the first month; the second day is Wall14; the third day is Straddler15; and so forth to the end of the month. Given that months are either twenty-nine or thirty days long, the sequence of stellar lodges and days exceeds one cycle of twenty-eight lodges. However, the day-count for the next month starts anew with the monthly lodge for that month assigned to its first day: the first day of the second month is always Straddler15, followed by Harvester16 for the second day; the first day of the third month is Stomach17, followed by Mane18 for the second day; and so forth through the sequence of twelve months.130 Since the first day of a month, or new-moon day, is by definition the day when the sun and the moon are in conjunction, one result of the stellar lodge day-count is to bring together the sidereal revolution of the sun in one year represented by the twelve monthly lodges and the synodic revolution of the moon in twenty-nine and a half days represented by the stellar lodge day-count. Although ingenious, the day-count is pure fiction: in the first place, because the Table 4.15 Representation of the stellar lodge day-count for the short months (twenty-nine days) and long months (thirty days) of the calendar year Month

First day (monthly lodge)

Last day (29th)

Last day (30th)

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII

House13 Straddler15 Stomach17 Net19 Well22 Willow24 Spread26 Horn1 Base3 Heart5 Dipper8 Woman10

Wall14 Harvester16 Mane18 Beak20 Ghost23 Star25 Wing27 Gullet2 Chamber4 Tail6 Ox9 Barrens11

Straddler15 Stomach17 Net19 Triaster21 Willow24 Spread26 Axletree28 Base3 Heart5 Winnower7 Woman10 Roof12

Shi 室 Kui 奎 Wei 胃 Bi 畢 Jing 井 Liu 柳 Zhang 張 Jiao 角 Di 氐 Xin 心 Dou 斗 Nü 女

Notes: In the two “Last day” columns on the right, the lodge is in italics when there is no overlap between the last-day lodge of one month and the predetermined first-day lodge of the next month. There are eight cases for short months and four cases for long months. 130  Conclusive evidence proving the use of the stellar lodge daycount in the daybooks is in the sections that identify days both by numbers and by lodge names (SHDA.65, SHDB.27, SHDB.29, KJP.41); see Kalinowski, 1996, pp. 75–78.

twenty-eight stellar lodges are of unequal widths in their equatorial extensions and cannot be reduced to a division of heaven into twenty-eight equal sections, and in the second place, the alternation between twenty-nine and thirty days for the months of the civil calendar often results in an overlap of one stellar lodge or a gap of one lodge in the shift from the last day of one month to the predetermined monthly-lodge first day of the next month (see table 4.15). Hence the applications of the stellar lodge day-count were essentially hemerological, allowing the daybook user to quickly and easily consult the relevant prescriptions and predictions associated with each of the twenty-eight stellar lodges. Other hemerological uses of the stellar lodges include their adaptation to specific predictive contexts. One example is the first Zhoujiatai manuscript (ZJTA). ZJTA.3 is a diagram composed of an inner circle with the Day Court design surrounded by a circular band divided into twenty-eight segments with the names of the stellar lodges and names for the twenty-eight time periods of the day inside the segments (see figs. 4.13, 4.14). ZJTA.4 concerns the orientation of the Dipper handle with respect to the stellar lodges. Separate entries for each stellar lodge include prescriptions and predictions that apply when the Dipper is positioned there. Presumably this mantic information is relevant to the stellar lodge day-count, but in the Zhoujiatai manuscript, it applies to the twenty-eight time periods of the day identified in ZJTA.3, and ZJTA.5 provides the method for determining the position of the Dipper among the twenty-eight time periods based on the Dipper Establishment method for determining the months.131 Once again, this is a kind of hemerological fiction, yet we can recognize the connection to temporal and spatial arrangements based on the daily revolution of the stellar lodges—their stars fixed to the vault of heaven as it moves leftward—with respect to the horizon. A predictive hemerology in the first Shuihudi daybook presents a different grouping of the stellar lodges by month. SHDA.12 consists of a list of the twelve months, and for each month there is a fourfold classification of the stellar lodges associated with it: highly inauspicious (daxiong 大凶), fatal (zhisi 致死), highly auspicious (daji 大吉), and slightly auspicious (shaoji 少吉). Read as a list, the logic behind the predictive classification does not seem to be tied to the stellar lodge day-count; however, once the list is transferred to the “Day Court” diagram, it becomes clear that the hemerology is based on the positions occupied by the stellar lodges in the four seasonal quarters on the periphery of the “Day Court” diagram. For instance, 131   Z JTA.1–5; see Peng Jinhua and Liu Guosheng, 2001.

167

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks Table 4.16 Stellar lodge hemerology in SHDA.12 daxiong

zhisi

daji

shaoji

haib12 zib1 choub2

x12–x13, N (x10)–x11, N x8–x9, N

x5–x6, E (x3)–x4, E x1–x2, E

x19–x20, W x17–?, W x15–x16, W

x26–x27, S x24–x25, S x22–x23, S

I II III

yinb3 maob4 chenb5

x5, E x3–x4, E x1–x2, E

x26–x27, S x25, S x22–x23, S

x12–x13, N x10–x11, N x8–x9, N

x19–x20, W x17–(x18), W x15–x16, W

summer

IV V VI

sib6 wub7 weib8

x26–x27, S x25, S x22–x23, S

x19–x20, W x17–(x18), W x15–x16, W

x5–x6, E (x3)–x4, E x1–x2, E

x12–x13, N x10–x11, N x8–x9, N

autumn

VII VIII IX

shenb9 youb10 xub11

x19–x20, W x17–(x18), W x15–x16, W

x12–x13, N x10–x11, N x8–x9, N

x26–x27, S x24–x25, S x22–x23, S

x5–x6, E (x3)–x4, E (x1–x2), E

Season

Month

winter

X XI XII

spring

during the three months of winter (north; months haib12, zib1, choub2) the northern stellar lodges (N) are highly inauspicious, the eastern lodges (E) fatal, the western lodges (W) highly auspicious, and the southern (S) lodges slightly auspicious (see table 4.16). The same pattern holds for the other seasons.132 Lastly, the record of the twenty-eight stellar lodges with their equatorial extensions in du 度 “graduations” in the second Fangmatan daybook is unique in the daybooks. FMTB.64 occurs among a sequence of sections related to pitch-standard divination. In the most recent reconstruction, the editors have placed the sections together near the end of the manuscript.133 The function of the stellar lodge widths was purely numerological, and the diviner made predictions using the numbers along with other numerical series associated with the stems, branches, and pitch standards.134 Of particular significance is the fact 132  See Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 73–86. For discussion of the same system found in the hemerological slips from the tomb at Yintai 印臺, Hubei, where it is referred to as Xingyan 星臽 (Lodge Pit) days, see Liu Lexian, 2009, pp. 92–93. For the same hemerological classification of the stellar lodges, see the “Dark Dagger-Ax hemerology” section in appendix C in this volume. 133   F MTB.64; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, pp. 202–5. For further discussion of the list of lodge widths in the manuscript, see Sun Zhanyu, 2011. 134  On sections related to pitch-standard divination in FMTB, see Kalinowski, 2011b; and Cheng Shaoxuan, 2012. See also the “Pitch-standard divination” section in appendix C.

that the numbers of the stellar lodge widths represent the so-called gudu 古度 “old graduations,” that is, the system of ancient measurements preserved in transmitted texts in the Opening Epoch Divination Classic (Kaiyuan zhanjing 開元占經) of the eighth century ce. Before discovery of the Fangmatan daybooks, the authenticity of the ancient system in use before the calendrical reform of the Taichu 太初 (Grand Inception) reign period in 104 bce was confirmed by the discovery of the “lodge dial” (ershiba xiu yuanpan 二十八宿圓盤) in Shuanggudui tomb 1, which is composed of two disks with the twenty-eight stellar lodges and measurements ringing the bottom disk.135 The third-century bce Fangmatan daybook now constitutes the oldest known evidence of stellar lodge widths. Comparison of the sources—FMTB.64, the Shuanggudui lodge dial, Opening Epoch Divination Classic—indicates that the ancient system was not necessarily as unified as was previously thought. Only nine of the twenty-eight stellar lodges have the same width measurement in all three sources; another six are inconclusive because of numbers missing due to lacunae; and there are differences in the rest of the stellar lodges among sources (see table 4.17). 135  The Kaiyuan zhanjing old system of lodge widths is quoted from the lost Hongfan wuxing zhuan 洪範五行傳 by Liu Xiang 劉向 (79–8 bce); see Kaiyuan zhanjing, chaps. 60–63. For lodge widths and determinative stars, see table 0.7. On the Shuanggudui lodge dial, see Wang Jianmin and Liu Jinyi, 1989; and Cullen, 1996, pp. 17–19.

168

kalinowski

Table 4.17 The old system of stellar lodge widths Stellar lodges

A

B

C

Stellar lodges

A

B

C

Horn1 Gullet2 Base3 Chamber4 Heart5 Tail6 Winnower7

12 12 17 7 10, 12 9 10

1? 11 1? 7 11 9 10

12 — 17 7 12 9 10

Straddler15 Harvester16 Stomach17 Mane18 Net19 Beak20 Triaster21

15 12 14, 13 15 15 6 9

14 15 11 15 15 6 9

12 15 11 15 15 6 —

Dipper8 Ox9 Woman10 Barrens11 Roof12 House13 Wall14

23, 22 — — 14 9 20 13

22 9 10 14 6 20 15

22 9 10 14 9 20 15

Well22 Ghost23 Willow24 Star25 Spread26 Wing27 Axletree28

[29] 5 — 13 — 13 15

26 5 18 12 — — —

29 5 18 13 13 13 16

Note: A = FMTB.64; B = Shuanggudui lodge dial; C = Kaiyuan zhanjing

The Five Agents The last section of the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.86), titled “Sui” 歲 (Year), consists of a relatively long text in two parts: the first part is a calendrical cosmology with its spatial, temporal, and physical correlations; the second part contains a complete set of monthly predictions based on the annual cycles of two day qualifiers that are not identified specifically in the text. A combination of discourse and hemerology, the content of this section is unusual in comparison to the other published daybooks. Further, its relevance for the study of early Chinese correlative thought and natural philosophy has drawn the attention of scholars.136 The opening of this section almost immediately introduces the five agents: 天不足西方天柱乃折地不足東方地維乃絕於是名東方而 樹之木謂之青名南方而樹之火[謂之赤名西方而樹之] 金謂之白名北方而樹之水謂之黑名中央而樹之土謂之黃 於是紀謂而定四鄉和陰陽雌雄乃通於是令日當月令月當 歲各十二時

Heaven is deficient in the west, and the pillar of heaven then breaks. Earth is deficient in the east, and the cord of earth then snaps. Thereupon, name 136  Liu Lexian, 2010, pp. 100–105; Chen Xuanwei, 2007, pp. 211–18; Harkness, 2011, pp. 163–88.

the east, establish Wood there, and term it “green.” Name the south, establish Fire there, and [term it “red.” Name the west, establish]137 Metal there, and term it “white.” Name the north, establish Water there, and term it “black.” Name the center, establish Earth there, and term it “yellow.” Thereupon, arrange the terms to fix the four directions and harmonize yin and yang, and male and female then connect. Thereupon, make the days match with the months and make the months match with the years, each having twelve time periods.138 Unlike other, earlier cosmogonic accounts, such as in Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 (mentioned above), the text does not refer to the time before the formation of heaven and earth. We are drawn directly into the story of rebuilding space after an imbalanced heaven and earth collapse, which is the precondition to organizing the procession of days, months, and years.139 The primal role assigned to Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water in this process is itself remarkable and testifies to the growing influence of five-agents ideas on hemerological practices at the beginning of the Han period. Compare, for instance, the roughly contemporaneous anecdote about hemerology at the court of Emperor Wu (r. 140–87 bce)—as told by Chu Shaosun 褚少孫 (ca. 104–ca. 30 bce) in his additions to the Records of the Scribe—in which the ruler orders seven divination experts to determine whether a certain day is favorable for marriage. The five-agents expert is first and says “Permitted,” followed by the other six, each with a different prediction. In the end, Emperor Wu simply declares that the five-agents method takes precedence over the others.140 Next, KJP.86 lists the correlations for the five tastes (wuwei 五味), the five notes, and the five agents in the conquest cycle (wusheng 五勝). When we add information from other sections of the daybook—KJP.81–82, for instance, correlate the emperors of the five colors (wuse di 五色帝) with the five directions and ten stems arranged in five pairs—the basic features of five-agents ideas in classic Qin and Han transmitted texts, such as the several versions of the monthly ordinances and the Comprehensive 137  The top of slip 459 is missing nine graphs, which are restored based on context. 138   K JP.86, slips 458–460; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 184; translation follows Harkness, 2011, pp. 163–80, with modifications. 139  For a study of early cosmogonies based on manuscript evidence, see Kalinowski, 2004. 140   Shiji, 127, p. 3222; see Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 250–63.

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks

Discussions in the White Tiger Hall (Baihu tong 白虎通), are present in the Kongjiapo daybook.141 At the same time, there are unusual correlative patterns in the Kongjiapo daybook that have vanished from later hemerological sources.142 With the exception of the Jiudian daybook, all the other daybooks contain short sections devoted to the five agents. I describe the sections as theoretical in the sense that their purpose is to provide basic information about the five agents themselves, not to present hemerologies in which five-agents ideas might be involved. These sections mainly correlate the agents with the directions and with the ten stems. The conquest cycle of the five agents is equally well documented.143 The Kongjiapo daybook section on the conquest cycle (KJP.12) has the section heading “Wusheng” 五勝 (Five conquests). This section is notable for incorporating a method for safe travel based on the conquest cycle that reifies the cycle by using material objects for the agents:

169

Five Conquests: East is Wood; Metal conquers Wood. Carry [1] a piece of iron three inches long to go east.144 South is Fire; Water conquers Fire. Carry a vessel filled with water to go south. North is Water; Earth conquers Water. Carry earth wrapped in cloth to go north. West is Metal; Fire conquers Metal. Carry a piece of charcoal three inches long and bound in cloth to go west. When (you) wish to go somewhere, travel carrying these things and you need not rely on the time.145

The idea is to carry the object that “conquers” the agent of the direction of travel: Metal conquers Wood, so one should carry a piece of iron to travel to the eastWood; Water conquers Fire, so one should carry a vessel with water in it to travel to the south-Fire; and so forth. Moreover, this method eliminates the need to use travel hemerologies for determining the favorable time for travel. The travel method in KJP.12 must have been popular at the time because a similar method is found in the earlier Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany (ZJTB.21) and in fragments of later hemerological slips from Ejina 額濟納.146 Notable as well is Wang Chong’s condemnation of the popular belief that people could manipulate the five agents by using objects that represent them.147 Daybooks supported the idea that the agents had material existence. In contrast to the conquest cycle, the generation cycle of the five agents (xiang sheng 相生) is virtually absent from the daybooks, the single exception being an incomplete and defective list in the second Fangmatan daybook.148 It occurs at the end of a theoretical section that describes the “three-unions” system of the five agents (wuxing sanhe 五行三合), an application of five-agents ideas found in several daybooks.149 The three-unions system plays an important role in hemerology in the daybooks. It is based on the notion that the four seasonal agents (Wood, Fire, Metal, Water) undergo a cycle of generation and decay in three phases: birth (sheng 生), maturity (zhuang 狀), and decay (lao 老). As with other hemerological applications, the “Day Court” diagram provides the visual frame for the positions in the cycle according to season and direction.150 The Fire cycle (summer-south), for instance, starts at the beginning of spring (yinb3, E-NE), which corresponds to the phase of birth for

141  See, for instance, Liji, chaps. 14–17 (“Yueling” 月令); and Baihu tong, 3, 9a–19a (“Wuxing” 五行). The Wuxing dayi 五行大義 by Xiao Ji 蕭吉 is a late Six Dynasties comprehensive account of the five agents based on early sources (see Kalinowski, 1991, for a complete translation). 142  See Yan Changgui, 2010a, pp. 67–82; and Shang Minjie, 1997b. 143  For correlations between agents and directions, see SHDA.64 and KJP.12; see also the Ejina hemerological slips (Liu Lexian, 2010, p. 166). For correlations between agents and stems, see SHDB.26, ZJTA.10, HK.14. For the conquest cycle, see SHDA.64, SHDB.26, KJP.12. 144  The Chinese inch, or cun 寸, is 2.31 centimeters. 145   K JP.12, slips 105–107; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 140; translation follows Harkness, 2011, p. 137, with modifications. The unclassified fragment can24 with the graphs suozhi 所至 has recently been restored to the top of slip 107; see Liu Guosheng, 2014, p. 218.

146  For discussion of KJP.12, ZJTB.21, and the Ejina hemerological slips, see pp. 117–18 in chap. 3. 147   Lunheng, 23, p. 981 (“Lanshi” 讕時); Kalinowski, 2011a, pp. 235–36. 148  See FMTB.13, slip 772, which mentions only Earth, Wood, and Fire and states that Earth generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, and Fire generates Earth. Earth generating Wood is otherwise unattested (Water generates Wood in the standard generation cycle). 149  The relevant sections in the six daybooks are SHDB.26, FMTB.13, KJP.11, and KJP.20. The locus classicus for the three-unions system applied to the five agents including Earth is Huainanzi, 3, p. 121 (“Tianwen xun”); Major, 1993, p. 124. In the Huainanzi, the three positions assigned to Earth are the same as those for Fire but in reverse order (birth on wub7, maturity on xub11, decay on yinb3), which indicates a later addition to the existing model based on the four seasonal agents. 150  See the “Day Court” diagram in KJP.20 showing the three-unions pattern of the four seasonal agents.

五勝東方木金勝木[1]鐵長三寸操東南方火水勝火以齍盛 水操南北方水土勝水操土北裹以布西方金火勝金操炭長 三寸以西纏以布欲有所至行操此物不以時

170

kalinowski

Table 4.18 The three-unions arrangement of the four seasonal agents in relation to the twelve branches and the four quarters Agent

Birth

Maturity

Decay

Wood

winter 1st month haib12, N-NW

spring 2nd month maob4, E

summer 3rd month weib8, S-SW

Fire

spring 1st month yinb3, E-NE

summer 2nd month wub7, S

autumn 3rd month xub11, W-SW

Metal

summer 1st month sib6, S-SE

autumn 2nd month youb10, W

winter 3rd month choub2, N-NE

Water

autumn 1st month shenb9, W-SW

winter 2nd month zib1, N

spring 3rd month chenb5, E-SE

Fire; culminates in the middle of summer (wub7, south), which corresponds to its phase of maturity; and terminates at the end of autumn (xub11, W-NW), which corresponds to its phase of decay. The branches corresponding to the three positions occupied by the four seasonal agents in their three-phase cycle constitute the most commonly used interpretative model in the sexagenary hemerologies (see table 4.18).151 The five agents are also well represented in nontheoretical, hemerological sections. Perhaps the most explicit presentation occurs in one of the Qin wooden tablets from Yueshan 岳山 tomb 36, Hubei, which lists the good days and avoidance days according to the sexagenary binoms cycle for each of the five agents and adds a sixth: Jade (Yu 玉).152 Daybooks occasionally refer to days according to the agent associated with the day, such as Fire day (see table 4.8). These designations always occur in hemerologies based on the correlation between the agents and the ten stems grouped in five pairs, and the stem in the sexagenary binom presumably is the basis for the use of agents as day designations. This use of stems and agents is 151  The record of the three-unions system in KJP.11 is labeled “[1] sheng” [1] 生 ([1] generations), which is probably “Wusheng” 五生 (Five generations), and the following section with the conquest cycle, KJP.12, is titled “Wusheng” (Five conquests). 152   Y S.1–6, tablet 43r, cols. 11–51, 6. The tablet includes a list of good days and avoidance days for Jade, making up the set of six elements known in transmitted texts as the “six materials” (liucai 六材). See the facsimile of the Yueshan tablet in fig. 2.5 in chap. 2.

b6

Fire-Summer b7

b8

b9

b5

Metal b10 Autumn

Wood b4 Spring

b11

b3

b2

b1 Water-Winter

b12

Figure 4.6 Han dynasty bone tokens with the first ten sexagenary binoms and agents; 11 cm high, 1.2 cm wide. Left to right: the tokens for jiazi1 and yichou2 have “Wood” inscribed at the bottom; bingyin3 and dingmao4, “Fire”; wuchen5 and jisi6, “Earth”; gengwu7 and xinwei8, “Metal”; renshen9 and guiyou10, “Water.” After Zhongguo wenwu jinghua da cidian: Jinyin yushi juan, p. 409.

confirmed by a set of ten tokens (dated to the Han period, but provenance unknown), each token inscribed with a binom from jiazi1 to guiyou10 and an agent (see fig. 4.6).153 153  For these objects, see Zhongguo wenwu jinghua da cidian, p. 409. Another set of similar tokens made of ivory has been excavated from a late Warring States tomb in Hebei; see Wenwu 1990.6, pp. 67–71. However, the ivory tokens lack the five agents. The use of these tokens is uncertain; see Li Ling, 2006a, pp. 57–58.

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks

In the daybook hemerologies, the use of the five-agents conquest cycle or the three-unions system is most often implicit but obvious. For instance, in the illness hemerology based on the stems found in the Shuihudi daybooks, when the illness begins on a gengs7 or xins8 day (Metal days), the prediction is that it becomes manifest on a jias1 or yis2 day (Wood days, as Metal conquers Wood), that respite occurs on a bings3 day (Fire day, as Fire conquers Metal), and that recovery follows on a dings4 day (also a Fire day).154 The logic of the prediction suggests that the condition of manifest illness—when people no doubt used the hemerology—is due to the conquest of one agent by another (in this case, the conquest of Wood by Metal) and that respite and recovery occur when the initial agent involved is in turn conquered. The context is not always so obvious. Hemerologies that seem to involve a five-agents interpretive scheme may simply rely on other correlative systems supported by the sexagenary day-count and the distribution in space and time of the ten stems and twelve branches. Indeed, the daybooks provide evidence of the gradual consolidation of older correlative systems as five-agents ideas gained influence. They show that by the end of the Warring States period, interpretative models based on the five agents were used extensively in constructing hemerologies. The increasing dominance of the five agents by the beginning of the Western Han period is attested in the more explicit and frequent reliance on the five agents in the Kongjiapo daybook and in other excavated manuscripts, such as the hemerological manuscripts from Huxishan 虎溪山 tomb 1, Hunan, and Shuiquanzi 水泉子 tomb 5, Gansu (which include teachings on the five agents by Master Yan 閻氏), and the yinyang manuscripts from Yinqueshan tomb 1.155 Day Qualifiers All daybooks share a conventional terminology for designating the components of the input data of particular hemerologies, such as the twelve terms used in Jianchu (Establish-Remove) hemerology, of which Jian (Establish) is the first. The function of the terms, or “day qualifiers,” as we call them, is to imbue the time units to which they are attached—primarily days—with specific values and potentials. The terminology of day qualifiers is varied. In addition to descriptive terms like Jian (Establish), some 154  Note, however, that SHDA.18 and SHDB.66 do not explicitly mention the five agents, whereas the parallel section in KJP.68 does. 155  On the Huxishan and Shuiquanzi manuscripts, see pp. 77 and 79 in chap. 2. For the Yinqueshan yinyang texts, see Yinqueshan Han mu zhujian, vol. 2, pp. 75–119 (photographs), 201–46 (transcription); and pp. 80–81 in chap. 2. See also the study by Yates (1994).

171 terms are linked to a concrete activity, such as Xueji 血忌 (Blood Avoidance) days on which it is not permitted to spill animal blood; some indicate a general circumstance, such as Dabai 大敗 (Great Defeat) day; and some are names of official titles, such as Sikong 司空 (Minister of Works). Finally, some day qualifiers reference mythical sites, such as Xianchi 咸池 (Broad Pool), where the sun bathes in the east; divine figures, such as Chidi 赤帝 (Red Emperor); heavenly bodies, such as Xuange 玄戈 (Dark Dagger-Ax); and calendrical entities, such as Sui 歲 (Year) and Yuesha 月殺 (Month Killer).156 In modern Chinese studies, these are called shensha 神 煞 “calendar spirits,” a general term that first occurs in medieval hemerology. In medieval and later hemerology, the calendar spirits comprise both individual day qualifiers and integrated systems of day qualifiers. Calendar spirits are well represented in technical occult manuscripts from Dunhuang, and the Dunhuang annotated calendars (juzhu li 具注曆) of the ninth and tenth centuries include about one hundred calendar spirits connected to years, months, and days.157 Their number grew over time, and the full extent of the terminology is recorded in the Qing Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions (Xieji bianfang shu 協紀辨方書), completed in 1741, a vast official compendium of hemerological knowledge containing more than three hundred calendar spirits.158 We are only beginning to appreciate the complexity of day qualifiers in the daybooks and in early Chinese hemerology, including their hemerological function, the cultural significance of the terms, and their relation to later hemerology, when the notion of shensha “calendar spirit” was an explicit hemerological category. The term “day qualifier” is provisional, pending further research. It describes the basic function of qualifying the time units in hemerology, while avoiding potentially misleading associations with the category “calendar spirit” in later 156  See KJP.77 (Xueji); SHDA.54 (Dabai); and KJP.44 (Sikong). Xianchi is discussed below; for Xuange, see the “Dark Dagger-Ax hemerology” section in appendix C. 157   Alain Arrault surveys Dunhuang annotated calendars and counts thirty calendar spirits associated with years, ten with months, and fifty with days; see Arrault and Martzloff, 2003, pp. 106–8. See also the index of calendar spirits in Dunhuang manuscripts in Kalinowski, 2003b, pp. 633–34. 158  On Xieji bianfang shu, see pp. 343–47 in chap. 9. While the term shensha is not used in early texts, the idea that some of the day qualifiers associated with hemerology and the calendar were spirit-like entities definitely belongs to the Han worldview. See, for instance, Wang Chong’s explicit statement that “the spirits (shen 神) appearing in hemerological calendars of the Kanyu 堪輿 type are numerous”; Lunheng, 24, p. 996 (“Jiri” 譏日); Kalinowski, 2011a, p. 252.

172 hemerology. There is consensus on the major integrated systems of day qualifiers, which include in the first place the general hemerologies that are characteristic of the daybook text type. The day qualifiers in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts are fewer in number than in medieval manuscripts and calendars. They are rare in the Qin calendars discovered to date. There have been discoveries of Han calendars with day qualifiers dating to the reign of Emperor Wu, and day qualifiers in calendars are more common toward the end of the Western Han and continuing into the Eastern Han.159 The Yinwan 尹灣 wooden tablet with a calendar for the fifth month of the third year of the Yuanyan 元延 (Epochal Extension) reign period (corresponding to 10 bce), for instance, is inscribed with the names of eight day qualifiers written in large graphs at the top of the tablet together with their associated stems and branches (a ninth name in the left corner of the tablet is missing where the wood is damaged). Five of the names occur in daybooks, where there is more detailed information on the hemerologies to which they belong and on the kinds of activities that are permitted or prohibited. The Yinwan calendar proves that the practice of adding hemerological notations to calendars was already well established in the first century bce (fig. 4.7).160 Daybooks are, of course, hemerological miscellanies, not orderly repertories of hemerology such as the Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions. Day qualifiers occur randomly among the sections of a given daybook depending on choices made by the compiler or the copyist. Further, the use of day qualifiers in the hemerologies is fluid: sometimes different day qualifiers are applied to the same configuration of time units that constitute a hemerological system; conversely, the same day qualifier may be used in several distinct hemerological systems. Some daybooks record a simple series of days without mentioning day qualifiers, yet the same series is identified with its corresponding day qualifiers in another daybook.161 A considerable number of them 159  The preliminary report on the Peking University Qin slips mentions two calendars with Jianchu hemerology notations, one for the thirty-first year (216 bce) and the other for the thirty-third year (214 bce) of the First Emperor of Qin; see Chen Kanli, 2012, pp. 90–91. For day qualifiers in Han calendars, see Zhang Peiyu, 1989; Huang Yinong, 1999; and Huang Yinong, 2002b. On Qin and Han calendars more generally, see Chen Jiujin, 1989; and Liu Lexian, 2011. See also chap. 7 in this volume. 160  For a study of this calendar, see Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 191–94. 161  For instance, the same list of days is associated with Sikong 司空 (Minister of Works) in KJP.44, Tushen 土神 (Earth Spirit) in SHDA.79, and Tuxing 土星 (Earth Star) in FMTB.37. It is worth noting that I have not found occurrences of the day qualifier

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are individual day qualifiers—about thirty in SHDA— and like the integrated systems of day qualifiers, their use is nearly identical across the daybooks and daybookrelated manuscripts, which often have sections devoted to them.162 Overall, the number of day qualifiers that appear in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, their arrangement in specific hemerologies, and their occasional inclusion in calendars leave no room for doubt regarding how the day qualifiers functioned in hemerology and in everyday life. Daybooks sometimes shed light on the formation of day qualifiers associated with a series of days and on their later history. A well-documented example is the system of inspection days associated with Red Emperor in the sections on travel in the Shuihudi daybooks. In SHDA.41, the section heading is “Xing” 行 (Travel); the first slip of SHDB.51 is damaged, so we cannot know whether there was a section heading. After listing a series of days for each of the twelve months, both daybooks have the identical descriptive text: 凡是日赤帝恒以開臨下民而降其殃

All these days are when Red Emperor regularly inspects the people below and sends down his calamity.163 The same system occurs in the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.13), with two significant differences. First, the list of days is preceded by the term linri 臨日 “inspection days,” and, second, the descriptive text after the list is reduced to “Emperor on these days inspects below and sends down calamity” (帝以此日開臨下降殃).164 The original context of inspection by Red Emperor or Emperor was lost in later hemerological tradition, which retains only the word lin as the day qualifier Lin (Inspection) in Inspection day hemerology.165 Yuesha (Month Killer) mentioned in the Yinwan calendar for 10 bce in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, yet the sequences of sexagenary days associated with Month Killer in the Yinwan calendar occur in three sections of the first Shuihudi daybook (SHDA.35, 37, 43); see Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 161–62. 162  For the day qualifiers in six select hemerologies, see appendix C. There is not yet a comprehensive study with index of day qualifiers in Qin and Han hemerological texts. For partial lists, see Zhang Peiyu, 1989; Ōno Yūji, 2005; and Lu Ping, 2010. 163   S HDA.41, slip 128r; SHDB.51, slip 134; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, pp. 200, 242. For translation of SHDA.41, see chap. 3, p. 125. 164   K JP.13, slips 108–109; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 140. For translation of KJP.13, see pp. 126–27 in chap. 3. 165  See, for instance, the presentation of the calendar spirit Linri in Xieji bianfang shu, 6, 6a–7a. A similar case involves the later day qualifier Wangwang 往亡 (Escape and Loss). In the daybooks,

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Figure 4.7 Day qualifiers inscribed on tablet D11 from Yinwan tomb 6, calendar for the fifth month of the year corresponding to 10 bce (Yuanyan 3 元延三年) (right to left): Jian 建 (Establish), Fanzhi 反支 (Reverse Branch), Jieyan 解衍 (Unbind-and-Spread), Fu 復 (Return), Xian 臽 (Pit), Yuexing 月刑 (Month Punishment), Yuesha 月殺 (Month Killer). Facsimile by Xu Datong. After Yinwan Han mu jiandu, p. 22.

Some day qualifiers, in particular those indicating general circumstances, might initially have been simple statements about favorable or unfavorable times for unwangwang occurs as part of larger sentences in the sense of “escape, be lost, lose” and never as a day qualifier name. SHDB.60 provides a good example: “Generally, someone escaping on these days will be seized; if not seized, he will die” (凡以此往 亡必得不得必死). For further discussion of this and other examples, see Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 212–24.

dertaking a certain activity. For instance, the hemerology in the Jiudian daybook, JD.3, arranges the stems for days in three-month groups according to the four seasons and within each group classifies the days as ji 吉 “auspicious,” bu ji 不吉 “inauspicious,” or chengri 成日 “achieve days.” At the same time, in JD.1, Cheng (Achieve) appears as one of the twelve day qualifiers of the Jianchu system. In JD.3, chengri “achieve day” must be understood as an alternative to “auspicious” and “inauspicious,” meaning that an activity conducted on a day classified as an “achieve day”

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will most likely be successfully achieved; it does not designate a day qualifier. Study of day qualifiers is part of the broad investigation of the principles underlying the formation of hemerologies recorded in the daybooks and requires an integrated approach. After several decades of research, our knowledge in this area has advanced considerably. Certain hemerological prohibitions are clearly related to customary observances such as the anniversary dates of divinities and legendary figures; others rely on numeric procedures and diagrams.166 The main achievement of research on hemerology in the daybooks has been to show that many daybook hemerologies, far from constituting a confused mass of random and heterogeneous procedures, are grounded in conceptions that relate to calendrical astrology and five-agents ideas. This situation is nicely illustrated by the hemerology for moving and marriage in the hemerological manuscript from Huxishan, which describes the correlated movement of three day qualifiers: 徙與娶婦嫁女所避 = 咸池女嬛小歲池女嬛并在卯小歲在 寅咸池左行月徙一繩女嬛右行六月徙一繩小歲右行月徙 一支十二月而卒咸池所謂左行者從卯徙子從子徙酉

What is to be avoided when moving, taking a wife, or marrying off a girl: Avoid Broad Pool, Womanly Grace, and Small Year. When Pool167 and Womanly Grace conjoin in maob4 (E), Small Year is in yinb3 (ENE). Broad Pool proceeds rightward and moves one cord every month. Womanly Grace proceeds leftward and moves one cord every six months. Small Year proceeds leftward moving one branch every month; its cycle is completed in twelve months. To say that Broad Pool proceeds rightward means that it moves from maob4 to zib1, and from zib1 to youb10 .168 My translation uses italics for rightward and leftward because the copyist wrote the graph zuo 左 “left” on the original bamboo slips for both occurrences of rightward in the translation and wrote the graph you 右 “right” for both occurrences of leftward. Yet the last sentence clearly indicates rightward, counterclockwise movement—from maob4 (east) to zib1 (north), and from zib1 (north) to youb10 (west)—and we must assume the error or confusion

166  For further discussion of avoidance days based on the death anniversary of spirits and legendary figures, see pp. 231–35 in chap. 5. The role played by diagrams is discussed on pp. 176–92 in this chapter. 167  The copyist left out the graph xian 咸 when writing the name Xianchi (Broad Pool). 168  Zhang Chunlong, 2010, p. 47, slips wu 65–66.

lies with the copyist or the text from which he copied.169 Notice that the movement of the three day qualifiers refers to the “Day Court” diagram, including use of the term sheng “cord” to denote the positions on the extremities of the two cords (east and west, north and south) and use of the twelve branches to refer to the twelve positions marked by the cords and hooks on the “Day Court” diagram. The Huxishan text proves that the terminology applied to the cosmological structure in the Master of Huainan—two cords and four hooks—belonged to the same body of astrological and hemerological knowledge as the “Day Court” diagram itself. Let us review the movements of the three day qualifiers. Xianchi 咸池 (Broad Pool) passes successively through the four extremities of the two cords of the “Day Court” diagram as it advances toward the right, from east to north, west, and south.170 Meanwhile, Xiaosui 小 歲 (Small Year) advances in the opposite direction, following the course of the seasons and months with which the twelve branches are associated according to the Dipper Establishment method (see table 4.13). At present, Nüxuan 女嬛 (Womanly Grace) is known only in this text. Its movement across the extremities in the direction opposite that of Broad Pool is timed so that they meet in the east at maob4 once every twenty-four months. Small Year and Broad Pool are well known in transmitted texts, such as the Master of Huainan, which conflates them with two other day qualifiers, Xiaoshi 小時 (Small Period) and Dashi 大時 (Great Period), respectively.171 Their cycle, composed of two movements in opposite directions, one to the left (from yinb3 to maob4 to chenb5) and the other to the right (from maob4 to zib1 to youb10), occurs in several versions in the daybooks (see table 4.19). The cycle is similar to the clockwise movement of the Dipper that represents the succession of months coupled with the counterclockwise shift of positions among the stellar lodges that indicates the monthly location of the sun (see table 4.14).172

169  For the rightward movement of Broad Pool (Great Period) as opposed to the leftward movement of Small Period (Dipper Establishment) and other day qualifiers, see tables 4.19 and 4.20. 170   On the “rightward” (counterclockwise) movement, see the discussion of the twenty-eight stellar lodges on p. 164 in this chapter. 171  The standard early reference for the day qualifiers and their monthly shifts is Huainanzi, 3, p. 102 (“Tianwen xun”): “The handle of the Dipper constitutes Small Year. Broad Pool constitutes Great Year,” and “Great Period is Broad Pool, Small Period is Dipper Establishment”; translation follows Major, 1993, p. 92, with modifications. 172  For studies related to Dashi and Xiaoshi in the daybooks, see Zhang Peiyu, 1989, pp. 137–38; Hu Wenhui, 2000, pp. 96–108; Liu

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Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks Table 4.19 The seasonal revolution of Small Period (Small Year) and Great Period (Broad Pool) among the twelve branches of the “Day Court” diagram Seasons

Months

Small Period

Great Period

spring

I-b3 II-b4 III-b5

yinb3 mao b4 chen b5

east

mao b4 zi b1 you b10

east north west

summer

IV-b6 V-b7 VI-b8

si b6 wu b7 wei b8

south

wu b7 mao b4 zi b1

south east north

autumn

VII-b9 VIII-b10 IX-b11

shen b9 you b10 xu b11

west

you b10 wu b7 mao b4

west south east

winter

X-b12 XI-b1 XII-b2

hai b12 zi b1 chou b2

north

zi b1 you b10 wu b7

north west south

Note: There is a correlation between the first month of each season and the directions occupied by Great Period, marked in bold italics (spring-east, summer-south, autumn-west, winter-north). These months are called the “conjunction months of Broad Pool” (Xianchi huiyue 咸池會月) in FMTB.39.

The Great Period cycle is distinctive for operating in a kind of 4/4 time rhythmic pattern in the course of its annual journey, passing three times through the same quarter represented by the cord extremities on the “Day Court” diagram: east (maob4) in the first, fifth, and ninth months (I-b3, V-b7, IX-b11); north (zib1) in the second, sixth, and tenth months (II-b4, VI-b8, X-b12); west (youb10) in the third, seventh, and eleventh months (III-b5, VII-b9, XI-b1); and south (wub7) in the fourth, eighth, and twelfth months (IV-b6, VIII-b10, XII-b2). The distribution of the twelve months and the twelve branches associated with them in four groups of three units matches the threeunions system of the twelve branches and four seasonal agents (see table 4.20). The Broad Pool, or Great Period, cycle described in the Huxishan text bears comparison to the cycle of the day qualifier Sui (Year) found in the Jiudian and Shuihudi daybooks, especially in light of the issue of rightward versus leftward movement. The specificity of the Huxishan text for Broad Pool/Great Period requires us to silently correct Lexian, 2010, pp. 123–27, 221–24; Chen Xuanwei, 2007, pp. 59–62; and Lu Ping, 2010, pp. 23–26.

the copyist of the manuscript. On the one hand, passing from east to north and west can only be rightward movement, not leftward. On the other hand, the monthly Year cycle follows the same principle as the Great Period cycle except that it moves leftward, following the course of the seasons from east to south, west, and north (see table 4.20). The difference may be regional or reflect Chu cultural influence because sections describing the Year cycle occur only in the Jiudian and Shuihudi daybooks (Qin manuscripts but produced in the old Chu region as is particularly evident in the content of SHDA); the Year cycle does not occur in the Fangmatan and Kongjiapo daybooks or in other daybook-related manuscripts.173 In any case, as has been noted, the monthly movement of Year in the daybooks and in transmitted texts such as the Master of Huainan is not related to the Jupiter cycle or to other cycles that exceed the scope of the year, such as the Taisui 太歲 (Great Year) and Taiyin 太陰 (Great Yin) cycles.174 A number of hemerologies in daybooks exploit the arrangement of months into four groups of three evenly distributed months: I-V-IX, II-VI-X, III-VII-XI, and IV-VIII-XII. Three day-qualifier systems illustrate the general situation. Hemerologies for Tianli 天李 (Heaven Enforcer), Red Emperor/Emperor inspection (lin) days, and Dajiao 大徼 (Great Engage) present the cycles of the day qualifiers in the frame of the “Day Court” diagram, each according to its own rhythm but all conforming to the three-unions pattern of the twelve months (see table 4.21).175 The same arrangement of months is also applied to directional prohibitions.176 The correlations between the months and the branches that indicate the monthly positions of the day qualifiers are different in the three cycles in table 4.21. In the case of Tianli (Heaven Enforcer), the branch positions that form the three-unions groups are the branches for the four cardinal directions (b1-north, b4-east, b7-south, b10-west). For Red Emperor/Emperor inspection days, the correlation duplicates the three-unions pattern, but the sequence of the branches is different; the standard three-unions 173  See Liu Lexian, 2010, pp. 123–27. The Sui (Year) sections in the daybooks are JD.8, SHDA.16, SHDA.18, and SHDB.66. 174  See pp. 153–54 in this chapter. 175  For Dajiao, see KJP.44; for Red Emperor/Emperor inspection days, see SHDA.41, SHDB.51, KJP.13, and HK.11. Tianli occurs in SHDA.81 and in the Shuiquanzi hemerological slips (Zhang Cunliang and Wu Hong, 2009, p. 90); see the studies by Liu Lexian (1994, pp. 298–300) and Zhang Peiyu (1989, pp. 141–42). 176   S HDA.15, SHDB.74, KJP.9, HK.6. Another example is the Yinyang wuxing A 陰陽五行甲篇 text from Mawangdui tomb 3; see Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, pp. 69–70. For a comparative study of these texts in relation to the threeunions pattern, see Li Tianhong, 2005.

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Table 4.20 The three-unions arrangement of the twelve monthly branches and the four seasonal agents, and the movement in opposite directions of Great Period and Year on the four quarters Fire-summer

Wood-spring

Water-winter

Metal-autumn

I-b3 → V-b7 → IX-b11 →

II-b4 → VI-b8 → X-b12 →

III-b5 → VII-b9 → XI-b1 →

IV-b6 → VIII-b10 → XII-b2 →

rightward

Great Period

b4-east →

b1-north→

b10-west →

b7-south →

rightward

Year

east →

south →

west →

north →

leftward

Three-unions Pattern and monthly branches

Note: The columns for each agent represent the three-unions arrangement, with the maturity phase in bold italics. The sequence of the twelve monthly branches is rightward.

Table 4.21 The three-unions arrangement of the twelve months as the basis for the cycles of some important day qualifiers in the daybooks. Three-unions pattern

Fire I-b3 → V-b7 → IX-b11→

Wood II-b4 → VI-b8 → X-b12 →

Water III-b5 → VII-b9 → XI-b1 →

Metal IV-b6 → VIII-b10→ XII-b2 →

Tianli 天李 (Heaven Enforcer)

I-b1 → V-b1 → XI-b1→

II-b4 → VI-b4 → X-b4 →

III-b7 → VII-b7 → XI-b7 →

IV-b10 → VIII-b10→ XII-b10 →

lin 臨 “inspection” day

I-b7 → V-b11 → IX-b3 →

II-b12 → VI-b4 → X-b8 →

III-b9 → VII-b1 → XI-b5 →

IV-b2 → VIII-b6 → XII-b10 →

Dajiao 大徼 (Great Engage)

I-b3 → V-b4 → IX-b5 →

II-b6 → VI-b7 → X-b8 →

III-b9 → VII-b10 → XI-b11 →

IV-b12 → VIII-b1 → XII-b2 →

Note: The maturity phase of the four seasonal agents is in bold italics. Tianli is notable for a cycle that only follows the positions of the maturity phase for each agent.

pattern for Fire is I-b3, V-b7, IX-b11, but for inspection days it becomes I-b7, V-b11, IX-b3, and so on for the other agents. For Dajiao (Great Engage), the branches assigned to the months correspond to the branch sequence of the three months of each season on the “Day Court” diagram (spring months, b3, b4, b5; summer months, b6, b7, b8; autumn months, b9, b10, b11; winter months, b12, b1, b2) but are realigned with respect to the three months that form the three-unions group.

The examples just given are representative of the variety of day qualifiers and the diversity of hemerologies in which they appear. However, the daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts are concerned mainly with the practical applications of hemerology and do not address hemerology as a body of knowledge. Thus, we are still far from being able to assess the place of day qualifiers in the entirety of the calendrical conceptions and correlative systems that contributed to the elaboration of hemerology between the third and first centuries bce. Diagrams The discovery of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts has forced us to reconsider the conventional wisdom that bound slips of bamboo or wood were technically inadequate for illustrations, the privileged material support for which has been assumed to have been sheets of silk and wooden tablets.177 The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and the Mawangdui manuscripts on silk do in fact contain fine examples of illustrations of all kinds, most of which lack equivalents in daybooks published to date.178 We can 177  The different form of material support has been used to explain the distinction between the two basic terms for the physical units of manuscripts in the Han shu bibliographic treatise: pian 篇 and juan 卷. The presumption is that pian refers to bound slips and juan to a sheet of silk and that juan was the preferred unit for a work with diagrams. The reason only four of the more than one hundred books listed in the “Shushu” 數術 division of the bibliographic treatise were composed of multiple pian whereas the rest were juan is said to be the presence of diagrams in technical occult and scientific literature requiring sheets of silk rather than units of bound slips; see Li Ling, 2011b, pp. 3–4, 10, 220–21. 178  For color reproductions of all the images and diagrams in the Mawangdui manuscripts, see Changsha Mawangdui Han mu

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks

Figure 4.8 Tablet D9 from Yinwan tomb 6. Right: D9r with the “Divine Turtle” (Shengui 神龜) diagram and “Rain Prediction” (Zhanyu 占雨) diagram. Left: D9v with the “Liubo Board” (Boju 博局) diagram. After Yinwan Han mu jiandu, pp. 20–21.

177

178 appreciate the suitability of wooden tablets for hemerologies combined with illustrations in tablet D9 from Yinwan tomb 6, which presents on its front and back sides three mantic methods with elaborate and neatly executed diagrams attached to each (fig. 4.8). Nevertheless, most excavated manuscripts and all daybook manuscripts are composed of bound slips that differ in length, width, and thickness, yet the material support for daybook manuscripts in no way prevented their makers from including diagrams of varying degrees of complexity. Further, as seen with the “Day Court” diagram, diagrams are visual representations of the hemerologies to which they are attached and, whether neatly executed or not, are an important element of hemerological knowledge. In regard to the material details, while there are deficiencies in the diagrams placed in daybooks due to the nature of the material support, we are not always in a position to adequately appreciate their quality. First of all, the published reproductions of the original slips are often of low quality, even though those in recent publications tend to be better than the ones of the past. Typically, the reproductions display the individual slips widely separated, between eight to twelve slips per page, mainly to facilitate the reading of written text. Only in select cases of prominent diagrams is the group of slips on which the diagram is drawn reproduced separately, with minimal space between slips, which enhances the reader’s ability to view the diagram as it appeared originally. Editors may also crop the borders of slips or tablets for publication and may not reproduce the slips or tablets at their original size or to an exact scale based on their original size. For instance, the excavation report for Yinwan tomb 6 gives the size of tablet D9 as 23 centimeters high by 9 centimeters wide (fig. 4.8) and the size of tablet D10 as 23 centimeters high by 7 centimeters wide (see fig. 7.3 in chap. 7), but in the published color plates, D9 and D10 are the same size, 23 centimeters high by 6.4 centimeters wide.179 Second, the modern line drawings that typically are placed together with the transcriptions in the second part of the publications are rarely true to scale and not infrequently are altered to eliminate perceived defects and facilitate integration with the written text. This is the case with the three “Day Court” diagrams in the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.18–20), which were misshapen as originally drawn on the slips but are presented without these defects

jianbo jicheng. For the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, see chap. 6 in this volume. 179  Measurements for the tablets are given in Yinwan Han mu jiandu, p. 174 (actual sizes at the time of the excavation).

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in the modern line drawings so that they appear to be regular “Day Court” diagrams.180 Third, the exact dimensions of the diagrams themselves are not given in the formal publications of the daybook manuscripts or in the specialized studies. Yet their sizes vary considerably from one manuscript to another, as can be roughly estimated by measuring their published reproductions. For instance, the “Taking Office” diagram in the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.40) measures 3.8 centimeters high by 0.7 centimeter wide; the round “Twenty-Eight Hourly Lodge” diagram in the first Zhoujiatai manuscript (ZJTA.3) has a rough diameter of 14 centimeters.181 The relative size of the diagrams informs us about their function and their significance for both those who made them and those who used daybooks. Finally, there is the matter of whether the diagrams were drawn on the slips before or after the slips were bound with cords, and to what extent the visual appearance of a diagram depended on the spaces between slips, which was determined by the thickness of the binding cords.182 Reconstructing a diagram with no space between the slips may introduce a distortion that can be resolved by adjusting the space between slips. For instance, the “House-Compound Gate Placement” diagram in the first Shuihudi daybook (SHDA.39) is rectangular in the line drawing in the transcription section of the formal publication, which represents the shape of the diagram when there is no space between the slips. Based on the published reproduction of the original slips, it measures approximately 6.3 centimeters high by 4.8 centimeters wide, but when the slips are arranged in this way, the diagonal lines of the diagram are jagged, not straight. However, introducing a space of approximately 0.2 centimeter between the slips resolves the distortion of the diagonal lines, and the resulting shape is a square measuring approximately 180   Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 77–78, slips 124–135 (photographs), pp. 143–46 (transcription). See figs. 4.10, 4.11 in this chapter. 181  See supplement 4.5:10 and 4.5:6. Note that the measurements for the diagrams in the following discussion and in supplement 4.5 are rough estimates based on the published photographs and not on measurements taken from the objects either at the time of excavation or later. 182  There are examples of both types of manuscript production using slips: text copied on unbound slips that were then bound, and vice versa. While we might assume that a diagram copied with text on unbound slips would have been drawn on the slips without leaving space between the slips, there is reason for caution. It is equally possible that the manuscript’s maker anticipated the space between slips after binding and accounted for it by leaving spaces between the unbound slips.

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Figure 4.9 The “House-Compound Gate Placement” (Zhi shi men 置室門) diagram in SHDA.39 in two reconstructions. Left: slips separated by a small space (approx. 0.2 cm). Right: no space between slips. After Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, plates, pp. 98–99.

6.3 centimeters to a side (fig. 4.9).183 No doubt the original diagram had spaces between slips related to the width of the binding cords. Currently there are around thirty diagrams in published daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts.184 The Kongjiapo daybook has the most, with thirteen diagrams, whereas the Jiudian daybook has none. The first Zhoujiatai manuscript (ZJTA) is notable for the number of diagrams (eight) as well as for their elaborateness and size. The five diagrams in the Shuihudi daybooks are notable for having parallels in the Kongjiapo daybook. My use of the term “diagram” follows the practice in modern Chinese studies of the manuscripts, which use tu 圖 “diagram” for all these images. It should be noted, however, that the term tu appears only once in daybooks in the name of a diagram, in the Kongjiapo daybook section heading, “Si Shi tu” 死 失圖 (Death Corpse-Ghost diagram) (KJP.64).185 Names have been assigned to the other diagrams based on their form or the hemerological or predictive system for which they are used.

183  For another example of the diagram from KJP.61, see supplement 4.5:22. 184  For the list of diagrams classified by type, see supplement 4.5, in which there are small-size reproductions for most. 185   K JP.64. See fig. 4.23 and discussion in this chapter; see also supplement 4.5:29 and fig. 4.48.

Ten diagrams are composed of the cord-hook pattern. The three Kongjiapo daybook cord-hook diagrams are drawn one below the other on a group of about seventeen slips at roughly the midpoint of the first half of the original manuscript. The name “Riting” 日廷 (Day Court) is written above the uppermost diagram and seems to apply to all three. The diagrams are all inscribed with the twelve branches at the extremities of the cords and hooks. The two lower diagrams are misshapen and incomplete due to the copyist’s decision to insert text into the central part of the second diagram and to the lack of space in the lower part of this group of slips so that both diagrams could not be accommodated without one intruding on the other (fig. 4.10). In addition to the branches, the uppermost “Day Court” diagram (KJP.18) is inscribed with a set of terms connected to a hemerological cycle that is otherwise unknown, and there is no explanation in the daybook. A section on Fanzhi 反支 (Reverse Branch) hemerology (KJP.17) is squeezed into the space between the first and second “Day Court” diagrams. Placement of this section may have contributed to problems with the placement of the two lower “Day Court” diagrams. The second diagram (KJP.19) is inscribed with the branches and corresponding months arranged according to the Dipper Establishment method. After completing the right side of the cord-hook pattern, the copyist inserted descriptive text on four slips in the center of the diagram, causing distortion to the right and

180

Figure 4.10

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The three “Day Court” diagrams in the Kongjiapo daybook, slips 121–137. KJP.18 is arranged in the upper part of slips 125–134; KJP.19 is in the middle of slips 123–137; and KJP.20 is in the lower part of slips 121–137. Note the insertion of text separating the right and left sides of the “Day Court” diagram in the middle of KJP.19, on slips 129–132. Blank space on slips 127–128 and 133 further increases the separation between the two sides. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 77–78.

left sides of the pattern as well deletion of the position of the fifth month at wub7 at the top of the diagram, which is occupied instead by text. The first slip with text gives the topic as Dou ji 斗擊 “Dipper strike,” referring to the positions indicated by the Dipper handle. The next two slips

Figure 4.11

Schematic representation of the three “Day Court” diagrams in KJP.18–20. Shaded areas indicate the spaces on slips 121–137 occupied by each diagram together with inscriptions attached to the diagrams and additional text. Spaces occupied by KJP.14 and KJP.16–17 are indicated separately. Blank spaces on the slips are white. The placement of the three binding cords is also indicated.

describe the constellation’s lethal power: anyone in front of the Dipper’s position dies; anyone behind it does not die. The text on the fourth slip concerns applying knowledge of the orientation of the Dipper handle to activities. The third and lowermost “Day Court” diagram (KJP.20) shows

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks

Figure 4.12

Drawing of the “Five-Part Day Court” diagram in the first Zhoujiatai manuscript (ZJTA.13).

the three-unions arrangement of the twelve branches in relation to the twelve months. The right and left sides are distorted by the text inserted in the KJP.19 diagram above it, which also caused omission of some information on the top and bottom of the KJP.20 diagram (fig. 4.11).186 The large diagram composed of five “Day Court” diagrams placed on the bound slips in the shape of a cross occupies roughly thirty slips at the end of the first Zhoujiatai manuscript (ZJTA.13). Each “Day Court” diagram represents one of the so-called wuzi “five zib1,” the five sexagenary binoms having zib1 as a branch component (fig. 4.12): the jiazi1 diagram is on the left in the east position ( jias1 is correlated with east), the bingzi13 diagram on the top represents south (bings3 is correlated with south), the wuzi25 diagram in the middle represents center (wus5 is correlated with center), the gengzi37 diagram on the right represents west (gengs7 is correlated with west), and the renzi49 diagram on the bottom represents north (rens9 is correlated with north).187 Two texts have been copied above and below the jiazi1 diagram on the left side. The lower text lists the five zib1 days and gives predictions for each. The upper text first names the “thirty-sixth year” in the reign of the First Emperor of Qin, corresponding to 211 bce, and then lists 186  See Chen Xuanwei, 2007, pp. 75–78; and Huang Ruxuan, 2013, pp. 54–61. 187   Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu, pp. 39–42 (photographs), pp. 122–24 (transcription); supplement 4.5:5 and fig. 4.28.

181 the correspondences between the Day Court positions and the five agents, as well as the names of spirits governing the year (zhu sui 主歲). This text is the key to interpreting the entire cruciform diagram. The graph written zhi 置 in the text is to be read as de 德 “virtue” (they are homophones in Old Chinese, and the same graph exchange for writing “virtue” is attested in FMTB.46).188 The text concerns the fivefold cycle of the day qualifier De (Virtue), beginning in the thirty-sixth year when Virtue is positioned at Metal (De ju Jin 德居金). The cycle of Virtue is fully described in the Mawangdui manuscripts in several texts on the Xingde 刑德 (Punishment-Virtue) system of calendrical astrology. The grid of sixty cord-hook diagrams that accompanies the Mawangdui texts, with one diagram for each of the sexagenary binoms (and each diagram marked with the position of Virtue in a sixty-year cycle), shows that gengyin27 is the binom corresponding to the thirty-sixth year of the First Emperor of Qin (211 bce) and that Virtue is precisely in the west in the Metal position. The subsequent information in the Zhoujiatai manuscript accords with the Punishment-Virtue system in the Mawangdui texts: in 210 bce (xinmao28), Virtue moved to the south (Fire); in 209 (renchen29), it moved to the north (Water); in 208 (guisi30), it moved to the center (Earth); and in 207 ( jiawu31), it moved to the east (Wood).189 There is strong evidence for linking the “Day Court” diagrams and textual record of the position of Virtue in ZJTA.13 with the Punishment-Virtue system. In my judgment, the cruciform arrangement of the “Five-Part Day Court” diagram has been conceived to illustrate the annual movement of Virtue in its fivefold cycle. The Zhoujiatai manuscript “Twenty-Eight Hourly Lodge” diagram (ZJTA.3) is used in determining the orientation of the Dipper handle at any of twenty-eight hours of the day in each of the twelve months. The “Day Court” diagram with correlated stems and branches is enclosed in a circle at its center. A ring surrounds the Day Court and is divided into twenty-eight segments inscribed with 188  Z JT.13, slips 2971–3021. In FMTB.46, the graph zhi 直 is used to write de. There are slight differences in the Old Chinese reconstruction for the three graphs, but it is convenient to represent their homophone status with *tǝk; see Schuessler, 2009, pp. 108–9. 189  On the Mawangdui Xingde texts, see Kalinowski, 1999, pp. 136 and 141 for the sexagenary grid and pp. 163–64 for the yearly motion of Xing (Punishment) and De (Virtue) based on the nonconquest cycle of the five agents (in the sequence Metal, Fire, Water, Earth, Wood). According to the dates mentioned in the sexagenary grid, the first year of the First Emperor of Qin is yimao52 (246 bce). On the yearly motion of Xing and De in the daybooks, see FMTB.46.

182

Figure 4.13

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The “Twenty-Eight Hourly Lodge” diagram in the first Zhoujiatai manuscript (ZJTA.3). After Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, p. 152.

the twenty-eight stellar lodges and their correlated hourly time periods. The four agents are inscribed near the outer edge of the four segments of the ring that correspond to the four directions, and the directions themselves are inscribed just outside the ring (figs. 4.13, 4.14). Use of the diagram is based on the Dipper handle orientation. ZJTA.5 explains the method for determining the hour indicated by the Dipper in any month; ZJTA.4 provides predictions for each of the twenty-eight stellar lodges when the position of the Dipper is aligned with it according to the method described in ZJTA.5.190

190  On the use of the diagram, see Peng Jinhua and Liu Guosheng, 2001; and Kalinowski, 2013, pp. 345–49.

A similar method is described in the Kongjiapo daybook, but it uses a table instead of a diagram. KJP.7 is a double-entry table for learning the direction in which the Dipper strikes ( ji 擊) at twelve time periods of the day each month. Although KJP.7 divides the day into twelve time periods instead of twenty-eight, both methods are based on the daily and yearly revolutions of the celestial vault and are informed by the idea that the Northern Dipper constellation possessed lethal power (fig. 4.15). The method and the astrological significance of the Dipper in KJP.19—the “Day Court” diagram with text on the “Dipper strike”—are the same. Further, although the two sections are separated in the current reconstruction of the Kongjiapo daybook, reevaluation of the positions of the loose slips at the time of excavation suggests that sections

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Figure 4.14

Drawing of ZJTA.3 with standard modern equivalents for the original Chinese graphs. After Kalinowski, 2013, p. 346.

KJP.7 and KJP.19 were next to each other in the original bound-slip manuscript.191 The Kongjiapo daybook is an interesting case of using both table and diagram for related “Dipper strike” methods and, in particular, of replacing the combined diagram and explanation in ZJTA.3 and ZJTA.5 with an easy-to-read table that eliminated the need for calculation. 191  For arguments in favor of placing KJP.7 together with KJP.19 based on the position of the slips at the time of excavation, see Chen Xuanwei, 2007, pp. 41–44, 75–76; and Harkness, 2011, pp. 117–20.

The last example of the “Day Court” diagram is in the second Fangmatan daybook (FMTB.58). The diagram is related to the divination system based on the twelve pitch standards described in other sections of the daybook (and that is otherwise unknown).192 The cord-hook diagram with its twelve branches is enclosed in a small square roughly three centimeters to a side (see fig. 4.16). A numbered series of eight terms is inscribed around the perimeter in the following sequence: northeast, “one/ 192  On pitch-standard divination in the second Fangmatan daybook, see appendix C.

184

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Figure 4.16

Figure 4.15

The Dipper strike table from KJP.7, slips 78–89. One slip is missing from the table between slips 87 and 88. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 72–73.

heaven” (yi tian 一天); northwest, “two/earth” (er di 二地); southeast, “three/man” (san ren 三人); north, “four/ seasons” (si shi 四時); southwest, “five/notes” (wu yin 五音); east, “six/pitch standards” (liu lü 六律); south, “seven/stars” (qi xing 七星); and west, “eight/winds” (ba feng 八風). In correlative cosmology, one, two, and three are the numbers of heaven, earth, and man respec-

Reconstruction of the “Day Court” diagram with inscriptions associated with the pitch-standard divination system in FMTB.58.

tively; similarly, the four seasons, five notes, six pitch standards, seven stars, and eight winds are standard compounds. The series is attested in several other sources. The diagram in FMTB.58 seems to be demonstrative: it brings together in a single frame all the elements involved in the divinatory procedure. There has been speculation that the diagram may illustrate an object such as a game board used for divination.193 The other diagrams may be distinguished by both their structure and their function. I follow, with some modifications, the classification into groups first proposed by Huang Ruxuan in her pioneering study on the diagrams in daybooks. In addition to Day Court-based diagrams, there are four more groups, each with several subgroups: “empty pattern diagrams,” “sexagenary binom diagrams,” “body-shaped diagrams,” and “others.”194 The three subgroups of “empty pattern diagrams” share the characteristic of being empty structures whose specific form facilitates a simple counting procedure for determining the auspicious or inauspicious characteristics of a given day. In each case, counting using the diagram begins with the first day of the month (shuori). The “Rong Calendar” (Rong liri 戎磿日) diagram appears in the first Zhoujiatai manuscript (ZJTA.6 and ZJTA.12 are 193  Chen Wei, 2011. For parallels to the inscription surrounding the diagram in transmitted texts, see Cheng Shaoxuan, 2012, pp. 249–51. 194  See Huang Ruxuan, 2013, pp. 240–42. The five groups are the basis for the classification of diagrams in supplement 4.5.

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Figure 4.17

The “Root Mountain” diagram and Yu’s split-up days. Left: the “Root Mountain” diagram in SHDA.13. Right: reconstruction of the split-up days system for the first set of fifteen sexagenary binoms following evidence in FMTB.33, slip 318. After Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, plates, pp. 92–93.

both complete and are accompanied by explanations; see supplement 4.5:7–8) and in the Kongjiapo daybook (only a fragment of the diagram itself survives; see supplement 4.5:9). The diagram has two forms composed of a combination of horizontal lines and box shapes enclosing horizontal lines arranged in a vertical column. Both forms permit the user to count to thirty by counting down the column of horizontal lines from top to bottom; whether the line obtained by the numerical day count is auspicious or inauspicious depends on where the line occurs in the larger structure. Remarkably, the diagram was transmitted continuously for more than a millennium and recurs in several forms in the Dunhuang manuscripts under the name “Five Drums of the Sire of Zhou” (Zhou Gong wugu 周公五鼓).195 The “Taking Office” (Ruguan 入官) diagram occurs just once and without explanation in KJP.40, but its form suggests a counting procedure similar to that of the “Rong Calendar” diagram. The most interesting diagram of the “empty pattern diagrams” group is the “Root Mountain” (Genshan 根山) diagram. Among the six published daybooks, SHDA.13 and KJP.23 provide two examples of the diagram, both

195  For studies of the “Rong Calendar” diagram and its use, see Xia De’an, 2007; Huang Ruxuan, 2013, pp. 109–21; and Long Yongfang, 2005. On Dunhuang manuscripts related to the “Rong Calendar” diagram, see Kalinowski, 2003b, p. 299 (P2572, P3602v). Liu Lexian (2012b, pp. 92–94) discusses the occurrence of the method in the Mawangdui occult manuscripts (in the text with the assigned title Chuxing zhan).

accompanied by text referring to the diagram by the name “Genshan.” The diagram has the shape of an inverted mountain, trapezoidal in SHDA.13 and hemispheric in KJP.23. The interior of the diagram is divided by horizontal lines into five levels in SHDA.13 and six levels in KJP.23. A vertical line drawn through the center of the diagram divides it into equal halves. Within each level are signs used for counting—a circle in SHDA.13 and the graph 日 (ri “day”) in KJP.23—which are distributed equally on each side of the vertical line. Further, a graphic element added to the vertical line forms a stylized shan 山 “mountain.” In SHDA.13, there are thirty signs. From the top, the first level has ten signs, or 5 山 5 expressed schematically using arabic numerals; the second level has eight signs, or 4 山 4; the third level has six signs, or 3 山 3; the fourth level has four signs, or 2 山 2; and the fifth level has two signs, or 1 山 1 (fig. 4.17).196 The added level in KJP.23 is a repetition of the second level of eight signs, giving a total of thirtyeight signs for the diagram. Despite this difference between the diagrams, the same text occurs with minor variations in SHDA.13 and KJP.23. It first states that the “Root Mountain” diagram is for calculating “Yu’s split-up days” (Yu liri 禹離日). The key to the diagram is that it is based on a day count beginning with the sexagenary binom of the first day of the month. The phrase in SHDA.13 (slip 47r3) is shuo zhi chu ri ji zhi 朔之

196  For the KJP.23 diagram, see supplement 4:5.12 and fig. 4.34. There is also a reference to the “Root Mountain” diagram in the Hong Kong Han slips (HK.7).

186 初日及支, in which shuo denotes the “new-moon day” as

the first day of the month and chu ri ji zhi denotes the stem (ri)-branch (zhi) binom attached to that day. The SHDA.13 diagram with thirty signs is perfectly suited to this sexagenary day count; the KJP.23 diagram with thirty-eight signs is not. The repetition of the level with eight signs would seem to be a mistake. However, we now have a second example of the same thirty-eight-sign diagram in the daybook manuscript discovered in 2014 in Zhoujiazhai tomb 8, Suizhou. Zhoujiazhai tomb 8 and Kongjiapo tomb 8 are roughly two hundred meters apart and are separated by less than a decade, and the Zhoujiazhai manuscript shows that we cannot dismiss the KJP.23 diagram as an isolated case of one copyist’s mistake.197 Nevertheless, the thirty-sign diagram seems better suited to “Yu’s split-up days” hemerology as described in the text that accompanies SHDA.13 and KJP.23. According to the text, every two signs in the diagram represent a sexagenary binom and a “split-up day” occurs when the stem of the binom is positioned on one side of the “root mountain” and the branch of the binom is on the other side; that is, the binom is “split” by the 山 in the center of the diagram. The text becomes vague regarding other details, stating simply that the day count begins at the “top right side” (上右方) and is repeated after reaching the bottom of the diagram. There is no example of how to count starting from a specific binom, nor is there a clear explanation of the sequence for moving from level to level down the diagram from the top right. Modern attempts to explain the “Root Mountain” diagram have focused on SHDA.13.198 It was not until publication of the second Fangmatan daybook in 2009 that the solution to the SHDA.13 form of the diagram became evident. FMTB.33 lists twelve sexagenary binoms identified as liri “split-up days.” When the twelve binoms in their sexagenary sequence are applied to the SHDA.13 “Root Mountain” diagram, there is only one possible counting pattern for their arrangement on the diagram. FMTB.33 both solves the use of the “Root Mountain” diagram in SHDA.13 and shows that the five-level form of the diagram 197  See 2014 Zhongguo zhongyao kaogu faxian, pp. 80–83; and 2014 niandu quanguo shida kaogu xin faxian zhongping hui, pp. 38–40. I thank Fan Guodong 凡國棟 of the Hubei Provincial Museum for information regarding the “Root Mountain” diagram in the Zhoujiazhai daybook manuscript. 198  For studies, see Chen Xuanwei, 2007, pp. 87–92; Huang Ruxuan, 2013, pp. 122–30; and Cheng Shaoxuan, 2011, pp. 433–38. A small triangular diagram that could be related to the “Root Mountain” diagram occurs in the hemerological slips from the tombs at Yintai, Hubei; see Cheng Shaoxuan, 2011, pp. 441–44.

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is correct for the hemerology described in the text.199 The following quote is from the relevant section of FMTB.33: 丙寅甲戌戊寅辛丑己丑癸巳丙申甲辰戊申辛亥己 未癸亥是謂離日不可入官

Bingyin3 (s3-b3, n3), jiaxu11 (s1-b11, n11), wuyin15 (s5b3, n15), xinsi18 (s8-b6, n18),200 jichou26 (s6-b2, n26), guisi30 (s10-b6, n30), bingshen33 (s3-b9, n33), jiachen41 (s1-b5, n41), wushen45 (s5-b9, n45), xinhai48 (s8-b12, n48), jiwei56 (s6-b8, n56), guihai60 (s10-b12, n60). These are called “split-up days”: it is not permitted to take office.201 The connection between the sequence of twelve binoms in FMTB.33 and the calculation of split-up days using the “Root Mountain” diagram in SHDA.13 is clear. The system is based on counting from jiazi1. Plotting the twelve binoms in FMTB.33 onto the five levels and thirty signs in the “Root Mountain” diagram produces the following result. At each level of the diagram, every two signs represent one stem-branch combination. Thus the thirty signs correspond to fifteen sexagenary binoms. Counting begins at the top right side of the first level and proceeds to the left before moving down to the right side of the second level, and so forth to the bottom of the diagram. On the diagram, split-up days occur on the first, third, and fifth levels where there is an odd number of signs on either side of the 山. Counting from jiazi1 on the first level, jiazi1 and yichou2 occupy the first four signs on the right side, but at the fifth sign, the stem bings3 and branch yinb3 of bingyin3 are split across the central divide. Continuing 199  This conclusion does not deny that there is a different method for a hemerology using the thirty-eight-sign diagram attested in KJP.23 and the Zhoujiazhai daybook manuscript. However, we should treat the thirty-eight-sign diagram as a local variant that probably began as copyist error, spread locally, and produced a “Yu’s split-up days” hemerology different from the system that underlies the SHDA.13 diagram and the twelve “split-up days” hemerology in FMTB.33. 200  The binom written on the original slip is xinchou38, which is corrected to xinsi18 in the translation. The rest of the list follows the sequential order of sexagenary binoms, and xinchou38 is clearly an error, perhaps due to the next binom, jichou26. 201   F MTB.33, slip 318; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 149. According to Sun Zhanyu (Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 150n7), li is written 𪅆 on slip 318, and he questions whether the liri in this passage can be used to explain the “Root Mountain” diagram split-up days in SHDA.13 and KJP.23. In my judgment, Yan Changgui (2014) convincingly demonstrates the link between FMTB.33 and the other daybooks; see also Cheng Shaoxuan, 2011, p. 434n5.

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in sequence, the next split occurs on the third level with jiaxu11, and the third split on the fifth level with wuyin15. Completing the cycle of all sixty binoms requires repeating the counting process four times, which results in four groups of fifteen binoms with three “split” binoms in each group. Counting signs on the “Root Mountain” diagram for the sexagenary cycle beginning with jiazi1 produces four numerically symmetrical sets of “split” binoms that match the split-up days in FMTB.33 (fig. 4.17): n3, n11, n15; n18 (3+15), n26 (11+15), n30 (15+15); n33 (3+30), n41(11+30), n45 (15+30); and n48 (3+45), n56 (11+45), n60 (15+45).202 After solving the problem of the arrangement of binoms in the five-level “Root Mountain” diagram, a key difference between the split-up day system in FMTB.33 and the “Root Mountain” diagram system remains. FMTB.33 is a fixed list of twelve split-up days derived from a count that always begins with jiazi1. Yet the text in SHDA.13 and KJP.23 states that the day count starts anew each month using the sexagenary binom of the first day of the month in question; that is, depending on which of the sixty binoms begins the count, there are sixty possible sets of split-up-day binoms distributed in the same 3/11/15 pattern as for jiazi1. The FMTB.33 list of split-up days based on the sexagenary cycle beginning with jiazi1 is not linked to the “Root Mountain” diagram, nor does it affect the same activities. In SHDA.13 and KJP.23, “Yu’s split-up days” are unfavorable for marrying and traveling but favorable for dividing households into new family units; in contrast, the split-up days in FMTB.33 affect holding office. The list of binoms in FMTB.33 solves the problem of the method for counting sexagenary days using the “Root Mountain” diagram, but FMTB.33 is not dependent on the diagram and its monthly day count; the twelve binoms represent a single, fixed set of split-up days.203 Further, the FMTB.33 split-up days are 202  The data for split-up days using the thirty-eight-sign “RootMountain” diagram in KJP.23 would be n3, n15, n19; n22(3+19), n34(15+19), n38(19+19); n41(3+38), n53(15+38), n57(19+38). There is no connection to FMTB.33. Moreover, the thirty-eight signs correspond to nineteen binoms. As a result, the split-up day corresponding to the last day in the sexagenary cycle is gengshen57 (n57) rather than guihai60 (n60), yet the latter satisfies the logic underlying the list of split-up days in FMTB.33 and the five-level diagram in SHDA.13. 203  We need not insist that the FMTB.33 list was necessarily derived from use of the “Root Mountain” diagram. Instead, it may be understood in two ways: either as an example of the use of the “Root Mountain” diagram to make a fixed list of split-up days based on the specific case of a month starting on the sexagenary binom (jiazi1) or as an independent set of twelve binoms that represent the positions of the split-up days that are valid at all times and in any situation.

not associated with the legendary figure of Yu. Yet, the connection between the “Root Mountain” diagram for calculating Yu’s split-up days and the FMTB.33 list of split-up days is clear, and raises the issue of day qualifiers in daybooks. The circumstance is similar to KJP.13, in which the set of linri “inspection days” is associated with times when Emperor inspected the human world (or Red Emperor in SHDA.41 and SHDB.51). Even without the explicit link to Yu in FMTB.33, li and the idea of “split-up”—like lin and the idea of “inspection”—exhibit the function of a day qualifier, which is to impart the characteristics of the dayqualifier name to particular days according to a hemerological system. The distinguishing feature of the three diagrams in the “sexagenary binom diagrams” group is the inclusion of the sexagenary binoms themselves as elements of the diagram. Two of the diagrams occur on tablet D9 from Yinwan (see fig. 4.8). Because of its significance for studying the relation between games of chance and divination, much attention has been paid to the “Liubo Board” (Boju 博局) diagram on the verso of D9, below which is a double-entry table with predictions for five kinds of activities based on the nine positions on the game-board diagram in which the binoms are inscribed.204 We know very little about the “Rain Prediction” (Zhanyu 占雨) diagram on the recto of D9 other than that this title is written beneath the diagram. The diagram is composed of symmetrical

Figure 4.18

Distribution of the six jias1 days (binoms with jias1 as stem component: n1, n51, n41, n31, n21, n11) and the five zib1 days (binoms with zib1 as branch component: n1, n13, n25, n37, n49) at the top of columns in the FMTB.43 “Rain Prediction” diagram.

204  See supplement 4.5:14 and fig. 4.35. For further discussion of the Yinwan “Liubo Board” diagram, see Tseng, 2004, pp. 177–86. For a related diagram and prediction text in the Peking University Han bamboo-slip manuscripts, with the title “Liubo” 六博 written on the back of one of the slips, see Beijing daxue cang Xi Han zhushu, vol. 5, pp. 183–212.

188 halves above and below the dividing line in the middle, each half consisting of five levels (note the similarity to the five levels of the “Root Mountain” diagram). A stepped line conforming to the varying widths of the different levels encloses the binoms. The unlabeled diagram in FMTB.43 has a similar form—the halves of the diagram are marked only by a single line in the middle—but the distribution of binoms is different, and its hemerological function is uncertain (fig. 4.18). There are some hemerologies related to rain in FMTB, and I have provisionally classified the FMTB.43 diagram together with the Yinwan “Rain Prediction” diagram. In regard to the distribution of binoms, both diagrams are constructed so as to make manifest regular patterns within the sexagenary cycle. The pattern in the FMTB.43 diagram is more complex. Read as a set of ten vertical columns, the Fangmatan diagram displays not only the six jias1 binoms at the head of each column on the left side of the diagram (n11, n21, n31, n41, n51, n1) but also the five zib1 binoms at the head of the columns on the right side (n1, n13, n25, n37, n49). The Yinwan diagram displays the six jias1 binoms in similar fashion on its right side, but not the five zib1. In addition, the arrangement of the sexagenary binoms in columns in the Fangmatan diagram results in a sequence that begins in the center, alternates regularly between the left and right sides, and concludes in the center.205 The last diagram of this group is referred to as “Heaven Jail” (Tianlao 天牢) in the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.71). The diagram is shaped like a square with rounded corners. It is composed of five concentric rings with a small square in the center (fig. 4.19). The binoms are distributed around the rings in five layers: twenty binoms outside the outermost ring; followed by layers of sixteen, twelve, and ten binoms respectively; and concluding with two binoms inside the central square. As described in KJP.71, Heaven Jail hemerology involves five sets of predictions related to people under arrest and to official promotion. The exact method of using the “Heaven Jail” diagram is unknown, but it seems clear that after determining the relevant binom, a person located that binom on the layers of the diagram and then consulted the corresponding prediction from the five sets of predictions. Research on the “Heaven Jail” diagram has shown a connection to the diagram used on a game board and known as the “Official Promotion” (Shengguan 升官) diagram.206 There also seems to be a 205  See Qin jiandu heji, vol. 4, p. 97; Lu Jialiang, 2014; and Huang Ruxuan, 2013, pp. 144–49. 206  Li Ling, 2011c, pp. 70–72.

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Figure 4.19

The “Heaven Jail” diagram in KJP.71. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 100.

connection to the “Root Mountain” diagram, even though the latter is not inscribed with the sixty binoms. The number of binoms contained in the outer three layers of the “Heaven Jail” diagram and the signs used to count binoms in the three upper levels of the “Root Mountain” diagram are proportionate: twenty binoms in the outermost layer of the “Heaven Jail” diagram correspond to five times four binoms in the uppermost level of the “Root Mountain” diagram (recall that counting on the “Root Mountain” diagram is repeated a total of four times in order to complete the sexagenary cycle), sixteen binoms in the second layer correspond to four times four binoms of the “Root Mountain” diagram, and twelve binoms in the third layer correspond to three times four binoms of the “Root Mountain” diagram (fig. 4.20).207 The next group, “body-shaped diagrams,” consists of two diagrams: one with a drawing of a turtle and one with a pair of standing human figures. The turtle is placed above the “Rain Prediction” diagram on the recto of tablet D9 from Yinwan, and the first column of text above the 207  See Cheng Shaoxuan, 2011, pp. 438–41. For earlier studies, see Yan Changgui, 2009; and Huang Ruxuan, 2013, pp. 139–43.

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Figure 4.20

Distribution of the sixty binoms on the five rings of the KJP.71 “Heaven Jail” diagram.

turtle refers to the “method for using the divine turtle” (yong shengui zhi fa 用神龜之法) (see fig. 4.8). Eight sets of predictions related to thieves are associated with eight parts of the turtle’s body: four feet, two flanks, head, and tail. According to the text, when theft occurs in a certain month, the person counts from the first day of the month around the eight parts of the turtle’s body until reaching the day of the theft; the corresponding predictions provide information about the thief’s name and location in relation to the eight directions. Counting always begins at the left rear foot and proceeds rightward (counterclockwise) around the turtle.208 The diagram with a pair of human figures is equally simple. The title “Childbirth” (Ren zi 人字) is written above it in the first Shuihudi daybook (SHDA.48). One figure applies to spring and summer, the other to autumn and winter. The twelve branches are distributed in sequence clockwise around the figures at twelve parts of the body: head, both sides of the neck, shoulders, hands, flanks, feet, and crotch. The distribution of branches is different on the two figures (fig. 4.21). The hemerological method consists of taking the branch component of the child’s date of birth and locating it on the correct figure based on the season, then consulting the predictions provided for 208  For a study of the diagram in relation to later manuscripts and printed sources, see Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 105–12.

Figure 4.21

The “Childbirth” diagram in SHDA.48, with a schematic representation of the arrangement of the twelve branches (b1–b12) around the human figures. After Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, plates, p. 101.

each body part in order to know the child’s destiny. The “Childbirth” diagram and method were evidently popular because the diagram also occurs in a Mawangdui medical manuscript on matters related to conception, gestation, and birth. Similar hemerological methods are still seen today in the popular almanacs published in East Asian countries where there is a Chinese cultural presence.209 The three diagrams grouped under “others” are each unique and less easy to classify. The diagram with the title “House-Compound Gate Placement” (Zhi shi men 直室門) 209  The “Childbirth” diagram also occurs in KJP.74 (badly damaged) and HK.2 (slip 17). For the diagram in the Mawangdui medical manuscript Taichan shu 胎產書, see Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 6, p. 99. Two more occurrences of the diagram are in the Han slips acquired by Peking University (see Wenwu 2011.6, color reproduction on the inside back cover); and the Zhoujiazhai tomb 8 slips (see 2014 Zhongguo zhongyao kaogu faxian, color reproduction on p. 83). For similar diagrams in later times, see Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 186–97; and Huang Ruxuan, 2013, pp. 168–76.

190 written above it in the first Shuihudi daybook (SHDA.39) represents a dwelling surrounded by a square wall within which are several inscriptions indicating locations such as places where domestic animals are kept. Names for twenty-two gates are inscribed outside the wall at various positions around the perimeter, with five gates each on the north and south sides and six gates each on the east and west sides (see fig. 4.9). The diagram is an idealized scheme of gate placement, and below the diagram there are predictions for each gate related to the destiny of the family. KJP.74 is a fragmentary example of the same diagram with accompanying text; FMTB.2 has a similar list of gate names and predictions but no diagram. Presumably the diagram and predictions were consulted for planning gate orientation or determining the hemerological significance of an existing dwelling.210 The Kongjiapo daybook contains three diagrams, one beneath the other, with the title “Earthworks” (Tugong 土功) above them (KJP.43).211 The diagrams are different sizes, but all three are rectangular and are oriented with south at the top (nanfang 南方 “south quarter” is written above the uppermost diagram). Inside the rectangles are statements of varying length regarding prohibitions on earthworks. The twelve months are arranged differently around the perimeter in each diagram. None corresponds to the arrangement of months and branches in the standard pattern of the “Day Court” diagram. Moreover, in several instances, the same month occurs twice on a diagram, perhaps by design or perhaps in error. On the middle and lower diagrams, the evidence suggests that the arrangement of months follows the three-unions pattern and the monthly movement of day qualifiers such as Dajiao 大徼 (Great Engage) (fig. 4.22).212 The last diagram to be described is the “Si Shi tu” (Death Corpse-Ghost diagram) in the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.64). The diagram occurs with variants in both Shuihudi daybooks (SHDA.63, SHDB.77).213 All three versions of the diagram are composed of a rectangle divided 210  For the examples of the diagram in daybooks, see supplement 4.5:21–22 and figs. 4.41–42. Another unpublished example is reported for the Wangjiatai hemerological slips; see Wang Mingqin, 2004, p. 44. For studies of the diagram, see Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 148–52; Chen Xuanwei, 2007, pp. 142–48; Huang Ruxuan, 2013, pp. 180–85; and Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, pp. 102–7. 211  See supplement 4.5:24–26 and figs. 4.43–45. 212  See also table 4.21. On the “Earthworks” section in KJP.43, see Chen Xuanwei, 2007, pp. 114–17. 213  See supplement 4.5:27–29 and figs. 4.46–48. On reading the graph shi 失 as chi 䰡 “corpse-ghost,” see p. 216 in chap. 5. In SHDB.77, slip 2232, the term shiluo 視羅 “net display” is written

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Figure 4.22

Schematic arrangement of the twelve months around the middle and lower “Earthworks” diagrams in KJP.43. The twelve branches are added to the diagram in brackets to facilitate locating the monthly movement of Dajiao (Great Engage) as detailed in table 4.21 ( first month at yinb3; fifth month, maob4; ninth month, chenb5; etc.). Copyist errors in locating the months in the diagrams have been corrected (see Chen Xuanwei, 2007, pp. 115–16).

into sixteen compartments. The KJP.64 diagram is defective on the left side, but we now have a copy of the same diagram in the Zhoujiazhai tomb 8 slips that confirms its original appearance (see plate 3).214 Twelve of the compartments are inscribed with months and corresponding branches according to the Dipper Establishment method. The remaining four compartments are inscribed with the four directions in SHDB.77 and are solid black in KJP.64 (figs. 4.23–24). The diagram serves as the basis for a hemerology related to death in the community and the harmful presence of the Corpse-Ghost connected to the newly deceased. We rely mostly on the Kongjiapo daybook for our understanding of the diagram and Corpse-Ghost hemerology. Recent work has clarified certain details regarding the method of using the diagram. However, even with the explanations and predictions provided in the Kongjiapo daybook in KJP.66–67, many details remain unclear, including the relationship of the newly deceased to the entity called “Corpse-Ghost,” which seems to also represent near the diagram, but it is not certain that this is the name of the diagram. 214  See 2014 niandu quanguo shida kaogu xin faxian zhongping hui, p. 40.

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Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks

Figure 4.24

Figure 4.23

Corpse-Ghost hemerology with diagram in KJP.64. For the texts written above and below the diagram, see the “Spirit Origin and Background: Explanation of the ‘Death CorpseGhost’ Diagram” section in chap. 5. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 94–96.

Redrawn “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram based on KJP.64 and SHDB.77.

a day qualifier; the connection between the orientation of compartments on the diagram and human dwelling spaces; and whether the diagram’s compartments represent parts of a single dwelling belonging to one household or locations among a group of dwellings and households in a local community (the word shi 室 is used frequently and may refer either to a chamber within a dwelling or to the dwelling as a household unit). Despite our still incomplete understanding, the “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram and its hemerological significance are important evidence for popular religious ideas and practices.215 This survey of diagrams in daybooks and daybookrelated manuscripts shows the extent to which diagrams constitute an integral part of hemerology. Only with the modern discoveries of the manuscripts has it been possible to study the relationship between text and image in the presentation of hemerological information for the manuscripts’ original users. All the ­diagrams in the ­daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts have a technical dimension, and their characteristics indicate differences in the interaction between text and image. In the case of the “Day Court” diagram, which is multipurpose and associated with various hemerologies, it facilitates access to the cosmological and calendrical ­symbolism underlying the manipulation of sexagenary signs and to other elements conventionally associated with the “Day Court” diagram. In this respect, the diagram itself is not absolutely required for comprehension of the hemerological system, although it provides visual support, because there are other editorial means of conveying the same type of information, such as tables or lists. The current presumption in research that the shi device, as represented by the Dipper astrolabe (Beidou shi), is the basis for all forms of the “Day Court” diagram fails to 215  On the use of the diagram in Corpse-Ghost hemerology, see pp. 216–20 in chap. 5. See also Fan Guodong, 2010; and Song Yanping, 2012.

192 take into account the actual uses of the “Day Court” diagram in manuscripts and other material objects and lacks sufficient proof.216 The diagrams with a single purpose related to the specific hemerology to which they are attached are part of the technique underlying the hemerology and are absolutely necessary to its execution. Their design was ­conceived in order to determine favorable or ­unfavorable days for u ­ ndertaking a given activity, and they have an operative function in the hemerology. Examples of this type of diagram are the “Root Mountain” diagram, which is composed of an original pattern, and the “Liubo Board” diagram, which is based on an existing pattern. Finally, there is the type of diagram intended simply to illustrate. For instance, the purpose of the “House-Compound Gate Placement” diagram is to depict the spatial distribution of the twenty-two gates around the compound wall, and, similarly, diagrams with a drawing of an animal or human figure are illustrations. Conclusion The details of hemerology in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts claim our attention from the standpoint of the diversity of technical occult and scientific knowledge. Yet we cannot focus on the technical knowledge and its connections to the contemporaneous formation of correlative cosmology without giving equal attention to the value that people attached to hemerology as part of daily life in their local communities. Daybooks and daybookrelated manuscripts as restored to us in modern discoveries prove the integration of hemerology and daily life: hemerology was the input linked to the output applied to everyday activities. By beginning this chapter with the output—and closely examining the factual details related to everyday life in the daybooks—I have sought to situate daybooks and the hemerological information they contain in the social and cultural milieus of their producers and users. My findings in general accord with the archaeological evidence, showing that owners of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts were for the most part members of local elites, the majority of them local officials. Further, the archaeological evidence does not indicate that the individuals whose mortal remains were interred with these manuscripts were necessarily specialists in the mantic arts, nor does the 216  For a critical review of modern scholarship in the field of shi studies, see Kalinowski, 2013.

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content of the manuscripts indicate that they were produced for use by specialists. The situation is similar with the discoveries of legal and administrative manuscripts in tombs: the producers and users of the manuscripts were mainly officials in need of information, not the original composers of the texts copied onto the manuscripts. In the daybooks discovered to date, the hemerologies, predictive systems, and occult knowledge that constitute the daybook text type were not distinctive and original formulations reflecting the inventiveness and ingenuity of their creators. In regard to the formation of written legal knowledge or hemerological knowledge, the contribution of those who produced these manuscripts was simply in the selections they made from existing compilations for reasons related to their roles as administrators or scribes or out of personal interest. Although daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts shared many pieces of written information, they are far from being a homogeneous set. Exhibiting great variety of form and content, the manuscripts range from a simple list of avoidance days inscribed on a wooden tablet such as the one from Duling, to the first Zhoujiatai manuscript (ZJTA), whose disparate contents set it apart from the daybook text type and might be likened to a personal draft or a working copy, and, finally, to highly organized daybooks such as the first Shuihudi daybook (SHDA), with the careful selection and arrangement of sections and sections headings on its recto. These manuscripts were clearly made to serve different purposes: they correspond to different forms of appropriation of hemerological knowledge that was meant to be circulated and put into practice in local communities as people lived their lives. With this as background, the second part of the chapter surveys the hemerological knowledge in the daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, including the basic representations of time and space, the technical means at work in the hemerologies, and the predictive systems recorded in daybooks. Most noticeable is the extent of the common base of hemerological knowledge, which is evident, first, in the amount of shared content and, second, in the multiple versions of the same core text, with minor variations, present among manuscripts. Such intertextuality and complementarity across the diversity of manuscripts that treat of hemerology testifies to the well-established body of knowledge shared among the producers and users of daybooks. In concluding this chapter, I note several characteristic features of the language and representation of ­hemerological knowledge that occur in all daybooks and

193

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks

daybook-­ related manuscripts. Four in particular have broad relevance for our understanding of the manuscripts themselves and must be recognized when using the manuscripts as sources for cultural studies or the history of ideas. First is the practical dimension. Even the Jianchu (Establish-Remove) hemerology—the prominence of which serves as one form of identification of the daybook text type—is never described from the perspective of the hemerological or calendrical principles that underlie it. No doubt some daybook producers and users were aware of these principles; however, in the context of the daybook as a guide to daily life, its value lay in the system input to be applied to the management of daily activities. Second is the tendency toward simplicity. In general, daybooks contain simple hemerologies that are easy to put into practice. One manifestation of this quality is the presentation of technical knowledge that in transmitted sources takes more complex and sophisticated forms. The Shetige year-count as used in the Kongjiapo daybook is an excellent example. In KJP.80, the Shetige year-count is applied in mechanical fashion to military, agricultural, and medical forecasts. Thus, even when certain hemerological systems imply that specialized knowledge of the calendar, astrology, or five-agents ideas is involved, their application in daybooks is more rudimentary. Some manuscripts stand out for the mixing of simple hemerologies with such simplified systems. In the first Zhoujiatai daybook, for instance, the Rong calendar hemerologies (ZJTA.6 and ZJTA.12) both involve simple counting methods, and they occur in the same manuscript as more complex methods based on the Dipper Establishment. The third characteristic is the abbreviated and at times elliptical language of daybook hemerologies. Information that was no doubt known by ancient users of daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts would not have required explicit explanation in the text. This presents difficulties for modern readers whose understanding of the actual operation of the system is limited and conjectural. In some instances, one daybook includes explanatory language for a hemerology that is absent in the account of the same hemerology in another daybook, or information occurring by chance in one daybook may shed light on how the system of a different hemerology in another daybook worked. Under these circumstances, the modern reader must rely on the available manuscripts and hope to find clues in one manuscript that will enable correct interpretation of another manuscript. Finally, in connection with the language of the daybooks, a related difficulty for modern research is the vari-

ability of the text as copied on multiple manuscripts. Does different wording in the hemerological information indicate differences between the hemerologies as presented in several manuscripts? And under what circumstances should the differences be identified as copyist errors? It remains to observe that publication of more already discovered manuscripts, as well as new manuscript discoveries, will lead to a better understanding of daybooks and hemerology in the late Warring States, Qin, and Han periods. The daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts reflect a distinctive world of ideas with everyday applications. The research challenge ahead will be to integrate the manuscript evidence into the domains of ­cultural history and the history of ideas.

Supplement 4.1

Typology of Sections in the First Daybook from Shuihudi (SHDA) See appendix B for a detailed summary of the SHDA sections. There are roughly twelve thousand graphs in the manuscript (Liu Lexian, 1994, p. 2). General hemerologies (twenty sections, approximately 3,872 graphs) SHDA.1: Jianchu 建除 (Establish-Remove) hemerology (eighteen topics, 467 graphs) SHDA.3: Jianchu 建除 (Establish-Remove) hemerology (eighteen topics, 501 graphs) SHDA.7: Congchen 叢辰 (Collected Branches) hemerology (twenty-three topics, 784 graphs) SHDA.9: Miscellaneous hemerology (two topics, 22 graphs) SHDA.13: Miscellaneous hemerology (four topics, 71 graphs) SHDA.14: Miscellaneous hemerology (two topics, 77 graphs) SHDA.17: Stellar lodge hemerology (twenty topics, 538 graphs) SHDA.21: Miscellaneous hemerology (two topics, 51 graphs) SHDA.31: Di/Emperor 帝 hemerology (five topics, 129 graphs) SHDA.35: Miscellaneous hemerology (three topics, 271 graphs) SHDA.38: Twelve branch hemerology (eight topics, 118 graphs) SHDA.40: Miscellaneous hemerology (three topics, 32 graphs) SHDA.41: Miscellaneous hemerology (four topics, 213 graphs) SHDA.46: Miscellaneous hemerology (nine topics, 106 graphs) SHDA.54: Miscellaneous hemerology (three topics, 43 graphs) SHDA.55: Miscellaneous hemerology (two topics, 295 graphs) SHDA.78: Miscellaneous hemerology (three topics, 53 graphs) SHDA.80: Miscellaneous hemerology (three topics, 48 graphs) SHDA.82: Miscellaneous hemerology (two topics, 23 graphs) SHDA.86: Miscellaneous hemerology (five topics, 30 graphs)

194 Topical hemerologies (forty-six sections, approximately 3,216 graphs) SHDA.4: Farming (11 graphs) SHDA.5: Farming (42 graphs) SHDA.6: Farming (13 graphs) SHDA.8: Clothing (35 graphs) SHDA.10: Rats seen at the doorway (59 graphs) SHDA.11: Burials (44 graphs) SHDA.15: Moving (191 graphs) SHDA.19: Sacrifices (26 graphs) SHDA.20: Sacrifices (17 graphs) SHDA.22: Domestic animals (56 graphs) SHDA.23: Domestic animals (49 graphs) SHDA.24: Domestic animals (48 graphs) SHDA.25: Domestic animals (33 graphs) SHDA.26: Markets, trade (14 graphs) SHDA.27: Domestic animals (52 graphs) SHDA.28: Domestic animals (31 graphs) SHDA.29: Markets, trade (22 graphs) SHDA.30: Farming (22 graphs) SHDA.32: Construction, earthworks (41 graphs) SHDA.33: Construction, earthworks (90 graphs) SHDA.34: Construction, earthworks (66 graphs) SHDA.36: Construction, earthworks (21 graphs) SHDA.37: Construction, earthworks (138 graphs) SHDA.42: Traveling, going in and out (179 graphs) SHDA.43: Traveling, going in an out (50 graphs) SHDA.44: Traveling, going in and out (58 graphs) SHDA.45: Traveling, going in an out (100 graphs) SHDA.49: Making demands of people (22 graphs) SHDA.50: Marriage (60 graphs) SHDA.51: Family, kinship (24 graphs) SHDA.52: Officials (259 graphs) SHDA.53: Officials (57 graphs) SHDA.56: Marriage (38 graphs) SHDA.66: Traveling, going in and out (36 graphs) SHDA.67: Traveling, going in and out (149 graphs) SHDA.68: Killing (animals) (73 graphs) SHDA.69: Traveling, going in and out (140 graphs) SHDA.71: Clothing (79 graphs) SHDA.72: Clothing (112 graphs) SHDA.73: Clothing (123 graphs) SHDA.76: Sacrifices (6 graphs) SHDA.77: Moving (29 graphs) SHDA.79: Construction, earthworks (353 graphs) SHDA.81: Entering a house (71 graphs) SHDA.83: Farming (40 graphs) SHDA.84: Farming (37 graphs)

kalinowski Predictive systems (seven sections, approximately 2,032 graphs) SHDA.18: Prediction related to illness (202 graphs) SHDA.39: Prediction related to the house compound (293 graphs) SHDA.47: Prediction related to childbirth (455 graphs) SHDA.48: Prediction related to childbirth (47 graphs) SHDA.58: Prediction related to the house compound (341 graphs) SHDA.61: Prediction related to robbers (498 graphs) SHDA.62: Prediction related to death (196 graphs) Unclassified systems (nine sections, approximately 766 graphs) SHDA.2: Record of avoidance days (21 graphs) SHDA.12: Xuange 玄戈 (Dark Dagger-ax) hemerology (358 graphs) SHDA.16: Record of monthly positions of Sui 歲 (Year) and table of Chu and Qin months with day-night proportions (112 graphs) SHDA.60: Record of day-night proportions for the twelve months (76 graphs) SHDA.63: “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram (7 graphs) SHDA.64: Record of the conquest sequence of the five agents (30 graphs) SHDA.65: Record of monthly positions of stellar lodge Heart5 (83 graphs) SHDA.75: Record of Ci 刺 (Stab) days and Hui 毀 (Destroy) days (20 graphs) SHDA.85: Fanzhi 反支 (Reverse Branch) hemerology (59 graphs) Ritual and magic (four sections, approximately 2,153 graphs) SHDA.57: Ritual with incantation against nightmares (53 graphs) SHDA.59: Record of spirits, demons, and marvels, with magical remedies (1,920 graphs) SHDA.70: Ritual with incantation for safe travel (38 graphs) SHDA.87: Ritual with incantation for horses (142 graphs)



Supplement 4.2

Topics and Activities in the Twelve Jianchu (EstablishRemove) and Congchen (Collected Branches) Sections of the Published Daybooks Sections analyzed Jiudian daybook: JD.1 (Jianchu), JD2 (Jianchu). Fangmatan daybooks: FMTA.1 (Jianchu), FMTB.1 (Jianchu).

195

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks Shuihudi daybooks: SHDA.1 (Chu-style Jianchu), SHDA.3 (Qin-style Jianchu), SHDA.7 (Congchen), SHDB.1 (Chustyle Jianchu), SHDB.3 (Jianchu), SHDB.12 (Congchen). Kongjiapo daybook: KJP.1 (Jianchu), KJP.4 (Congchen). The arrangement of topics and activities is in descending order based on the total number of daybook sections for each category and the occurrences of topics and activities in those sections. Numbers in parentheses indicate multiple occurrences of the term for a topic or activity in the same section. Cults, rituals, magic (12 sections, 67 occurrences) JD.1: 祭祀 (4), 為小攻, 立社稷 JD.2: 祭 (3), 祭大事, 祭小大, 祭門行 (2), 除不祥, 除疾, 除盟詛, 解 凶, 上下之禱祠, 大祭 FMTA.1: 祝祠 (3) FMTB.1: 祝祠 (3) SHDA.1: 祭 (4), 祭祀 (2), 祭門行 (2), 除凶厲, 大祭, 兌 (說) 不祥, 兌 (說) 盟詛百不祥 SHDA.3: 祠 (2) SHDA.7: 祠 (2), 祠外, 祠祀 (3), 解事, 外除 SHDB.1: 祭 (4), 說盟詛 (2), 小然 (祭) SHDB.3: 祠 SHDB.12: 祠 (4), 祠外 KJP.1: 禱祠 KJP.4: 祠, 祠祀 (3), 祠祀外, 解事, 外除 Bringing in and out (people, animals, goods) (12 sections, 48 occurrences) JD.1: 內人 (2) JD.2: 內貨 (3), 寓人 FMTA.1: 入人奴妾, 入牲, 入禾粟, 入黔首 (2), 氐馬牛畜牲, 賜客 FMTB.1: 入人奴妾, 氐馬牛畜牲, 入禾粟, 入黔首 (2), 賜客 SHDA.1: 入材 (2), 寄人 SHDA.3: 入人 (2), 入人民馬牛禾粟, 入臣徒馬牛它牲 SHDA.7: 入寄者, 入貨及牲, 出入貨, 出入貨及牲 (2) SHDB.1: 寓人 SHDB.3: 入臣妾, 入馬牛臣 [妾] SHDB.12: 入人民畜牲, 入貨人民畜牲, 出入人民畜牲 (2) KJP.1: 入馬牛畜牲禾粟, 入奴婢, 入六畜, 入人馬牛畜產禾稼, 入人 KJP.4: 入客, 入畜產, 入貨, 出入人畜牲, 出入畜牲 Housing, construction, demolition, earthworks (12 sections, 28 occurrences) JD.1: 為門閭, 築室 JD.2: 為室家, 鑿井, 穿戶牖 FMTA.1: 築宮室, 築閒牢, 為府 FMTB.1: 為府 SHDA.1: 鑿井

SHDA.3: 為官府室, 築宮室, 築閒牢 SHDA.7: 覆室蓋屋, 蓋屋, 穿井 SHDB.1: 鑿井, 鑿宇 SHDB.3: 蓋藏, 藏蓋 SHDB.12: 穿井, 蓋屋, 覆室 KJP.1: 為府, 築閒牢囷宮室, 壞垣 KJP.4: 穿井溝竇, 蓋屋 Marriage (11 sections, 50 occurrences) JD.1: 娶妻 (3), 嫁女, 嫁子 JD.2: 娶妻, 嫁女 FMTA.1: 娶妻 FMTB.1: 娶妻 SHDA.1: 娶婦, 嫁子 SHDA.3: 娶妻 (2) SHDA.7: 娶婦 (7), 嫁女 (7) SHDB.1: 娶妻, 嫁子 (3) SHDB.12: 娶妻嫁女 (4), 娶婦 KJP.1: 娶妻 (2), 娶婦, 嫁女 KJP.4: 娶妻 (5), 嫁女 (5) General activities (11 sections, 44 occurrences) JD.2: 有志百事, 百事, 作事, 行作 (2) FMTA.1: 有為 (2), 作事 FMTB.1: 有為 (2), 作事 SHDA.1: 作事 (2), 實事, 百事, 起大事, 行作 SHDA.3: 有為 (2), 興大事, 起事 SHDA.7: 大事, 小事, 有為 (4) SHDB.1: 作事, 作大事 (3), 起大事 SHDB.3: 有為 (5) SHDB.12: 為 KJP.1: 興大事, 有為 KJP.4: 小事大事, 有為 (3) Traveling, going in and out, staying home (11 sections, 39 occurrences) JD.2: 行, 內 (入) 室, 遠行 (2), 蹠四方野外 (2), 野事, 居 FMTA.1: 行, 行遠, 居處 FMTB.1: 行, 行遠, 居處 SHDA.1: 行, 登高, 建野外, 居, 之四方野外, 之野外 SHDA.3: 行, 入室 SHDA.7: 居室 SHDB.1: 行 (2), 遠行, 之四方野外, 之四鄰, 入邦, 入室, 居 SHDB.3: 行, 入城 SHDB.12: 行, 居室 KJP.1: 行, 入室, 居室 KJP.4: 居室

196 Politics, dealing with people (10 sections, 22 occurrences) JD.1: 和人民, 聚眾 JD.2: 聚眾 FMTA.1: 起眾及作, 謀事, 外政 FMTB.1: 起眾及作, 謀事, 外政 SHDA.1: 聚眾 SHDA.3: 請謁, 謀事 SHDA.7: 臨官, 臨官立政 SHDB.3: 使人, 請謁, 謀 KJP.1: 起眾, 謀事, 請謁 KJP.4: 臨官, 臨官立政 Lost items, runaway persons (9 sections, 25 occurrences) JD.2: 亡貨, 逃人 (3) FMTA.1: 逃亡 (2) FMTB.1: 逃亡 SHDA.1: 亡, 逃人 SHDA.3: 亡, 亡者, 臣妾亡 SHDA.7: 亡人, 亡者 (4) SHDB.12: 亡者 (2) KJP.1: 奴婢亡, 亡者 KJP.4: 亡者 (4) Cap, belt, sword, chariot (9 sections, 23 occurrences) JD.1: 佩玉, 冠帶, 劍 JD2: 冠 (2), 帶劍, [1] 車馬 SHDA.1: 冠, 制車, 服帶 SHDA.3: 始冠, 乘車 SHDB.1: 帶劍, 乘車, 冠, 制冠帶 SHDB.3: 初冠, 帶劍, 乘車, 駕駒 SHDB.12: [1] 車 KJP.1: 冠帶, 乘車 KJP.4: 冠帶 Officials (8 sections, 26 occurrences) JD.2: 邦君, 小夫 FMTA.1: 治嗇夫, 為小嗇夫, 為嗇夫 FMTB.1: 治嗇夫, 為嗇夫 SHDA.1: 邦君, 小夫 SHDA.3: 為嗇夫 (2) SHDA.7: 為嗇夫 (3), 徙官 (2), 免 (2) KJP.1: 為嗇夫, 為大嗇夫 KJP.4: 徙官 (2), 為嗇夫 (3), 免 Legal matters, disputes (8 sections, 23 occurrences) JD.1: 䛠事 FMTA.1: 責人及摯人, 繫人, 徹言

kalinowski FMTB.1: 責人及摯人, 繫人, 徹言 SHDA.3: 責, 摯, 攻擊 SHDA.7: 繫 (5) SHDB.12: 繫 (2) KJP.1: 責, 捕人 KJP.4: 繫 (4) Military affairs, conflicts (8 sections, 23 occurrences) JD.2: 出征, 行師徒 SHDA.1: 出征, 行師 SHDA.7: 戰, 戰伐, 攻軍, 圍城, 始殺, 野戰, 報讎 SHDB.1: 攻擊, 行師徒 SHDB.3: 攻軍 SHDB.12: 攻, 戰伐 KJP.1: 攻 [1] KJP.4: 圍城, 報讎, 攻軍, 始殺, 戰, 戰伐 Water management (8 sections, 10 occurrences) JD.2: 行水事 FMTA.1: 彼 (破) 水, 波渴 FMTB.1: 彼 (破) 水, 波渴 SHDA.1: 行水 SHDA.3: 劈決池 SHDA.7: 行水 KJP.1: 破堤 KJP.4: 行水 Seeing people (7 sections, 17 occurrences) JD.1: 見人 JD.2: 見邦君 SHDA.1: 見人, 見君上 SHDA.7: 見人 (3) SHDB.1: 見人 (2) SHDB.12: 見人 (3) KJP.4: 見人 (5) Illness (7 sections, 14 occurrences) FMTA.1: 有疾, 癉疾 FMTB.1: 癉疾 SHDA.3: 有疾, 𤺄病, 飲樂 (藥) SHDA.7: 有疾, 飲樂 (藥) SHDB.1: 棄疾 KJP.1: 癉病者, [1] 病者, 飲樂 (藥) KJP.4: 有病, 飲藥 Hunting, fishing (7 sections, 11 occurrences) JD.1: 為張網

197

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks JD.2: 設網, 獵田邑, 田獵 SHDA.1: 獵四方野外, 田獵 SHDA.7: 弋獵 SHDB.1: 網獵 SHDB.12: 漁獵 KJP.4: 田漁, 獵 Birth (6 sections, 29 occurrences) JD.2: 生子 (4), 以生 SHDA.1: 以生, 生子 (4) SHDA.7: 生子 (7) SHDB.1: 生, 生子 (2) SHDB.12: 生子 (2) KJP.4: 生子 (7) Clothing (6 sections, 9 occurrences) JD.1: 製布褐, 製衣裳, JD.2: 製衣裳 SHDA.1: 製衣裳 SHDA.7: 製衣裳 SHDB.1: 製衣裳 (2) KJP.4: 衣裳 Domestic animals (6 sections, 6 occurrences) FMTA.1: 畜大牲 FMTB.1: 畜大牲 SHDA.3: 產 SHDA.7: 畜畜牲 SHDB.3: 畜六畜 KJP.4: 畜產 Food, drink, music, singing (4 sections, 20 occurrences) JD.2: 飲食 SHDA.1: 飲食 SHDA.7: 樂, 歌樂 (4), 飲食 (4) KJP.4: 飲, 飲食 (3), 歌樂 (5) Funerals (4 sections, 9 occurrences) SHDA.7: 葬埋 (4) SHDB.1: 葬 SHDB.12: 葬, 葬埋 KJP.4: 葬 (2) Robbers, bandits (4 sections, 7 occurrences) JD.2: 寇盜 FMTA.1: 言盜

SHDA.3: 言盜, 攻盜, 執 KJP.1: 逐盜, 言盜 Speech, oral agreements (4 sections, 5 occurrences) JD.1: 結言, 成言 SHDA.7: 辭 SHDB.1: 結言 KJP.4: 辭 Storing (4 sections, 4 occurrences) FMTA.1: 藏 FMTB.1: 藏 SHDA.3: 藏 KJP.1: 藏 Meteorology (3 sections, 37 occurrences) SHDA.7: 正月以朔 (8), 雨 (7) SHDB.12: 正月以朔 (7), 雨 KJP.4: 正月以朔 (6), 正月以朝, 雨 (7) Purifying, disposals (2 sections, 3 occurrences) SHDA.3: 除地 KJP.1: 毀器, 毀除 Family, kinship (2 sections, 3 occurrences) JD.2: 幼子, 長子 SHDA.1: 室家 Markets, trade (2 sections, 2 occurrences) JD.2: 作卯 (貿) 事 SHDA.3: 市責 (積) Moving (1 section, 2 occurrences) JD.1: 徙家室, 徙家 Killing (animals) (1 section, 1 occurrence) SHDA.7: 殺 Death (1 section, 1 occurrence) SHDA.7: 死者 Forestry (1 section, 1 occurrence) KJP.1: 伐木

198

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Learning to write (1 section, 1 occurrence) SHDB.1: 學書

KJP.75: 狂, 癃, 多病 JD.2: 男不壽 SHDA.7: 子不產, 子死 (2) SHDA.17: 不盈三歲死, 三月死, 不死無晨 (唇), 旬而死, 眚, 癃, 不完



Supplement 4.3

Predictions Based on the Child’s Day of Birth Predictive sections exclusively for the child’s day of birth: SHDA.47: Prediction based on the sexagenary-cycle days SHDB.80: Prediction based on the sexagenary-cycle days KJP.75: Prediction based on the twelve branches Sections with general hemerologies that include predictions for the child’s day of birth: JD.2: Congchen SHDA.1: Jianchu SHDA.7: Congchen SHDA.17: Stellar lodge SHDB.1: Jianchu SHDB.12: Congchen SHDB.24: Stellar lodge KJP.4: Congchen KJP.5: Stellar lodge Numbers in parentheses indicate multiple occurrences of the prediction in the same section. Personal tastes SHDA.47: 好家室 (2), 好女子, 好樂, 好言語, 好水, 好田野邑屋, 嗜酒, 嗜酒及田獵 SHDB.80: 好室家, 好室, 好女子, 媚人, 利樂, 好言語, 好甲, 好田 獵, 利酒醴, 嗜酒 Character traits SHDA.47: 武 (6), 武而好衣劍, 勇 (2), 有力 (2), 巧, 工巧 (2), 良, 長 大善得, 美, 聖 SHDB.80: 武 (3), 武有力 (2), 不武乃工巧, 巧, 勇 (2), 聖 KJP.75: 必奸 JD.2: 男必美於人 SHDA.1: 男女必美 SHDA.17: 喜鬬, 巧, 人愛之, 樂 SHDB.1: 美 SHDB.24: 喜鬬, 巧, 人愛之, 樂 KJP.4: 美且長 KJP.5: 喜鬬, 人愛之, 子樂 Constitution and health SHDA.47: 疾, 有疾, 少疾, 嗜酒而疾, 不正, 乃有疵前, 疵於體, 有 身事, 或眚於目, 有終, 先 終 (2), 無終 SHDB.80: 疾 (2), [2] 壽, 少疾, 長, 有眚目, 必有疵於體, 不出三日 必死, 不正不然必有疵 於前, 有終 (3), 無終 (2)

SHDB.12: 死 (2) SHDB.24: 不完, 三月死, 毋晨, 不到三年死, 癃, 旬死 KJP.4: 子死 (2), 子死, 不產 KJP.5: 子肥, 毋辰 (唇), 子癃, 眚, 不完, 不盈三歲死, 旬而死 Family SHDA.47: 少孤 (4), 無母, 去父母南, 利弟, 孝 SHDB.80: 少孤 (2), 勿舉, 不利父母, 寡弟 KJP.75: 無子, 女復寡 JD.2: 無弟如有弟必死 SHDA.1: 無弟有弟必死, 窶孤, 子吉弟凶 SHDA.17: 毋它同生 SHDB.24: 毋它同生 KJP.5: 毋它同生 Prosperity SHDA.47: 穀 (9), 吉 (4), 富 (2), 後富 (2), 肉食, 飲食急, 不吉 (6), 貧 (3), 衣汙, 汙 SHDB.80: 穀 (7), 後富, 肉食, 衣裳, 吉 (2), 當 (富) 吉, 不吉 (6), 貧 (4) KJP.75: 大富 (2), 富, 貧, 三妻, 三夫, 貧 JD.2: 男吉 SHDA.1: 男吉 SHDA.7: 吉 (2) SHDA.17: 富, 肥, 貧富半, 貧, 不吉 SHDB.24: 肥, 必駕, 貧富半, 貧, 寡 KJP.4: 吉 (2) KJP.5: 吉, 富, 必貧, 貧富半 Social fate SHDA.47: 事君, 有寵, 寵, 聞, 有商 (賞), 必為吏 (2), 男好衣佩而 貴, 必為人臣妾, 必嘗繫囚, 去其邦, 去其邦北, 有事, 女為賈, 女為醫 SHDB.80: 必事君, 必為上卿, 女子為邦君妻, 有聞邦, 有寵 (2), 為 人臣, 男子為人臣, 女子 為人妾, 為臣妾, 遠去女子于南, 去其 邦, 去其邦北亟, 必有事, 必善醫, 女子為巫, 女子為醫 KJP.75: 為上君, 為大夫, 必臨國, 為上君妻, 史 (吏) (2), 善田 (2), 善盜, 為大巫, 為巫 (2) JD.2: 女必出其邦 SHDA.1: 女必出於邦 SHDA.7: 既美且長有賢等, 男女為盜 SHDA.17: 為大夫, 為大吏, 為吏 (2), 必有爵, 為邑傑, 必使人, 必 駕, 為正, 老為人治也又 數詣風雨, 男為覡, 為巫 SHDB.1: 年不可遠行, 遠行不返 SHDB.24: 子為大夫, 為邑傑, 為大吏, 為吏 (2), 為正, 必有爵, 使 人, 老為人治也數詣風雨, 男為覡, 女為巫

199

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks KJP.4: 為盜 KJP.5: 為大吏, 為吏, 為邑傑, 為嗇夫妻, 必駕, 數詣風雨, 女為巫, 男為覡



Supplement 4.4

Topics and Activities Appearing in the Jiudian Daybook (JD) and the First Fangmatan Daybook (FMTA) Numbers in parentheses indicate multiple occurrences of the term for a topic or activity in the same section.

Birth

Topics and Activities in JD and FMTA

JD.2: 生子 (4), 以生 FMTA.3: 生女, 生男 Bringing in and out (people, animals, goods) JD.1: 內人 (2) JD.2: 內貨 (3), 寓人 JD.3: 內田邑, 內人民 JD.7: 以入 FMTA.1: 入黔首 (2), 入牲, 入禾粟, 入人奴妾 Clothing JD.1: 製布褐, 製衣裳 JD.2: 製衣裳 JD.13: 製 FMTA.11: 衣, 新衣 FMTA.13: 裁衣 Cults, rituals, magic JD.1: 祭祀 (4), 為小攻, 立社稷 JD.2: 祭 (3), 祭大事, 祭小大, 祭門行 (2), 除不祥, 除疾, 除盟詛, 解 凶, 上下之禱祠, 大祭 JD.3: 祭祀, 禱祠 FMTA.1: 祝祠 (3) Domestic animals JD.4: 畜六牲擾 FMTA.1: 畜六牲, 氐馬牛畜牲 FMTA.14: 犬 General activities JD.2: 有志百事, 百事, 作事, 行作 (2) JD.3: 成事 JD.4: 作大事 FMTA.1: 作事, 有為 (2), 作

Housing, construction, demolition, earthworks JD.1: 為門閭, 築室 JD.2: 為室家, 鑿井, 穿戶牖 JD.6: 相垣, 樹邦作邑, 蓋宇, 宮, 堂, 室, 廩 FMTA.1: 築閒牢, 築宮室, 為府, 居處 FMTA.5: 起土攻 Illness JD.7: 有疾, 見疾 FMTA.1: 癉疾, 有疾 FMTA.2: 病 Legal matters, disputes JD.1: 䛠事 FMTA.1: 責人, 摯人, 繫人, 外政 Lost items, runaway persons JD.2: 亡貨, 逃人 (3) JD.7: 逃 FMTA.1: 逃亡 (2), 言盜, 盜 FMTA.4: 亡 FMTA.6: 以亡 Marriage JD.1: 娶妻 (3), 嫁女, 嫁子 JD.2: 娶妻, 嫁女 JD.3: 娶妻, 嫁女 FMTA.1: 娶妻 Officials JD.2: 邦君, 小夫 FMTA.1: 為嗇夫, 治嗇夫, 小嗇夫 Politics, dealing with people JD.1: 和人民, 聚眾 JD.2: 聚眾 FMTA.1: 徹言, 賜客, 謀事, 起眾 Robbers, bandits JD.2: 寇盜 FMTA.4: 盜 FMTA.6: 盜者, 盜 Seeing people JD.1: 見人 JD.2: 見邦君 JD.3: 見公王與貴人 FMTA.8: 見人 FMTA.9: similar to FMTA.8

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Traveling, going in and out, staying home JD.2: 行, 內 (入) 室, 遠行 (2), 蹠四方野外 (2), 野事, 居 JD.3: 入邦中, 內室 JD.11: 往, 歸 JD.14: 行 FMTA.1: 行, 行遠 FMTA.7: 行 Water management JD.2: 行水事 FMTA.1: 彼水, 波渴



Topics and Activities Only in JD

Cap, belt, sword, chariot JD.1: 佩玉, 冠, 帶劍 JD.2: 冠 (2), 帶劍, [1] 車馬 JD.3: 冠

Food, drinks, music, and dance JD.2: 飲食 Forestry JD.4: 樹木 Family, kinship JD.2: 幼子, 長子 Hunting, fishing JD.1: 為張網 JD.2: 設網, 獵田邑, 田獵 Markets, trade JD.2: 作卯 (貿) 事 JD.3: 取貨於人之所, 舍人貨於外 Speech, oral agreements JD.1: 結言, 成言 Military affairs, conflicts JD.2: 出征, 行師徒 Moving JD.1: 徙家室, 徙家 JD.12: 徙



Death FMTA.2: 死

Topics and Activities Only in FMTA

Farming, plants FMTA.15: 田, 田秉

Funerals FMTA.2: 葬 Storing FMTA.1: 藏 Purifying, disposals FMTA.16: 𡒖 (墍) 囷日 Rats FMTA.13: 窴穴, 鼠 FMTA.16: 塞穴置鼠, 為鼠



Supplement 4.5

Diagrams in the Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts For diagrams on bound slips, diagram height is estimated on the basis of the mean slip length as stated in the reference editions of the manuscripts.

Day Court–based diagrams

Day Court 4.5:1 KJP.18 4.5:2 KJP.19 4.5:3 KJP.20 4.5:4 FMTB.58 Five-Part Day Court 4.5:5 ZJTA.13 Twenty-Eight Hourly Lodge 4.5:6 ZJTA.3

H 3.6 cm (slip 33.8 cm) H 2.8–1.2 cm (misshapen) H 3.1–3.9 cm (misshapen) H 2.6 cm (slip 23 cm) H 26.9 cm (slip 29.6 cm) H 14.3 cm (slip 29.6 cm)

Empty pattern diagrams

Rong Calendar 4.5:7 4.5:8 4.5:9 Taking Office 4.5:10 Root Mountain 4.5:11 4.5:12

ZJTA.6 ZJTA.12 KJP.can26

H 5.7 cm (slip 29.6 cm) H 5.7 cm (slip 29.6 cm) fragment

KJP.40

H 3.8 cm (slip 33.8 cm)

SHDA.13 KJP.23

H 5.5 cm (slip 25 cm) H 4.7 cm (slip 33.8 cm)

201

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks Empty pattern diagrams

4.5:13

HK.7

fragment, text only

Sexagenary binom diagrams

Liubo Board 4.5:14 Rain Prediction 4.5:15 4.5:16 Heaven Jail 4.5:17

YW.5 (D9v)

6 cm × 6.5 cm

YW.4 (D9r3) FMTB.43

5.3 cm × 2.9 cm H 7.5 cm (slip 23 cm)

KJP.71

H 6.1 cm (slip 33.8 cm) Figure 4.25

Supplement 4.5:1. “Day Court” diagram in KJP.18. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 77–78.

Figure 4.26

Supplement 4.5:2. “Day Court” diagram in KJP.19. Slips 127–129 and 131–133 are blank or have inserted text and are not shown in this reconstruction. Shaded areas indicate parts of the slips unrelated to KJP.19. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 77–78.

Body-shaped diagrams

Divine Turtle 4.5:18 Childbirth 4.5:19 4.5:20

YW.3 (D9r1–2)

4.6 cm × 2.7 cm

SHDA.48 KJP.74

H 7.8 cm (slip 25 cm) damaged

Others

House-Compound Gate Placement 4.5:21 SHDA.39 4.5:22 KJP.61 4.5:23 FMTB.2 Earthworks 4.5:24 KJP.43 (upper) 4.5:25 KJP.43 (middle) 4.5:26 KJP.43 (lower) Death Corpse-Ghost 4.5:27 SHDA.63 4.5:28 SHDB.77 4.5:29 KJP.64

H 6.3 cm (slip 25 cm) H 5.6 cm (slip 33.8 cm) text only H 3.3 cm (slip 33.8 cm) H 4.7 cm (slip 33.8 cm) H 9.1 cm (slip 33.8 cm) H 3.1 cm (slip 25 cm) H 8 cm (slip 22.5 cm) H 3.2 cm (slip 33.8 cm)

Supplement 4.5:13 (HK.7) and 4.5:23 (FMTB.2) do not have diagrams, but the hemerologies are diagram-based and they have been included in the appropriate subgroup for completeness. Diagrams in supplement 4.5:4 (FMTB.58), 4.5:9 (KJP.can26), and 4.5:20 (KJP.74) are not reproduced in the figures that follow due to their fragmentary condition.

202

Figure 4.27

kalinowski

Supplement 4.5:3. “Day Court” diagram in KJP.20. Slips 126–129 and 131–132 are blank or have text unrelated to KJP.20 and are not shown in this reconstruction. Shaded areas indicate parts of the slips unrelated to KJP.20. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 77–78.

Figure 4.29

Supplement 4.5:6. “Twenty-Eight Hourly Lodge” diagram in ZJTA.3. After Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, p. 152.

Figure 4.30 Supplement 4.5:7. “Rong Calendar” diagram in ZJTA.6. After Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, p. 127.

Figure 4.28

Supplement 4.5:5. “Five-Part Day Court” diagram in ZJTA.13. After Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, p. 153.

Figure 4.31 Supplement 4.5:8. “Rong Calendar” diagram in ZJTA.12. After Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, p. 140.

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Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks

Figure 4.32 Supplement 4.5:10. “Taking O�fice” diagram in KJP.40. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 85.

Figure 4.33

Supplement 4.5:11. “Root Mountain” diagram in SHDA.13. After Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, plates, pp. 92–93.

Figure 4.34

Supplement 4.5:12. “Root Mountain” diagram in KJP.23. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 78–79.

Figure 4.35

Supplement 4.5:14. “Liubo Board” diagram in YW.5. After Yinwan Han mu jiandu, p. 21.

Figure 4.36

Supplement 4.5:15. “Rain Prediction” diagram in YW.4. After Yinwan Han mu jiandu, p. 20.

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kalinowski

Figure 4.37

Supplement 4.5:16. “Rain Prediction” diagram in FMTB.43. After Qin jiandu heji, vol. 4, pp. 295–97.

Figure 4.39

Supplement 4.5:18. “Divine Turtle” diagram in YW.3. After Yinwan Han mu jiandu, p. 20.

Figure 4.38

Supplement 4.5:17. “Heaven Jail” diagram in KJP.71. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 100.

Figure 4.40

Supplement 4.5:19. “Childbirth” diagram in SHDA.48. After Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, plates, p. 101.

205

Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks

Figure 4.41

Figure 4.42

Supplement 4.5:21. “House-Compound Gate Placement” diagram in SHDA.39. After Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, plates, pp. 98–99.

Figure 4.43

Supplement 4.5:24. “Earthworks” diagram in KJP.43 (upper diagram). After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 85–86.

Supplement 4.5:22. “House-Compound Gate Placement” diagram in KJP.61. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 92–93.

Figure 4.44

Supplement 4.5:25. “Earthworks” diagram in KJP.43 (middle diagram). After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 85–86.

206

kalinowski

Figure 4.45

Supplement 4.5:26. “Earthworks” diagram in KJP.43 (lower diagram). After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 85–86.

Figure 4.46

Supplement 4.5:27. “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram in SHDA.63. After Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, plates, pp. 109–10.

Figure 4.47

Supplement 4.5:28. “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram in SHDB.77. After Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, plates, pp. 136–37.

Figure 4.48

Supplement 4.5:29. “Death CorpseGhost” diagram in KJP.64. After Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 94–95.

CHAPTER 5

Daybooks and the Spirit World Yan Changgui The compound gui shen 鬼神 offers one perspective on the concept of the spirit world in early China. Gui and shen are usually understood as opposite categories with several meanings. One common explanation treats shen as the word for nature spirits, whereas gui are the ghosts of the dead. Another treats both shen and gui as aspects of the human being after death: the shen is the formless qi 氣 “vapor” component of the deceased; the physical corpse enters the earth to become the gui. A third explanation considers shen the higher-level power that is yang 陽 and good; gui signifies the lower-level power that is yin 陰 and bad. Viewed in the context of early Chinese religious ideas, the compound gui shen could also be understood as powers that are “extra-human.”1 In this chapter, the term “demons and spirits” represents the translation of gui shen when referring to the extra-human entities of the spirit world that exist alongside the human world. In addition, “demon” as translation for gui and “spirit” as translation for shen are convenient English-language equivalents when the words occur singly in Chinese texts, excepting occurrences of gui that explicitly denote ghosts of the dead. I also use “spirit” and “spirit world” as general terms when discussing the textual evidence and religion. The daybook is a type of popular, practical reference manual with diverse contents. Occurrences of demons and spirits in the daybooks fall into three basic divisions. The first is general hemerologies, such as Jianchu 建除 (Establish-Remove) and Congchen 叢辰 (Collected Branches), in which spirit entities are involved among the topics and activities addressed by the hemerologies but are not identified separately by name.2 Hemerological prescriptions and predictions may refer generally to sacrifices and offerings or to covenants and oaths related to spirits. The recipients or objects of offerings or oaths most often are ancestral spirits but also include other spirits closely associated with everyday life, such as the 1 Poo (1998, pp. 5–7) proposes the term “extra-human” rather than “superhuman” or “supernatural” to describe these powers at the base of early Chinese religious ideas. 2 For further discussion of the category of general hemerologies in daybooks in contrast to topical hemerologies, see pp. 139–45 in chap. 4.

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wusi 五祀 “five domestic spirits” of the dwelling, the gate, the road, the door, and the stove. The second division consists of the topical hemerologies used to determine favorable and unfavorable times and locations for specific activities and events. Classified by the activity or event, these hemerologies concern various aspects of everyday life and often involve demons and spirits. For instance, one hemerology related to the time of death uses a diagram to determine the location of the Shi 失 or Chi 䰡 (Corpse-Ghost), both graphs referring to a demon associated with the newly dead and the corpse.3 Illness hemerologies identify by name many demons and spirits that are to blame for illness. Spirits are also mentioned in hemerologies that deal with earthworks, travel, marriage, and the like. Their function and characteristics differ from those of the spirits in illness hemerologies. Several hemerologies related to agriculture in the second Fangmatan 放馬灘 daybook (FMTB) and the Kongjiapo 孔 家坡 daybook (KJP) name legendary rulers, who are similar to spirits in hemerologies for activities such as travel and marriage but different from those in the illness hemerologies. Some of them may be classified as day qualifiers, or shensha 神煞 “calendar spirits” (the term used in modern Chinese studies, first attested in medieval sources), and their function is specific to the hemerology in which they occur.4 Among the topical hemerologies, hemerologies related to government stand out for the absence of references to demons and spirits. The third division is not strictly speaking hemerological and consists of a wide variety of entries related to ritual procedures for praying to certain spirits or methods for exorcising them. Notable examples include the prayer to Wuyi 武夷 in the Jiudian 九店 daybook (JD.5), the horse ritual in the first Shuihudi 睡虎地 daybook (SHDA.87), travel rituals in both Shuihudi daybooks (SHDA.70 and SHDB.30), and nightmare rituals in both Shuihudi daybooks (SHDA.57 and SHDB.68). In the first Shuihudi

3 See Liu Lexian, 2010, pp. 161–63. Corpse-Ghost hemerology is discussed on pp. 216–20 in this chapter. 4 For discussion of the term “day qualifiers” and the related Chinese term shensha “calendar spirits,” see pp. 171–72 in chap. 4.

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daybook, the long section titled “Jie” 詰 (Spellbinding) (SHDA.59) is notable for the richly detailed entries describing the names and activities of demons and spirits. The “Spellbinding” section is the only occurrence of this type of information in daybooks and thus does not represent a standard feature of daybooks collectively. It is also a unique demonological text among the technical occult texts in the excavated manuscripts discovered to date. Its content is invaluable evidence of ideas about the spirit world in the context of actual activities, and it sheds light on the relationship between the human and spirit worlds and on the distinctive characteristics of everyday religious life in early China. This overview of demons and spirits in daybooks is built on the results of previous research. First, I describe the spirit world as it appears in daybooks, including evidence of levels and organization among the demons and spirits; their appearance, traits, and actions; and their origin. Next, I discuss human efforts to control demons and spirits, as well as exorcistic methods. Signs of conventionalization and normalization of the spirits in the illness hemerologies reflect the increased confidence in the human ability to control demons and spirits that developed during the late Warring States, Qin, and Han periods. The same confidence is evident in the exorcistic methods described in “Spellbinding.” Finally, I examine further uses of demons and spirits in daybooks and their function. For instance, some were linked to particular hemerologies, which provided the background and context for their appearance in daybooks. With the rise of the five agents and the systematization of hemerology in accordance with five-agents ideas, the spirits became part of five-agents systems and assumed a new identity as day qualifiers. Changes in the conception of the spirit world as seen in daybooks are closely related to the proliferation of new correlative and cosmological models between the fourth century bce and second century ce.

The Spirit World

The portrayal of the spirit world in daybooks, which mostly confirms the evidence from transmitted sources, is novel in two respects. There is the wealth of details, ranging from the specific names of demons and spirits populating the spirit world, to their regular intercourse with humankind, and people’s conception of the spirit world in the context of everyday life. In addition, daybooks give us a view of everyday life that, in contrast to transmitted sources, shows us religion in practice among people in their households and communities.

Levels of the Spirit World Just as there are different social levels in human society, the spirit world of the daybooks is divided into distinct levels. One clear example is found in the prayer to Wuyi in JD.5, which begins by naming Wuyi as the spirit assigned by the god Di 帝 to govern one group of the dead: [1] 敢告[1]

之子武夷爾居復山之阯不周之野帝謂爾無 事命爾司兵死者

[1].5 I dare declare to Wuyi, progeny of [1]-lian.6 You reside at the base of Fu Mountain and in the wilds of Buzhou. Di said you had no occupation and commanded you to govern Those Who Died by Weapons.7 The name Bingsizhe 兵死者 (Those Who Died by Weapons) also occurs in the Warring States manuscripts of Chu divination and offering records and in daybook illness hemerologies. It refers to a type of demon or ghost who died after being wounded by a weapon and is not limited to the ghosts of men who died in battle.8 Because their deaths were abnormal, Those Who Died by Weapons could not be buried in the local cemetery, and as demons they could inflict severe harm on the living. The spirit name Wuyi is attested in treatises on court ritual in two Han histories and in several medieval tombquelling texts found in burials.9 New pre-Qin paleographic evidence of Wuyi has come to light in the bamboo-slip manuscripts acquired by Tsinghua University in Beijing and dated around 300 bce. Among several incantations for everyday purposes, the incantation to prevent or stop fire invokes the spirit Wuyi 五夷 for assistance.10 The person holds a handful of earth in his or her left hand 5

The slip is damaged at the top, and the first graph is missing. Incantation and prayer texts in excavated manuscripts often begin with a monosyllabic utterance. Alternatively the missing graph might be a verb meaning “say” that preceded the prayer text. 6 The first graph of the name is illegible, and names for Wuyi’s parent or parents do not occur in other excavated manuscripts or in transmitted texts. 7 JD.5, slip 43; Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, p. 316. 8 Lian Shaoming, 2001, p. 67; Lu Defu, 2012. 9 See Shiji, 28, p. 1386; and Han shu, 25A, p. 1218. For discussion of the tomb-quelling texts, see Liu Zhaorui, 2007, pp. 344–46. The only dated example with archaeological provenance is the inscribed wooden tablet dated to 890 ce found in 1973 in a tomb in Nanchang 南昌, Jiangxi; the provenance of three inscribed tomb-quelling jars in private collections is unknown. 10 For evidence that wu/*ŋâʔ 五 and wu/*maʔ 武 (*Np[r]jaɁ in Baxter’s Old Chinese reconstruction) could be used to write the same sounds in pre-Han texts, see Qinghua daxue cang Zhanguo

209

daybooks and the spirit world

Figure 5.1 The four spirit figures in the middle section of the Mawangdui tomb 3 painted silk sheet Taiyi zhutu (Grand One incantation and diagram). After Mawangdui Han mu wenwu, p. 35.

while chanting the incantation and then throws the earth when the incantation is finished. The ritual act of throwing earth may be related to Wuyi’s association with earth and the spirits who oversee the underground world.11 There may also be evidence of the spirit Wuyi in the Mawangdui 馬王堆 tomb 3 painted silk sheet currently referred to as Taiyi zhutu 太一祝圖 (Grand One incantation and diagram).12 The diagram combines drawings of spirits with text. The deity Taiyi (Grand One) is depicted in the upper center of the diagram. In the middle section, two pairs of standing figures are arranged on either side of Grand One’s lower body (fig. 5.1; plate 2). They have been identified as four spirit warriors who protect people from being harmed by weapons, based in part on the first three graphs in the column of text to the right of the figure on the right, wu di zi 武弟子, which has been understood to mean “martial (wu) disciples (dizi)” and to refer to the four spirits as a group.

11

12

zhujian, vol. 3, pp. 164, 165n7. See also Baxter and Sagart, 2014, pp. 128–30. There is an interesting and possibly related example of throwing white sand to stop a house fire in “Spellbinding”; SHDA.59, slip 41v3. Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 2, pp. 144–48 (photographs); vol. 6, pp. 103–5 (annotated transcription).

However, a second interpretation identifies wudi (di/*dîʔ) as the spirit name Wuyi (yi/*dî), with the final graph zi as either the honorific “master” (Master Wuyi) or literally “son” (Son of Wuyi).13 In support of this interpretation, the columns of text to the right of the second and third figures have the same structure as the column that begins with Master Wuyi/Son of Wuyi: the spirit’s name is first, followed by its apotropaic function in relation to weapons (text alongside the fourth figure is missing due to damaged silk).14 Thus, from right to left, each spirit is named separately and depicted according to its iconography. In JD.5, it is said that Wuyi “resides at the base of Fu Mountain and in the wilds of Buzhou,” where he obeys Di’s command to control Those Who Died by Weapons. The prayer text presumes a three-level hierarchy in the spirit world that occurs in other occult manuscripts as well. At the top, in the position of supreme deity, is Di. Below Di are the spirits that serve Di and that may be considered shen. Wuyi is further identified as the progeny of another spirit (name uncertain). Below these spirits are the gui, in JD.5 the demon-ghosts of Those Who Died by Weapons. 13 14

See Li Jiahao, 1993, pp. 284–85; and Xia De’an, 1998, p. 36. The name of the second spirit is Sanglin 桑林, and the name of the third spirit is Siqiu 虒裘; see Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 6, p. 104.

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For comparison, consider references to spirits and their progeny in Zidanku 子彈庫 Silk Manuscript 1 (dated ca. 300 bce), text B, in which they assist in the creation of the calendar and seasons, and in the Mawangdui medical recipe text, assigned the title Wushi’er bingfang 五十二病方 (Recipes for fifty-two ailments), in which the substance lacquer is represented as the spirit Qiwang 漆王 (Lacquer King) appointed by Tiandi 天帝 (Heaven Di) to make lacquerware (the recipes concern the rash caused by contact with raw lacquer, which is blamed on Lacquer King).15 Related references to a supreme deity in daybooks include mention of Shangdi 上帝 (Supreme Di) in “Spellbinding”: 鬼恒從人女與居曰上帝子下游欲去自浴以犬矢擊以葦則 死矣

When a demon continually follows someone’s women and cohabitates, saying, “Son of Supreme Di descends to roam.” To expel it, use dog feces to bathe, strike it with reeds, and it will die.16 The context suggests that demons or spirits claiming to be Shangdizi 上帝子 (Son of Supreme Di) intruded into people’s households and may also reflect the idea that the supreme deity itself at times descended to the human world to cohabitate with women. Poo Mu-chou observes that this passage in “Spellbinding” reveals that the nature of Supreme Di as an extra-human entity is no different from that of many demons and spirits.17 I would also argue that the different levels of spirits in daybooks are related to their utility and function rather than to classification based on their different natures. Similarly, the name Shanghuang 上皇 (Supreme Eminence) occurs in a section of miscellaneous hemerological prohibitions in the first Shuihudi daybook:

15

16 17

For discussion of the three Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and Li Ling’s identification of the texts written on them, see chap. 6 in this volume. For Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, Li Ling identifies three texts: the year constitutes the general theme of text A; the four seasons of text B; and the twelve months of text C. For discussion of the recipes to treat rash caused by raw lacquer sap in Wushi’er bingfang, see Harper, 1998, pp. 293–94. Most of the recipes use magic and incantations, and the exorcistic incantation in one recipe blames the Lacquer King by name. SHDA.59, slip 38v3; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 215. Poo, 1998, p. 81.

毋以子卜筮害於上皇

Do not practice turtle and milfoil divination on the day zib1; it injures Supreme Eminence.18 In transmitted sources, Supreme Eminence has early attestation in the song titled “Eastern Eminence, Grand One” (Donghuang, Taiyi 東皇太一), from the “Nine Songs” (Jiuge 九歌) in the old textual core of the Chu Verses (Chu ci 楚辭): “An auspicious day—ha!—the date is good; reverently bring delight—ha!—to Supreme Eminence.” The Han commentator Wang Yi 王逸 (second century ce) identifies “Supreme Eminence” as the epithet of the deity Eastern Eminence, Grand One.19 The deity Grand One is attested in the Chu divination and offering records, as well as in other Warring States, Qin, and Han manuscripts. Confirmation of a connection between the occurrence of Supreme Eminence in the Shuihudi daybooks and Grand One in Chu religion requires additional proof.20 Hemerologies in daybooks use Di in contexts that involve sometimes one spirit and sometimes sets of several spirits; that is, use of Di is not restricted to the name of a single god in the hierarchy of the spirit world either in daybooks or in contemporaneous religion. This chapter refers either to “Di” or to “Emperor” depending on context, with occasional use of “Di/Emperor” as a practical form of reference. FMTB.21 and SHDA.31 are related hemerologies based on the sexagenary days when “Di/Emperor makes a home” (Di wei shi 帝為室). According to FMTB.21, the days when “Di/Emperor makes a home,” arranged by season, are spring, haib12; summer, yinb3; autumn, sib6; and winter, shenb9.21 Building is prohibited on these days. FMTB.30 treats of construction and demolition, and it twice identifies sexagenary days when Di/Emperor engaged in unsuccessful acts of construction: dingwei44 and yihai12. The wall construction hemerology in KJP.60 lists the branch for each month when demolishing walls is prohibited because it is “the day when Di/Emperor demolished the mound” (Di hui qiu zhi ri 帝毀丘之日). Finally, KJP.77 bases prohibition of any activity involving blood on “days when Di/Emperor opened the mouths of the hundred bugs” (Di qi baichong kou ri 帝啓百蟲口日), naming four stellar lodge days, one for each season. The precise significance of Di in these hemerologies is difficult to determine, in part because transmitted sources lack corroboratory evidence. 18 19 20 21

SHDA.38, slip 101r2; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 197. Chu ci, 2, p. 55 (“Jiuge”). For discussion, see Yan Changgui, 2010b, pp. 79–92. SHDA.31 gives different branches for spring and winter; see the “Di/Emperor (Di 帝) hemerology” section in appendix C.

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Huangdi 黃帝 (Yellow Emperor) and Chidi 赤帝 (Red Emperor) appear in daybooks in contexts related to their association with the five agents, directions, and colors. (Hemerology based on the emperors of all five colors is discussed below.) In KJP.57, the prohibition on earthworks on the tenth day of the month is called “Yellow Emperor”; the name probably reflects the connection between Yellow Emperor, the agent Earth, the direction center, and the color yellow. An earlier occurrence of Yellow Emperor in JD.6 in the section on domestic topomancy may also reflect five-agents ideas. In contrast, five-agents ideas are not obviously involved in the hemerology for Red Emperor inspection days in SHDA.41 and SHDB.51 when Red Emperor inspects the people and sends down calamity (no activity is permitted on these days).22 Along with Di/Emperor, Tian 天 (Heaven) occurs in the aspect of supreme deity in early Chinese religion. Some scholars have argued for separate origins for Di/Emperor and Tian in earliest times, Di being the supreme deity of the Yin-Shang people in the east and Tian the supreme deity of the Zhou people in the west; others do not accept this argument.23 In the daybooks, we are concerned with late Warring States ideas of Di/Emperor and Tian as supreme deity, on the one hand, and tian “heaven” in reference to nature and its cycles, on the other. Occurrences of Di/Emperor are most numerous in daybooks, and among the relatively fewer occurrences of tian, it can be difficult to determine whether the word means the deity Tian or heaven as nature. For instance, SHDA.68 lists the correspondence between the four seasons and the stems according to five-agents ideas (spring, jias1 and yis2; summer, bings3 and dings4; autumn, gengs7 and xins8; winter, rens9 and guis10) and prohibits killing on those days because they are “times used by heaven/Heaven for growth and birth.” “Killing” refers specifically to killing sacrificial animals, the idea being that killing for sacrifice must not occur on days that correspond to times when heaven/ Heaven causes living things to flourish.24 References to heaven/Heaven in Zidanku Silk Manu­ script 1 also reflect the late Warring States conception of the connection between the forces of nature and Tian or Heaven as supreme deity. Text A in the central section of the manuscript describes the passage of the year in relation to the omnipresence of Heaven:

22 23 24

The corresponding section in KJP.13 replaces “Red Emperor” with “Emperor.” For translation of SHDA.41, see p. 125 in chap. 3. For the argument in favor, see Wang Hui, 2000, pp. 18–104; for the argument against, see Eno, 1990, pp. 1–26. Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 280–81.

惟天作福神則格之惟天作妖神則惠之欽敬惟服天 象是則

It is Heaven that makes good fortune; the spirits then bring it. It is Heaven that makes calamity; the spirits then apply it. Reverent and respectful, be compliant. Heaven’s images, make these the model.25 It seems clear that the text concerns a deified Heaven acting according to its will, not just the impersonal forces of nature. We may compare this understanding of Heaven to several popular names for heaven as deity in manuscripts and transmitted sources. In addition to Heaven Di (or Heaven Emperor) in the Mawangdui recipe for lacquer rash, Tianzhu 天主 (Heaven Ruler) was paired with Dizhu 地主 (Earth Ruler) in the ancient region of Qi 齊 as attested in the “Treatise on Feng and Shan Rituals” (Feng Shan shu 封禪書) in the Records of the Scribe (Shiji 史記). Heaven Ruler was the first of the Eight Spirits (Bashen 八神).26 For the Han period, Tiangong 天公 (Heaven Sire) is attested as the deity that receives people’s prayers and judges their actions by the first-century ce Xuning 序 寧 prayer and sacrifice documents held by the Chinese University of Hong Kong,27 and Heaven Sire is listed on the register of spirits that receive sacrifice recorded on the first-century bce wooden tablet discovered in Huchang 胡場 tomb 5, Jiangsu.28 To summarize, starting from the premise that “Di” and “Heaven” represent names of the supreme deity in early Chinese religious ideas, the daybooks show that there were several supreme deities. Moreover, in their occurrence in daybooks, they do not seem to be directly connected to one another but rather reflect the unorganized, diffuse situation characteristic of popular religious ideas. In regard to the levels and organization of the spirit world, Di and Heaven occupied the highest level. Below them were the “multitude of spirits” (qun shen 群神) or “throng of spirits” (zhong shen 眾神). In SHDA.1, the Jianchu hemerology identifies the Yang 陽 day as the best day for sacrifice, when “from high to low, the multitude of spirits relish it” (shangxia qunshen xiang zhi 上下群神饗之).29 As in the earlier Chu divination and offering records, the “multitude of spirits” referred to in daybooks were not just

25 26 27 28

29

Li Ling, 2017, vol. 2, p. 52. Shiji, 28, p. 1367. Xianggang Zhongwen daxue wenwuguan cang jiandu, pp. 97–108. Wenwu 1981.11, pp. 17–18. For further discussion of Heaven Sire in the Xuning documents and the Huchang spirit register, see Harper, 2004, pp. 236n28 and 255–62. SHDA.1, slip 3r2; see also the parallel in JD.2, slip 26.

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spirits in nature but ancestors, deceased parents, legendary rulers, and cultural figures. References to shen in “Spellbinding” (SHDA.59) represent one form of evidence for the conception of spirits in daybooks and the related understanding of gui “demon” (see supplement 5.1 for spirit names in the daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts). There are entries for Dashen 大神 (Large Spirit), Shangshen 上神 (Spirit from Above), and Zhuangshen 狀神 (Morphic Spirit), which, judging from the actions of the spirits and the exorcistic actions taken against them, were no different from gui.30 Some names of spirit entities use shen attributively in order to designate the demonic manifestation of certain creatures in nature, such as Shengou 神狗 (Spirit Dog) and Shenchong 神蟲 (Spirit Bug). Finally, in some hemerologies, shen occurs in the sense of day qualifiers. For instance, among the hemerologies in SHDA.79 for days when earthworks are prohibited, one day qualifier is identified as Tushen 土神 (Earth Spirit), which corresponds to the name Tuxing 土星 (Earth Star) in the related hemerology in FMTB.37. Two different hemerologies in SHDA.79 and FMTB.37 share the day qualifier Dibiao 地杓 (Earth Handle), and SHDA.79 explains Earth Handle as the “shen that demolishes the dwelling” (shen yi hui gong 神以毀宮).31 There are similar occurrences of shen referring to day qualifiers in Wang Chong’s 王充 (27–ca. 100) Assay of Arguments (Lunheng 論衡), often in connection with hemerologies for earthworks and construction. For instance, “Release and Remove” (Jiechu 解除), the essay on domestic exorcisms, refers to the presence of “twelve spirits that rule the dwelling” (zhaizhong zhushen you shi’er yan 宅中主神有十二焉).32 The same essay describes the method by which to “release and appease Earth Spirit” (jiexie Tushen 解謝土神) when engaging in earthworks: “Among the people, when the work of repairing dwellings and excavating earth is finished, they release and appease Earth Spirit, which is called ‘releasing the earth.’ Make an earthen effigy in the form of the demon and have the shaman invoke it, thereby releasing Earth Spirit.”33 Reading Wang Chong’s account in light of the daybooks clarifies the dual function of Earth Spirit as object of exorcistic acts of appeasement and hemerological day qualifier (for further discussion of this dual function, see the “Spirits in the Context of Hemerology” section below).

30 31 32 33

See Poo, 1998, p. 81. See Liu Zenggui, 2007, pp. 671–704. Lunheng, 25, p. 1043 (“Jiechu”); Kalinowski, 2011a, p. 266. Lunheng, 25, p. 1044 (“Jiechu”); Kalinowski, 2011a, pp. 268–69.

Other types of day qualifiers described in the Assay of Arguments include the twelve monthly spirits that Wang Chong associates with the Dipper astrolabe (Beidou shi 北 斗式), which he compares to the day qualifier Taisui 太歲 (Grand Year).34 Elsewhere, he refers to “all the spirits of the calendar” (lishang zhushen 曆上諸神) when he refutes the idea that such hemerological spirits have any reality.35 I suspect that “all the spirits of the calendar” expresses the same idea as medieval usage of the term shensha “calendar spirits” to describe spirits functioning as part of hemerological systems.36 Most occurrences of demons and spirits in daybooks are in sections related to illness and in the “Spellbinding” section in the first Shuihudi daybook. Based on the forms of names alone, more than twenty types of spirits have been identified in “Spellbinding.” I propose considering the nature of demons and spirits from the perspective of two categories of events that all people experienced: illness and harm. In the illness sections, when people become sick, particular spirits are identified as “causing the calamity” (wei sui 為祟). The spirits, including deceased family members, expect to receive sacrifices and cannot be neglected by the living. Events of spirits causing calamity are mentioned in the Chu divination and offering records, and identifying who they are continues to be an important element of medieval iatromancy, as evidenced in Dunhuang 敦煌 manuscripts.37 The event is unfortunate for people but is not caused by categorically evil demons. A related conception is jiu 咎 “harm caused by spirits,” which refers broadly to occasions when demons and spirits harm human beings. The word jiu alone, or possibly in the compound jiugui 咎鬼 “harmful demons,” occurs in the prologue preceding the entries in “Spellbinding.”38 Further evidence of popular ideas about harmful demons is provided by the Eastern Han inscribed clay jar excavated at Sanlicun 三里村, Shaanxi, which records a magical spell with talisman with which to control them (fig. 5.2). Those named are mostly the ghosts of people who had unfortunate deaths: “harmful demon of Those Who Died in Childbirth” (Rusi jiugui 乳死咎鬼), “harmful demon of Those Who Committed Suicide” (Zisi jiugui 34 35 36 37 38

Lunheng, 24, pp. 1021–23 (“Nansui” 難歲); Kalinowski, 2011a, pp. 230–31. Lunheng, 24, p. 996 (“Jiri” 譏日); Kalinowski, 2011a, p. 252. See pp. 171–72 in chap. 4. See Kalinowski, 2003b, pp. 471–73. The prologue is translated on p. 226 in this chapter, reading the single word jiu, and on p. 129 in chap. 3, reading the compound jiugui.

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Sire Huan became ill after he sighted a demon while hunting. According to Huangzi Gao’ao, the illness was not demonic, but when asked by his ruler whether demons existed, he replied in the affirmative and provided these details: In stagnant puddles there is Lü 履 (Shoe); in the stove there is Jie 髻 (Hairknot); the refuse mound inside the entry, Leiting 雷霆 (Thunderclap) occupies it; beneath the northeast area, Bei’a 倍阿 (Doubler) and Walong 鮭蠪 (Frog-Dragon) play there; beneath the northwest area, Yiyang 泆陽 (Gushing Light) occupies it. In the water there is Wangxiang 罔象 (Image-less); on the hill there is Xin 峷 (Spike); on the mountain there is Kui 夔 (Monoped); in the wilds there is Panghuang 彷徨 (Rover); in the marsh there is Weishe 委蛇 (Coiled Serpent).41

Figure 5.2 Facsimile of the magical spell with talisman on the clay jar from Sanlicun 三里村, Shaanxi, Eastern Han. After Wang Yucheng, 1996, p. 278, fig. 5.

自死咎鬼), “harmful demon of Those Who Were Executed in the Market” (Shisi jiugui 市死咎鬼), and “harmful

demon of Those Who Suffered Bloody Death” (Xingsi jiugui 星死咎鬼).39 In addition to human ghosts, “Spellbinding” describes various demonic creatures and prodigies occurring in nature. Among the demonic creatures are Damei 大魅 (Large Bogey), Shuiwangshang 水亡傷 (Those Who Drowned Prematurely), Dichong 地蟲 (Earth Bug), Youlong 幼龍 (Young Dragon), and Piaofeng 飄風 (Whirlwind).40 Whirlwind represents a middle ground between demon and natural event, which is reflected in a prodigy caused by the qi “vapor” of Whirlwind. Other prodigies include yunqi 雲氣 “cloud vapor,” yehuo 野火 “wildfire,” tianhuo 天火 “heaven fire,” and lei 雷 “thunder.” There is no fundamental distinction between spirits, demonic creatures, and prodigies in nature, which must be considered when speculating on the conception of demons and spirits in “Spellbinding.” The content of the “Spellbinding” section is also related to evidence of demons and spirits in transmitted sources. Although it is only one section of the first Shuihudi daybook, it is indicative of a type of demonological text that circulated in contemporaneous manuscript culture. The same text type informs the account of demons and spirits given by Huangzi Gao’ao 皇子告敖 to Sire Huan of Qi 齊桓公. As recorded in Master Zhuang (Zhuangzi 莊子), 39 40

See Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 194–200. I follow Liu Lexian’s interpretation of the names. For occurrences, see supplement 5.1.

Later commentators provide variant graphs and explanations for these demon names, and the English translations are impressionistic. Nevertheless, there are clear parallels with “Spellbinding,” in terms of the demons’ names, their appearance (based on descriptions by medieval commentators), and their locations either in the vicinity of the home and local community or in the environs. Wang Chong presents a different sort of evidence in the Assay of Arguments. He composed “Examination of Demons” (Ding gui 訂鬼) in order to criticize popular ideas and lists explanations current in his day for how people understood the existence and nature of demons and spirits. The following passage summarizes the claim that demons are like human beings because both are wu 物 “entities” with substantial existence: (Another idea is that) demons are entities and are no different from human beings. Between heaven and earth, the demon entities are normally located outside the four boundaries. At times they pass in and out of the central realm and mingle with human beings. Their kind is noxious and malevolent; hence when people fall ill and are near death, they behold them. The entities that heaven and earth engender include human beings as well as birds and beasts. When noxious entities are engendered, there are also those that resemble human beings and have the appearance of birds and beasts. Thus, in a household where noxious emanations and misfortune are present, and some behold flying corpses, while others behold noxious emanations running, and still 41

Zhuangzi, 5, pp. 161–62 (“Dasheng” 達生).

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others behold human forms: all three are demons. Whether you call them “demons,” call them “noxious emanations,” call them “bogeys,” or call them “goblins,” all are alive and have substantial existence. They are not empty nothingness that resembles these things.42 The demonic creatures, prodigies, and baleful manifestations described in “Spellbinding” suggest the idea of demons as entities presented by Wang Chong (which he disbelieves). Despite the variety of spirits in daybooks, there is nevertheless evidence of a structured spirit world not unlike the structure described in the Rites of Zhou (Zhou li 周禮). The account of the office of the Great Master of Ritual Observances (Da Zongbo 大宗伯) in the idealized Zhou court describes a tripartite division of the spirit world into spirits of heaven (tianshen 天神), human ghosts (rengui 人鬼), and spirits of earth (dichi 地祇).43 For court ritual, each group has its appropriate sacrificial offerings, and the spirits in each group are ranked. Among the spirits of heaven, Haotian Shangdi 昊天上帝 (Supreme Di of Glorious Heaven) is first, followed by sun, moon, and stars and finally by spirits such as Fengshi 風師 (Wind General) and Yushi 雨師 (Rain General). Similarly, the Rites of Zhou addresses domestic rituals conducted locally and specifies the winter solstice as the time for making offerings to “spirits of heaven and human ghosts” and the summer solstice as the time for making offerings to “spirits of earth and bogeys.”44 Spirits named in daybooks include Heaven, Di/ Emperor, sun and moon, and stars; human ghosts and ancestor spirits; and spirits of earth and bogeys. Levels and structure are based on their position and function. There is no basic difference between the overall structure and function of demons and spirits in daybooks and the representation of the spirit world in the Rites of Zhou; that is, the spirit world described in daybooks, representing the religious ideas of the wider populace, and the spirit world described in the Rites of Zhou, representing the religious ideas of rulers and government, are essentially the same. The Appearance and Traits of Spirits The substance and appearance of demons and spirits are treated variously in transmitted sources. The texts may be roughly distinguished according to whether they treat 42 43 44

Lunheng, 22, pp. 936–37 (“Dinggui”); Kalinowski, 2011a, pp. 277–78. Zhou li, 18, 1a (“Da zongbo”). Zhou li, 27, 23b (“Jia zongren” 家宗人).

spirits as being formless or having form. Master Han Fei (Hanfeizi 韓非子) provides a good example of the first view: “There was a guest who made drawings for the king of Qi. The king of Qi asked, ‘What is most difficult to draw?’ He replied, ‘Dogs and horses are most difficult.’ ‘What is easiest?’ ‘Demons and bogeys are easiest.’ Now, people know dogs and horses, which day and night present themselves to people’s gaze. Given the impossibility of replicating them exactly, it is difficult. Demons and goblins are formless and do not present themselves to people’s gaze; hence it is easy.”45 The same idea is expressed in the Master of Huainan (Huainanzi 淮南子): “Now, if you look at demons and spirits, they are formless; if you listen to them, they are soundless.”46 The second view, that the spirits have substance, is equally in evidence. The Assay of Arguments essay “Examination of Demons” expresses the idea as follows: “Demons are the essence of aged entities (guizhe laowu jing 鬼者老物精). Now, when an entity becomes aged, its essence forms a human being. There are also instances of an entity that is not yet aged but is able by its nature to undergo transformation and replicate the human form.”47 The Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhai jing 山海經) is a rich and often cited source of information on the form of demons and spirits. “Spellbinding” provides similar evidence of the form, sight, and sound of spirits, as in the following descriptions from five entries: 鬼恒夜鼓人門以歌若哭人見之是凶鬼

When at night a demon continually drums on a person’s door, singing or wailing, and the person beholds it—this is Xionggui (Noxious Demon).48 女子不狂癡歌以生商是陽鬼樂從之

When a woman is not crazy or incoherent yet sings in a high-pitched voice—this is Yanggui (Yang Demon), who takes pleasure in following her.49 犬恒夜入人室執丈夫戲女子不可得也是神狗偽 為鬼

When at night a dog continually enters a person’s home, seizes the men and sports with the women, and cannot be caught—this is Shengou (Spirit Dog), who feigns being a demon.50 45 46 47 48 49 50

Hanfeizi, 11, pp. 270–71 (“Wai chushuo zuoshang” 外儲說左上). Huainanzi, 20, p. 1378 (“Taizu xun” 泰族訓). Lunheng, 22, pp. 934–35 (“Dinggui”); Kalinowski, 2011a, p. 275. SHDA.59, slips 29v2–30v2; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 213. SHDA.59, slip 47v2; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 214. SHDA.59, slips 47v1–48v1; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 212.

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daybooks and the spirit world 鬼恒謂人予我而女不可辭是上神下娶妻

When a demon continually says to a person, “Give me your woman,” and cannot be dismissed—this is Shangshen (Spirit from Above), who descends to take a wife.51 凡鬼恒執匴以入人室曰餼我食云是 = 餓鬼

Whenever a demon continually enters a person’s home holding a basket and says, “Give me food”— this is Egui (Hungry Demon).52 As related in “Spellbinding,” spirits not only have form; they also sing and cry, talk and delude people, and experience hunger and desire. It is clear that the contemporaneous society used human appearance and traits in imagining what spirits were like and established models for them. The vividness of this imagined realization of the spirit world has the power to affect us even today. “Spellbinding” includes several notable examples of composite spirit creatures. Zhuangshen (Morphic Spirit), according to its entry, causes the occupants of a home to have difficulty breathing and moving. It exists underground, at the depth of the water spring, a creature in the form of a red pig with a horse’s tail and a dog’s head.53 Morphic Spirit is comparable to creatures described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, such as the unnamed heaven spirit at Huaijiang 槐江 Mountain in the shape of an ox with eight feet, two heads, and a horse’s tail and the creature named Shenluwu 神陸吾 (Spirit-Land-Self), which guards the cosmic mountain Kunlun 昆侖 and has a tiger’s body, nine tails, a human face, and tiger claws.54 The drawings of the spirits of the twelve months placed on the four sides of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 are further evidence of what people expected spirits to look like. Thus, “Spellbinding” belongs to a common set of ideas and representations informing how people understood and visualized the spirit world in the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods. The majority of entries in “Spellbinding” concern cases of the harm they cause in homes and in close contact with people. Transmitted sources attest the idea that harmful demons occupy the home, including, most famously, the popular tradition of the three sons of Zhuanxu 顓頊 recorded as early as the first century ce in the Assay of Arguments: “The Rites says: Long ago Zhuanxu had three sons who perished at birth and became pestilence 51 52 53 54

SHDA.59, slip 39v3; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 215. SHDA.59, slip 62v2; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 214. SHDA.59, slips 36v2–38v2; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 213. Shanhai jing, 2, pp. 45, 47 (“Xi shan jing” 西山經).

demons. One inhabits the Jiang River 江水: this is the fever demon. One inhabits the Ruo River 若水: this is the Wangliang 魍魎 demon. One inhabits the corners of people’s homes and the moldy storage areas and likes to scare people’s children.”55 Wang Chong obtained this quotation from a work he calls Rites (Li 禮), but the passage cannot be verified in any of the ancient ritual classics. It is obvious from multiple entries in “Spellbinding” that Zhuanxu’s third son was not the only spirit or prodigy who invaded and occupied the home. As with the general conception of the spirit world, the focus on demons and domestic issues in “Spellbinding” can be related to information in the ritual classics that is amplified in the Han commentaries on them. The Rites of Zhou account of the office of augur (shijin 眡祲) corroborates the routine practice of using exorcistic methods to protect people’s homes from the harm caused by spirits. In addition to watching for omens, the augur was also in charge of “stabilizing the dwelling and quelling whatever descends to it” (anzhai xujiang 安宅敘降). Zheng Xuan’s 鄭玄 (127–200) commentary explains the significance of this function: “ ‘Dwelling’ (zhai 宅) refers to a place of habitation; ‘descend’ (jiang 降) refers to coming down. When people behold baleful omens, then they are unsettled, and the augur’s function is to stabilize their place of habitation. To regulate and control the space where inauspicious misfortune comes down means using exorcism to remove it.”56 The Record of Rites (Liji 禮記) describes domestic exorcism in local communities with the term shang 禓, which, according to Zheng Xuan’s commentary, is a noun meaning “powerful demon” that also means to “perform exorcism”: “Shang means ‘powerful demon.’ Here it refers to the seasonal Nuo 儺 exorcism when people search the home to expel pestilence and drive off powerful demons.”57 Like “Spellbinding,” the ritual classics offer evidence of the presence of demons and spirits in and near the home and of people’s engagement with them. Precisely because there is no separation between human beings and spirits, people can also kill demons and spirits. A demon is killed or dies in seven entries in “Spellbinding.” In one entry, the demon dies when struck with a mulberry staff, and in two other entries, the demons die when struck with reeds.58 In the fourth entry, the demon is cooked and eaten after being killed, and in the fifth, eating also follows killing for the wolf that shouts 55 56 57 58

Lunheng, 22, p. 935 (“Dinggui”); Kalinowski, 2011a, p. 276. For other Han sources, see also Bodde, 1975, p. 104n95. Zhou li, 25, 5a–b (“Shijin”). Liji, 25, 18b (“Jiao tesheng” 郊特牲). SHDA.59, slips 32v1–33v1, 38v3–40v3.

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at the door and claims to not be a demon.59 The sixth and seventh entries related to killing are for Morphic Spirit and Spirit Dog, which conclude with the demons being cooked and eaten. As Poo Mu-chou has noted in reference to these entries: “The idea of killing a god or spirit reveals another aspect of the early Chinese understanding of spiritual beings. Since they could be killed, it follows that they were mortals also. The distinction between spiritual and natural, therefore, was probably not obvious, especially with regard to the lesser spirits and demons. In other words, in the popular conception as revealed in the daybook, the worlds of men and spirits were not separate, but formed a continuous whole.”60

Spirit Origin and Background: Explanation of the “Death Corpse-Ghost” Diagram “Spellbinding” occasionally refers to a particular spirit’s origin. For instance, some entries state that a person, creature, or other entity became a demon after it died,61 that it “was engendered to be a demon” (sheng wei gui 生為鬼),62 or that it “feigned being a demon” (wei wei gui 偽為鬼).63 In early Chinese texts, the basic idea of gui was something that died or the spirit of the entity that died. During the Han period, the prevalent understanding across social groups was that people who died became gui.64 Daybooks offer important evidence of ideas about death and transformation into ghosts or demons. One death-related hemerology in the Shuihudi and Kongjiapo daybooks is an unusual example of a hemerology with diagram that addresses the transformation of the dead into ghosts and the effect of their presence on the living. The hemerology and diagram shed light on the interaction between the human and spirit worlds at the time of death, while allowing us to see death and the spirit world as they were understood through hemerology by the users of daybooks. The Shuihudi daybooks have the diagram without explanatory text (SHDA.63, SHDB.77). The hemerology associated with the diagram was unknown until discovery of the Kongjiapo daybook. In KJP.64, the name “Death Corpse-Ghost Diagram” (Si Shi tu 死失圖) is written above the diagram and a brief explanation of its use is written below the right side of the diagram. KJP.63 is a different death hemerology written above KJP.64, and KJP.65, written below the left side of the diagram, is not related 59 60 61 62 63 64

Ibid., slips 65v2–66v2, 33v3. Poo, 1998, p. 82. SHDA.59, slips 65v1–66v1, 50v2. Ibid., slips 43–46v1. Ibid., slips 47v1–49v1, 25v2–26v2, 34v2–35v2, 35v3. Poo, 2004, p. 186.

to it (for a reproduction of the original slips, see fig. 4.23 in chap. 4). To the left of the diagram, KJP.66 provides a fuller explanation of Corpse-Ghost hemerology, which is based on the month and the branch of the day of death. In contrast, KJP.67 presents a Corpse-Ghost hemerology based on the sexagenary binoms, which are listed in sequence, and further specifies the time of death on the indicated day for each binom. Scholars now agree that Shi 失 in the Kongjiapo daybook represents the demon name Chi 䰡 (Corpse-Ghost), which is attested in Han transmitted texts and excavated materials.65 Research on Corpse-Ghost hemerology is at the beginning stage, and the brief presentation that follows is intended to show its significance for our understanding of popular religion and hemerology. In KJP.64, the “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram is a grid with sixteen rectangular compartments arranged in columns and rows of four compartments each. The diagram is defective on the left side but has been restored based on related diagrams in the Shuihudi daybooks and the identical diagram in the recently discovered daybook manuscript from Zhoujiazhai 周家寨 tomb 8, situated near Kongjiapo tomb 8 and dated close to it in time (plate 3).66 The twelve months and their corresponding branches according to the Doujian 斗建 (Dipper Establishment) method are written in twelve of the compartments; four compartments are black (fig. 5.3).67 Based on the text below the diagram and on KJP.66, the diagram’s compartments are called shi 室, which appears to refer to a dwelling located with other dwellings in the idealized grid of a local community but might be the chambers of a single

Figure 5.3 Reconstruction of the “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram in KJP.64 (directions taken from the corresponding diagram in SHDB.77).

65 Liu Lexian, 2010, pp. 161–63. 66 See 2014 niandu quanguo shida kaogu xin faxian zhongping hui, p. 40. 67 For the Dipper Establishment method, see pp. 163–64 in chap. 4.

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dwelling. In either case, the diagram serves as a spatial plan, which can be used to predict where the CorpseGhost will appear in the home or in the community. The content of KJP.66 helps explain the full use of the “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram. The location of the Corpse-Ghost on the diagram depends, first, on the month and the Jian 建 (Establish) day for the month and, second, on the distribution of compartments in the diagram by direction (south, north, east, west) and by number (each direction has six compartments, some of which overlap with the compartments of another direction). For instance, when death occurs in the first month on its Establish day yinb3, the Corpse-Ghost is in the “south, first dwelling/chamber” (nan yishi 南一室). This is the base position for the other branches during the month in question. In every month there are four branches for days when the Corpse-Ghost does not “go out” (chu 出). (For a summary of the information for all twelve months see table 5.1.) For instance, the location of the Corpse-Ghost when death occurs in the first month is as follows: death on yinb3, the Corpse-Ghost is located in the south, first dwelling/chamber (S1); on maob4, south second chamber (S2); on sib6, south fourth chamber (S4); on weib8, south sixth chamber (S6); on shenb9, north first chamber (N1); on youb10, north second chamber (N2); on haib12, north fourth chamber (N4); on choub2, north sixth chamber (N6). On Table 5.1

chenb5, wub7, xub11, and zib1, the Corpse-Ghost does not go out (S3, S5, N3, N5). Table 5.1 shows that the branch days when the CorpseGhost does not go out correspond to the positions of the third and fifth dwellings/chambers in the direction indicated. Further, we can deduce from figure 5.3 that the four black compartments must correspond to the locations of the third and fifth dwellings/chambers for days when the Corpse-Ghost does not go out, while the other twelve compartments are locations for days when it does; that is, the diagram maps the numbered dwellings/chambers by direction. Comparison with the diagram in SHDB.77 confirms that the Kongjiapo diagram is oriented with south at the top and north at the bottom, east on the left and west on the right (the compartments that are black in the KJP.64 diagram are inscribed with the four directions in SHDB.77). The dwellings/chambers given in table 5.1 are easily plotted on the diagram. Starting with south and moving horizontally across the top row from right to left, the compartment labeled “eighth month, youb10” is south, chamber 1 (S1); “seventh month, shenb9” is south, chamber 2 (S2); the black compartment is south, chamber 3 (S3); and “sixth month, weib8” is south, chamber 4 (S4). Going back to the right and down one row, the black compartment is south, chamber 5 (S5); and “third month, chenb5” is south,

Location of the Corpse-Ghost in the four directions for the twelve months of the year according to KJP.66 寅

卯

辰

巳

午

未

申

酉

戌

亥

子

丑

yinb3

maob4

chenb5

sib6

wub7

weib8

shenb9

youb10

xub11

haib12

zib1

choub2

I II III

S1 N6 N5*

S2 S1 N6

S3* S2 S1

S4 S3* S2

S5* S4 S3*

S6 S5* S4

N1 S6 S5*

N2 N1 S6

N3* N2 N1

N4 N3* N2

N5* N4 N3*

N6 N5* N4

IV V VI

E4 E3* E2

E5* E4 E3*

E6 E5* E4

W1 E6 E5*

W2 W1 E6

W3* W2 W1

W4 W3* W2

W5* W4 W3*

W6 W5* W4

E1 W6 W5*

E2 E1 W6

E3* E2 E1

VII VIII IX

S1 N6 N5*

S2 S1 N6

S3* S2 S1

S4 S3* S2

S5* S4 S3*

S6 S5* S4

N1 S6 S5*

N2 N1 S6

N3* N2 N1

N4 N3* N2

N5* N4 N3*

N6 N5* N4

X XI XII

E4 E3* E2

E5* E4 E3*

E6 E5* E4

W1 E6 E5*

W2 W1 E6

W3* W2 W1

W4 W3* W2

W5* W4 W3*

W6 W5* W4

E1 W6 W5*

E2 E1 W6

E3* E2 E1

Month

Notes: Directions in bold represent the position of the Establish day-branch for each month according to the Dipper Establishment method (first month/yinb3, second month/maob4, etc.). Days when the Corpse-Ghost does not go out are marked with an asterisk.

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Figure 5.4 Sequence of chambers occupied by the Corpse-Ghost in the sixteen compartments of the “Corpse-Ghost” diagram, arranged by direction and numbered 1–6.

chamber 6 (S6). The other directions and chambers are counted in the same fashion. For north, the count goes from left to right for four compartments across the bottom row and, going up one row, continues from the left for two chambers. East and west chambers are counted from the outer columns. For east, the count goes from top to bottom and continues one column over from the top; for west, the count goes from bottom to top and continues one column over from the bottom. The identification of directions and chambers with the sixteen compartments of the “Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram shows that eight compartments are used twice (fig. 5.4). No matter the direction, all chambers 3 and 5 correspond to the black compartments; all chambers 1 and 4 are located in the corners; and all chambers 6 occupy the four center compartments. Three wooden slips from the Xuanquan 懸泉 settlement site in Gansu are related to the Kongjiapo CorpseGhost hemerology and demonstrate the connection to Jianchu hemerology. The hemerological slips were found in the western sector of the site and are dated, based on stratigraphy, to roughly the second half of the first century bce.68 The slips are a fragment of a Jianchu hemerology text and record information for the ninth, tenth, and twelfth day qualifiers: Cheng 成 (Achieve), Shou 收 (Receive), and Bi 閉 (Shut). On each slip, the information for one day qualifier is evenly spaced down the length of the slip. For Achieve, all branches have the notation “does not go out.” For Receive and Shut, there are directions and numbers: for Receive, “north, four,” “east, four,” “south, four,” and “west, four”; for Shut, “north, six,” “east, six,” 68

See Liu Lexian, 2010, pp. 157–63. The slips are numbered I0309③:209, I0309③:208, and I0309③:265. On the excavation of the site and dating of these slips based on stratigraphy, see Wenwu 2000.5, pp. 9–10. For details on Jianchu hemerology, see appendix C.

“south, six,” and “west, six.” Originally there were at least thirteen slips, twelve for the Jianchu day qualifiers with the branches and notations and a thirteenth slip with the months aligned with the columns of branches on the other slips. It is possible to reconstruct the Corpse-Ghost Jianchu hemerology using the three extant slips together with KJP.64 and KJP.66 (see table 5.2). The content of the three slips is identical to the information in KJP.66 but is organized differently. Another aspect of the Xuanquan slips is that they refer to directions and numbers but not to dwellings/chambers in a diagram. In fact, a diagram such as KJP.64 is not necessary. Nevertheless, both sources represent the same CorpseGhost hemerology.69 KJP.67 is a second Corpse-Ghost hemerology based on the sexagenary binoms, which are listed in sequence from jiazi1 to guihai60 (the slips are fragmentary, so the extant text begins with yichou2 and is missing some other binoms).70 The same Corpse-Ghost hemerology occurs in the third-century bce daybook-related manuscript from Wangjiatai 王家臺 tomb 15, Hubei (comparable in date to the Shuihudi tomb 11 manuscripts). The Wangjiatai daybook material is unpublished except for modern transcription of some examples. The transcription of text for three binoms proves the connection to KJP.67.71 In contrast to the diagram-based Jianchu Corpse-Ghost hemerology in KJP.66, KJP.67 is more descriptive and concrete. In the following examples, note also the evidence that the location of the Corpse-Ghost is in a community of dwellings and is not limited to the space of a single home. Several entries treat of pairs of stems, not stem and branch binoms: 乙丑死失在北去失西從東方入之

Death on yichou2: The Corpse-Ghost is in the north. Departing, the Corpse-Ghost goes west and enters in from the east.72 癸酉死失出必傷其家及禾稼

Death on guiyou10: The Corpse-Ghost goes out. It must harm the very same household and the grain crops.73

69 70 71 72 73

Note also that the Corpse-Ghost is not named explicitly in the three Xuanquan slips, but the connection is obvious. In addition, on slips 332–334, information about the ten stems is interspersed with the sexagenary binoms. Wang Mingqin, 2004, p. 46. KJP.67, slip 324; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 169. KJP.67, slip 327; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 169.

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daybooks and the spirit world Table 5.2 Reconstruction of the Corpse-Ghost Jianchu hemerology based on the Xuanquan wooden slips

I II III IV V VI

VII VIII IX X XI XII

Establish

Remove

Plenty

Level

Settle

Seize

Crush

Peril

Achieve

Receive

Open

Shut

b3 S1 b4 S1 b5 S1 b6 W1 b7 W1 b8 W1

b4 S2 b5 S2 b6 S2 b7 W2 b8 W2 b9 W2

b5 * b6 * b7 * b8 * b9 * b10 *

b6 S4 b7 S4 b8 S4 b9 W4 b10 W4 b11 W4

b7 * b8 * b9 * b10 * b11 * b12 *

b8 S6 b9 S6 b10 S6 b11 W6 b12 W6 b1 W6

b9 N1 b10 N1 b11 N1 b12 E1 b1 E1 b2 E1

b10 N2 b11 N2 b12 N2 b1 E2 b2 E2 b3 E2

b11 * b12 * b1 * b2 * b3 * b4 *

b12 N4 b1 N4 b2 N4 b3 E4 b4 E4 b5 E4

b1 * b2 * b3 * b4 * b5 * b6 *

b2 N6 b3 N6 b4 N6 b5 E6 b6 E6 b7 E6

b9 N1 b10 N1 b11 N1 b12 E1 b1 E1 b2 E1

b10 N2 b11 N2 b12 N2 b1 E2 b2 E2 b3 E2

b11 * b12 * b1 * b2 * b3 * b4 *

b12 N4 b1 N4 b2 N4 b3 E4 b4 E4 b5 E4

b1 * b2 * b3 * b4 * b5 * b6 *

b2 N6 b3 N6 b4 N6 b5 E6 b6 E6 b7 E6

b3 S1 b4 S1 b5 S1 b6 W1 b7 W1 b8 W1

b4 S2 b5 S2 b6 S2 b7 W2 b8 W2 b9 W2

b5 * b6 * b7 * b8 * b9 * b10 *

b6 S4 b7 S4 b8 S4 b9 W4 b10 W4 b11 W4

b7 * b8 * b9 * b10 * b11 * b12 *

b8 S6 b9 S6 b10 S6 b11 W6 b12 W6 b1 W6

Notes: Columns corresponding to the three extant slips are in italics. Days when the Corpse-Ghost does not go out are marked with an asterisk.

乙亥夜半死失不出日出毋失北去而伐

戊己死已葬去室西

Death at midnight on yihai12: The Corpse-Ghost does not go out. At sunrise there is no Corpse-Ghost. It departs to the north and attacks.74

Death on wus5 or jis6: After burial it departs to the west of the dwelling.77

庚辰日中死失南閒三家

Death at midday on gengchen17: The Corpse-Ghost is by the three households in the south.75 乙酉死其失不出 = 乃西南日中東北閒一室

Death on yiyou22: That Corpse-Ghost does not go out. When it goes out, then it is in the southwest. At midday it is by the one dwelling in the northeast.76

74 75 76

KJP.67, slip 329; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 169. KJP.67, slip 331; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 169. KJP.67, slips 332–333; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 169.

The wider significance of the Corpse-Ghost in popular ideas of the spirit world is evident in two occurrences of Chi 䰡 in Eastern Han paleographic materials as well as in related medieval ideas associated with the names Guisha 歸殺 or Huisha 回煞 (lit., Returning Killer) for a similar type of harmful revenant.78 In KJP.64, KJP.66, and KJP.67, 77 78

KJP.67, slip 333; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 169. For details, see Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 170n1; Chen Xuanwei, 2007, p. 185; and Liu Lexian, 2010, pp. 161–62. The paleographic materials are, first, the wooden slip from Juyan 居 延 with method for preparing a “document to suppress the Corpse-Ghost” (yan Chi shu 厭䰡書) (translated on pp. 228–29 in this chapter); see Juyan xinjian—Jiaqu houguan, vol. 1, p. 61

220

yan

the location and activity of the Corpse-Ghost represent the idea of the Corpse-Ghost as a day qualifier in death hemerology. The daybooks as well as other paleographic sources and transmitted texts do not indicate that everyone became the dangerous Corpse-Ghost at death. Yet everyone did become a ghost, and the Corpse-Ghost day qualifier represented the danger for the living in both the family and the community. When a family member died, people made use of Corpse-Ghost hemerology because the death raised the issue of relations between the living and the dead, and hemerology was among the strategies employed to resolve it. The question of whether or not the day qualifier Corpse-Ghost was incarnated in the corpses and ghosts of the newly dead and uncertainty as to the precise connection between all ghosts and the CorpseGhost are still unresolved. The formation of the idea of the Corpse-Ghost must also be related to the idea of “demons who cause calamity” (suigui 祟鬼) in illness hemerologies. Medieval manuscripts from Dunhuang include hemerological miscellanies organized according to the sequence of the sexagenary binoms in which sui “calamity” appears to represent the same idea as Corpse-Ghost. Like the ancient daybooks, this type of medieval miscellany was intended for use in everyday life and contained a variety of information arranged by topic under each binom entry. P3281r is a representative example, in which sui is a regular topic.79 The following information for sui is selected from three consecutive binoms (other topics occur before and after): (癸卯) 解除殃祟祟出主人病 (Guimao40) To release and remove the baleful and calamity: calamity goes out; the master becomes ill.80 (甲辰) 解殃遣祟祟不出害六畜 (Jiachen41) To release the baleful and send off calamity: calamity does not go out; the six domestic animals are harmed.81

79 80 81

(EPT49:3). Second is the Eastern Han lead tomb contract for Liu Boping 劉伯平; see Luo Zhenyu, 2003, pp. 358–60. For a summary of the manuscript’s content, see Kalinowski, 2003b, pp. 261–63. P3281r, col. 36. Ibid., col. 54.

(乙巳) 解除遣祟祟西出人吉

(Yisi42) To release, remove, and send off calamity: calamity goes out to the west; it is auspicious for the person.82 In the phrases “calamity goes out,” “calamity does not go out,” and “calamity goes out to the west” there is an obvious connection to the Corpse-Ghost in KJP.66–67.

Controlling and Expelling the Spirits

Daybooks informed people about the identity and activities of the Corpse-Ghost and other spirits, but they still had to take ritual action—releasing, removing, and sending off—when demons and spirits intruded on their lives. To examine how people conceived of and responded to demonic hazards, I continue to use the categories “harmful demons” (jiugui), based on “Spellbinding” in SHDA.59, and “demons who cause calamity” (suigui), associated with illness hemerologies.

Controlling Spirits: Spirits in the Illness Hemerologies The illness hemerologies in daybooks utilize time-numbering systems to identify the spirits that caused the illness and then expel them. There are three main systems: a ninefold system, a twelvefold system, and a tenfold system. The ninefold system occurs only once in the second Fangmatan daybook (FMTB.72). It is one of several FMTB hemerologies associated with the “Day Court” diagram drawn on the manuscript at another place (FMTB.58) (see fig. 4.16 and discussion in chap. 4). The FMTB.58 diagram has the twelve branches at their standard positions and in addition has eight numbered terms around the perimeter: one/heaven, two/earth, three/man, four/seasons, five/ notes, six/pitch standards, seven/stars, eight/winds. The FMTB.72 illness hemerology adds a ninth term: 占病祟除一天殹公外二社及位三人鬼大父及殤四大遏及 北公五音巫帝陰雨公六律司命天[1]七星死者八風相莨者 九水大水殹

Divination for removal of illness calamities. One/ heaven: Outer Sire.83 Two: Altar and Shrine. Three/ 82 83

Ibid., cols. 71–72. The text reads 公外, which is probably an error for Waigong 外 公 (Outer Sire); compare the name Waijun 外君 (Outer Lord) for a demon who causes calamity in FMTB.83.

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daybooks and the spirit world Table 5.3 Comparison of spirits of calamity based on branches in SHDB.65 and KJP.70 Monthly branches

SHDB.65

KJP.70

XI XII I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X

Waigui fushi 外鬼父世, Gaowangfu 高王父 Waigui 外鬼, Wu 巫 Wu 巫 Zhonggui jianshe 中鬼見社 Wu 巫 Gaowangfu 高王父 Waigui xiongshi 外鬼兄世 Mushi waisi 母世外死 Wangfu 王父 Waigui fushi 外鬼父世, Wu 巫, Shigui 室鬼 Gaowangfu 高王父, Yewei 野位 Mushi 母世

Tiantu 天土 Santujun 三土君 Beijun 北君, Juzhu 冣主 Sangongzhu 三公主 Dafu 大父 Gaoguzi [1] 高姑姊 [1] Daogui 道鬼, Shangxing 尚行 —— Han 旱, Shang 殤 Menyanzhigui 門閻之鬼 Men 門, Jie 街 Renchui 人炊, Laoren 老人

zib1 子 choub2 丑 yinb3 寅 maob4 卯 chenb5 辰 sib6 巳 wub7 午 weib8 未 shenb9 申 youb10 酉 xub11 戌 haib12 亥

man: Ghost Grandfather and Those Who Died Prematurely. Four: Great E84 and North Sire. Five/ notes: Shaman Emperor, Yin, and Rain Sire. Six/ pitch standards: Director of Destiny and Heaven [1].85 Seven/stars: the Dead.86 Eight/winds: Xiangliang demon.87 Nine/water: Great Water.88 Comparison of the diagram terms to the illness hemerology shows that number four lacks the reference to “seasons” and number two refers indirectly to “earth” by way of the name She 社 (Altar), which is the Altar to the God of the Soil. The FMTB.72 text parallels the text of the nine terms in a Han slip fragment from Xuanquan, which concludes with “nine/continents” (zhou 州).89 The relationship between the FMTB.58 “Day Court” diagram and FMTB.72 illness hemerology is obvious, and the alignment of eight of the nine categories with the twelve branches on the diagram permits correlations with both time and space. There has been speculation about how the diagram was used to identify the spirits who cause calamity in FMTB.72 and then expel them; perhaps the method involved counting or sorting so as to obtain numerical remainders from one to nine.90 While these 84 85 86 87 88 89 90

The meaning of the graph e 遏 in this name is uncertain. The graph is illegible. An alternate translation is “Seven: Those Who Suffered Bloody Death” (see n39). The name is perhaps related to the attested demon name Fangliang 方良. FMTB.72, slips 350, 192; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 218. The slip is numbered II0215②:204; see Dunhuang Xuanquan Han jian shicui, p. 183. Chen Wei, 2011; and Cheng Shaoxuan, 2012, pp. 250, 322–24.

details are open to interpretation, this method is nevertheless a clear example of classifying the spirits who cause calamity in nine categories as part of a hemerological technique for identifying and removing them. The variety of spirits is notable, including family ghosts and spirits such as Director of Destiny, Rain Sire, and North Sire, as well as other spirits attested in transmitted sources and archaeological materials. There is also a connection to spirits named in the older Chu divination and offering records (discussed below). Twelvefold illness hemerologies based on the branches occur in JD.7, SHDB.65, and KJP.70. Based on the twelve pitch standards identified in FMTB.83, JD.7 and SHDB.65 are related texts. Both sections address several topics in addition to illness, and SHDB.65 provides information on the spirits of calamity associated with illness, which is absent in JD.7. KJP.70 is a different text, related exclusively to illness hemerology and identification of different spirits of calamity (see table 5.3). In SHDB.65 and KJP.70, the branch represents the day when the person becomes ill, and the hemerologies include the prognosis for recovery over the following days, counted by intervals between branches in SHDB.65 and by a numerical day-count in KJP.70. FMTB.83 involves a method of divination using the twelve pitch standards that is not entirely clear. Illness divination is one of several applications, and the section includes identification of the spirits of calamity associated with each pitch standard (see table 5.4). Most of the spirits of calamity in SHDB.65, KJP.70, and FMTB.83 are different, but the twelvefold systems are alike in representing illness as involving spirits that operate in regular patterns according to branches or pitch standards.

222

yan

calamity. It is obtained from dog meat and fresh eggs, colored white. On jias1 and yis2 there is sickness, on bings3 there is respite, and on dings4 there is recovery. When there is not recovery: if Fever is located in the west quarter and Year is located in the west quarter, becoming white in color there is death.92

Table 5.4 The spirits of calamity associated with the twelve pitch standards in FMTB.83 Monthly pitch standards

FMTB.83

XI XII I II III

Huangzhong 黃鐘 Dalü 大呂 Dacou 大簇 Jiazhong 夾鐘 Guxian 姑洗

IV

Zhonglü 中呂

V VI VII VIII IX X

Suibin 蕤賓 Linzhong 林鐘 Yize 夷則 Nanlü 南呂 Wuyi 毋射 Yingzhong 應鐘

Shangjun 上君, Xian [1] 先 [1] Dayu 大御, Zhiyuan 支原 Henglugong 恒輅公, She 社 Waijun 外君 Beijun 北君, Dashui 大水, Xian 銜 Tian 田, Zuisang 辠桑, Huangzhe 炾者 Dafuqin 大父親, Bu 布 Men 門, Hu 戶 Zhuyou 主友 Yuansizhe 原死者 Quanzhu 犬主 Ba 犮, Bu 布, Shizhong 室中

In SHDB.65 and KJP.70, after a daybook user determined the branch day when the illness first occurred, the hemerologies provided information about the spirits that caused the calamity and the prognosis. The focus is hemerology and not the concrete methods of dealing with the spirits themselves once they are identified, for which there is little evidence in the daybooks (we must assume that ritual activity occurred). The main function of illness hemerology is clear: to specify the time frame from occurrence to recovery or death, to identify the cause, and to make a simple prediction of what to expect. Regularization of illness and spirits is even more evident in the tenfold systems based on the stems and the five agents in SHDA.18, SHDB.66, and KJP.68. Although the hemerological manuscript from Shuiquanzi 水泉子 tomb 5, Gansu (burial dated late first century bce), has not yet been fully published, it includes a five-agents illness hemerology with associated spirits of calamity but without reference to stems or branches and without a prognosis.91 The sections in the two Shuihudi daybooks are related but not identical, as shown in the following comparison of the gengs7 and xins8 texts in both SHDA.18 and KJP.68: SHDA.18 庚辛有疾外鬼殤死為祟得之犬肉鮮卵白色甲乙病丙有閒 丁酢若不酢煩居西方歲在西方白色死

When there is illness on gengs7 and xins8, Outer Demons and Those Who Died Prematurely are the 91

Zhang Cunliang and Wu Hong, 2009, p. 91.

KJP.68

庚辛金也有疾白色日中死非白色丙有瘳丁閒街行 人炊兵祟

Gengs7 and xins8 are Metal. When there is illness and when white in color, death occurs at midday. If not a case of being white in color, on bings3 there is healing and on dings4 there is recovery. Street, Road, Domestic Cookplace, and Weapon are the calamity.93 KJP.68 begins by naming the agent for the pair of stems, thus formalizing the status of the five-agents conquestsequence prognosis, which in SHDA.18 and SHDB.66 is implicit rather than explicit. At the same time, SHDA.18 and SHDB.66 use the five-agents model to anticipate the occurrence of ji 疾 as the manifest “illness” in the incipient bing 病 “sickness” that preceded it. The full fiveagents logic for gengs7 and xins8 (and by extension for the other stems and agents) is that incipient sickness on Wood days jias1 or yis2 becomes illness on gengs7 and xins8 days because Wood is conquered by Metal, but people can expect improvement on Fire day bings3 and recovery on Fire day dings4 because Fire conquers Metal. The Shuiquanzi agent and illness hemerology probably used the same logic based on stem and agent correlations, but the possibility of branch and agent correlations should not be ruled out. Like branch-based illness hemerology, stem- and agents-based illness hemerology gave people a means of identifying the spirits of calamity in a regularized system made even more regular by association with five-agents ideas (see tables 5.5 and 5.6). Based on the stem of the illness day, five-agents ideas allowed daybook users to know that illness occurred because the illness-day agent conquered the earlier signs of illness in the sickness-day agent, and the same causal relationship informed the logic of prognosis and anticipated recovery. Simultaneously, the hemerology placed the identification of the spirits of calamity within the five-agents framework, which affected the ritual treatment of the spirits. We should not overlook the possible influence of fiveagents ideas on the conception of the spirits of calamity. For instance, the Shuiquanzi five-agents hemerology 92 93

SHDA.18, slips 74r2–75r2; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 193. KJP.68, slip 3501; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 171.

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daybooks and the spirit world Table 5.5 Stem-based illness hemerology and associated spirits of calamity in SHDA.18 and SHDB.66 Ten stems

SHDA.18

SHDB.66

jias1, yis2

Fumu 父母

bings3, dings4 wus5, jis6

Wangfu 王父 Wukan 巫堪, Xing 行, Wangmu 王母 Waigui 外鬼, Shangsi 殤死 Waigui 外鬼

Wangfu 王父, Shengren 生人 Wangfu 王父 Wukan 巫堪, Wangfu 王父

gengs7, xins8 rens9, guis10

Waigui 外鬼, Shangsi 殤死 Waigui 外鬼

Table 5.6 Agent-based illness hemerology and associated spirits in KJP.68 and daybook-related slips from Shuiquanzi Five-agents days

KJP.68

Shuiquanzi

Wood days 木日 Fire days 火日

Dafu 大父 Renchui 人炊

Earth days 土日 Metal days 金日

She 社 Qiangsi 強死, Shang 殤, Han 旱 Mu [1] 木 [1] Jie 街, Shui 水, [Bing]sizhe [兵]死者

Wu 巫, Shi 室 Jie 街, Xing 行, Renchui 人炊, Bing[sizhe] 兵[死者] Zaoshen 灶神, Yousizhe 游死者 [Da]shui [大]水

Water days 水日

names the spirit of calamity on a Water day as Yousizhe 游死者 (Those Who Died Swimming), and Han 旱 (Drought) is one of three spirits of calamity for illness on a Fire day. Coincidentally, Drought as a spirit of calamity also occurs in the branch and illness hemerology in KJP.70 under shenb9. The five-agents model would have served to increase people’s confidence in their ability to control spirits and demons. While remaining open to the likelihood of five-agents influence on spirits of calamity in stem and agent illness hemerologies, we cannot assume it. Shui 水 (Water) is one of three spirits of calamity for Metal day illnesses in the Shuiquanzi hemerology, and many spirits in stem and illness hemerologies have no obvious connection to the agent with which they are associated. Nevertheless, the stem illness hemerologies, even more so than the branch illness hemer-

ologies, demonstrate the process of systematization and regularization of the spirits of calamity in the formation of hemero­logical ideas. Application of a five-agents model to spirits was not limited to illness hemerology. The first daybook-related manuscript from Zhoujiatai (ZJTA) provides an excellent example. ZJTA.13 is composed of five “Day Court” diagrams arranged in a cross, with text written above and below the diagram on the left side of the cross. The text on top concerns the fivefold cycle of the day qualifier De 德 (Virtue). It notes that Virtue is located in the Metal position in a year corresponding to 211 bce and moves in succession to the positions of Fire, Water, Earth, and Wood in subsequent years. In addition, the position of Virtue determines the spirits that control the year by association with the agents.94 This cruciform diagram with text functions as a kind of five-agents calendar chart. The lower text divides the year into multiples of five twelve-day periods called “five zib1” and associated with the agents. Combining the information in the upper and lower texts produces a classification of spirits by agent over the course of the year. For instance, the twelve-day period beginning with jiazi1 (n1–n12) is correlated with Wood, and the Wood spirits that control the year are Lishe 里社 (Ward Altar) and Zhong 冢 (Tumulus); bingzi13 (n13–n24) is correlated with Fire, and the Fire spirits that control the year are Zhuqiu 築囚 (Prisoner in Duress), Xing 行 (Road), and Chui 炊 (Cookplace); and so forth. Predictions for each twelve-day period in the lower text include two that are obviously based on the agent: drought is the prediction for bingzi13 (n13–n24), agent Fire, and flood is the prediction for renzi49 (n49–n60), agent Water. KJP.82 has a hemerology in which the emperors associated with the five colors control the year as part of routinized five-agents cycles, and each emperor has an associated spirit that may be the cause of mischief.95 For instance, with the stems jias1 and yis2, agent Wood, Qingdi 青帝 (Green Emperor) controls the year, but Renchui 人炊 (Domestic Cookplace) is also active during the same period (recall that Domestic Cookplace is associated with Metal and the stems gengs7 and xins8 in KJP.68). The preceding section, KJP.81, is a brief record 94 95

For discussion of the system of calendrical astrology on which the ZJTA.13 cycle of Virtue is based, see p. 181 in chap. 4. The spirit is said to xingmo 行沒, meaning uncertain. The paraphrase of the passage in Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 182n1, uses the attested term chumo 出沒 “appearance and disappearance” to gloss xingmo, which would mean that the spirit “now appears, now disappears.” But mo 沒 may also refer to an action that is transgressive or harmful; hence xingmo might mean the “conduct is harmful” or “engage in mischief.”

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Table 5.7 Ten-stems and five-agents classification of emperors and spirits in KJP.82 and ZJTA.13 Ten stems Directions

jias1, yis2 east

bings3, dings4 south

wus5, jis6 center

gengs7, xins8 west

rens9, guis10 north

Emperors (KJP.82) Spirits (KJP.82) Spirits (ZJT.13)

Green Emperor Renchui 人炊

Red Emperor Gaozhe 高者

Yellow Emperor Yizhu 邑主

White Emperor Fengbo 風伯

Flame Emperor Qunwu 群巫

Lishe 里社 Zhong 冢

Tianshe 田社 Mubing 木並 Huangdi 黃帝

Shanggong 上公 Bingsi 兵死 Shang 殤 Zhuanxu 顓頊

——

Hao 昊

Zhuqiu 築囚 Chui 炊 Xing 行 [1] di [1]帝

Taihao 太昊

Yandi 炎帝

Huangdi 黃帝

Shaohao 少昊

Zhuanxu 顓頊

Emperors (KJP.81) Emperors (yueling)

——

Note: The emperors of the five quarters in the monthly ordinances tradition are in the last row.

of the names of the five emperors among humankind in legendary antiquity organized by the directions. The information and its presentation across several sections of the Kongjiapo daybook mirror the contemporaneous yueling 月令 “monthly ordinances” that served as a standard for five-agents ideas (see table 5.7).96 In comparing the daybooks to the monthly-ordinances tradition, the variability between them and among the daybooks is notable. They obviously did not all conform to a single standard for correlating agents with rulers or spirits. The daybooks may in part reflect a stage of development before standardization, but regional customs or the different traditions of hemerological specialists are also likely to have been responsible for the differences. With regard to table 5.7, I would like to make two further points. First, in KJP.82, Yandi 炎帝 (Flame Emperor) is correlated with rens9 and guis10, agent Water, and north, when we would expect Heidi 黑帝 (Black Emperor). The absence of Black Emperor can perhaps be explained by transmitted historical accounts according to which the Qin rulers observed only the cult of four emperors: white, green, yellow, and red. The cult of the Black Emperor is said to have been instituted at the beginning of the Han dynasty by its founder, Liu Bang 劉邦.97 Then again, the appearance of Flame Emperor in KJP.82 might represent the influence of an old Chu tradition in the south: correlating north with Flame Emperor reinforced this southern

connection along with Flame Emperor’s association with Fire and red. Second, in KJP.81, there is also no emperor for northblack among the five historical emperors, and Zhuanxu 顓頊 is associated with white instead of black, as in the monthly ordinances. Either a missing slip or missing text on the slips might explain the discrepancy, but the reason could be the same as for the emperors of the colors: at the time, four not five emperors were recognized, and the four-emperors model had not yet been fully assimilated with five-agents ideas. The one ruler the monthlyordinances tradition and KJP.81 clearly have in common is Huangdi 黃帝 (Yellow Emperor). Yang Kuan has argued that in antiquity Zhuanxu was regarded as supreme deity among peoples who inhabited the west, which might explain the KJP.81 association of Zhuanxu with west-white.98 The monthly-ordinances tradition associates west with Shaohao 少昊, probably because Shaohao was the chief deity of the Qin people, yet in the Chu Verses, the west emperor is Rushou 蓐收. According to Ding Shan the discrepancy reflects Chu prejudice against Qin and refusal to accept the Qin deity Shaohao in a correlative scheme of directions and rulers.99 My view is that the idea of emperors of the five directions and colors and their cults came first, followed by the identification of five historical rulers among humankind. Over several centuries, there were multiple variations and understandings of the correlations between the five historical emperors and the five

96 97

98 99

On the monthly ordinances, see p. 154 in chap. 4. Shiji, 28, p. 1378.

Yang Kuan, 1982, pp. 220–23. Ding Shan, 2005, p. 165.

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colors and agents.100 Differences between the Kongjiapo daybook and the monthly ordinances are evidence of regional variations that had not yet been standardized in the mid-second century bce. In considering what was new and what had changed, it is helpful to place the idea of spirits of calamity in the broad context of religion and divination in early China. Illness caused by spirits of calamity is attested in the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions.101 The Chu divination and offering records prove that the concern over illness and the involvement of spirits of calamity remained a prominent feature of elite life and the practice of divination in the Warring States period.102 In elite divination and offering records and illness hemerology in the daybooks, the characteristics of spirits of calamity are basically the same, including a number of identical names. This has led several scholars to conclude that daybooks have their origin in the divination and offering records, which were the textual precedent of daybooks.103 Others have argued that we cannot presume this kind of textual development.104 In my judgment, it is best to see the two kinds of texts as parallel expressions of two equally prominent aspects of technical occult arts in the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods: turtle-shell and milfoil divination, on the one hand, and hemerology, on the other.105 Both relied on the commonly held view that spirits were directly involved in the occurrence of illness and must be engaged in order to treat illness. There is nothing unusual about this attitude, which remains current in the countryside in China. Some differences between the divination and offering records and daybooks reflect the basic difference between divination and hemerology. First, the act of divination must be performed by specialists in order to determine the identity of the spirits involved in the illness and take appropriate ritual action. With hemerology as represented in daybooks, daybook users already know the identity of the spirits responsible for illness from consulting regularized hemerological schemes based on branches, stems, or agents. Further, the prognoses in illness hemerologies in daybooks do not obviate the need for ritual action, yet ritual action is not the only means of addressing the occurrence of illness because the spirits of calamity are part 100 101 102 103 104 105

Liu Qiyu, 1991b, pp. 97–106. Song Zhenhao, 2004, pp. 17–18. Yan Changgui, 2010b, pp. 77–178. Kudō Motoo, 2000. Yang Hua, 2003, pp. 565–70. Their character as parallel traditions is evident in the pair of chapters in the Shiji, one devoted to hemerology and the other to turtle-shell and milfoil divination (Shiji, chaps. 127–28), and in the classification of books in the Han shu bibliographic treatise. For further discussion, see Yan Changgui, 2010b, pp. 67–76.

of a larger system of correlations. In all respects, the spirits are more easily known and controlled. Second, in regard to the elite patrons for whom the divination and offering records were made, diviners and ritual specialists who performed divination, sacrifice, and exorcism on behalf of the patron-patient were intermediaries between the spirits and the patient. Daybooks, in contrast, offered users the possibility of taking action without relying on specialists as intermediaries with the spirit world. The relative exclusivity of the divination and offering records and the accessibility of daybooks across social groups raise issues related to daybooks and religious activity in everyday life. It is interesting to consider Warring States accounts of the spirit world in light of daybooks. For instance, the Sayings of the States (Guoyu 國語) records the words of Guan Shefu 觀射父 of Chu, who declared that “in antiquity people and spirits did not mix”; rather, society relied on shamans to communicate with the spirit world. This orderly situation changed when, “after the decline of Shao Hao 少皞, the Nine Li 九黎 disordered the virtue, and people and spirits mixed intimately” as “people offered sacrifices and households engaged in shamanic practices.”106 We might compare the divination and offering records to the time when “people and spirits did not mix” and daybooks to the time when “people and spirits mixed intimately.”

Expelling Demons and Spirits: Techniques of Exorcism in “Spellbinding” Demons and spirits were treated in two ways in early China: with sacrifice and prayers, the soft approach; and with exorcistic expulsion, the hard approach. The Chu divination and offering records mostly reflect the soft approach—sacrifice and prayers—although exorcistic action is not absent.107 The topic of sacrifice is ubiquitous in daybooks. References to whether or not a particular time is good for sacrifice are found in general hemerologies such as the Jianchu and Congchen systems. Other daybook sections address sacrifice more specifically and by topic, such as SHDA.19, on days to sacrifice to parents, and SHDB.5, on days for sacrifice to the five domestic spirits (fig. 5.5). The latter were closely related to everyday life and the popular worship of minor spirits. Daybooks also record ritual acts to propitiate single spirits for specific purposes. The text of the prayer to Wuyi in JD.5 includes words that describe offering “cut strips of silk and fragrant provisions” to Wuyi—the spirit in charge of the spirit-world location of Those Who Died by Weapons—with the expectation of the spirit’s favorable 106 Guoyu, 18, pp. 559–62 (“Chuyu xia” 楚語下); see Poo, 1998, p. 82. 107 Yan Changgui, 2010b, pp. 236–300.

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Figure 5.5 Bamboo tablets with names of the five domestic spirits (wusi) from Baoshan tomb 2, ca. 300 bce. Left to right: Dwelling (Shi 室), Stove (Zao 竈), Gate (Men 門), Door (Hu 戶), Road (Xing 行). After Baoshan Chu mu, vol. 2, plate 47.10–14.

response. Similarly, the section on Mamei 馬禖 (Horse Progenitor) in SHDA.87 contains both details of ritual acts and the text of an incantation in which Horse Progenitor is offered a “fat suckling pig, clear ale, and fine white millet” and is exhorted to “expel the baleful and eliminate the unpropitious” for newborn foals. Both Shuihudi daybooks have sections on the ritual and incantation addressed to the spirit who controls nightmare demons (named Qinqi   in SHDA.57 and Wanqi 宛奇 in SHDB.68). The incantation encourages the spirit to eat and drink heartily, expel the nightmare demons, and grant benefits to the person who experienced the nightmare.108 The most elaborate ritual account occurs in the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany, in which incantations, prayers, and sacrifice accompany the La 臘 day observances for Xiannong 先農 (First Tiller), to ensure good crops (ZJTB.18).109 Finally, the account of the death and resurrection of a man named Dan 丹 in FMTB.93 includes Dan’s statement on what the ghosts of the dead expect from the living when sacrifice is offered, including specific requirements and prohibitions. Qin manuscripts recently acquired by Peking University include a wooden tablet with a matching resurrection account that begins with the words “there was a person who died in Taiyuan 泰原.”110 Both resurrection accounts reflect the ideas and practices shared generally across

108 109 110

For more detail on the spirit Qinqi/Wanqi, see pp. 227–28 in this chapter. For a translation of the Xiannong ritual, see p. 310 in chap. 8. Li Ling, 2012, pp. 81–84. On FMTB.93, see Harper, 1994.

society when making prayers and offerings to the spirit world. Daybooks are a rich source for the hard approach, exorcistic control of spirits, with the “Spellbinding” section in SHDA.59 being the most extensive record of various magical, apotropaic techniques. “Spellbinding” reflects the general perception in Warring States, Qin, and Han society that exorcistic acts were part of everyday life because people needed protection from demons and spirits. This objective is expressed in the prologue that precedes the separate entries in “Spellbinding”: 詰咎鬼害民罔行為民不祥告如詰之道令民毋麗凶殃鬼之 所惡彼屈臥箕坐連行奇立

To spellbind the harmful. Demons harm people and roam recklessly,111 and they are unpropitious for people. Declare how to spellbind them in order to guide112 the people and not let them encounter the inauspicious and calamitous. What demons detest are, namely, reclining in a crouch, sitting like a winnowing basket, linked walking, and the onelegged stand.113

111 112 113

I read wang 罔 as wang 妄 “reckless.” For a different interpretation, see p. 129 in chap. 3. I read dao 道 as dao 導 “guide.” For a different interpretation, see p. 129 in chap. 3. SHDA.59, slips 24v1–26v1; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 212.

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The prologue sets the theme, and the entries provide concrete details with instructions on precise exorcistic acts that will control specific demons and prodigies and eliminate the harm they cause. The prologue lists four body postures that demons detest—reclining in a crouch, sitting like a winnowing basket, linked walking, and the one-legged stand—simple but effective apotropaic postures that anyone can use to frighten and expel demons. The prologue praises their efficacy, but the postures are not mentioned again in the separate entries. Related apotropaic postures occur in later times in Daoist religion.114 The magical efficacy of knowing the demon’s name so as to control it can be seen in the concern for identifying demons by name in “Spellbinding.” Most entries follow a regular pattern, a brief statement of the demonic problem followed by formulaic wording identifying the demon, as in the following example: 人毋故鬼藉其宮是 = 丘鬼

When without cause a demon lodges in a person’s home, this is the Demon of Abandoned Places.115 Many demons are named in “Spellbinding,” such as Baogui 暴鬼 (Violent Demon), Egui (Hungry Demon), Yanggui (Yang Demon), Yingui 陰鬼 (Yin Demon), Jugui 遽鬼 (Ferocious Demon), Aigui 哀鬼 (Sad Demon), Jigui 棘鬼 (Jujube Demon), and Bugugui 不辜鬼 (Blameless Demon).116 The names serve mostly to describe and classify the demons. There are also examples of what I would call “dedicated names,” the kind often used in name magic to control demons. For instance, “Spellbinding” includes one such name for the nightmare spirit Tufu 圖夫 (Diagram Master).117 In later Daoist texts, fu “master” is a well-attested usage in spirit names, including Jianzifu 劍子夫 (Sword Master) for the knife spirit and Shanfu 山夫 (Mountain Master) for the spirit of the five sacred peaks.118 In “Spellbinding,” Diagram Master is the spirit who causes nightmares and is repelled by placing a mulberry wood staff in the entryway. The complementary spirits Diagram Master in SHDA.59 and Qinqi in SHDA.57 are evidence of the dedicated demon that causes nightmares and the dedicated spirit that eliminates nightmare demons, doubtless including Diagram Master.119 114 115 116 117 118 119

See Harper, 1985, pp. 483–86; and Wang Zijin, 2003, pp. 345–47. SHDA.59, slip 29v1; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 212. For occurrences, see supplement 5.1. SHDA.59, slip 44v2. See Liu Zhao, 2004, p. 141. See Liu Xinfang, 1990, p. 64; and Rao Zongyi, 1993, p. 423.

The following prayer to Qinqi in SHDA.57 was to be chanted in conjunction with ritual acts after the nightmare had occurred: 皋敢告爾    某有惡夢走歸  富非錢乃布非繭乃絮

  之所強飲強食賜某大

Ha! I dare declare you to Qinqi. So and so had a nightmare. Run back home to the place of Qinqi. Qinqi, drink heartily and eat heartily. Grant so and so great wealth. If not cash, then cloth; if not cocoons, then silk.120 Like Wuyi, who rules the place in the spirit world for Those Who Died by Weapons, Qinqi rules the place for nightmare demons. The prayer invokes Qinqi for assistance and commands nightmare demons to return to Qinqi’s place. Qinqi is exhorted to enjoy plentiful offerings of drink and food, with the expectation that wealth may come to the person who suffered the nightmare. I suspect that Qinqi is the same spirit whose name is written in the exorcistic inscription on the wooden-tablet talisman from Shaojiagou 邵家溝, Jiangsu, and dated to the late second century ce (fig. 5.6). A drawing of the Northern Dipper and talismanic writing occupy the top part of the tablet, and the following inscription is written in the lower part: 乙巳日死者鬼名為天光天帝神師已知汝名疾去三千里汝 不即去南山紟 [1] 令來食汝急如律令

The one who died on yisi42 has the demon name Heaven Light. Heaven Emperor’s Spirit General already knows your name. Rush away three thousand li. If you do not immediately go, let South Mountain Jin [1] come to eat you. Quickly, in accord with statute and ordinance.121 The purpose of the inscription is to expel the demon Heaven Light. The text invokes Heaven Emperor’s Spirit General to deal with the demon, reinforced by the threat to have South Mountain Jin 紟 [1] devour the demon. The second graph of the name Jin [1] is illegible, but the graphs are clearly the name of the spirit whose spirit-world location is South Mountain and who devours demons. Three details regarding the connection between Jin [1] in the Shaojiagou tablet and Qinqi in SHDA.57 are worth noting. First, there are three occurrences in excavated materials (including Wanqi in SHDB.68) of related names for a 120 SHDA.57, slips 13v1–14v1; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 210. 121 Kaogu 1960.10, p. 21. For a critical study of the tablet and exorcistic inscription, see Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 200–211.

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Figure 5.6 Facsimile of the wooden-tablet talisman from Shaojiagou 邵家溝, Jiangsu, late Eastern Han. After Kaogu 1960.10, p. 21.

spirit that helps people by expelling and devouring nightmare demons or other harmful demons and that occupies a designated location in the spirit world (South Mountain, in the case of Jin [1]). Second, Jin [1] fits into the spiritworld hierarchy below Heaven Emperor’s Spirit General, which calls to mind JD.5 and Di/Emperor commanding Wuyi to govern the spirit-world place of Those Who Died by Weapons. Third, the functioning of the spirit world in the everyday religion of local communities as reflected in daybooks and other excavated materials has a precise counterpart in the transmitted record of the exorcistic ritual performed at the Han court at the time of the new year exorcism called “Nuo.” The incantation that accompanies the ritual summons twelve spirits to eradicate demons, and names Boqi 伯奇 as the spirit that “eats dreams.” The same Boqi is the spirit who controls nightmare demons in the ritual and incantation described in the Dunhuang demonological manuscript titled Baize jingguai tu 白澤精怪 圖 (White Marsh diagrams of spectral prodigies) (P2682),

a medieval counterpart to the nightmare sections in the Shuihudi daybooks that mention Qinqi and Wanqi.122 Next is the aspect of “Spellbinding” as an ancient demonological text related to the medieval demonological texts that gave people control over demons and spirits by providing a list of demon names. This type of literature is first described in Embracing Simplicity Master (Baopuzi 抱朴子), which lists three titles: the Hundred Demon Register (Baigui lu 百鬼錄), by which people can “know the names of demons in Under-Heaven,” and the White Marsh Diagrams (Baize tu 白澤圖) and Nine Cauldron Record (Jiuding ji 九鼎記), with which “the horde of demons is automatically expelled.”123 The White Marsh Diagrams survives in medieval quotations and in the Dunhuang manuscript P2682, which, in addition to the passage on Boqi and nightmares, has a number of examples of magical acts and materials shared by the “Spellbinding” text and the medieval testimony of the White Marsh Diagrams. Unlike the White Marsh Diagrams, however, “Spellbinding” does not include examples of name magic, of controlling a spirit by simply uttering its name.124 Nevertheless, viewed as a distinct demonological text contained within the first Shuihudi daybook, the entries in “Spellbinding” constitute a classified list organized by demon names and connected to the medieval tradition of demonology described in Embracing Simplicity Master. There is Han archaeological evidence of records of demon names and the magical efficacy of knowing the names. Among the artifacts is the tomb jar recovered in 1980 from a looted tomb in Luoyang 洛陽 with an apotropaic inscription dated to 156 ce. The text is fragmentary but includes the following sentence: 謹攝錄百鬼名字無令得逃亡

Carefully compile and record the names of the hundred demons so that they are unable to escape.125 The wooden slip excavated in 1970 in Juyan 居延, Gansu, from test trench 49 at Pochengzi 破城子 is another artifact. The slip, which probably dates to the early first century ce, describes the method for making the “document to suppress the Corpse-Ghost”: 厭䰡書家長以制日疏䰡名䰡名為天牧鬼之精即滅亡有敢 苛者反受其殃以除為之

122 123 124 125

P2682, cols. 80–82. See Harper, 2010b, pp. 52–55. Baopuzi, 17, p. 308 (“Dengshe” 登涉). See Harper, 1985, pp. 490–96. Cai Yunzhang, 1989, p. 650.

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Document to suppress the Corpse-Ghost. On a Control day, the head of the household records the Corpse-Ghost’s name. “The Corpse-Ghost’s name is Heaven Herder. Demonic spectral essence is immediately destroyed. Whatever dares to make trouble, in reverse receives the calamity.” Do it on a Remove day.126 The slip appears to be from a text that tells people how to make the document and is not an example of the finished “document to suppress the Corpse-Ghost” that people used in real-life situations. The sentences enclosed in quotation marks in the translation above are similar to other examples of incantations and apotropaic inscriptions and may be assumed to be the full text that was copied on the finished document. Note that hemerology is used to determine the day when the document should be prepared, a Zhi 制 (Control) day, and the day on which to use it for magical suppression, a Chu 除 (Remove) day.127 The Luoyang jar and Juyan slip are important evidence that ancient demonology and demonological texts were in use in everyday life. In addition to P2682 and the White Marsh Diagrams transmitted fragments, there are Dunhuang examples of the medieval continuation of ancient demonology. P2856 is an iatromantic work titled Fabing shu 發病書 (Book on the occurrence of illness). One of the sections with illness hemerologies identifies the spirits of the branch days by their dedicated names. After determining the branch of the day on which the illness occurred, users prepared a talisman with the image and name of the spirit and used it to expel the spirit.128 Related practices are described in Daoist scriptures, but most of the spirit names do not correspond to those in the Dunhuang manuscript sources.129 Another important aspect of controlling demons and spirits is knowledge of their location and movement. The Jiudian and Shuihudi daybooks contain references to the place (suo 所) in the spirit world where the spirit ruler of the place guards the demons and spirits and prevents them from harming humankind: in JD.5, Those Who Died by Weapons are in the place of Wuyi; in SHDA.57, night126 EPT49:3; Juyan xinjian—Jiaqu houguan, vol. 1, p. 61. For further discussion, see Liu Zhaorui, 2007, pp. 349–52. 127 Liu Zhaorui, 2007, pp. 349–51. A Control day is a day when the agent of the stem conquers the agent of the branch. For instance, on wuzi25 the agent Earth of wus5 conquers the agent Water of zib1. A Remove day belongs to Jianchu hemerology. 128 P2856, cols. 136–87. See Kalinowski, 2003b, p. 499. 129 See, for instance, Taishang dongshen dongyuan shenzhou zhibing kouzhang; for a description of the scripture, see Schipper and Verellen, 2004, pp. 272–73.

229 mare demons are in the place of Qinqi. Han inscribed tomb jars use the term guisuo 鬼所 “place of the demon” to signify where demons are sent when they are e­ xorcised.130 Further, the prayer to Wuyi locates Wuyi’s place with geographic precision “at the base of Fu Mountain and in the wilds of Buzhou.” In the Shaojiagou talisman, South Mountain is specified as the place where Jin [1] resides, and it recurs as the location of demon-destroying spirits in medieval exorcistic texts. Sun Simo’s 孫思邈 (seventh century) Thousand in Gold Supplementary Recipes (Qianjin yifang 千金翼方) records methods for expelling the malaria demon that invoke several demon-devouring spirits from South Mountain, and a related method occurs on the eighth-century wooden tablet excavated in Japan at the site of the ancient capital Fujiwara-kyō 藤原京: 南山之下有不流水其中有一大蛇九頭一尾不食餘物但食 唐鬼朝食三千墓食八百急急如律令

Below South Mountain is the unflowing water, where there is a large snake with nine heads and one tail. It eats no other thing, but eats only Tang demons.131 In the morning it eats three thousand and in the evening eight hundred. Quickly, quickly in accord with statute and ordinance.132 Several entries in “Spellbinding” describe situations in which the harmful spirit occupies a location inside the home, and the method for expelling it begins with finding its hiding place. The entry for Huichong 會蟲 (Conjunction Bug) is particularly detailed: 一室人皆縮筋是會蟲居其室西壁取西南隅去地五 尺以鐵椎段之必中蟲首掘而去之弗去不出三年一 室皆縮筋

When everyone in the household has muscle contractions—this is Conjunction Bug that occupies the west wall of the house. Clear away the southwest corner to a depth of five chi below ground level. Strike it with an iron hammer. You must hit the bug’s head. Dig it up and get rid of it. If you do not get rid of it, within three years everyone in the household will have muscle contractions.133 130 The term occurs on the jar dated to 133 ce from the Han tomb at Zhujiabao 朱家堡, Shaanxi; see Zhuo Zhenxi, 1980. 131 Use of the term “Tang” to mean “from China” is one indication of the foreign origin of the demonological text. 132 See the transcription and discussion of the Japanese tablet in Liu Zhaorui, 2007, pp. 428–29; for the related text recorded by Sun Simo, see Qianjin yifang, 29, p. 349. 133 SHDA.59, slips 39v2–41v2; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 213.

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With one exception, every entry in “Spellbinding” includes information on methods and materials that can be used to control demons, spirits, and prodigies.134 Magical materials number more than forty.135 Peach wood occurs most often, in objects such as peach bow, peach staff, peach club, peach figurine, and so forth. Archaeological discoveries of peach figurines in tombs confirm the widespread apotropaic use of peach wood,136 as is attested in many transmitted sources. The texts do not explain why peach has magical efficacy, but it was commonly known that, in the words of Zheng Xuan, “peach is something demons detest.”137 The popular Han period legend of the peach tree in the eastern sea also validated the magical efficacy of the wood. Wang Chong’s Assay of Arguments offers the following version of the legend: In high antiquity there were two brothers, Shen Shu

神荼 and Yu Lü 欎壘. They were born with the abil-

ity to seize demons. They dwelled in the eastern sea on Dushuo Mountain 度朔山 and stood beneath the peach tree there to inspect the hundred demons. When there were demons that lacked principled conduct and wantonly caused people to suffer misfortune, Shu and Yu Lü bound them with reed cords, seizing them to feed to the tigers. Thus, today the district office138 cuts peach wood to make human figures, which are set up on the sides of the doorway, and draws the form of the tiger, which is placed on the door panel.139 In addition to peach wood, “Spellbinding” specifies mulberry wood for making objects. It is possible that sang 桑 “mulberry” puns with sang 喪 “die and be lost,” which is what people wanted to happen to spirits when they used mulberry to control them.140 Use of thorny jujube wood (ji 棘) in “Spellbinding” reconfirms classic sources such as the Zuo Chronicle (Zuozhuan 左傳), in which jujube arrows are shot from peach wood bows in exorcistic rituals.141 Mention of reeds (wei 葦), another common plant with exorcistic properties, in “Spellbinding” corroborates transmitted sources (such as the Han period story 134 The exception is SHDA.59, slip 61v1, which makes a prediction based on the occurrence of a prodigy. 135 See Liu Lexian, 1994, p. 257. 136 See Lu Xixing, 2012. 137 Liji, 9, 18b (“Tangong xia” 檀弓下), Zheng Xuan commentary. 138 It is said that xianguan 縣官 “district office” is a euphemism for the Han ruler. 139 Lunheng, 16, p. 699 (“Luan long” 亂龍). 140 Both words have the Old Chinese reconstruction *sâŋ. 141 Zuozhuan, 42, 24b (Zhao 4).

of Shen Shu and Yu Lü, who used reed cords to bind the demons). “Spellbinding” sometimes specifies objects from daily life, such as the iron hammer used to strike Conjunction Bug, metal knives and swords, and whips. For instance, to stop Shenchong 神蟲 (Spirit Bug) from covertly following people, it advises, “take a good sword and stab its neck; then it will not come,” and when a demon crouches over a person’s head during sleep, “strike it with a bamboo whip; then it will desist.”142 As a text that told people what to do in real-life situations, “Spellbinding” is an invaluable complement to stories in transmitted sources, such as the Comprehensive Summary of Customs (Fengsu tongyi 風俗 通義) and Embracing Simplicity Master, about people who use swords and other weapons to overcome demons.143 The exorcistic acts described in “Spellbinding” may be compared to the activities of the office of the exorcist (fangxiang shi 方相氏), described in the Rites of Zhou: “His duties are to put on the bearskin mask with four gold eyes, the dark robe, and red gown; to grasp the dagger-ax and raise the shield; and to lead the hundred officers in the seasonal Nuo exorcism as they search the chambers and drive away pestilence.”144 In the phrase “search the chambers” (suoshi 索室), shi may refer equally to a residence or a dwelling place (the meaning “household” is standard usage in “Spellbinding”), and the basic idea of the entries in “Spellbinding,” in which people search for and expel spirits from the home with exorcistic weapons, once again indicates the common ground of religious experience shared by local households and the court, as well as by ordinary people and religious specialists. The selection of exorcistic materials and the methods of employing them are nicely illustrated by occurrences of pig and dog feces in “Spellbinding.” When people travel and expect to pass the dwelling place of a Dashen 大神 (Great Spirit), they should carry pellets of dog feces prepared in advance and throw them at the spirit when it appears.145 Fumigating the home with pig feces is necessary to expel Yuanmu 猨母 (Gibbon Mother).146 To exorcise the spirit that declares itself to be Shangdizi (Son of Supreme Di) and cohabitates with a woman in the home, the affected people must bathe in dog feces and strike

142 SHDA.59, slips 34v2–35v2, 48v3; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, pp. 213, 215. 143 In Fengsu tongyi, see esp. chap. 9 (“Guaishen” 怪神); in Baopuzi, see chap. 17 (“Dengshe”). 144 Zhou li, 31, 12a (“Fangxiang shi”). 145 SHDA.59, slips 27v2–28v2; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 213. 146 SHDA.59, slips 50v3–51v3; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 216.

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the spirit with reeds in order to kill it.147 The fecal bath in “Spellbinding” sheds new light on the contemporaneous Master Han Fei story of the cuckold Li Ji 李季, who bathed in animal feces. The wife’s lover was in the bedroom when Li Ji returned home unexpectedly, and her chambermaid devised a ruse to help the lover escape: “The chambermaid said: ‘Have the gentleman strip naked, unfasten his hair, and go straight out the door. We all will pretend not to see him.’ The gentleman followed her plan and quickly ran out the door. Ji said: ‘What person was that?’ Everyone in the household said: ‘There was no one.’ Ji said: ‘Did I see a demon?’ The wife said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘What should I do about it?’ She said: ‘Take the feces of the five sacrificial animals and bathe in them.’ Ji said: ‘Agreed.’ Then he bathed in the feces.”148 The ironic tone of the Master Han Fei story is sharpened by the knowledge that fecal bathing was accepted practice in the third century bce. Among other exorcistic methods and materials in “Spellbinding,” throwing common materials is most frequent. In addition to dog-feces pellets, people were advised to throw items such as shoes, white stones, ash, and sand. The same range of materials is attested in P2682 and fragments of the medieval White Marsh Diagrams.149 There are also examples of eliminating spirits by means of fire and fumigation. Pouring water is another exorcistic act used to rid the house of Dinie 地蠥 (Earth Imp) and Yaogui 夭鬼 (Elf Demon) and brings to mind the story about Emperor Wu of the Han in the medieval Record of Investigations of Spirits (Soushen ji 搜神記).150 Emperor Wu was traveling when he encountered an enormous oxlike creature blocking the way, its four hoofs planted in the ground and impossible to move. His officials were all frightened except for Dongfang Shuo 東方朔, who asked permission to pour ale on it, and after he poured large quantities on the creature, it dissolved.151 Sound, including drumming, shouting, and cursing, is also used in “Spellbinding.” In this entry, the sounds of the chanted incantation, its cursing words, and other ritual acts may be regarded as antecedents to exorcistic spells popular in later centuries: 一室中臥者眯也不可以居是[1]鬼居之取桃棓段四隅中央 以牡棘刀刊其宮牆呼之曰復疾趣出今日不出以牡刀皮而 衣則毋無殃矣

147 SHDA.59, slip 38v3; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 215 (for a translation, see p. 210 in this chapter). 148 Hanfeizi, 10, pp. 245–46 (“Nei chushuo xia” 內儲說下). 149 See Harper, 1985, pp. 492–95. 150 SHDA.59, slips 31v3–32v3; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 215. 151 Soushen ji, 11, p. 131.

When the people in a household suffer nightmares while sleeping and cannot occupy the house—this is [1] Demon that occupies it. Take peach wood stakes and pound them into the four corners and center. Slash the outside walls of the home with a malejujube-wood knife152 and shout at it, saying: “Again quickly hurry out. If today you do not get out, your clothes will be stripped away with the male knife.” Then there will not be calamity.153

Spirits in the Context of Hemerology

By the Warring States period, people already linked the hemerological avoidance “When the chronogram is at zib1 or maob4 it is called Ji 疾 (Odious) day,” recorded in the Zuo Chronicle, to the legend of the last rulers of the Xia and Shang dynasties.154 Zhou of the Shang 商紂 perished on jiazi1, and Jie of the Xia 夏桀 on yimao52, and by association all zib1 and maob4 days were inauspicious. Later transmitted sources explain the association of other stem and branch day avoidances with the deaths of spirits and important cultural figures. For instance, the Assay of Arguments essay against hemerology mentions popular acceptance of the zib1 and maob4 avoidances and adds a third avoidance associated with the death of Cang Jie 倉頡, legendary inventor of writing, on a bings3 day: “Those who are learning to write avoid the bings3 day, saying that Cang Jie died on the bings3 day.”155 Medieval legend identified River Elder 河伯 as the man Feng Yi 馮夷 who drowned on a gengs7 day and was then made the Yellow River spirit by Heaven Emperor. In hemerology, travel by water was prohibited on the gengchen17 day because it was Feng Yi’s death day.156 The Qing scholar Gu Yanwu 顧炎武 (1612–1681) referred to such customs as “identification of days with significant figures and events as the basis for prediction.”157 Recently, Liu Ying has studied the evidence of hemerology in the Zuo Chronicle and Sayings of the States and concludes that, since the Spring and Autumn period, it has been customary to base day avoidances on days when legendary or historical figures died.158 Archaeologically excavated 152 Mu 牡 “male” refers to the nonfruiting variety of the plant. 153 SHDA.59, slips 24v3–26v3; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 214. 154 Zuozhuan, 45, 8b (Zhao 9). 155 Lunheng, 24, pp. 995–96 (“Jiri”); Kalinowski, 2011a, p. 252. 156 See Soushen ji, 4, p. 46, and notes. The hemerological prohibition is quoted from Wuxing shu 五行書, a lost work. 157 Rizhi lu, p. 154. 158 Liu Ying, 2006, pp. 214–17.

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yan

daybooks show the truth of this observation from the perspective of the hemerological information circulating in daybooks since at least the third century bce. For instance, SHDA.83 lists four spirits and their death days:

Table 5.8 Comparison of the death days of some spirits related to agriculture and earthworks in the first Shuihudi daybook (SHDA), the first Yueshan hemerological tablet (YS), and the Ming dynasty Collection of Dos and Don’ts (Qubi jian)

田亳主以乙巳死杜主以乙酉死雨師以辛未死田大人以癸 亥死

Death day SHDA.83 (149v)

Tianzhaizhu (Field-and-Home Ruler)159 died on yisi42; Duzhu (Du Ruler)160 died on yiyou22; Yushi (Rain General) died on xinwei8; Tiandaren (Field Great Man) died on guihai60.161

xinwei8 Yushi 雨師 yiyou22 Duzhu 杜主 bingxu23 dinghai24

YS.17 (43v: 81) Qubi jian

Tiandaren 田大人

Rain General is the spirit of wind and rain that is identified in some transmitted sources as the stellar lodge Net19 and in others as the spirit Xuanming 玄冥.162 The other names are not attested in transmitted sources but are clearly related to agriculture. SHDA.83 concludes with avoidance days for initiating field work and earthworks; hence the four spirits’ death days must also be avoidance days. Notably, Tiandaren 田大人 (Field Great Man) recurs in the hemerological tablets from Yueshan 岳山 tomb 36, Hubei, dating to the same period as the Shuihudi daybooks. However, the spirit’s death date in YS.17 is dinghai24 not guihai60 as recorded in SHDA.83, and sacrifice to Field Great Man is forbidden on that day.163 No doubt the calendar of death days connected with religious activities is old. The daybooks and daybook-related miscellanies show their application to hemerology in a variety of everyday activities in Warring States, Qin, and Han society. In regard to SHDA.83 and YS.17, later hemerology provides evidence of the continuation of similarly named spirits connected to agriculture whose death and burial days are treated as unfavorable for engaging in agricultural work. In the Ming work Collection of Dos and Don’ts (Qubi jian 趨避檢), for instance, the section on avoidance days for agricultural work identifies the death days of six spirits and burial days for five of them.164 Like Field Great Man in 159 The romanization Tianzhaizhu follows Liu Lexian (1994, p. 47), who suspects that the graph bo 亳 is a miswriting of zhai 宅 “home” in this occurrence. 160 Liu Lexian (ibid., p. 48) is skeptical that “Du” refers to the historical Du Bo 杜伯, whose angry ghost was well known in ancient China. He suggests a possible connection to Du Yu 杜宇, an ancient patron of agriculture according to medieval accounts; alternatively, du perhaps should be read as she 社 “altar” or tu 土 “earth”; hence the spirit name would be Shezhu or Tuzhu (Altar/ Earth Ruler). 161 SHDA.83, slip 149v; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 226. 162 Fengsu tongyi, 8, pp. 365–66 (“Sidian” 祀典), and commentary. 163 Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, p. 103. 164 Qubi jian, p. 1566.

guisi30 yisi42

Tianzhaizhu

Tianmu 田母 Tianfu 田父, Tianfu 田夫 Houji 后稷 Tianzhu 田主

田亳(宅)主

jiayin51 guihai60

Tiandaren 田大人

Tianzu 田祖

the Yueshan tablets, Tianfu 田父 (Field Father) and Tianfu 田夫 (Field Master) died on dinghai24; and like Field-andHome Ruler in SHDA.83, Tianzhu 田主 (Field Ruler) died on yisi42 (see table 5.8).165 In daybooks, the hemerological function of the death days of spirits and important cultural figures is also evident in contexts other than agriculture. Take, for instance, the death day of Chiyou 蚩尤 in KJP.32: 入月二旬蚩尤死日也不可哭臨聚眾合卒

The twentieth day from the first of the month is the death day of Chiyou. It is not permitted to engage in crying and mourning,166 to gather the multitude, and to assemble soldiers.167 Note the numerical day count for Chiyou’s death rather than a sexagenary day, meaning that the hemerological prescriptions applied to the twentieth day of every month. Chiyou is the spirit of war in ancient myth and is known for his skill in making weapons. Ideas about Chiyou in his function as the spirit of war were widespread across Qin and Han society. He fought with Yellow Emperor, who defeated him at Zhuolu 涿鹿. Chiyou is well 165 For more examples from later sources, see Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 46–48. Table 5.8 in this chapter does not include burial days in Qubi jian, none of which coincide with death days in SHDA.83 and YS.17. 166 The translation, “engage in crying and mourning,” for kulin 哭臨 is uncertain. 167 KJP.32, slip 1831; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 151.

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tion in the hemerological information that circulated in daybooks shows both the place of hemerology in everyday life and the function of daybooks in the formation of popular cultural knowledge. The earliest examples, explaining the prohibition of activities on the five maob4 and five haib12 days, occur in JD.4: 凡五卯不可以作大事帝以命益齎禹之火

On any of the five maob4 it is not permitted to undertake major activities, as this is when Di commanded Yi to manage fire for Yu.170 凡五亥不可以畜六牲擾帝之所以戮六擾之日

On any of the five haib12 it is not permitted to care for the six sacrificial and domestic animals, as this is the day when Di slaughtered the six domestic animals.171

Figure 5.7 Chiyou with the five weapons. Ink rubbing of carved stone relief from Yinan 沂南, Shandong, Eastern Han. After Yi’nan gu huaxiangshi mu fajue baogao, plate 33.

represented in Han carved stone reliefs, including the image from Yinan 沂南, Shandong, of Chiyou with the five weapons, studied by Wang Zijin (fig. 5.7).168 The bronze belt hook in the Freer Gallery of Art showing an ox-headed figure with a dagger held in its mouth, hands holding a shield and a sword, and feet treading on a knife and an ax has been identified as Chiyou by Sun Ji.169 The prohibition on “gathering the multitude and assembling soldiers” on Chiyou’s death day in KJP.32 reflects his popularity. The prohibition on “crying and mourning” might be related to his identity as a southern spirit—Chiyou was a descendant of Flame Emperor 炎帝—and the association between his dead form and the ritual expression of grieving. There are several other spirits or cultural figures whose occurrence in daybooks is grounded in hemerology but is connected to other events in their myths, legends, or historical accounts, not their death days. Their incorpora168 Wang Zijin, 2006; see also Niu Tianwei and Jin Aixiu, 2009, pp. 259–73. 169 Sun Ji, 2011, p. 292.

The prohibition for the five maob4 days is based on the flood legend in which Shun 舜—the Di/Emperor in the entry—had Yi 益 use fire to clear the land while Yu 禹 engaged in waterworks. Mencius (Mengzi 孟子), roughly contemporaneous with the Jiudian daybook, relates a version of the events.172 I suspect the haib12 day prohibition is also related to Shun, who was closely associated with the south and Chu.173 Chu people knew the story of Emperor Shun’s campaign to the south, death, and burial at Nine Doubt Mountain 九疑山, which is evoked in the Chu Verses, in “Encountering Sorrow” (Lisao 離騷`).174 The silksheet map with topographic features from Mawangdui tomb 3 confirms the burial site, which is marked on the map by nine columns and the inscription “Di Shun” 帝舜 (Emperor Shun).175 The Jiudian daybook is proof of Shun’s place in Chu popular culture around 300 bce; at the same time, the daybook shows the role of hemerology in establishing and spreading Shun’s legend. Qin and Han daybooks provide more evidence of hemerology’s instrumental role in maintaining the active presence of old myths and legends in daily life alongside various religious ideas and activities. In SHDA.9, the legendary figure is Shaman Xian 巫咸:

170 171 172 173

JD.4, slips 382–392; Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, p. 315. JD.4, slips 392–402; Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, p. 315. Mengzi, 5B, 2b–3a (“Teng Wengong shang” 滕文公上). Li Jiahao makes the same judgment in Jiudian Chu jian, p. 104n161. 174 Chu ci, 1, p. 20 (“Lisao”). 175 See Tan Qixiang, 1987, vol. 2, p. 237.

234

yan 五丑不可以巫帝以殺巫咸

On the five choub2 it is not permitted to perform shaman activities, as this is when Di killed Shaman Xian.176 The Yueshan hemerological tablets give yisi42 as Shaman Xian’s 巫咸 death day and prohibit sacrificing to shamans on that day.177 Neither the event of Di killing Shaman Xian nor his death day is attested in any other source. These details, along with the fragments of the Shaman Xian legend, are further evidence of his position as patron spirit of shamans and invokers. Some sources associate Shaman Xian with Yellow Emperor; others identify him as an official in the Shang dynasty. The Classic of Mountains and Seas refers to Shaman Xian as among the ten shamans who ascended to heaven from the summit of Numinous Mountain 靈山, which some scholars associate with the well-known Shaman Mountain 巫山 of ancient Chu. Another Classic of Mountains and Seas tradition refers to the country of Shaman Xian, where shamans ascend and descend a mountain.178 The Shuihudi and Yueshan texts confirm the hemerological element in the diffusion of the Shaman Xian legend. The Di who killed him was undoubtedly the supreme deity in the spirit world. Details of spirits in the Kongjiapo daybook are of particular significance as second-century bce evidence of the continuing role of spirits whose identities in popular culture were partly grounded in hemerology and perpetuated in the circulation of daybooks, while at the same time hemerology as a body of knowledge and practice was increasingly fitted to correlative schemes of time and space. The trend toward systematizing stem- and branch-based hemerology resulted in either a reduction in the number of spirits and cultural figures associated with particular days in the sexagenary cycle or the incorporation of these spirits and figures into the newly systematized hemerologies as day qualifiers. Like the account of Chiyou’s death day in KJP.32, KJP.22 makes use of spirits and cultural figures in travel hemerology: 西大母以丁酉西不返緰以壬戌北不返禹以丙戌南不返女 媧與天子以庚東不返

176 SHDA.9, slip 27r2; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 186. 177 Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, p. 103. 178 For information on the various traditions, see Yuan Ke’s notes in Shanhai jing, 7, pp. 219 (“Haiwai xi jing” 海外西經); 16, pp. 396–97 (“Dahuang xi jing” 大荒西經).

Great Mother of the West on dingyou34 did not return from the west. Gun on renxu59 did not return from the north. Yu on bingxu23 did not return from the south. Nüwa and Son of Heaven on gengs7 did not return from the east.179 Identification of three of the five names is unproblematic. Xidamu 西大母 (Great Mother of the West) is Xiwangmu 西王母 (Queen Mother of the West). The popularity of the Queen Mother of the West in the Han period and her association with long-life cults are well documented in both transmitted sources and archaeological materials.180 Yu’s reputation in connection with the flood myth and founding of the Xia dynasty gave him a special place in hemerology (discussed below). Nüwa 女媧 belongs to creation myths. By Han times, Nüwa was regularly paired with Fuxi 伏羲, but it is not certain that the Tianzi 天子 (Son of Heaven) mentioned in KJP.22 is Fuxi.181 Among several identifications of the graph 緰, that of Gun 鯀, Yu’s father, is most convincing.182 Of the spirits named, Great Mother of the West has the most obvious association with the direction west. By chance, the prohibition on travel to the west on dingyou34 is still associated with the Queen Mother of the West in a Yuan dynasty hemerological compendium (the only information that agrees with KJP.22).183 For the other spirits and directions in KJP.22 there is evidence for associating Yu with south and Gun with north.184 Association between Nüwa and east might be argued on the basis of Fuxi’s association with east.185 KJP.22 is a travel hemerology in which the direction-based avoidances are determined by the identification of specified sexagenary days with particular spirits or cultural figures and the legends 179 KJP.22, slips 1491–1501; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 146. In the final phrase, the sexagenary binom is defective (the branch paired with gengs7 is missing). 180 For an overview of sources, see Wu Hung, 1989, pp. 108–41. 181 For an overview of Nüwa and Fuxi in Han archaeological materials, see Tseng, 2011, pp. 285–90. 182 Liu Lexian (2010, pp. 106–9) evaluates the arguments. He concludes that the graph component 俞 may be miswritten or is a misshapen writing of lun 侖 as the phonetic component of the graph, read *run in Old Chinese, which is an acceptable phonetic loan for Gun 鯀 (*Kûn). 183 See Leibian lifa tongshu daquan, 5, 22b. 184 For the association of Yu with south and the tradition that Yu traveled south where he died and was buried at Kuaiji 會稽, see Shiji, 130, p. 3294. For the association of Gun with north, see Yang Kuan, 1982, pp. 329–36; and Gu Jiegang and Tong Shuye, 1982, pp. 156–57. 185 See Chang Jincang, 2002, p. 53.

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associating them with a particular direction. KJP.22 is not based on correspondence between branch-and-stem hemerology, direction of travel, and the five agents. In contrast, there are travel hemerologies in the Kongjiapo daybook that reflect the shift away from hemerology based on spirits and cultural figures and toward correlative schemes that in some cases are based on fiveagents ideas. Sometimes a Kongjiapo daybook hemerology without spirits or cultural figures has a textual parallel in other daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts in which the same correlative scheme is combined with spirits or cultural figures in order to validate the avoidances. In the four passages below, the first three represent mixed travel hemerologies, but the function of spirits, cultural figures, or day qualifiers is absent in the fourth passage, a related Kongjiapo daybook travel hemerology: Mawangdui, Chuxing zhan 出行占 (Divination for travel departure) 庚子寅戌辛丑寅戌癸卯巳酉不可行此黃帝

It is not permitted to travel on gengzi37, gengyin27, and gengxu47;186 on xinchou38, yinb3, and xub11;187 and on guimao40, guisi30, and guiyou10. This is Yellow Emperor …188 HK.1 戊戌不可北是謂行百里中有咎二百里外大咎黃神 [1] 之

On wuxu35 it is not permitted to go north. This is called “Travel.” Inside one hundred li there is harm, and beyond two hundred li there is great harm. Yellow Spirit [1] it.189 SHDA.42

凡春三月己丑不可東夏三月戊辰不可南秋三月己未不可 西冬三月戊戌不可北百中大凶二百里外必死歲忌

Always during the three months of spring it is not permitted to go east on jichou26; during the three 186 The text writes only the branches for the second and third sexagenary binoms, intending the stem gengs7 to apply to all three binoms. 187 The text repeats the branches yinb3 and xub11 from the first sequence of binoms. However, these branches do not combine with the stem xins8 in the sexagenary cycle and are a textual error. The intended binoms are unknown. 188 For a transcription and discussion of the relevant portion of Chuxing zhan (assigned title), see Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 86–87. In the passage quoted, the text is illegible or missing after “Yellow Emperor” (Huangdi). On the Chuxing zhan, see p. 81 in chap. 2. 189 HK.1, slip 11; Xianggang Zhongwen daxue wenwuguan cang jiandu, p. 18.

months of summer it is not permitted to go south on wuchen5; during the three months of autumn it is not permitted to go west on jiwei56; and during the three months of winter it is not permitted to go north on wuxu35. Inside one hundred li there is great inauspiciousness, and beyond two hundred li there must be death. Avoidance for Year.190 KJP.21

春三月乙丑夏三月丙辰秋三月辛未冬三月壬戌不 可遠行

During the three months of spring on yichou2; during the three months of summer on bingchen53; during the three months of autumn on xinwei8; during the three months of winter on renxu59: it is not permitted to travel distantly.191 The two names for the main spirit involved are Huangdi (Yellow Emperor) and Huangshen 黃神 (Yellow Spirit). According to Anna Seidel, both were names for the supreme deity in contemporary popular religion or represented an aspect of the supreme deity who was also named Tiandi (Heaven Emperor).192 Yellow Spirit is ubiquitous in the contracts and inscribed jars placed in Eastern Han tombs as means of securing the burial, and there are a number of talismanic objects from the same period inscribed “Yellow Spirit’s seal for overcoming” (Huangshen yue zhang 黃神越章) and “Yellow Spirit’s seal” (Huangshen zhi yin 黃神之印), considered by some scholars to belong to early Daoist religion.193 Incantations invoking Yellow Spirit in the Mawangdui medical recipe manual Recipes for Fifty-Two Ailments are earlier evidence of Yellow Spirit in everyday religion and life.194 The first two passages quoted above are fragmentary, with text missing before and after the passages. They are early second-century bce attestation of Yellow Emperor and Yellow Spirit in the context of hemerology. The Mawangdui manuscript Divination for Travel Departure is not a daybook, but the text has obvious parallels with daybooks, including the Yellow Emperor passage. Note that the prohibition on traveling north on wuxu35 in the Hong Kong slip that specifies Yellow Spirit matches the winter season prohibition in the first Shuihudi daybook. The Hong Kong slip is probably a stray slip from a similar travel hemerology arranged by seasons, with the 190 191 192 193 194

SHDA.42, slip 131r; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 201. KJP.21, slips 1441–1451; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 146. Seidel, 1987b. See Liu Zhaorui, 2007, pp. 146–51. Harper, 1998, pp. 280–81, 299.

236 difference that SHDA.42 mentions the day qualifier Year, not Yellow Spirit or Yellow Emperor. Additional evidence of Yellow Emperor/Yellow Spirit in connection with travel hemerology comes from Yan Shigu’s 顏師古 (581–645) commentary in the Book of Han on the travel sacrifice named zu 祖: “In the past, Yellow Emperor’s son Leizu 纍祖 liked to journey distantly and died on the road. Thus later people made him the road spirit.”195 A different origin story for the road spirit is given in the Comprehensive Summary of Customs, in which Gonggong’s 共工 son Xiu 脩 becomes the road spirit.196 The different accounts are likely attributable to regional differences in popular customs. In the Mawangdui Divination for Travel Departure, the text missing after the name Yellow Emperor might have referred to his son; however, the missing graph in the Hong Kong fragment must be a verb (“Yellow Spirit [1] it”), which suggests that Yellow Spirit was the intended referent. Transmitted sources and excavated manuscripts provide more evidence of road spirits, but our knowledge of their background in popular culture is insufficient. Yellow Emperor and Yellow Spirit supply clear evidence of the role of travel spirits in relation to travel hemerology recorded in daybooks.197 As mentioned, the Hong Kong fragment must be the end of a passage on travel hemerology arranged by seasons and hence concerns avoidance of wuxu35 during the three winter months. In SHDA.42, the major change from the Hong Kong fragment is that Year replaces Yellow Spirit; however, there is an interesting five-agents logic behind the pairing of wuxu35 and Yellow Spirit. Five-agents ideas in the Shuihudi, Fangmatan, and Kongjiapo daybooks match the stems wus5 and jis6 with the agent Earth and the branch xub11 with the agent Fire. In SHDA.42, the stems wus5 or jis6 alternate in the four prohibited sexagenary binoms for the seasons. Both are Earth stems, suggesting the special association of Yellow Emperor/Yellow Spirit with Earth in travel hemerology. In the SHDA.42 hemerology, the connection to Yellow Emperor/Yellow Spirit has been dropped from the text, yet there is a full account of the five-agents logic in which Earth and Yellow Emperor play a role. On the one hand, in every season, the alternation between the stems wus5 and jis6 expresses the sympathy between Earth and Yellow Emperor. On the other hand, the agents of the four branches in the sexagenary binoms each conflict with the agent 195 Han shu, 53, p. 2413. 196 Fengsu tongyi, 8, p. 381 (“Sidian”). For further discussion, see Yan Changgui, 2010b, p. 135. 197 SHDB.56–57 concern sacrifice to another roadway spirit, Changxing 常行.

yan

of the season and direction. According to the text, it is prohibited to travel east on jichou26 in spring months because choub2 is Metal and conquers the Wood of spring; it is prohibited to travel south on wuchen5 in summer months because chenb5 is Water and conquers the Fire of summer; it is prohibited to travel west on jiwei56 in autumn months because weib8 is Wood and is conquered by the Metal of autumn; and it is prohibited to travel north on wuxu35 in winter months because xub11 is Fire and is conquered by the Water of winter. In short, the hemerology is based on five-agents ideas.198 In the Kongjiapo daybook, KJP.21 appears to be another permutation of the travel hemerology originally associated with Yellow Emperor/Yellow Spirit, but reference to spirits has disappeared. Moreover, while the branches in the avoidance days for the months of each season remain the same as in SHDA.42—and conflict in the same way—the four stems have been changed to stems that correspond to their respective seasons: yis2, Wood, spring, east; bings3, Fire, summer, south; xins8, Metal, autumn, west; and rens9, Water, winter, north. In the new arrangement, the stems and branches are in direct conflict: on yichou2 in spring months, the Wood of yis2 is conquered by the Metal of choub2; on bingchen53 in summer months, the Fire of bings3 is conquered by the Water of chenb5; on xinwei8 in autumn months, the Metal of xins8 conquers the Wood of weib8; and on renxu59 in winter months, the Water of rens9 conquers the Fire of xub11. As Ethan Harkness observes about KJP.21: “[T]he stem values have already been edited to match the seasonal correlation with the five agents (the choice of stem is uniquely determined under the condition that the branch values of the taboo days do not change) and justify the taboos entirely on the basis of the combined theories presented as ‘Five Agents and Triads of Branches’ and ‘The Five Conquest Relations.’ ”199 The preceding discussion illustrates the function of hemerology as the interface between popular ideas about spirits and increasingly influential correlative ideas during the third and second centuries bce. The extent to which the identity of spirits and cultural figures was unchanged or shifted toward the function of day qualifier, and the degree to which their hemerological identity was 198 The identification of the four branches with agents is based on the sanhe 三合 three-unions arrangement as described in FMTB.13 and KJP.11 (Earth is excluded), and in each case the branch represents the final stage of the agent in a cycle of birth, maturity, and death. For further discussion of the three-unions arrangement, see pp. 169–70 in chap. 4; and for discussion of the relationship between HK.1, SHDA.42, and KJP.21, see Harkness, 2011, pp. 145–47. 199 Harkness, 2011, p. 147.

daybooks and the spirit world

replaced by five-agents ideas, no doubt varied among users of daybooks in local communities. Given the influence of daybooks on everyday ideas and activities, it is worth examining additional examples of spirits in the context of hemerology. Of the four examples that follow, the first concerns Red Emperor and the idea of inspection days, when people’s conduct is judged; the second and third, considered together, are related to Heaven as spirit and the legends of two astrological spirits, Qianniu 牽牛 (Oxherd) and Zhinü 織女 (Weaver Maid); and the final example involves the legend of Yu. Each offers a different perspective on people’s worldviews as evidenced by daybooks. Overall, the examples do not point to definite conclusions regarding the emergence of correlative cosmology against the background of religious ideas about spirits and the spirit world, but they do enable us to explore how a wide range of ideas expressed in daybooks both shaped people’s lives and inform us of the cultural, spiritual, and intellectual worlds of daybook users. The significance of Red Emperor in daybooks is similar to Yellow Emperor. One Red Emperor hemerology found in both Shuihudi daybooks stands out for its connection to everyday ideas about the human and spirit worlds. In SHDA.41, the hemerology occurs in a section titled “Xing” 行 (Travel), but both there and in the SHDB.51 parallel text, the hemerology applies to activities in general and is related to the idea that Red Emperor inspects (lin 臨, lit., “gaze down on from above”) the human world every month during the first ten-day period or decade. In the first month, a day in the first decade with the branch wub7 in its sexagenary binom is Red Emperor inspection day; in the second month, haib12; in the third month, shenb9; in the fourth month, choub2; in the fifth month, xub11; in the sixth month, maob4; in the seventh month, zib1; in the eighth month, sib6; in the ninth month, yinb3; in the tenth month, weib8; in the eleventh month, chenb5; and in the twelfth month, youb10. After listing the branches, SHDA.41 and SHDB.51 explain why activities are prohibited on these days: 凡是日赤帝恆以開臨下民而降其殃不可具為百事皆 毋所利

All these days are when Red Emperor regularly inspects the people below and sends down his calamity. It is not permitted to engage in any of the hundred activities, which all have nothing favorable.200

200 SHDA.41, slip 128r; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 200. The text is the same in SHDB.51.

237 The same hemerology occurs in KJP.13 prefaced by the words linri 臨日 “inspection days.” In KJP.13, however, it is no longer Red Emperor that inspects, but simply Di/ Emperor. Scholars have noted the connection between the hemerology in the Shuihudi and Kongjiapo daybooks and in Qing hemerological compendia, which use the term Lin (Inspection) or Linri as a day qualifier without reference to a spirit that inspects the human world on those days, and although the list of months and prohibited branches is the same, the later prohibition applies to any day during the month.201 Some scholars have proposed the influence of five-agents ideas in SHDA.41, SHDB.51, and KJP.13 but have not been able to identify the precise relationship between Red Emperor, Emperor, and the five agents in the hemerology.202 Red Emperor is prominent in early legends and appears along with Yellow Emperor in many sources. Sometimes Red Emperor joins Yellow Emperor to combat opponents, such as in the Zhou Documents (Zhou shu 周書) account of Chiyou’s death in combat.203 Sometimes the fight is between Yellow Emperor and Red Emperor, and across the sources, the figure of Red Emperor is often identified with Yandi (Flame Emperor), who in turn is related to Shennong 神農 (Spirit Tiller). Thus, the Elder Dai’s Record of Rites (Da Dai liji 大戴禮記) tells that Yellow Emperor engaged in combat with Red Emperor at Banquan 阪泉, and in the Records of the Scribe, Yellow Emperor’s opponent at Banquan was Flame Emperor.204 Among excavated texts, the third-century bce Wangjiatai tomb 15 manuscript of Guicang 歸藏 (Returning to be stored) includes the hexagram statement for “Tongren” 同人 (Fellow men), which refers to the event when Yellow Emperor fought with Flame Emperor.205 The secondcentury bce Yinqueshan 銀雀山 tomb 1 manuscript of Sunzi bingfa 孫子兵法 (Master Sun’s military methods) includes a section titled “Huangdi fa Chidi” 黃帝伐赤帝 (Yellow Emperor attacks Red Emperor).206 The following passage on the spirit’s birth in Wang Fu’s 王符 (ca. 90–165) 201 See Zheng Gang, 1993, p. 102, citing the Xingli kaoyuan 星曆考 原 and Xieji bianfang shu 協紀辨方書. The same list of months and branches is in Sanshu cuoyao 三術撮要 as a calendarspirit hemerology called Shaxing 殺星 (Killer Star); see Sanshu cuoyao, p. 224. 202 Harkness, 2011, pp. 140–42. The connection to the three-unions system of the twelve branches is explained on pp. 175–76 in chap. 4. 203 Yi Zhou shu, 6, pp. 781–83 (“Chang mai jie” 嘗麥解). 204 Da Dai liji, 7, p. 729; Shiji, 1, p. 3. 205 Wang Mingqin, 2004, p. 30; see also the Guicang quotation in Taiping yulan, 79, 367b–368a. 206 See Yinqueshan Han mu zhujian, vol. 1, slips 172–177, p. 32.

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Discourse of the Secluded Man (Qianfu lun 潛夫論) is a late Han synthesis of the overlapping strands of the Red Emperor legend: “There was a spirit dragon whose head emerged from Changyang 常羊 to stimulate Rensi 任姒, who gave birth to Red Emperor, Kuiwei 魁隗. His person bore the title Flame Emperor, and the age titled him Shennong (Spirit Tiller).”207 While the legend of Red Emperor is clearly in the background of the daybook hemerology of monthly inspection days, I concur with Rao Zongyi, who identifies occurrences of Red Emperor across the daybooks as one of the emperors of the five directions, colors, and agents, specifically south and Fire, associated with the stems bings3 and dings4.208 This is exactly the context in which Red Emperor occurs in KJP.82. Note also that the same system of emperors of the five colors, in the order green, red, yellow, white, and black, would be adopted later in the Han period in the Classic of Great Peace (Taiping jing 太平經), which reflects the popular background of hemerological ideas involving both Red Emperor and Yellow Emperor.209 Further evidence of the hemerological function of Red Emperor appears in the wooden slips from Jianshui 肩水, Gansu, in a document dated to 22 bce. The following text comes from slips 73EJT23:966 and 73EJT23:967: 陽朔三年正月丁卯朔戊寅肩水士吏政即日視事日直赤帝 三陽長日利以入官視 = 事 = 大吉

In the third year of Yangshuo (Yang Initiation), first month, in which the first day is dingmao4, on the day wuyin15. The Jianshui officer Zheng on this very day is engaged in activities. The day is aligned with Red Emperor, which is a triple Yang good day. It is favorable for entering the office and engaging in activities. Engaging in activities is greatly auspicious.210

plains that Triple Yang is the most favorable day for travel and success in activities, especially when the day and the direction of the gate correspond, in which case, “the hundred activities are all achieved.” The worst day is indicated by “Triple Yin no gate,” when travel is prohibited lest the person die.211 While the Jianshui slips do not refer to the south gate, Red Emperor establishes the association with south for wuyin15, and the statement “The day is aligned with Red Emperor, which is a triple Yang good day” signifies the same prediction as in the Yinwan travel hemerology. Note as well that in this usage, Red Emperor functions as a day qualifier to indicate a hemerologically significant day. The second and third examples, Heaven as spirit and the legends of Oxherd and Weaver Maid, are discussed together because they are linked in topical hemerologies in daybooks. Hemerological knowledge for each is copied twice in different sections of the first Shuihudi daybook (SHDA), always referring to the spirit entity, yet the same hemerological information occurs in the Kongjiapo daybook without reference to spirits. SHDA.55, an untitled section mainly on the topic of marriage hemerology and composed of sixteen miscellaneous items, includes Heaven, Oxherd, and Weaver Maid: 壬申癸酉天以震高山以取妻不居不吉

Renshen9 and guiyou10 are when Heaven shook down the high mountain. For taking a wife, she does not abide; not auspicious.212 戊申己酉牽牛以取織女而不果不出三歲棄若亡

Wushen45 and jiyou46 are when Oxherd took Weaver Maid and it was not successful. Within three years she rejects him or deserts.213

In this example, a Red Emperor day is considered favorable for engaging in activities. The term “triple Yang good day” (san Yang changri 三陽長日) must be related to the Yinwan 尹灣 tomb 6 travel hemerology in which Triple Yang is among the day qualifiers used in a table of sexagenary binoms. The qualifiers refer to Yang and Yin as “single,” “double,” or “triple” and either include the direction of the gate or indicate that there is no gate. The table identifies the day wuyin15 as “Triple Yang south gate” (san Yang nanmen 三陽南門). The text following the table ex-

The item concerning Heaven recurs with different wording in SHDA.82, where it is copied randomly with another item that is not related to marriage:

207 208 209 210

211 Yinwan Han mu jiandu, pp. 146–47; for further discussion, see Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 123–28. 212 SHDA.55, slip 7v1; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 208. 213 SHDA.55, slip 3v1; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 208. 214 SHDA.82, slip 147v; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 226.

Qianfu lun, 8, p. 389 (“Wude zhi” 五德志). Rao Zongyi, 1993, pp. 420–21. Taiping jing, pp. 398–99, is an excellent example. Jianshui Jinguan Han jian, vol. 2.1, p. 250. Text is written in two columns on the slips.

壬申會癸酉天以壞高山不可取婦

The meeting of renshen9 and guiyou10 is when Heaven destroyed the high mountain. It is not permitted to take a wife.214

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A shorter version of the Oxherd item occurs in SHDA.50, a section composed of three items and titled “Quqi” 取妻 (Taking a wife): 戊申己酉牽牛以取織女不果三棄

Wushen45 and jiyou46 are when Oxherd took Weaver Maid. It was not successful. Triple rejection.215 The related items in KJP.32, which has the section heading “Jianü” 嫁女 (Giving a woman in marriage), appear in different registers on the same slip: 壬申癸酉百事不吉不可取妻

On renshen9 and guiyou10 the hundred activities are not auspicious. It is not permitted to take a wife.216 戊申己酉以取妻 = 不出三歲棄亡

Wushen45 and jiyou46. For taking a wife, within three years the wife rejects him or deserts.217 While Heaven, Oxherd, and Weaver Maid are absent in KJP.32, the last item in KJP.32 is the Chiyou death day hemerology, when “It is not permitted to engage in crying and mourning, to gather the multitude, and to assemble soldiers.”218 This is one of two items in the section associated with a spirit or legend and seemingly unrelated to marriage. The Heaven that is capable of “shaking down” or “destroying” the mountain in SHDA.55 and SHDA.82 is similar to the Di/Emperor that “demolishes the mound” in KJP.60;219 that is, Heaven should be treated as a spirit entity along with Oxherd and Weaver Maid. A third item in SHDA.55 refers to the legend of Yu taking a wife, and again the hemerological information occurs in KJP.32 without reference to Yu. References in SHDA.55 to Heaven, Oxherd, Weaver Maid, and Yu are evidence of the active interplay between legendary events and hemerology, even though we no longer know anything about the event involving Heaven or why it is related to marriage hemerology. Perhaps the omission of all four spirits in the KJP.32 marriage hemerology reflects the priority given to correlative schemes based on the sexagenary cycle and the calendar in the Kongjiapo daybook. Yet Chiyou’s appearance at the end of KJP.32 shows that the four other spirits were selectively eliminated, and we should not conclude that 215 216 217 218 219

SHDA.50, slip 155r; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 206. KJP.32, slip 1751; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 151. KJP.32, slip 1752; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 151. KJP.32, slip 1831; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 151. See p. 210 in this chapter.

239 users of the Kongjiapo daybook no longer recognized the hemerological significance of spirits and cultural figures whose names appeared in contemporaneous daybooks. The Oxherd and Weaver Maid legend as recorded in daybooks adds a new perspective to the early uses of the legend. The oldest reference to the legend is in the Classic of Songs (Shijing 詩經), in which Weaver Maid and Oxherd are on opposite sides of the Han 漢 River in the sky, confirming their identification as constellations near the Milky Way (for Weaver Maid, the brightest star is α Lyrae; for Oxherd, α Aquilae).220 Weaver Maid and Oxherd reinforce the theme of frustration that runs through the song “Great East” (Dadong 大東): both spirits are unable to accomplish their tasks. Han period tomb murals and stone carvings depict them as a pair with the Milky Way between them and alone in single images, and Han literary evidence attests the theme of separated lovers who meet once a year on the seventh night of the seventh month when magpies form a bridge across the Milky Way (fig. 5.8).221 Only transmitted sources dated after the Han period offer evidence of a folktale about the marriage of Oxherd and Weaver Maid and its dissolution. The story portrays Weaver Maid as the daughter of Heaven Emperor. After she descends to the human world and consents to marry Oxherd, Heaven Emperor rebukes her and summons her back to the spirit world. The folk motifs include relations between spirits and humans and the complementary roles of the man farming in the field and the woman weaving at home (pairing agriculture and sericulture).222 Occurrences of Oxherd and Weaver Maid in SHDA in marriage hemerology indicate that their legend was already associated with marriage relations as in the later folktale, specifically with unfortunate marriage relations when love changes to sorrow. My understanding of SHDA.55 and SHDA.50 relies in part on the later evidence. Specifically, I take “Weaver Maid” and “wife” to be the subjects of the verb qi 棄 “reject,” meaning that the hemerological prediction applies to the wife who rejects the husband, not the husband who rejects the wife.223 The final example of legends connected to hemerology in other daybooks but missing in the same hemerology in 220 Shijing, 13A, 11b–12b (Mao 203, “Dadong” 大東). For further discussion, see Tseng, 2011, pp. 268–77. Note that in transmitted sources, the constellations Oxherd and Weaver Maid are sometimes conflated with the stellar lodge constellations Ox9 and Woman10. 221 See Tseng, 2011, pp. 268–70. 222 See Yuan Ke, 1988, pp. 315–21. 223 See Zhao Kuifu, 2012.

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Figure 5.8 Weavermaid and Oxherd. Ink rubbing of carved stone sarcophagus from Xinsheng 新勝 tomb 2, Sichuan, Eastern Han. After Zhongguo meishu quanji: Huihua bian, vol. 18, plate 90.

the Kongjiapo daybook concerns the story of Yu taking the woman of Tu Mountain 塗山 as wife. The hemerology occurs with reference to Yu in the first Shuihudi daybook (SHDA) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong daybook fragments (HK): SHDA.55 癸丑戊午己未禹以取梌山之女日也不棄必以子死

Guichou50, wuwu55, and jiwei56 are the days when Yu took the Tu Mountain woman as wife. If there is not rejection, there must be a son who dies.224 HK.4

戊午己未是禹之取梌 [4] 妻之日也必一子死

… wuwu55, and jiwei56 are the days when Yu took the Tu [4] as wife. There must be one son who dies.225 KJP.32

癸丑戊午己未以取妻 = 死不必棄

Guichou50, wuwu55, and jiwei56: For taking a wife, the wife dies. If not, she must reject (the husband).226 Yu’s marriage belongs to the flood legend and is attested in the Classic of Documents (Shujing 書經). As told in Yu’s own words, the details include the period of four days allotted for the marriage, which had in sequence the stems xins8, rens9, guis10, and jias1; his return to his labors; and 224 SHDA.55, slip 2v1; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 208. 225 HK.4, slip 25; Xianggang Zhongwen daxue bowuguan cang jiandu, p. 23. The top of the slip is damaged, an uncertain number of graphs are illegible, and there appear to be four illegible graphs following the word “Tu.” The reference to the Tu Mountain woman is, however, certain. 226 KJP.32, slip 1762; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 151.

that after his son Qi 啓 was born, he heard the infant crying when he passed the home but did not stop his labors to care for his wife and son.227 Further, Qin and Han transmitted sources locate Tu Mountain in present-day Anhui and refer to the custom of marriage on one of the four stems Yu specifies in his account.228 There is no clear connection between xins8, rens9, guis10, and jias1 as auspicious days for marriage in transmitted sources, on the one hand, and the binoms guichou50, wuwu55, and jiwei56 as inauspicious days for marriage in the daybook manuscripts, on the other. Both sets of days involve duration, either four days from xins8 to jias1 or seven days counting from guichou50 to jiwei56. Perhaps the Yu marriage hemerology in daybooks can be seen in relation to evidence of a sevenday week during the Zhou period, or perhaps seven represents stages in a life-cycle event such as marriage, birth, or death.229 Without more evidence, it is difficult to judge the significance of the choice of days and the negative interpretation of Yu’s marriage. Like the example of Oxherd and Weaver Maid, Yu’s marriage and Qi’s birth involve the theme of separation, and hemerology in the manuscripts frequently associates separation with inauspicious times for activities. Another element at work in the treatment of Yu’s marriage in the daybooks and transmitted sources is the difference between how people understood personal life experiences and the application of societal or institutional norms. The Classic of Documents account and its interpretation in 227 Shangshu, 5, 11a (“Yi Ji” 益稷). 228 The relevant information is conveniently summarized in Duan Yucai’s 段玉裁 (1735–1815) commentary on the entry for Tu 嵞 in Shuowen jiezi zhu, 9B, 9b–10a. 229 For discussion of the seven-day week, see Ding Shan, 2005, pp. 148–50; and Yan Changgui, 2010b, pp. 228–29.

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transmitted sources emphasize the sacrifice of personal well-being for the sake of the group: Yu relinquished love and a stable family life for the sake of putting the world in order. The moralizing interpretation was well suited to the interests of government and the elite in positions of power. I suspect that the unfavorable hemerology associated with Yu’s marriage in the daybooks was a contrasting, popular understanding in which emotions of love and sorrow and the instability of married life found expression in the legendary folk hero. Of course, both understandings made their way into hemerology, one hemerology for favorable marriage days and the other for unfavorable marriage days. Yu’s function as a popular cultural figure is everywhere in the daybooks. In the Kongjiapo daybook, he occurs in hemerologies in KJP.22, KJP.23, KJP.24, and KJP. 31, which makes the KJP.32 marriage hemerology stand out for his omission. In addition to hemerology, in which Yu is associated most closely with travel, popular magical and ritual activities such as the Pace of Yu (Yu Bu 禹步) and Yu’s talisman (Yu fu 禹符) are attested in other daybooks.230 The archaeological discovery of daybooks adds new perspectives to the image of Yu in transmitted sources. The flood legend established Yu’s core identity as the hero charged by Supreme Di/Emperor to reestablish the ordered world from the chaos of uncontrolled water and wilderness. His success in securing the geographic space made him the emblem of the ruler who achieves absolute control of the world; hence he founded the Xia dynasty and created Chinese civilization. As noted by Gu Jiegang, Yu is one of two iconic figures in the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods: the first is Yellow Emperor, who signifies the founding of the selfidentified ethnic and cultural group; the second is Yu, who signifies the establishment of the realm defined by geographic boundaries.231 Daybooks show how Yu’s popular image was applied in everyday life. Yu was the guardian spirit for safe travel, as reflected in numerous hemerologies, and this role is made explicit in several of the ritual activities associated with him. For instance, in SHDA.70, the incantation in the ritual to be performed at the beginning of a journey concludes by declaring that the speaker of the incantation “first acts as Yu to clear the way,” and the Pace of Yu, used for travel and any activity involving contact with the spirit world in the daybooks, mimics Yu’s world-conquering step. In these concrete details, the daybooks shed light on Yu not only as the ancestral sage-ruler of legend but also as the patron spirit for shamans and 230 See pp. 130–33 in chap. 3 and pp. 330–32 in chap. 8. 231 Gu Jiegang, 1982, p. 23.

241 invokers, while also confirming that the magical efficacy associated with Yu had already been popularized in acts anyone could perform, such as the Pace of Yu.232 KJP.32 shows a general tendency in the Kongjiapo daybook to separate hemerologies from their background of spirits, cultural figures, and legends and to apply correlative schemes to the calendrical information expressed in the sexagenary cycle of days. One final item in KJP.32 does not have a simple explanation. The theme is separation, and three pairs of unfavorable sexagenary days for marriage are associated with three legends of separation. Each pair is composed of two consecutive binoms in the sexagenary sequence, and all share the branches shenb9 and youb10. Two more pairs of consecutive binoms form a set of five pairs, in which the combination of the ten stems with the branches shenb9 and you10 completes the correlative logic of the sexagenary cycle as a multiple of five. One pair, wushen45 and jiyou46, appears in KJP.32 in a separate item, and the other pair, jiashen21 and yiyou22, is in KJP.57. My purpose in focusing on the marriage-separation hemerology in KJP.32 is twofold: first, to address the evidence of the legends; second, to consider the correlative scheme based on all five pairs of binoms. 丙申丁酉天地相去也庚申辛酉漢河相去也壬申癸酉參辰 相去也凡是日不取妻嫁女及言事不成

On bingshen33 and dingyou34 Heaven and Earth separated; on gengshen57 and xinyou58 the Han and He Rivers separated; on renshen9 and guiyou10 Triaster21 and Chronogram Star separated. On all these days do not take a wife, marry off a daughter, or talk about activities—they will not be successful.233 “Chronogram Star” (Chen 辰) refers to Heart5, situated among the eastern stellar lodges, opposite Triaster21, which is among the western stellar lodges. The binom pair associated with their separation, renshen9 and guiyou10, occurs elsewhere in KJP.32 as unfavorable days for any activity, including marriage, and is associated with the actions of Heaven in corresponding hemerologies in SHDA.55 and SHDA.82. Of the two additional binom pairs, wushen45 and jiyou46 are unfavorable days for marriage in KJP.32, and in SHDA.55 and SHDA.50 are associated with Oxherd and Weaver Maid. The final pair, jiashen21 and yiyou22, appears in KJP.57 among the unfavorable days for earthworks, and the same unfavorable indication is given in the Fangmatan daybooks, in which FMTA.5 and 232 See Liu Zenggui, 2001, p. 508; Kudō Motoo, 1998, pp. 275–312; and Liu Zhaorui, 2007, pp. 223–24. 233 KJP.32, slips 179–1801; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 151.

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FMTB.45 further specify jiashen21 and yiyou22 as the days when “heaven vapor is cut off” (jue tian qi 絕天氣). In medieval hemerology the five pairs are known as the “five split-up days” (wu liri 五離日) and associated with splitting-up events that occur in nature, the human world, and the spirit world. A review of the pairs bing­shen33dingyou34, gengshen57-xinyou58, and renshen9-guiyou10 in KJP.32 and their legends indicates how all five pairs may have been connected to the idea of split-up days in ancient hemerology and were the basis for medieval fivesplit-up-days hemerology. Many early Chinese cosmogonies describe the stage in the creation of the world when Heaven and Earth separated, and it seems obvious that their hemerological significance in daybooks would be based on legend. There is no record of legends about the separation of the Han and He Rivers, but both rivers were identified with the Milky Way and associated with legends of female and male water spirits. The separation of Triaster21 and Chronogram Star is the most interesting of the three because it provides evidence of the mixing of astrological legends with the founding legends of the early dynasties and sheds new light on a well-known passage in the Zuo Chronicle. The Zuo Chronicle narrative involves the figure of Zichan 子產, who was sent by the state of Zheng 鄭 to the state of Jin 晉 in the sixth century bce to inquire about the Jin ruler’s illness. When he arrived, Jin diviners had determined that Shishen 實沈 and Taitai 臺駘 were the names of two spirits responsible for the illness, but no one in Jin could identify them. Zichan provided the answer: In the past, the lineage head Gaoxin 高辛 had two sons: Yanbo 閼伯 was the elder, and Shishen the younger. They dwelled at Boundless Forest and were incompatible. Daily they took up shield and daggerax to attack each other. Latter Emperor 后帝 was displeased, and moved Yanbo to Shang Mound 商丘 to rule Chronogram Star. This was the origin of the Shang people. Thus Chronogram Star is the Shang star. (Latter Emperor) moved Shishen to Great Xia 大夏 to rule Triaster21. This was the origin of Tang’s 唐 people, whose descendants continued to serve Xia and Shang.234 Taitai is identified as the spirit of the Fen 汾 River later in the passage. Commentary identifies Gaoxin as Emperor Ku 帝嚳 and Latter Emperor as Yao 堯. The astrological significance 234 Zuozhuan, 41, 20a–b (Zhao 1).

of the pair Chronogram Star (Heart5) and Triaster21 for marking opposite positions on the east and west sides of heaven and determining the passage of seasons predates the formation of the system of twenty-eight stellar lodges, which was a refinement of the use of constellations for astrology and calendar-making.235 Yanbo and Shishen appear to be another example of spirits or cultural figures whose ruler directed them to govern directions in space as told in legends of creating the well-ordered cosmos. In contrast to the well-known legend of Yao ordering Xi 羲 and He 和 to organize the cosmos and ensure the tranquil passage of time, Yanbo and Shishen occupy opposite sides of heaven so as to end their feud and at the same time rule regions that, in the geography of the cosmos, correspond to the origin of historical dynasties.236 Astrological legends and history coincide, with Heart5 as patron spirit of Shang and Triaster21 as patron spirit of Xia. In the context of Zichan’s explanation in the Zuo Chronicle, knowledge of the legend seems like recondite wisdom, but in view of the KJP.32 hemerology, the unfavorable circumstances of the separation of Triaster21 and Chronogram Star on renshen9 and guiyou10 were part of everyday knowledge along with other legend-based hemerologies. Medieval five-split-up-days hemerology as documented in Dunhuang manuscripts and transmitted sources made different associations between the sexagenary pairs and the entities that split; however, the pairs HeavenEarth and Jiang 江 River-He 河 River suggest the continuation of an ancient antecedent along with the correlative scheme of sexagenary pairs (see table 5.9). The connections between the ancient daybooks and medieval sources are useful indicators of the processes of pattern formation built on the sexagenary cycle, which served to link hemerology with new correlative systems of interpretation. There is not yet a formal five-split-up-days hemerology in the daybooks, even though the pattern formed by combining the ten stems with the branches shenb9 and youb10 is obvious. Yet the theme of separation and its unfavorable consequences are already established in KJP.32 for the pairs bingshen33-dingyou34, gengshen57-xinyou58, and renshen9-guiyou10 in association with legendary events, and the theme continues, with modifications, in medieval hemerology. Medieval five-split-up-days hemerology shows that not only have the associations with spirits or cultural figures 235 For discussion of the opposition between Heart5 and Triaster21 in relation to the equinoxes and seasonal divisions, see Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 3, pp. 249–50. 236 On Xi and He, see Shangshu, 2, 9a–10b (“Yao dian” 堯典).

243

daybooks and the spirit world Table 5.9 Comparison of five-split-up-days hemerology and associated entities in KJP.32, one Dunhuang manuscript, and three transmitted sources Split-up days

KJP.32

P3984v

Wuxing dayi

Xieji bianfang shu

Ishinpō

jiashen21 yiyou22 bingshen33 dingyou34 wushen45 jiyou46 gengshen57 xinyou58 renshen9 guiyou10

not specified

Heaven 天 Earth 地 Sun 日 Moon 月 People

Sun 日 Moon 月 Yin 陰 Yang 陽 People

People

Heaven 天 Earth 地 not specified

Heaven 天 Earth 地 Sun 日 Moon 月 People 人民

人民

人民

Han 漢 River He 河 River Triaster 參 Chronogram Star 辰

Metal 金 Stone 石 Jiang 江 River He 河 River

Metal 金 Stone 石 Jiang 江 River He 河 River

Metal 金 Stone 石 Jiang 江 River He 河 River

人民

Jiang 江 River He 河 River Heaven 天 Earth 地 Animals 禽獸 Demons 鬼 Spirits 神

Sources: KJP.32, slips 179–180; P3984v, cols. 3–8; Wuxing dayi, 2, 23b; Xieji bianfang shu, 36, 45b; Ishinpō, 2, p. 68.

disappeared, but the sexagenary binoms have been modified to better fit five-agents ideas, as in KJP.21 in regard to travel prohibitions. In medieval sources, the matching of Demons-Spirits or Jiang-He with the pair renshen9guiyou10 indicates five-agents correspondence with north (where demons are located) and Water, and the agent Metal accounts for the matching of Metal-Stone with the pair gengshen57-xinyou58. Other five-agents or yinyang associations in medieval five-split-up-days hemerology are possible.237 The function of spirits in hemerology was already changing in the third century bce as five-agents and yinyang ideas gained importance. Stem-based illness hemerologies in daybooks are the clearest sign of fiveagents-based predictions in which the spirits of calamity form part of the correlative scheme and are not independent actors.238 Rather than the spirits determining favorable or unfavorable times and places, the spirits themselves functioned as elements of a larger correlative system. There were three main outcomes: a small number of spirits kept, or mostly kept, their singular identity as spirits; some spirits disappeared from hemerology; and some of the spirits that remained functioned as day qualifiers. Given the popularity of hemerology at various levels 237 For instance, association of Heaven-Earth with wushen45jiyou46 might be related to association with the agent Earth. Alternatively, associating People with the same pair might emphasize the centrality of humankind. The explanation of fivesplit-up-days hemerology in Xieji bianfang shu, 36, 45b, is based on yinyang ideas. 238 See pp. 222–23 in this chapter.

of society, the overall outcome bears on our understanding of hemerology and religion in early China. Conclusion At present, we have archaeologically excavated daybooks from the old cultural region of Chu, such as the Jiudian daybook of around 300 bce, the late third-century bce daybooks from Shuihudi, and the mid-second-century bce daybook from Kongjiapo, and from the region of Qin, such as the late third-century bce daybooks from Fangmatan. Collectively, the daybooks present a view of the spirit world that is the same in its main features, meaning that popular ideas about the spirit world were shared across geographic and cultural regions over several centuries. Viewed as a type of common text that was popular across social groups in the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods, daybooks present an organization of the spirit world that is comparable to that found in a different form in ritual classics such as the Rites of Zhou. The regularization of spirits in the illness hemerologies and the interconnections between five-agents ideas and spirits— whether the five emperors of the directions and colors or spirits subsumed in a five-agents system—suggest a parallel between daybooks and the function of the monthlyordinances text type known in transmitted sources. It is generally acknowledged that the Rites of Zhou and the monthly ordinances represent the government-centered worldview of the elite, whose lives were most closely attached to the court and government. In contrast, the conception of the spirit world in daybooks was not limited to

244 a certain region or a particular social group. Rather, daybooks present a conception of the spirit world that was shared across social groups throughout the realm and reflects what has been referred to as “common religion” in early China.239 Underlying the treatment of the spirit world in daybooks and in Warring States, Qin, and Han common religion is the appearance of yinyang and five-agents ideas, themselves part of the formation of correlative ideas of the ordered cosmos that embraced everything. The organization of the spirit world was increasingly fitted to correlative models that assigned functions and roles to demons and spirits. The spirit world was becoming one part of the ordered cosmos.240 On the one hand, to the extent that demons and spirits were no longer viewed as independent agents affecting humankind, their religious function diminished. On the other hand, correlative ideas involved the spirit world in new patterns of relationship with the human world. Demons and spirits did not disappear. Rather, it could be argued that, as regular elements of the structured world that included humankind and gave meaning and value to the routines of everyday life, demons and spirits enjoyed far-reaching influence. A related situation involving the spirit world and religion is nicely illustrated by the “Spellbinding” section in the first Shuihudi daybook (SHDA.59). The main purpose of “Spellbinding” is to provide people with information on harmful demons, spirits, and prodigies encountered in everyday life and to tell people about simple methods of controlling them. To judge from its descriptive language, “Spellbinding” seems to have been composed in a light style by someone with a matter-of-fact attitude who could hardly be said to have regarded demons and spirits with fear and trepidation. From the perspective of encounters with demons, spirits, and prodigies, most of the seventy entries in “Spellbinding” express confidence that they can be controlled and expelled. This confidence is clear from the formulaic phrases that conclude each entry: “it stops (zhi 止)” occurs twenty-four times; “it desists (yi 已),” fifteen times; “it does not come (lai 來),” eleven times; “it departs (qu 去),” four times; “it does not harm (hai 害),” three times; “it dies (si 死),” three times; and “there is not calamity (yang 殃),” two times. Only three of the few remaining entries indicate a lingering hazard for people. Hemerology constitutes the main content of daybooks, which were guides to favorable and unfavorable times for engaging in activities. The notion that certain times are auspicious while others are inauspicious may have arisen 239 Harper, 1995, pp. 156–57. 240 Schwartz, 1985, pp. 369–78.

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in part in the course of actual life experiences, such as basing hemerological avoidances or prohibitions on the death days of ancestors or significant days from old legends of spirits and cultural figures. Earlier in the first millennium bce, the spirits occupied a dominant position in hemerology as they did in religious practices. This dominance diminished in the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods as five-agents and yinyang ideas provided a new rationale for hemerology. Daybooks show us a world in which people sacrificed to deceased parents or grandparents on hemerologically favorable days while also understanding that the same spirits might be harmful, whether in relation to Corpse-Ghost hemerology or to illness hemerologies, which included immediate ancestors among the spirits blamed for an illness. In the latter cases, the function of day qualifier dominated. The representation of the spirit world in daybooks is not limited to hemerology—we have the example of “Spellbinding” and of various rituals and incantations devoted to particular spirits—and it is worth reflecting on the function of the daybook as a miscellany containing knowledge of the spirit world ready for everyday use along with all manner of hemerological knowledge. The daybook was not a book about the spirit world or about religious ideas and practices. People did not need to be taught about their everyday religion. They needed a reference guide that would remind them of significant occasions when the spirit world was involved and tell them what to do. Daybooks filled this need.

Supplement 5.1

Index of Spirit Names and Ritual Terms in Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts Reference is to section number as identified in appendix B, with slip or column number in parentheses.



Spirit Names

Ba 犮: FMTB.83 (281). Beigong 北公: FMTB.72 (350). Beijun 北君: FMTB.83 (265), KJP.70 (3541). Bing 兵: KJP.68 (3501). Bingsi 兵死: SHDB.76 (2171, 2231), SHDB.81 (250), ZJT.13 (2971). Bingsizhe 兵死者: JD.5 (43). Bu 布: FMTB.83 (280, 281). Chiyou 蚩尤: KJP.32 (1831). Chui 炊: ZJTA.13 (2991). Da’e (huo) 大遏 (禍): FMTB.72 (350). Dachi 大赤: FMTB.32 (1222).

daybooks and the spirit world Dafu 大父: KJP.68 (3471), KJP.70 (3561), YS.17 (43v: 12), HK.15 (68). Dafuqin 大父親: FMTB.83 (280). Damei 大祙 (魅): SHDA.59 (27v3). Daopang 道旁: SHDB.58 (147). Dapiaofeng 大票 (飄) 風: SHDA.59 (64v2). Dashui 大水: FMTB.72 (192), FMTB.83 (265). Dayu 大御 (?): FMTB.83 (262–267). Di 帝: JD.4 (382, 402), JD.5 (43), FMTB.21 (951, 961, 971, 981, 991), FMTB.30 (1171, 1181), FMTB.83 (260, 264, 268, 272), SHDA.9 (27 r2), SHDA.31 (96r1, 97 r1, 98 r1, 99 r1), SHDA.49 (153 r3), KJP.13 (108), KJP.60 (269), KJP.77 (397), KJP.81 (4362). Baidi 白帝: KJP.82 (4332). Chidi 赤帝: SHDA.41 (128r, 129r), SHDB.51 (134, 136), KJP. 82 (4292). Huangdi (Huangshen) 黃帝 (黃神): JD.6 (47), KJP.57 (240), KJP.81 (4352), KJP.82 (4312), HK.1 (11). Qingdi 青帝: KJP.82 (4272). Shangdizi 上帝子: SHDA.59 (38v3). Yandi 炎帝: KJP.82 (4353). Dichong 地蟲: SHDA.59 (53v3). Dinie 地蠥: SHDA.59 (31v3). Dongchenyuanjunzi 東陳垣君子: ZJTB.11 (326). Du 獨: SHDA.59 (58v1). Duzhu 杜主: SHDA.83 (149v). Fengbo 風伯: KJP.82 (4332). Fumu 父母: SHDA.18 (68 r2), SHDA.19 (78r2). Gaoguzi [1] 高姑姊 [1]: KJP.70 (3571). Gaoshan 高山: ZJTB.17 (346). Gaosi 高絲: ZJTB.17 (346). Gaowangfu 高王父: SHDB.65 (158, 168, 178). Gaoyao 皋陶: FMTB.78 (285, 284), FMTB.83 (266). Gaozhe 高者: KJP.82 (4292, 4302). Gongwai 公外: FMTB.72 (350). Gui 鬼: FMTB.2 (82), FMTB.93 (zhi5, zhi7), SHDA.47 (145r6), SHDA.59 (passim), SHDB.81 (250, 251), KJP.61 (2812), KJP.73 (370), KJP.86 (477). Aigui 哀鬼: SHDA.59 (34v1). Airuzhigui 哀乳之鬼: SHDA.59 (29v3). Baigui 百鬼: KJP. 76 (393). Baogui 暴鬼: SHDA.59 (37v3, 42v2). Baorenshengweigui 宲人生為鬼: SHDA.59 (44v1). Bugugui 不辜鬼: SHDA.59 (52v2, 36v3). Canyazhigui 粲迓之鬼: SHDA.59 (57v2). Cigui 刺鬼: SHDA.59 (27v1). Daogui 道鬼: KJP.70 (3581). Egui 餓鬼: SHDA.59 (62v2). Guidafu 鬼大父: FMTB.72 (350). Guiying’er 鬼嬰兒: SHDA.59 (29v3). Guqiugui 故丘鬼: SHDA.59 (24v2). Jigui 棘鬼: SHDA.59 (38v1).

245 Jugui 遽鬼: SHDA.59 (67v2, 28v3). Ligui 癘鬼: SHDA.59 (52v3). Menyan zhigui 門閻 之鬼: KJP.70 (361). Minggui 明鬼: SHDB.76 (2061, 2161). Qiugui 丘鬼: SHDA.59 (29v1). Waigui 外鬼: SHDA.18 (74r2, 76 r2), SHDB.65 (160), SHDB.66 (185, 187). Waiguifushi 外鬼父世: SHDB.65 (158, 176). Waiguixiongshi 外鬼兄世: SHDB.65 (170). Xionggui 凶鬼: SHDA.59 (29v2). Yanggui 陽鬼: SHDA.59 (54v1, 47v2). Yaogui 夭鬼: SHDA.59 (32v3). Yingui 陰鬼: SHDA.59 (56v1). Yougui 攸鬼: SHDA.59 (32v1). Yougui 遊鬼: SHDA.59 (51v2). Yungui 孕鬼: SHDA.59 (41v1). Zhigui 畤鬼: SHDA.59 (25v2). Zhonggui 中鬼: SHDB.65 (164). [1] gui [1] 鬼: SHDA.59 (24v3). Gun 緰 (鯀): KJP.22 (1491). Han 旱: KJP.70 (360). Hao 昊: KJP.81 (4362). Henglugong 恒輅公: FMTB.83 (278). Hu 戶: FMTB.83 (274), SHDB.5 (332), SHDB.59 (148). Huangzhe 炾者: FMTB.83 (271). Huichong 會蟲: SHDA.59 (39v2). Jie 街: KJP.68 (3501), KJP.70 (362). Juzhu 冣主: KJP.70 (3541). Laoren 老人: KJP.70 (363). Lei 雷: SHDA.59 (41v3, 42v3). Li (Wei) 立 (位): FMTB.72 (350). Licong 立叢: SHDA.59 (67v2). Lingwu 靈巫: FMTB.82 (245, 250). Lishe 里社: ZJTA.13 (3021). Mamei 馬禖: SHDA.87 (156v). Men 門: JD.2 (27, 28), FMTB.83 (274), SHDA.1 (4r2, 5r2), SHDA.17 (69r1), SHDB.24 (971), SHDB.5 (352), KJP.62 (298), KJP.70 (362), YS.17 (43v: 22). Mubing 木並: ZJTA.13 (3011). Mushi 母世: SHDB.65 (180). Mushi waisi 母世外死: SHDB.65 (172). Neizhongtu 內中土: SHDB.5 (402). Nongfu 農夫: ZJTB.18 (350, 351, 352). Nüguo 女果: SHDA.51 (156r1). Nüwa 女媧: KJP.22 (1501). Piaofeng 票 (飄) 風: SHDA.59 (57v3). Piaofengzhiqi 票 (飄) 風之氣: SHDA.59 (52v1). Qianniu 牽牛: SHDA.50 (155), SHDA.55 (3v1). Qiaomu 驕母: SHDA.38 (102r2). Qinqi   : SHDA.57 (13v). Quanzhu 犬主: FMTB.83 (311).

246 Quchi 曲池: ZJTB.15 (338). Qunwu 群巫: KJP.82 (4353, 4363). Renchui 人炊: KJP.68 (3481, 3501), KJP.70 (363), KJP.82 (4272, 4282). Renfu 人伏: SHDB.58 (147). Sangongzhu 三公主: KJP.70 (3551). Santuhuang 三土皇: SHDB.57 (145). Santujun 三土君: KJP.70 (3531). Shang 殤: FMTB.72 (350), KJP.70 (360), ZJTA.13 (2971). Shanggang 上剛: SHDB.46 (126). Shanggong 上公: ZJTA.13 (2971). Shanghuang 上皇: SHDA.38 (101r2). Shangjun 上君: FMTB.83 (260). Shangsi 殤死: SHDA.18 (74r2), SHDB.66 (185). She 社: FMTB.72 (350), FMTB.83 (278), SHDB.65 (164), KJP.49 (2262), HK.8 (35). Sheji 社稷: JD.1 (132). Shen 神: JD.2 (26), SHDA.79 (138v), SHDA.82 (148v), SHDA.87 (156v). Dashen 大神: SHDA.59 (27v2). Guishen 鬼神: FMTB.44 (154). Qunshen 群神: SHDA.1 (3r2). Shangshen 上神: SHDA.59 (31v2, 39v3). Shenchong 神蟲: SHDA.59 (34v2). Shengou 神狗: SHDA.59 (48v1). Tushen 土神: SHDA.79 (132v–133v). Zaoshen 蚤 (灶) 神: KJP.68 (3511). Zhuangshen 狀神: SHDA.59 (36v2). [1] shen [1] 神: JD.2 (26). Shengren 生人: SHDB.66 (181). Shi 室: SHDB.59 (148), KJP.68 (3491). Shigui 室鬼: SHDB.65 (176). Shizhong 室中: FMTB.83 (281), SHDB.5 (312). Shi 失 (Chi 䰡): KJP.64 (3013, 3042), KJP.66 (passim), KJP.67 (passim). Shixian 史先: SHDA.76 (125v), SHDB.11 (522). Shui 水: KJP.68 (3511). Shuiwangshang 水亡傷: SHDA.59 (65v2). Siming 司命: FMTB.72 (350). Sizhe 死者: FMTB.72 (350). Taifu 泰父: ZJTB.18 (347, 349). Taishan 泰山: ZJTB.14 (335). Tian 天: FMTB.78 (285, 284), FMTB.82 (259), SHDA.55 (7v1), SHDA.68 (102v, 103v, 104v, 105v), SHDA.82 (147v). Tiantu 天土: KJP.70 (3521). Tianzi 天子: FMTB.83 (264, 265), KJP.22 (1501). Tian [1] 天 [1]: FMTB.72 (350). Tian 田: FMTB.83 (271). Tiandaren 田大人: SHDA.83 (149v), YS.17 (43v: 81). Tianshe 田社: ZJTA.13 (3011). Tianzhaizhu 田亳(宅)主: SHDA.83 (149v).

yan Tufu 圖夫: SHDA.59 (44v2). Tushanzhinü 梌山之女: SHDA.55 (2v1), HK.4 (25). Waijun 外君: FMTB.83 (269). Wangfu 王父: SHDA.18 (70r2), SHDB.65 (174), SHDB.66 (181, 183, 184). Wangmu 王母: SHDA.18 (72r2). Wanqi 宛奇: SHDB.68 (194, 1951). Wudi 巫帝: FMTB.72 (350). Wukan 巫堪: SHDA.18 (72r2), SHDB.66 (184). Wuxian 巫咸: SHDA.9 (27r2), YS.17 (43v: 7). Wuyi 武夷: JD.5 (43, 44). Xian [1] 先 [1]: FMTB.83 (261). Xian (Jie) 銜 (街): FMTB.83 (265). Xiangliang 相莨: FMTB.72 (192). Xianmei 先牧: SHDA.87 (156v). Xiannong 先農: ZJTB.18 (347, 348, 349). Xidamu 西大母: KJP.22 (1491). Xing 行: JD.2 (27, 28), SHDA.1 (4r2, 5r2), SHDA.17 (69r1), SHDA.18 (72 r2), SHDA.20 (79r2), SHDB.24 (971), SHDB.5 (372), SHDB.56 (143), SHDB.57 (145), KJP.68 (3501), ZJTA.13 (2991). Changxing 常行: SHDB.56 (143, 144). Dachangxing 大常行: SHDB.57 (145). Shangxing 尚行: KJP.70 (3581). Yangqi 恙氣: SHDA.59 (60v2). Yao 夭 (妖): SHDA.59 (59v1), KJP.61 (2981). Yeli (wei) 野立 (位): SHDB.65 (178). Yi 益: JD.4 (392). Yin 陰: FMTB.72 (350). Yizhu 邑主: KJP.82 (4312). Youlong 幼蠪 (龍): SHDA.59 (50v1). Youshangsi 幼殤死: SHDA.59 (50v2). Yu 鬻: ZJTB.16 (343). Yu 禹: JD.4 (392), FMTA.10 (672), FMTB.48 (165), FMTB.83 (279), SHDA.55 (2v1), SHDA.70 (111v), KJP.22 (1491), HK.4 (25). Yuanmu 爰母: SHDA.59 (50v3). Yuansizhe 原死者: FMTB.83 (276). Yuanzhi 垣址: ZJTB.12 (330). Yugong 雨公: FMTB.72 (350). Yunqi 雲氣: SHDA.59 (44v3). Yushi 雨師: SHDA.83 (149v). Zao 灶: SHDB.5 (402), YS.17 (43v: 32). Zhinü 織女: SHDA.50 (155), SHDA.55 (3v1). Zhiyuan 支原: FMTB.83 (267). Zhong 冢: ZJTA.13 (3021). Zhongchong 眾蟲: SHDA.59 (35v3). Zhuanxu 顓頊: KJP.81 (4372). Zhuqiu 築囚: ZJTA.13 (2991). Zhuyou 主友: FMTB.83 (273). Zu [1] 祖 [1]: SHDA.59 (49v2). Zuisang 辠桑: FMTB.83 (271).

daybooks and the spirit world



Ritual Terms (Including Specialists)

Chu she 除舍: ZJTB.18 (348–349). Ci 祠: FMTB.20 (941), SHDA.3 (14r2, 18r2), SHDA.7 (32r, 34r), SHDA.17 (passim), SHDB.3 (431), SHDB.12 (54, 57, 61, 62), SHDB.24 (passim), SHDB.45 (125), SHDB.59 (148), KJP.4 (35), KJP.5 (52, 56, 61), KJP.55 (2361, 2362, 237), KJP.62 (2892), YS.14 (43r: 52), YS.17 (43v: 81), WW.1 (1r). Ci [1] 祠 [1]: SHDB.5 (392). [1] ci [1] 祠: SHDB.58 (147). Ci baigui 祠百鬼: KJP.36 (1822). Ci Changxing 祠常行: SHDB.56 (144, 143). Ci Dafu 祠大父: YS.17 (43v: 12). Ci Daopang 祠道旁: SHDB.58 (147). Ci daoyou 祠道右: SHDB.56 (143), SHDB.57 (145). Ci daozuo 祠道左: SHDB.57 (145). Ci Fumu 祠父母: SHDA.19 (78r2). Ci Hu 祠户: SHDB.5 (332), SHDB.59 (148). Ci Men 祠門: FMTB.8 (522, 532), FMTB.38 (1352), SHDB.5 (352), YS.17 (43v: 22). Ci mu 祠墓: FMTB. 93 (zhi5). Ci mu 祠木: SHDA.58 (22v2). Ci qin: 祠親: SHDB.59 (148). Ci Renfu 祠人伏: SHDB.58 (147). Ci Shi 祠室: SHDB.59 (148). Ci Shixian 祠史先: SHDA.76 (125v), SHDB.11 (522). Ci Shizhong 祠室中: SHDB.5 (312). Ci Taifu 祠泰父: ZJTB.18 (347). Ci wai 祠外: SHDA.7 (40r), SHDB.12 (59). Ci wu 祠巫: YS.17 (43r: 7) Ci wusi 祠五祀: SHDB.5 (402). Ci Xiannong 祠先農: ZJTB.18 (347–348). Ci Xing 祠行: SHDA.20 (79r2), SHDB.5 (372). Ci Zao 祠灶: YS.17 (43v: 32). Ci zhuren 祠主人: KJP.76 (394). Cisi 祠祀: FMTB.21 (1021), FMTB.83 (278, 281, 263), SHDA.7 (38r, 42r, 44r), SHDA.46 (139r8), KJP.4 (39, 44, 46), KJP.5 (passim), HK.9 (45, 50, 52), HK.10 (57). Cisi wai 祠祀外: KJP.4 (42). Cizhe 祠者: FMTB.287 (1023), FMTB. 93 (zhi7). Daci 大祠: SHDA.37 (113r1), SHDB.22 (771), SHDB.41 (120). Daji 大祭: JD.2 (36), SHDA.1 (13 r2). Dao 禱: SHDA.38 (107r2), SHDA.57 (13v), KJP 70 (3581), ZJTB.18 (352, 353). Daoci 禱祠: JD.2 (26), JD.3 (41), SHDA.31 (101r1), KJP.1 (13), KJP.76 (392).

247 Dawu 大巫: KJP.75 (3882). Dazhu 大祝: FMTB.82 (250). Huichu 毀除: KJP.1 (14). Ji 祭: JD.2 (25, 28, 29, 33), SHDA.1 (2r2, 5r2), SHDA.59 (53v2 ×2), SHDB.1 (15, 201, 241, 251). Ji Men 祭門: JD.2 (27, 28), SHDA.1 (4 r2, 5 r2). Ji shangxia 祭上下: SHDA.1 (7 r2, 3 r2). Ji shao (xiao) da 祭少 (小) 大: JD.2 (30). Jie shi 解事: SHDA.7 (36r), KJP.4 (36). Jisi 祭祀: JD.1 (132, 152, 162, 192), JD.3 (41), SHDA.1 (6r2, 10r2), SHDA.38 (103r2), SHDB.63 (155). Renwu 人巫: HK.22 (82). Shui mengzu 說盟詛: JD.2 (34), SHDA.1 (11r2), SHDB.1 (17, 231). Songgui 送鬼: SHDA. 17 (90r1), SHDB.24 (901). Waichu 外除: SHDA.7 (38r), KJP.4 (38). Wu 巫 (activity): SHDA.9 (27r2). Wu 巫 (specialist): FMTA.6 (34), FMTB.2 (72, 91xia3), FMTB.80 (218), SHDA.17 (75r1, 94r1), SHDA.39 (120r2, 121r3, 123r3), SHDA.62 (92v1), SHDB.24 (941, 1031), SHDB.65 (160, 162, 166, 176), SHDB.80 (242), SHDB.82 (253), KJP.5 (75), KJP.61 (2802, 2812, 2822, 2982), KJP.68 (3491), KJP.73 (371), KJP.75 (3802, 3832), KJP.76 (394), YS.17 (43v: 7). Wusi 五祀: SHDB.5 (402). Xi 覡: SHDA.17 (94r1), SHDB24. (941), KJP.5 (75). Xiang 饗: JD.2 (26, 27), JD.5 (44), SHDA.1 (3r2), KJP.76 (393). Xiaoran (ji) 小然 (祭): SHDB.1 (221). Xingbai 行拜: ZJTB.18 (347). Xingci 行祠: SHDB.56 (144), SHDA.57 (145). Xingxingci 行行祠: SHDB.57 (145). Yi 醫: SHDA.47 (148r3), SHDB.80 (242, 244). Yubu 禹步: FMTA.7 (421), FMTA.8 (422), FMTA.10 (662), FMTB.5 (3732), FMTB.48 (165), SHDA.13 (47r3), SHDA.44 (135r), SHDA.67 (97v1), SHDA.70 (111v), SHDB.30 (1043, 1063), KJP.23 (1393), KJP.24 (1511), KJP.31 (1592), ZJTB.11 (326, 327), ZJTB.12 (329), ZJTB.13 (332), ZJTB.14 (335), ZJTB.15 (338, 339), ZJTB.16 (340, 342), ZJTB.17 (345), ZJTB.18 (350), ZJTB.30 (376), HK.7 (34). Yufu 禹符: SHDB.30 (1043, 1063, 1073). Zhu 祝 (activity): FMTA.10 (672), SHDA.87 (156v), SHDB.57 (145), SHDB.68 (194), ZJTB.12 (330), ZJTB.15 (339), ZJTB.16 (342, 343), ZJTB.17 (346), ZJTB.18 (348). Zhu 祝 (specialist): FMTA.6 (34), KJP.67 (340). Zhuci 祝祠: FMTA.1 (13,161, 171), FMTB.1 (141,161, 171). Zumeng 詛盟: KJP.76 (395).

Plates

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CHAPTER 6

The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts Li Ling “Written on bamboo and silk” is the well-known phrase recorded in the book of the famed philosopher of classical China Mozi 墨子. “Bamboo” (zhu 竹) refers to slips of bamboo, “silk” (bo 帛) to sheets of silk fabric.1 Modern archaeological discoveries prove that among the materials used as the support for writing in early China, the two materials used for everyday writing were precisely these. Between the first and fourth centuries ce, paper gradually replaced bamboo or wooden slips and silk.2 At present, batch after batch of Warring States, Qin, and Han slips continue to be discovered in amounts that are nothing short of amazing. In contrast, however, there have been just two discoveries of silk manuscripts, both in Changsha 長沙, Hunan. The most recent discovery occurred in 1973, when Mawangdui 馬王堆 tomb 3 was excavated and the tomb yielded a lacquer box with silk manuscripts from the Western Han period, known to scholars as the “Mawangdui silk manuscripts.” The earlier discovery was in 1942, when tomb robbers looted the Warring States tomb at Zidanku 子彈庫 and found a lacquered, plaited-bamboo basket with silk manuscripts inside.3 The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts include the famous manuscript that was first published in facsimile in 1945 by Cai Jixiang 蔡季襄 (1897–1980) and was acquired in 1965 by Arthur M. Sackler (1913–1987). Since the 1950s, this manuscript was known in Chinese as Chu boshu 楚帛書 and in English as the Chu Silk Manuscript but is now referred to as Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 (plate 4). Although the existence of additional silk fragments was known, and there was talk of a second silk manuscript, no one had a clear idea of what these were and what their relation to the Chu Silk Manuscript might be, nor was the Zidanku tomb identified as the source of the looted manuscripts. My involvement with the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts began more than thirty years ago when I first became engaged 1 Mozi, 4, p. 111 (“Jian’ai xia” 兼愛下). 2 Tsien, 2004, p. 150. 3 There have been isolated discoveries of writing on silk, most recently the personal letter on silk from the Han settlement site at Xuanquan 懸泉, Gansu; see Dunhuang Xuanquan Han jian shicui, pp. 187–91. However, the Mawangdui and Zidanku manuscripts remain the only examples of texts written on silk for circulation among readers and users.

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in research on Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 using available photographic reproductions and published a monograph with an annotated transcription of the manuscript.4 Work on the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts entered a new phase in 1992 when the other silk manuscript fragments and basket came to light again. I have recently completed a book that addresses all aspects of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts: the looting of the tomb at Zidanku and the manuscript discovery, the subsequent history of the manuscripts in China and the United States, their state of preservation and contents, and related artifacts from the tomb.5 This chapter summarizes the results of my research and further addresses the significance of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts for our understanding of ancient Chinese hemerology and hemerological literature. The former name “Chu Silk Manuscript” given to Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, the best preserved and best known of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, is imprecise and could be applied to any silk manuscript from the ancient state of Chu. The name gained currency in the 1950s, first, because people knew of only the one manuscript looted at Changsha (which was situated on Chu’s southern boundary in the second half of the first millennium bce) and there were no other discoveries of silk manuscripts from the same region and, second, because the provenance of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 was unclear.6 It was not until 1973 that a Hunan archaeological team whose members included the tomb robbers from 1942 returned to the tomb site at Zidanku and completed a formal excavation. After publication of the Zidanku tomb excavation report in 1974 4 Li Ling, 1985. 5 Li Ling, 2017. 6 To my knowledge, the first published use of the name Chu Silk Manuscript for Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 is Barnard, 1958, p. 1. Rao Zongyi (1958) also used “Ch’u Silk Manuscript” in the Englishlanguage title for his Chinese monograph, but in the Chinese title, the manuscript was referred to as “Warring States silk manuscript excavated at Changsha” (長沙出土戰國繒書). As for use of zengshu 繒書 or boshu 帛書 to refer to the manuscript, Cai Jixiang (1945) used zengshu; Chen Pan (1953) used boshu as the general name for pre-Han and Han manuscripts on silk, including the newly discovered manuscript from Changsha, which he described briefly in an appendix to his article. By the 1960s, most Chinese publications were referring to Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 as Chu boshu.

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and the reemergence of the silk fragments with basket in 1992, the provenance of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 has been confirmed by archaeology, and its place among the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts in the basket is certain.7 In accord with the standard practice in archaeology of assigning names based on excavation site, “Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1” should replace “Chu Silk Manuscript” as the preferred name for the single manuscript. Up to now, the public record of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts has concerned primarily this manuscript. Between the 1940s and 1980s, the decipherment and interpretation of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 set the stage for the remarkable discoveries of Warring States manuscripts in recent decades, both archaeologically excavated and looted. After 1992, conservation of the Zidanku silk fragments progressed slowly because they were fused in two masses of carbonized silk. By 2007, nearly four hundred fragments of different sizes (some without writing) had been removed from the two masses and conserved. The fact that more fragments remain fused in the masses means we cannot be certain how many separate silk-sheet manuscripts were originally placed in the basket with Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, but based on my examination of the conserved fragments, I have identified at least two manuscripts, which I call “Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2” and “Zidanku Silk Manuscript 3.” This chapter is organized in three parts: the discovery of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and the history of ownership; their content; and their relation to ancient Chinese hemerology. Discoveries of daybook manuscripts and other manuscripts with hemerological texts since the 1970s provide new evidence for our understanding of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, and the contents of Zidanku Silk Manuscripts 2 and 3 clarify the importance of ideas related to hemerology and the calendar in Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1. Thus we are finally able to place the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts in their original context alongside other examples of ancient technical occult and scientific literature.

Discovery of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and the History of Ownership

In view of the at times conflicting accounts of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts presented since the 1940s, we begin with 7 Wenwu 1974.2 is the brief excavation report; Wenwu 1973.7 reports on the silk painting found during the archaeological team’s excavation of the Zidanku tomb. For the 1992 events, see p. 258 in this chapter.

a summary of the basic facts regarding their discovery and where they are today. After being looted in 1942 from a tomb that we now know is the tomb at Zidanku, the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts were acquired by Cai Jixiang. In 1946 in Shanghai, Cai turned the manuscripts and basket over to John Hadley Cox (1913–2005). Cox agreed to find a buyer in the United States within a specified number of months, and at that point in time, the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts left China for the United States. The piece to be sold was Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, a darkened piece of silk measuring 47 centimeters by 38.7 centimeters with text barely legible or illegible in places, that had already been mounted in the Chinese style. There is no indication that Cox ever attempted to sell the other manuscript fragments and basket. Twenty years passed before Arthur Sackler purchased Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 in 1965 from the New York antique dealer J. T. Tai as part of the John Hadley Cox Collection (consisting of artifacts that Cox sold as a group to J. T. Tai). Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 is still owned by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation in New York but is kept at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The Sackler Gallery, established by Sackler in 1987, adjoins the Freer Gallery of Art with its extensive Asian collections, and they are known collectively as the Freer/ Sackler. In 1992 the Sackler Gallery received the fused silk fragments as an anonymous donation along with the basket that had held all the manuscripts. The donor is known to be John Cox. Conservation of the fragments that constitute Zidanku Silk Manuscripts 2 and 3 was performed in the Freer/Sackler Department of Conservation and Scientific Research. As of 2007, all three of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts are kept at the Freer/Sackler, and photographic reproductions are available for scholarly study. They are the oldest silk manuscripts, and the only Warring States silk manuscripts, discovered to date. The narrative of these modern events begins in Changsha, located in the middle Yangzi River region, in the first decades of the twentieth century. Modern Changsha was extraordinarily rich in buried artifacts of ancient Chu culture, which were known to Chinese and American antique dealers as “Changsha goods” and were quite famous. Yet, once in the United States, Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 did not receive positive attention from antique dealers and art connoisseurs or from the museums and institutions Cox approached. While some recognized its cultural value, few were able to read the writing on Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1—even when legible, many graphs were difficult to decipher and could not be read by the best paleographers in China at the time—and Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 was most often judged by the

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standards of beauty applied to paintings, not for its significance as the oldest and only Chinese silk manuscript. Western modernization came early to Changsha. The city was the hub for rail lines linking north and south, and because of its location on the Xiang River, Changsha occupied a strategic position in the Yangzi River water transportation network, connecting Chongqing in the west, Wuhan in the north, and Nanjing and Shanghai in the east. The port of Changsha opened in 1904, the year that the Yale in China Association made Changsha its base of operations. Founded in the United States in 1901 by Yale University students and faculty, the Yale in China Association began as a Christian organization sending volunteers to China for missionary work. At the time, American commercial and missionary activities were concentrated in the middle and eastern regions of the Yangzi River. In 1906 the Yale in China Association established the Xiangya 湘雅 Hospital on the northern outskirts of Changsha (the name combines the river name Xiang with the first syllable of Yali 雅禮, the transliteration of Yale), and inside the city, the College of Yale in China. The college moved to Wuhan in 1928, merging with Huazhong University. Yali Middle School opened in Changsha in 1920 as a preparatory school connected to the College of Yale in China. The Yali Middle School, which still exists today, is famous in China for producing many scholars and scientists. When Cox graduated from Yale University in 1935, the Yale in China Association in Changsha was a secular organization engaged in medical and educational activities. He spent the years 1935–37 as a teacher at Yali Middle School and quickly became intimate with scholars, literary figures, and artists in Changsha as well as with antique dealers and “dirt men” (tu fuzi 土夫子), the local name for tomb robbers. Through these connections, Cox obtained a large quantity of artifacts during his years in Changsha, and this was when his acquaintance with Cai Jixiang began. Cox left Changsha in 1937 and shipped many of his artifacts to the United States. Once back home, he also began to deal in Chinese artifacts. In 1939 Cox organized the Exhibition of Chinese Anti­ quities from Ch’ang-sha at the Yale Art Gallery, which consisted entirely of artifacts he obtained while in Changsha.8 At the time, he was engaged in study at Harvard University, affiliated with the Harvard-Yenching Institute. Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 had not yet been unearthed. On December 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan. From 1943 to 1947, Cox served in the United States Marine Corps, attached to the Office of Strategic Services. He was the first American to encounter Zidanku 8 The exhibition catalog is Cox, 1939.

Silk Manuscript 1, but this did not occur before 1946 in Shanghai. There have been several different stories and versions of stories told about the date and circumstances of the discovery of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, its removal to the United States, and subsequent events. Currently available evidence—some of which has come to light after 2013, when I published my collected writings on the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts—includes documents proving unequivocally that the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts were looted from the Zidanku tomb in 1942 and taken to the United States in 1946.9 They provide new details about what transpired in Shanghai in 1946 between Cai Jixiang and John Cox, as well as about events in the United States during the years 1946–49.10 I offer the following account both to set the record straight and to shed light on the modern history of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts after they were removed from the Zidanku tomb. The discovery of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts must be seen against the background of the Japanese occupation of China, which began in the northeast in 1931. After the Huabei Incident in 1935, control of North China was ceded to Japan, and China’s existence was imperiled. The retired German general Alexander von Falkenhausen became Chiang Kai-shek’s military adviser in 1934. Between 1935 and 1938, Falkenhausen trained the Chinese army and organized China’s resistance against Japan. After Japan and Germany became allies in 1937, the German government forced Falkenhausen to resign. Falkenhausen advised that if Shanghai and Nanjing fell to the Japanese, Chinese forces had to block the Japanese army at Wuhan and Changsha in order to hinder Japan’s westward advance and protect the Nationalist government as it retreated to Chongqing. Consequently, there occurred the famous battles of Wuhan (June–October 1938) and Changsha (altogether four battles between 1939 and 1944). The Nationalist government began preparations for a battle at Changsha in 1935 by building national defense highways on the outskirts of the city in all four directions. Road construction uncovered many ancient tombs and kept the tomb robbers extraordinarily busy. It was during precisely this period that Cox obtained many artifacts, including those exhibited at Yale in 1939. The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts were unearthed in 1942 during the lull 9 10

For my writings related to the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts (in Chinese and English) between 1980 and 2009, see Li Ling, 2013. The main sources of documentation are archives at the Hunan Provincial Museum; the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, New York; the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery; and the University of Chicago Library.

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between the third battle of Changsha, which ended in January 1942, and the fourth battle, which began in May 1944 (the Japanese occupied Changsha in June 1944). The tomb robbers were Ren Quansheng 任全生, Qi Xiaozhong 漆效忠, Li Guangyuan 李光遠, and Hu Dexing 胡德興. The site, Zidanku, was in the southeastern outskirts of Changsha. The Hunan Provincial Museum employed all four on the archaeology team after 1949 because of their expert knowledge of the terrain and skill in locating tombs.11 Thus, before 1949, Changsha was well known for the activity of tomb robbing. Among antique dealers in Changsha, those who did business exclusively in China were called “domestic-shop businesses”; those who sold to foreign buyers were called “Western-shop businesses.” The Western-shop dealers regularly traveled between Changsha and Shanghai, which was the major port for shipping Changsha antiquities overseas. Cai Jixiang was often in Shanghai and had close relations with Shanghai antique dealers such as Jin Congyi 金從怡 (b. 1904) (left Shanghai for Hong Kong in 1949 and was known as T. Y. King) and Dai Fubao 戴福保 (1910–1992) (left Shanghai for Hong Kong in 1949, then moved to New York, and was the same J. T. Tai who sold Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 to Sackler in 1965). In 1937 Cai moved to Shanghai with his family and purchased a residence in the French Concession at Mingxiacun 明霞村 no. 5, rue Tenant de la Tour (Ladu lu 拉都路). In 1943 he was involved in a dispute with a tenant and was arrested by the Japanese security police. Jin Congyi interceded on his behalf with the governor of the French Concession, Roland Jacquin de Margerie, and a Japanese individual named Tomioka Shigenori 富崗重德 and obtained Cai’s release. Through Jin Congyi, Cai gave Tomioka more than a thousand antique coins as a gift in appreciation for Tomioka’s efforts on his behalf. Not long after, and worried about further incidents were he to remain in Shanghai, Cai returned home to Changsha.12 Back in Changsha, Cai Jixiang was shown the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and purchased them in 1943. Around this time, the well-known scholar Shang Chengzuo 商承祚 was also in Changsha and was given some silk manuscript 11 12

Li Ling, 2013, pp. 209–10. I met with Qi Xiaozhong and Hu Dexing in Changsha in 1992. These events and dates are recorded in several documents kept in Cai Jixiang’s dossier in the Hunan Provincial Museum archives. One is an administrative form, “Geren jiantao” 個人檢 討 (Self-criticism), comprising seven pages written in Cai’s hand and dated July 16, 1956. The identity of the Japanese individual is uncertain; the personal name Shigenori is usually written 重憲 in Japanese, but 重德 is an alternate form.

fragments said to have come from Cai’s manuscripts. One of these fragments survives today and is kept at the Hunan Provincial Museum.13 The Japanese army attacked Changsha for the fourth time in May 1944 and took the city in June. Cai fled with his family, carrying the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and other prized artifacts. Unfortunately the family encountered Japanese soldiers at Xingmazhou 興 馬洲 on the Xiang River south of Changsha. The soldiers seized Cai’s wife and eldest daughter, and both women committed suicide by throwing themselves into the water rather than allow themselves to be violated. Cai and his remaining children escaped. He then devoted himself to completing a monograph on Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, published in 1945 as Examination and Verification of the Late Zhou Silk Manuscript (Wan Zhou zeng shu kaozheng 晚周繒書考證). The “late Zhou silk manuscript” of the monograph’s title is Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1. The monograph includes a facsimile drawing of the manuscript with transcription of the text. There is also a brief account of the Zidanku tomb that mentions other artifacts Cai had acquired: the silk manuscript fragments in a jumbled mass from the same bamboo basket in which Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 was found, the basket, several pieces of lacquerware, and a sword with sheath (drawings of the basket, lacquerware, and sword are included). Before the Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945, John Cox was already living in Shanghai on assignment from the Office of Strategic Services, residing in the Gascogne Apartments at 1206 avenue Joffre (Xiafei lu 霞飛路).14 Cai Jixiang came to Shanghai in 1946, bringing with him Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 and other artifacts, with the intent of selling them through Jin Congyi.15 What took place between the two men after they met in Shanghai is difficult to ascertain. In several accounts dating from the 1950s and later, Cai states that he was the victim of collusion between Cox and Shanghai antique-dealer acquaintances, and that Cox had Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 sent to the United States without his knowledge or permission. Cox never published his own account but retained documents related to the events in Shanghai in 1946 that are now in the John H. Cox archive at the University of Chicago Library. 13 14

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Shang Chengzuo’s son found this fragment after his father’s death; it is published in Shang Zhitan, 1992a. Cox’s Shanghai address is written in his handwriting on calling cards that he gave to Cai Jixiang, now in the Cai Jixiang dossier in the Hunan Provincial Museum archives. In a letter that Cox sent by fax on April 30, 1993, to Thomas Lawton at the Freer Gallery, Cox states that he “arrived in Shanghai in 1945 before the Japanese surrender” (copy provided to me by Lawton). “Self-criticism,” Cai Jixiang dossier, Hunan Provincial Museum archives.

the zidanku silk manuscripts

There was a third person whose key role is recorded in documents in the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation archives in New York: Frederic Schultheis (1907–1980). At Cox’s request, Schultheis carried the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and basket to the United States along with other artifacts Cox gave to him. Sackler wrote to Schultheis in the autumn of 1967 seeking information on the provenance of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1. Schultheis replied in November and sent a tape-recording of his recollections of the events in Shanghai in 1946. Schultheis was chief of the Intelligence Division, G-2 Section, U.S. Forces, China, serving as staff officer to General Albert Wedemeyer. In late June 1946, he received orders transferring him back to the United States. A few days later, Cox came to see Schultheis and revealed that he had “recently purchased some Chinese antiques of immense archaeological interest.” Cox asked Schultheis for a loan of several hundred dollars, to “complete his down payment to the dealer,” and further asked Schultheis to carry the objects with him on military transport when he returned to the United States. The following day, Cox returned with the objects, among which were “two wicker baskets, both in very bad condition” (the Zidanku basket with lid) and “scrolls, calligraphy written on silk,” one of which was mounted (Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1) and the other “left in its wicker container” and “now in tiny fragments” (the Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragments). Schultheis was the second American to see the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and their basket container. He loaned Cox the money and delivered the objects to Laurence Sickman (1906–1988) at the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.16 Correspondence between Sackler and Sickman in December 1967 corroborates Schultheis’s account. In 1967 Sickman was the director of the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts (now the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art), and in 1946 he was the museum’s curator of oriental art. Sickman’s letter dated December 5, 1967, includes a copy of the museum’s original receipt, dated August 6, 1946, and with Schultheis’s name. The receipt itemizes five objects, of which the first three are Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, the other Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragments, and the basket (fig. 6.1).17 There is a handwritten notation on the receipt that the objects had been sent to the Fogg Museum at Harvard University 16

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Typed memorandum from Schultheis to Sackler based on the tape, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation archives. I thank Stephanie Morillo, Director of Collections, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, for providing me with a copy of this and other documents. Arthur M. Sackler Foundation archives.

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Figure 6.1 Receipt from the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art Atkins Museum of Fine Arts to Frederic Schultheis for “5 Chinese objects,” including the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and bamboo basket, dated August 6, 1946. Collection of Arthur M. Sackler Foundation Archives, New York. By permission of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation.

and that Sickman had the Fogg Museum receipt. To sum up, in 1967 Sackler was able to confirm that his recently purchased Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 was brought to the United States in 1946 as a result of the arrangement between Cox and Sickman, with Schultheis as intermediary, and that the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and basket were subsequently sent by Sickman to the Fogg Museum. To return to Shanghai and Cai Jixiang giving the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts to John Cox, according to Cai’s account, he allowed Cox to take Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 so that Cox could have infrared photographs made, the better to decipher the text written on the manuscript. Cox subsequently informed Cai that a friend in the military had already taken the manuscript to the United States for photographing but that it would be returned.

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At that point, Cai and Cox arranged for Cox to give Cai a deposit of $1,000 and agree to pay Cai another $9,000 upon sale of the manuscript, which was stipulated to take place within two months. The John H. Cox archive at the University of Chicago Library has the piece of paper with the basic terms of their arrangement written in pencil by Cai Jixiang and dated July 18, 1946 (fig. 6.2). John Cox kept the paper in an envelope bearing the company name, Vongehr-Low China Co., Inc., Shanghai, along with a letter dated July 22, 1946, from P. C. Low, a friend of Cai Jixiang’s, addressed to Christopher Rand (1912–1968) (fig. 6.3).18 The letter informs Rand that “any payment you or your friend will make to Mr. Tsai in USA” was to be deposited to the Vongehr-Low account with American Trust Co., San Francisco, whereupon the equivalent amount would be paid to Cai in Shanghai. There is no doubt that the main events occurred in July 1946 and that by early August the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and basket were at the Nelson Gallery in the United States.

Figure 6.3 Letter from P. C. Low to Christopher Rand for transferring payment to Cai Jixiang upon sale of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, dated July 22, 1946. John H. Cox archive, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library. By permission of the University of Chicago Library.

Figure 6.2 Cai Jixiang’s handwritten note to John Cox regarding the sale of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, dated July 18, 1946. John H. Cox archive, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library. By permission of the University of Chicago Library. 18

Rand was working as a journalist in China at the time; like Cox, he was a Yale graduate.

According to Schultheis’s recollection in 1967, Cox said he had purchased these and the other objects itemized on the Nelson Gallery receipt. Had Schultheis in fact already left Shanghai with Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 at the time when, according to Cai’s account of events, Cox first told him that the unnamed friend had taken the manuscript to the United States? How can Cai’s statement that he agreed to the sale of the manuscript only after Cox sent it to the United States be squared with Schultheis’s statement regarding the down payment for the group of objects shown to him by Cox? We are not likely to obtain new evidence that adds clarity to the circumstances of the arrangement between Cai Jixiang and John Cox. According to Cai, Cox himself left Shanghai abruptly, a fact that Cox confirmed later in a letter to Joshua Liao dated October 15, 1948. Liao was a Shanghai acquaintance, and Cox wrote: “I was indeed sorry that I had to leave Shanghai so abruptly because of what

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Figure 6.4 Aerogram sent by Cai Jixiang to John Cox regarding payment for Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 and other objects for sale, Shanghai postmark November 6, 1946. John H. Cox archive, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library. By permission of the University of Chicago Library.

I then thought was the ‘death’ of my Father. It gave me no time even to arrange my personal affairs, and a good many of my books and furniture, hangings and paintings, are still there being kept for me in case I should ever return. I do hope that you told Dr. Wang and the others of my reasons why I could not call upon them as I should normally have done had I had more than a few hours’ notice.”19 Cox never returned to China. Two aerograms sent by Cai Jixiang to John Cox at his home address in Naugatuck, Connecticut, in the autumn of 1946 are the best evidence of communication between the two men after Cox left Shanghai. Cai’s main purpose in both letters was to ask for the overdue payment of $9,000 for the Chu Silk Manuscript. At the same time, he offered to sell other artifacts to Cox and listed prices (fig. 6.4). Having failed to get a reply from Cox or contact him through Shanghai antique-dealer acquaintances, Cai had the son of a Changsha friend who was going to the United States to study, Wu Zhucun 吳柱存, deliver a letter to Cox, which Wu did in June 1948. Cox replied to Wu in July, stat19

John H. Cox archive, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library. Cox’s father died in 1957.

ing the difficulty of finding a buyer and suggesting that it might be necessary to lower the price to $7,500. Wu conveyed this message to Cai, who replied to Wu in August, complaining about Cox’s failure to honor their agreement and threatening to take legal action. In September 1948, Wu met with Cox at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and Cox wrote a quick note on a blank card stating that he would continue to try to find a buyer at the original price of $10,000, and if his efforts were unsuccessful, he would try at $7,500 and would contact Cai about sending the payment.20 History intervened. In August 1949, the United States and China terminated relations, and Cai and Cox lost contact. Documents in the John H. Cox archive at the University of Chicago Library shed light on Cox’s actions in regard to the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts between 1947 and 1969. Cox regarded Laurence Sickman as a friend and during the years 1947–50 communicated regularly with Sickman about his Changsha artifacts and his art ­ historical 20

Documents regarding the exchanges between Cai, Wu, and Cox are in the Cai Jixiang dossier in the Hunan Provincial Museum archives.

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Figure 6.5 Lid from the box containing the Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragments and bamboo basket with two registration tags from the Fogg Museum and handwritten notations by R. J. G. (R. J. Gettens). Notations dated September 20, 1949. John H. Cox archive, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library. By permission of the University of Chicago Library.

r­esearch. On several occasions, Sickman advised Cox to change the registration records so that the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and other objects being kept at the Fogg Museum would be under his ownership. In a letter dated November 3, 1947, Sickman told Cox that when he visited the Fogg Museum, the objects for which the Nelson-Atkins issued a receipt to Schultheis in August 1946 and then sent to the Fogg were still on record as “loans from this institution [Nelson-Atkins]” and that the objects should be placed under Cox’s name. In the same letter, Sickman told Cox that he had also visited the Freer Gallery, where he was shown the photographs of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 that had been made there, which he described as “a brilliant example of photography.” These were the first photographs of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 and were made available selectively to a small group of researchers in the 1950s. Cox kept his copy of the Fogg receipt indicating that the Fogg Museum sent the manuscript to the Freer Gallery on January 7, 1947, at Sickman’s request and that it was received back from the Freer on December 9, 1947.21 Cox also kept the lid of the box in which the Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragments and basket were packed when

they were transported from Shanghai to the United States. Handwritten notations on the lid indicate that the box remained sealed until 1949, when Cox went to the Fogg Museum and inspected the contents together with R. J. Gettens (1900–1974), chief of technical research, on September 20, 1949 (fig. 6.5; notations in pencil are in Gettens’s handwriting). Two Fogg Museum registration tags are attached to the lid. Museum records confirm that tag no. 7460.3, with “Nelson Gallery” written in pencil, was for the period from September 16, 1946, to an unknown date in 1949; tag no. 8580.2, with “Cox” written in ink, was for the period August 12, 1949 to June 13, 1969.22 September 1946 was when Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 and the other objects that Schultheis delivered to Sickman the previous August would have been registered at the Fogg Museum as well. The Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragments and basket were reregistered in Cox’s name on August 12, 1949. The Fogg Museum does not have separate records for Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1. We know, however, that in the autumn of 1949 Cox placed Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 and other artifacts on deposit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for a period of fifteen years. The Zidanku

21

22

John H. Cox archive, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art archives also contain correspondence between Sickman and Cox.

I thank Brooke McManus, Archives Assistant, Harvard Art Museums, for assistance in identifying the information on the registration tags.

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Silk Manuscript fragments and basket remained at the Fogg Museum until Cox reclaimed them in June 1969, and they remained in his possession until he donated them anonymously to the Sackler Gallery in June 1992.23 Thus Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 and the Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragments were separated in 1949 and were not at the same location again until 1992. Cox hoped that the Metropolitan Museum of Art would purchase Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, but this never occurred. When he reclaimed Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 and other artifacts from the museum in April 1964 at the end of the fifteenyear agreement, he sold them as a group to J. T. Tai (the Shanghai antique-dealer acquaintance Dai Fubao, who opened J. T. Tai & Company in New York in 1950), who sold them as the John Hadley Cox Collection to Arthur Sackler in 1965. Initially, Tai withheld Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 from the sale. However, when Sackler’s friend Paul Singer chanced upon the manuscript in a storage area at J. T. Tai & Company, he informed Sackler that the single manuscript was of greater significance than the whole of Sackler’s collection at that time, and Tai then agreed to sell Sackler the manuscript as well.24 The price has not been made public. Cox’s efforts to find a buyer for Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 came to naught. Yet it is worth mentioning the potential buyer to whom he turned first in 1947: his alma mater, Yale. The John H. Cox archive at the University of Chicago Library has the handwritten rough draft of a letter to William DeVane, dean of Yale College, dated February 3, 1947, in which Cox refers to the “early Chin silk Ms which is now being temporarily held in Boston.” The draft indicates that Cox promised the owners of the document in Shanghai to sell it “by January first at the latest” and that he had “just received a cable and two very demanding letters from Shanghai.” The reference must be to the 23

24

Events involving the Metropolitan Museum of Art are documented in photocopies of correspondence between John Cox and Alan Priest, curator of oriental art at the museum, in the Paul Singer Papers, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery archives. In the letter from Cox to Priest dated January 19, 1950, Cox states that in addition to the manuscript deposited at the museum, more manuscript fragments and their container were “at the Fogg under technical study.” Arthur M. Sackler Foundation acquisition records give the date of acquisition of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 as March 31, 1965. Paul Singer presented me with the draft of his account of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 prepared for a Festschrift in honor of Arthur Sackler at the time of his death. In the draft, Singer recollects what he said to Sackler after he had seen the manuscript at J. T. Tai & Company: “If you were to dump your whole present collection into the Hudson, it would not matter as long as you were the owner of this piece of silk.”

two aerograms that Cai Jixiang sent to Cox the previous autumn, both of which refer to a cable that Cai sent to Cox on October 30. The draft continues with Cox’s offer to Yale: “By virtue of having aided in the deposit arrangements I have been able to assure that Yale should have first crack at the document at the straight amount agreed upon. But I have no financial interest in the document in any way—my financial concern is simply to get that deposit back. My deepest interest is in seeing this document properly housed, studied, published, and appreciated—at Yale.” Near the end of the draft, Cox refers to Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 as the “Yale Codex” and states, “The acquisition by Yale of this codex will at once put the name of Yale at the forefront in the Far Eastern field—as among all Far Easterners studying their own history.” A letter from DeVane to Cox dated October 16, 1947, indicates that DeVane was unsuccessful in finding a donor to provide the funds to buy the manuscript.25 The field of “Chu Silk Manuscript studies” progressed rapidly following Sackler’s acquisition of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1. The Metropolitan Museum of Art made new, infrared photographs of it in 1967. In August of the same year, and with Sackler’s support, the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University held the symposium “Early Chinese Art and Its Possible Influence in the Pacific Basin,” featuring Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 and papers by Noel Barnard (1922–2016), Rao Zongyi, and Hayashi Minao. Barnard edited the proceedings of the symposium in three volumes, which were published in 1972.26 Barnard began studying Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 in the 1950s using the older Freer Gallery photographs. Two publications in the 1970s made him the major expert in the West on the manuscript, both based on his analysis of the original Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 and infrared photographs. His Scientific Examination of an Ancient Chinese Document as a Prelude to Decipherment, Translation, and Historical Assessment—The Ch’u Silk Manuscript, published in 1972, refined his method of analyzing the alignment of Chinese graphs in columns in relation to fabric distortion as a means of reconstructing the text.27 Chapter 1 of his 1973 work The Ch’u Silk Manuscript: Translation and Commentary is “The Discovery of the Ch’u Silk Manuscript.”28 Barnard had already presented his discovery account at the 1967 symposium, and c­ hapter 25 26 27 28

John H. Cox archive, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library. Barnard, 1972a. Barnard, 1972b. Barnard, 1973, pp. 1–18.

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1 mostly repeats his contribution to the symposium proceedings published in 1972.29 The basis for his account was the story provided by a Chinese man with whom he made contact in New York. The man told Barnard that he found the manuscript when, along with companions, he looted a tomb in Changsha in 1934 (Barnard assured his informant of anonymity, and he has never been identified). Barnard states that Cox brought the manuscript to the United States in 1938 when he returned from Changsha.30 None of the details of Barnard’s account agree with the account given by Cai and the archival documentation of John Cox’s involvement in 1946. The excavation report of the tomb at Zidanku was not published until 1974, and the documents in the John H. Cox archive at the University of Chicago Library were not available until 2012. However, the Sackler-Schultheis correspondence from 1967 documents Sackler’s intention (with Schultheis’s approval) to convey the information provided by Schultheis to Barnard. In the letter dated November 28, 1967, Sackler proposes that Schultheis include a statement in the published proceedings of the symposium of the previous August.31 Why this information was not mentioned either in the 1972 proceedings or in Barnard’s 1973 work remains unexplained. In light of all currently available evidence, the greater part of the content of chapter 1 of The Ch’u Silk Manuscript must be treated as hearsay and disregarded. Excavation of the tomb at Zidanku took place in May 1973. The Han tombs at Mawangdui had just been discovered and were known to be Chu-style pit tombs. Before beginning the excavation of the Mawangdui tombs, the Hunan Provincial Museum thought it advisable to do a test excavation of a looted Chu tomb in order to learn more about the characteristics of a pit tomb with a wooden tomb chamber enveloped in a layer of fine, white clay. The archaeological team included He Jiejun 何介鈞, Zhou Shirong 周世榮, Xiong Chuanxin 熊傳新, and Fu Juyou 傅舉有, as well as the four tomb robbers who found the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts in 1942 and were able to identify the site of the Zidanku tomb. The location, which was in the southeastern outskirts of the city of Changsha at that time, today is inside Changsha, at 126 Nanzhong Road 南中路, on the grounds of the residential compound for the Agriculture and Forestry Industrial Design Institute of Hunan Province. The tomb was recorded as 73 Changzi M1 (73 長子 M1).32 29 30 31 32

Barnard, 1972a, pp. 77–101. Ibid., pp. 77–80. Arthur M. Sackler Foundation archives. In the same letter, Sackler expresses skepticism toward Barnard’s Chinese informant. Wenwu 1974.2.

The wooden tomb chamber had storage space on one side and two coffins, one inside the other, on the other side. The skeleton inside the inner coffin was identified as that of a man who was about forty when he died. The most significant discovery made during the process of clearing out the Zidanku tomb was the painting on silk depicting the tomb occupant that was found on top of the thin boards placed between the outer coffin and the thick boards that formed the top of the tomb chamber. At present, there is just one other excavated Chu silk painting: the painting of a woman that was found by tomb robbers in 1949 in a Chu tomb at Chenjia Dashan 陳家大山, Changsha.33 The Chenjia Dashan painting was first acquired by Cai Jixiang. Both it and the Zidanku painting are now in the Hunan Provincial Museum. On June 12, 1992, twenty-four years after Cox reclaimed the box containing the Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragments and basket from the Fogg Museum, he brought the box and its contents to the Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C., to make an anonymous donation. The Sackler Gallery acquisition consideration form describes the donation as a “bamboo case with two manuscripts”; and the subsequent record of laboratory examination refers to the packaging of the donation as “a shoebox with a plastic bag cover.”34 In 1993 the Freer/Sackler invited me to participate in the conservation and study of the Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragments, and I published accounts of the fragments in 1994 and 1998, making information about all Zidanku Silk Manuscripts available to the wider public for the first time.35 33 34

35

See Guo Moruo, 1953a, 1953b. I thank Paul Jett, head of the Freer/Sackler Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, who in September 2001 gave me copies of the original acquisition consideration form and the record of laboratory examination. The shoebox referenced in the latter document was doubtless the same rectangular box in which the Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragments and basket had been kept since leaving Shanghai, the lid to which is now in the John H. Cox archive at the University of Chicago Library. A piece of paper that was taped to the lid with Cox’s handwriting in red ink reads: “CODEX CONTAINER FROM CH’ANG-SHA (4th C B.C.) with partial texts w/ one red-character text + small fine script text (in original condition) FOR GIFT TO FREER.” The letter from Thomas Lawton to John Cox dated May 27, 1992, also in the John H. Cox archive at the University of Chicago Library, refers to the “signed document relating to the anonymous gift of the bamboo case with two manuscripts found at Changsha”; that is, Cox’s donation to the Sackler Gallery was formalized in May. For a reprint of the 1994 article, “Chu boshu de zai renshi” 楚帛 書的再認識, see Li Ling, 2013, pp. 205–43; for a reprint of the 1998 article, “Du jizhong chutu faxian de xuanze lei gushu” 讀幾 種出土發現的選擇類古書, see Li Ling, 2006b, pp. 246–58.

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On November 10, 1997, Shang Zhitan 商志𩡝 donated the one surviving Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragment as well as photographs of other, now lost fragments that had belonged to his father, Shang Chengzuo, to the Hunan Provincial Museum.36 Since 2007 the fragments from which I have reconstructed Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2 and Zidanku Silk Manuscript 3 have been conserved at the Sackler Gallery. The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts at the Sackler Gallery, the Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragment and photographs of lost fragments at the Hunan Provincial Museum, and other related artifacts from the Zidanku tomb also at the Hunan Provincial Museum have finally given us a comprehensive view of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts in the context of the tomb and its occupant. The publication of all relevant evidence represents a quasi-archaeological act of scholarly “salvage” of the tomb and the manuscripts.37

The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts: Physical Description and Contents

The first description of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts was published in 1945 by Cai Jixiang. He referred to Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 as the “late Zhou silk manuscript” (wan Zhou zengshu 晚周繒書), noted that it was found inside the bamboo basket, and lamented that only this sheet of silk was still intact among the numerous silk fragments in the basket.38 In 1974 Cai added more details: inside the basket, the folded mass of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 was saturated with water and coated with white, claylike mud and grime; he placed the folded mass on a piece of copper-wire screen and, using gasoline and a writing brush, slowly removed the dirt and unfolded the silk sheet. After the cleaned silk sheet was dry, he had it mounted on a piece of old silk fabric the same size as the manuscript.39 Thus Cai Jixiang performed the original work of conservation on Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1. Other than noting in his 1945 work that some of the fragments had writing in red ink (in contrast to the black ink used for Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1), Cai did not describe the Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragments in detail. 36 37 38 39

Shang Zhitan, 1992a, 1992b. Li Ling, 2017. Cai Jixiang, 1945, p. 1. Cai Jixiang, 1998, pp. 21–22. This 1974 account of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts was included with a letter that Cai Jixiang wrote to Shang Chengzuo dated August 21, 1974, which was found with Shang’s papers by his son Shang Zhitan, who made it available for posthumous publication. There is a note appended by Shang Zhitan.

In the 1960s, at a time when no one studying Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 had knowledge of the fragments being kept at the Fogg Museum with the basket container, it was claimed that Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 bore traces of a second manuscript. The main proponents of the second manuscript theory were Hayashi Minao, Li Xueqin, and Noel Barnard. Barnard, in particular, relied on his anonymous informant to reinforce his conjecture that a second manuscript must have protectively enveloped the folded Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 when—as Barnard believed— the manuscripts were placed between thick wooden boards in the unidentified tomb mentioned by his informant. He published a drawing intended to suggest the appearance of the second manuscript that had covered the silk manuscript. The drawing adapted graphs from several bamboo-slip fragments of archaeologically excavated Chu divination texts to simulate the appearance of the second manuscript surrounding the location of the supposed traces on Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 (Barnard did not acknowledge the source of the graphs for his imagined second manuscript). For Barnard, his hypothetical reconstruction of how Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 had been folded and sandwiched inside the second manuscript justified his rejection of “the tradition that the Manuscript was found enclosed in a lacquer casket.”40 The second manuscript theory is not corroborated by careful examination of the silk and traces of ink on the surface of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1.41 And we now have the actual Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragments and the bamboo basket as material proof that the basket originally contained Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 and other manuscripts. The penciled notations Gettens made in 1949 on the lid of the box containing the fragments and basket (fig. 6.5) represent the earliest statements regarding the other manuscripts: “Chinese MS on silk in bamboo basket.… There are apparently two texts; the one on top in large red characters written between parallel guide lines; the text beneath is in black ink characters.”42 Note the reference to one manuscript and two texts. The Sackler Gallery acquisition consideration form for John Cox’s June 12, 1992, anonymous donation refers to a “bamboo case with two manuscripts.” W. Thomas Chase, head of the Freer/Sackler Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, examined the donation on June 17, 1992, and his record of laboratory examination 40

41 42

Barnard, 1972b, p. 12n7 and fig. 4. For a critical evaluation of Barnard’s mistaken speculation and the earlier arguments made by Hayashi Minao and Li Xueqin, see Li Ling, 2013, pp. 229–31. Li Ling, 2013, pp. 229–31. John H. Cox archive, Special Collections, University of Chicago Library.

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notes the contents of the box in which the donation was brought to the Sackler as comprising three main pieces: a “manuscript complex approx. 20×10 cm”; a “basket approx. 20×12 cm”; and “leather (4 pieces) ca 8×6; 6×4; 5½×3 cm.” Regarding the “manuscript complex,” the memorandum prepared by Thomas Lawton, senior research scholar at the Freer/Sackler, and dated June 12, 1992, refers to two manuscripts: first, “silk manuscript with text written in red characters” and, second, “fragments of a second manuscript written on silk.”43 Both Gettens in 1949 and Lawton in 1992 recognized one distinct text unit with “red characters,” which Lawton treated as a separate manuscript unit, hence Lawton’s reference to a first and second manuscript in Cox’s donation. Cox himself also appears to have thought that there were two manuscripts.44 The following description of the Zidanku Silk Manu­ scripts is based on my examination of the Zidanku Silk Manuscript fragments after the work of conservation at the Freer/Sackler was completed in 2007. My identification of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2 and Zidanku Silk Manuscript 3 in addition to Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 reflects my judgment that many of the conserved silk fragments belong to two distinct texts and that these texts were copied on different silk sheets. Perhaps there are more manuscripts among the unidentified fragments and two remaining masses of fused, carbonized silk. However, we do not know when or if more fragments with text may be recovered from the two masses, and the evidence for additional manuscript units is lacking at present. Titles assigned to the three manuscripts are based on their content.

Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1: Sishi ling (Ordinances of the Four Seasons) In its current state of preservation, the sheet of silk containing Sishi ling 四時令 (Ordinances of the four seasons) measures 47 centimeters by 38.7 centimeters. As confirmed by the remaining right and left selvages, the 47-centimeter measurement corresponds to the weft threads and represents the width of the plain weave fabric. The measurement of 38.7 centimeters corresponds to 43

44

Lawton memorandum provided to me by Paul Jett together with the acquisition consideration form and record of laboratory examination; see n. 34. I presume that Cox provided the wording “bamboo case with two manuscripts” on the acquisition consideration form. The letter from Lawton to Cox dated May 27, 1992, in the John H. Cox archive, University of Chicago Library, refers to the earlier “signed document relating to the anonymous gift of the bamboo case and two manuscripts found at Changsha” and thanks Cox for his gift.

the warp threads. There is no evidence that the edges of the fabric at either end of the warp threads were finished, and the occurrence of graphs on the edges suggests that the length in the direction of the warp threads may originally have been closer to 40 centimeters (plates 4, 5). Silk fabric for manuscripts in ancient times came in two standard widths: full width, measuring two chi 尺, or approximately 46–48 centimeters, based on examples of Mawangdui tomb 3 silk manuscripts, and half width, measuring one chi, or approximately 23–24 centimeters, as evidenced at Mawangdui. Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 was produced with full-width fabric. The orientation of the texts and drawings on the silk sheet is addressed in detail below. From the standpoint of manuscript production, the longer dimension between right and left selvages (the fabric width of 47 cm) corresponds to the right and left sides of the manuscript’s length, while the shorter dimension (38.7 cm) corresponds to height. This contrasts with many of the Mawangdui silk manuscripts, in which the manuscript height (measured from top to bottom) is determined by the standard fabric widths (full or half) and the length varies by manuscript (usually longer than the height measurement). Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 was folded (some Mawangdui silk manuscripts were folded and others were rolled-up scrolls). Breaks in the fabric occurred along the creases, and the pattern of horizontal and vertical creases indicates two methods of folding. Both methods made one horizontal fold that halved the height to approximately 19.3 centimeters. Both methods also made one vertical fold that halved the length to approximately 23.5 centimeters. What seems to have been the older method made one more vertical fold, resulting in eight layers, each layer approximately 19.3 centimeters high and 11.7 centimeters long. The other method made a pleat using two vertical folds, resulting in twelve layers, each layer approximately 19.3 centimeters high and 7.8 centimeters long. The latter method would have produced a folded manuscript better suited to the bamboo basket, which was approximately 20.3 centimeters by 11.4 centimeters (see fig. 6.6). The Ordinances of the Four Seasons consists of three interconnected texts whose placement on the silk sheet was carefully planned to form a square with two texts in the center and the third text occupying the four sides. In my understanding, text A is the longer text in the center, text B the shorter text. Both consist of written text without diagrams. The columns of text B are written in the reverse direction of text A. Reading the two texts required turning the manuscript 180 degrees. Text C surrounds texts A and B and includes two sets of diagrams. One set consists of color drawings of the spirits of the twelve months ar-

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Figure 6.6 Zidanku plaited-bamboo basket in which the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts were placed. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: Anonymous gift, S1992.84.1–5. By permission of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.

ranged three to a side next to the text of their respective months. The other set has drawings of four trees, placed one each in the four corners of the square and representing seasons. Each tree is drawn in the color corresponding to its season: the green tree is spring; the red tree, summer; the white tree, autumn; the black tree, winter. Diagrams and written text are tightly interwoven and cannot be treated separately. By their arrangement, the diagrams and texts of the Ordinances of the Four Seasons embody the yinyang alternation of the seasonal cycle, or, as aptly described in the contemporaneous book of military thought attributed to Sunzi 孫子, Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 instantiates “the continuous cycle that is without end.”45 Whoever produced it rotated the silk sheet when drawing and writing, and the manuscript’s readers rotated it while reading. In my judgment, the many arguments that attempt to prove the single correct orientation of the manuscript—south at the top or north at the top, and so forth—all fail to recognize the essential fact that the sequential arrangement of diagrams and the reading sequence of the texts depend on the beginning point in a cycle and not on fixed spatial orientations as the means of determining top and bottom or right and left. Rather, orientation in the manuscript was from the point of view of people when they used it and first established the positions relevant to their purpose, which determined what came before, what came after, what was on the left, and what was on the right. The manuscript itself does not have a prescribed orientation. 45

Sunzi, p. 34 (“Shi” 勢).

Although use of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 did not rely on a fixed orientation, it is possible to deduce the order in which texts A, B, and C were copied onto the blank silk sheet. The sequence is confirmed by several physical details. The general practice when copying manuscripts in early China was to proceed by columns, writing from top to bottom and moving from right to left across the surface. With Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, copying began at the right selvage on the right side of the silk sheet. From the perspective of the copyist, moving in clockwise rotation around the four sides of the manuscript, the copy sequence was as follows:46 starting on the right side, the three spring months of text C (1), followed by text A (2), which occupies space immediately to the left and was written in thirteen columns of graphs with the same orientation as the three spring months; at the bottom, the three summer months of text C (3); on the left side, the three autumn months of text C (4), followed by text B (5), which occupies space immediately to the left and was written in eight columns of graphs with the same orientation as the three autumn months (upside down relative to text A); and at the top, the three winter months of text C (6) (fig. 6.7). Given the arrangement of texts A, B, and C in a square on the rectangular silk sheet—whose length from right to left selvages is about eight centimeters greater than its height—and the fact that copying began with the three spring months of text C at the right selvage, one result was 46

Rotation was clockwise from the perspective of the copyist, or counterclockwise if the silk sheet itself was being turned.

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Figure 6.7 Diagram showing the sequence in which the texts were originally copied on the silk sheet of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1.

that when the three autumn months of text C were copied on the opposite side of the square, a band of blank space roughly eight centimeters wide remained between text C and the left selvage. The blank band is further proof that the copy sequence began at the right selvage and that the sequence of text C around the sides of the square and of texts A and B in the center began with spring and east, followed in rotation by summer and south, autumn and west, and winter and north. The diagrams followed the same directional sequence. Speculation on how texts A, B, and C were read as a linked sequence must consider both their arrangement on the silk sheet and their content. I concur with the general opinion that texts A and B in the center were meant to be read first and that there was a spiral-like transition from texts A and B on the inside to text C on the outside. However, was the longer text A read first and the shorter text B read next, or vice versa? In my judgment, the longer text preceded the shorter text, which is the reason I refer to them as A and B, based on the following arguments. First, as explained, the arrangement of texts on the silk sheet mimics the leftward or clockwise movement of the Tiandao 天道 (Way of Heaven) from east to south, west, and north. Expressed in the sequence of the twelve branches, the cycle begins at the yinb3 (E-NE) position, ends at choub2 (N-NE), and involves a pattern of alternation resembling the inverted yinyang “fish” design that forms the “Taiji” 太極 diagram. On Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1,

the alternation is between text A with the three spring months of text C, on the one hand, which are written in one direction and correspond to the yang component, and text B and the three autumn months of text C, which are written in the reverse direction and correspond to the yin component, on the other hand.47 In the sequence of seasons, spring-east and summer-south necessarily precede autumn-west and winter-north. Second, texts A and B in the center as well as text C around the four sides of the square were all read in a rotation that followed a spiral leading from the inside to the outside.48 The spiral described by first reading text A, shifting 180 degrees and reading text B, and shifting 180 degrees again to read the twelve sections of text C in clockwise progression gives the smoothest reading of the manuscript.

47

48

For discussion of a similar yinyang design on the stone liubo 六博 board from Zhongshan 中山 tomb 3, Hebei (burial dated late fourth century bce), see Li Ling, 2004b, p. 178. There are two other excavated manuscripts with texts whose arrangement on the manuscript surface is from the inside to the outside in concentric layers that were read in rotation. The first is the bamboo-slip manuscript from Wangjiatai 王家臺 tomb 15, Hubei, Zhengshi zhi chang 政事之常; see Wang Mingqin, 2004, pp. 39–42. The second is the silk manuscript from Mawangdui tomb 3, Wu ze you xing 物則有形; see Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 4, pp. 217–21.

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Third, the temporal divisions of one year into four seasons and twelve months can be correlated with the content of the three texts: text A treats of the year, text B of the seasons, and text C of the months. Reading the three texts in succession from the largest unit of time to the smallest reconfirms the logic of reading text A (year) first, followed by text B (seasons) and text C (months). To recapitulate, texts A and B on the inside were read before text C on the periphery; on the inside, the longer text A was read before the shorter text B; text C was read beginning with the first month of spring (named Qu 取 in the text) and concluding with the last month of winter (named Tu ). Each text had distinctive content; they were not three parts of a synthesized composition whose meaning emerged as one (which was rarely how ancient books were written). Rather, each text was a component of the collective whole that was realized in the arrangement of the texts on the same sheet of silk: text A concerns the year; text B, the seasons; and text C, the twelve months. I refer to text A as “Sui” 歲 (Year), text B as “Sishi” 四時 (Four seasons), and text C as “Shi’er yue” 十二月 (Twelve months). A manuscript marker in the form of a small rectangular box indicates section divisions within the three texts and is placed at the end of each section: text A has three sections; text B, three sections; and text C, twelve sections. A final matter to address before describing the contents is the condition of the silk fabric after mounting. Twisting of warp and weft threads have distorted the weave of the fabric, which is stretched and torn in places. Damage to the fabric has rendered a number of graphs barely legible or illegible, and scholars who have attempted to reconstruct the original appearance of the manuscript have differed in regard to the alignment of graphs into columns in each text and the number of graphs per column. Noel Barnard was the first to base his reconstruction on careful analysis of the relation between fabric distortion and the alignment of graphs into columns.49 The grid alignment of graphs in Barnard’s reconstruction is the most reliable, and my own reconstruction follows Barnard, with minor revisions. Text A, “Year” The graph sui 歲 “year” occurs a total of six times in text A: twice in section 1, three times in section 2, and once in section 3. In my reading, section 1 concerns li sui 李歲, which I understand to mean “ominous signs” (li) associated with the year (sui).50 Section 2 addresses natural disasters that 49 50

Barnard, 1972b, pp. 5–10. Explanation for this reading is in Li Ling, 2017, vol. 2, p. 49.

arise when there are irregularities in the moon’s movement during the year (reading the compound de te 德匿 as ce te 側匿, following the interpretation first proposed by Shang Chengzuo).51 Section 3 concerns the harm that people suffer when they are ignorant of the year ( fu zhi sui 弗知歲). The idea of lunar irregularity (ce te) and the consequences for humankind in the form of natural disasters predominates in text A. Several previous attempts to decipher the graphs and explain the content of text A have conjectured that the text refers to astrological events associated with celestial entities such as Tianpou 天棓, Lixing 李星, Suixing 歲星, and Shenxing 參星. However, careful reevaluation of the paleographic and philological evidence calls these speculations into question. Except for general references to sun (ri 日), moon (yue 月), stars (xing 星), and chronograms (chen 辰), text A does not name any specific celestial entity, nor does it refer to comets, clouds, or rainbows. The overall focus in text A is on disorder and the imperative to reestablish order, a recurring theme in early Chinese cosmogony as recorded in transmitted sources. Moreover, accounts of a cycle of disorder followed by order are characteristic of the legends of the first rulers. For instance, the well-known speech of the Chu official found in the “Sayings of Chu” (Chu yu 楚語) chapters of the Sayings of the States (Guoyu 國語) relates that Zhuanxu 顓頊 commanded Chong 重 and Li 黎 to reorder heaven and earth after the disorder caused by the leaders of the Nine Li 九黎; that is, the Nine Li disturbed the previous cosmogonic order, and Zhuanxu’s actions reestablished order. Subsequently, the leaders of the Three Miao 三苗 caused disorder, which was righted by Zhuanxu’s successor Yao 堯, who employed the descendants of Chong and Li.52 Earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters form part of the narrative in the cycle of order and disorder. Similarly, legends about damaging and repairing the cosmic structure belong to the theme of disorder and order. Two examples in the Master of Huainan (Huainanzi 淮南子) are Gonggong’s 共工 destruction of the pillar supporting heaven in the northwest when he butted Buzhou 不周 mountain, causing cosmic collapse, and the repair of heaven and earth that Nüwa 女媧 accomplished by smelting stones of the five colors to patch the dome of heaven and severing the feet of a giant turtle in order to support

51 52

Shang Chengzuo, 1964, p. 13. Further explanation is in Li Ling, 2017, vol. 2, p. 52. Guoyu, 18, pp. 562–64 (“Chuyu xia” 楚語下).

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heaven and earth at the four extremities.53 Legends of this sort inform the narrative of text A although they are not explicitly referenced (text B does refer to Gonggong and other legendary figures). There are, however, two occurrences of Di 帝 as deity or legendary ruler: in section 2, where Di/Emperor speaks and exhorts people to be respectful of heaven and the spirits, and in section 3, where the text warns that Di/Emperor observes and passes judgment on people. Further, the focus in text A is on Di in connection with the seasons that make up the year. In early China, there were two systems of the Five Di/Emperors, and the one used by occult specialists was based on the Di/Emperors of the five colors.54 The correlations made between Green Di/Fuxi 伏羲 and Red Di/Yandi 炎帝 (Flame Di), with Zhurong 祝融 as Di-assistant to Red Di, were part of this system. While Red Di/Flame Di represented south and the Chu people held Zhurong to be their founding ancestor, Fuxi (referred to as Baoxi 包戲 in text B) was not a Chu ancestor. Thus text A and text B reflect origin and invention legends that were current across geographic and cultural regions; they do not address ideas about Chu ancestral lineage and origins. The function of the narrative model was to validate the seasonal cycle and order represented by the Di/Emperors, not to validate ancestry. Text B, “Four Seasons” The three sections of text B present different perspectives on the four seasons. Each section uses the legend form, mentioning altogether nine legendary figures who can be divided into two groups. First are Baoxi, Nütian 女填, and Nütian’s four sons, who belong to the first stage of cosmogonic creation. Baoxi and Nütian symbolize yang and yin respectively; Nütian’s four sons symbolize the four seasons (similar to Xihe’s 羲和 four sons or Chong and Li).55 Baoxi corresponds to Fuxi in transmitted sources, according to which he is the founding ancestor of the eastern Yi 夷 people, surname Feng 風; his association with Chu culture is rather distant. Second are Flame Di, Zhurong, and Gonggong, who belong to the stage of reestablishing cosmic order following the occurrence of disorder. Flame Di corresponds to Red Di and south in the system of the Di/Emperors of the five colors, Zhurong is Di-assistant to

53 54 55

Huainanzi, 3, p. 80 (“Tianwen xun” 天文訓); Huainanzi, 6, p. 207 (“Lanming xun” 覽冥訓). For further discussion of the Five Di/Emperors, see pp. 223–25 in chap. 5. For Xihe and the sun myth in early China, see Bodde, 1961, pp. 396–97.

Red Di, and Gonggong is Zhurong’s son; their association with Chu culture is quite close. Section 1 of text B recounts how Baoxi took as wife Nütian, who gave birth to four sons. At this stage of creation, the world was in total darkness, with neither sun nor moon, and the land experienced only the alternation of hot and cold qi 氣 “vapor.” The function of the sons, referred to as the Four Spirits 四神, was to constitute the year and enact the four seasons by taking turns in cyclical rotation. This was the first existence of the four seasons before time was measured as the alternation of light and dark. Section 2 begins with further description of the Four Spirits, whose names designate four cosmic trees. After 1,100 years, the sun and moon were generated. However, the world became unstable, and the Four Spirits used trees of the five colors as columns to hold up the dome of heaven (listed in the five-agents mutual generation sequence: green, red, yellow, white, black). Then Flame Di appeared and commanded Zhurong to have the Four Spirits descend to create the structure of the Three Heavens 三天 and Four Extremities 四極. The result was a stable cosmos, with the movement of the sun and moon marking the seasons. This was the second iteration of the four seasons. The third iteration of the four seasons, in section 3, involves acts performed by Gonggong, who created the system of measuring time in ten-day cycles for every season. This system further distinguished dawn, daytime, dusk, and nighttime. Text C, “Twelve Months” Text C is a key component of Ordinances of the Four Seasons, and encloses texts A and B on all four sides of the silk sheet. Grouping the twelve months of the year in four seasonal segments of three months and placing them in the four cardinal directions, the content of text C discusses the hemerological indications for the months; that is, it details the activities that were permitted and not permitted for a given month. The two sets of diagrams are integrated with text C: each spirit is drawn next to the section for its month in the cardinal directions; at the four corners, the trees define the interstices between monthbased seasonal segments. The whole of text C is arranged on the silk sheet so as to mimic the passage of the calendar year while providing the raison d’être for texts A and B in the center. The spirits of the twelve months are drawn in a frontal view except for the tenth-month spirit, named Yang 昜, who is in profile view (drawing above text C, section 10). The heads of the spirits are oriented toward the center,

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with their feet toward the edges of the silk sheet; hence the spirits on each side are positioned horizontally above the perpendicular columns of text (plate 5). Again, the exception is the Yang month spirit, which is in profile view and aligned with the text below it rather than with head oriented toward the center. Each spirit has a name, which is the name of its month. (The month-name system is discussed below.) It is important to note that we have a set of twelve names for twelve monthly spirits as drawn on the manuscript, and there is no need to use an outside source such as the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhai jing 山海經) to interpret the drawings and propose alternate names for the spirits.56 Based on the content of text B, the four trees in the corners are the columns supporting heaven that were put in place by the Four Spirits, and the trees represent the spirits themselves and the system of seasons they created. The trees are oriented by color: green tree, northeast corner; red tree, southeast corner; white tree, southwest corner; and black tree, northwest corner. I treat the group of twelve spirits as the extension of the Four Spirits, with the former representing the twelve months and the latter representing the four seasons. The complete plan of the four cardinal directions, the four corners, and the positions of the twelve months as arranged on Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 resembles the plan of the astrolabe-like device called shi 式.57 The twelve sections of text C are composed of several short vertical columns of text, three sections to a side, with the text oriented so as to maintain verticality on each side as the reader shifted clockwise around the silk sheet. This schematic arrangement was obviously meant to replicate the cyclical movement of seasons and months. Reading the text in combination with the drawings of the spirits of the twelve months and the trees of the four seasons again recalls the shi device and its twelve monthly day qualifiers used in hemerology. The sections are formulaic, all beginning with the term yue 曰 “is called” followed by the name of the spirit and month depicted in the drawing above it. Next are statements regarding unfavorable and favorable hemerological indications for the month, 56

57

Hayashi (1972) gives an overview of his and other scholars’ efforts to associate the text C spirits with evidence of spirits in transmitted texts (often the Classic of Mountains and Seas). In my judgment, the similarities that have been proposed are coincidental, and the comparison does not explain the significance of the text C spirits as forming a complete system of monthly spirits. For discussion of the shi device and its connection to Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, see p. 272 in this chapter.

with a small rectangular text marker at the end. In a new column to the left of the text marker is the section heading, always three graphs long, which gives the one-graph name of the month followed by a descriptive compound whose meaning is related to the section’s content. The month-name system in text C is neither the numbered sequence of first month to twelfth month nor the Chu month names attested in Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2. As early as 1960, Li Xueqin showed that the twelve names in text C correspond to the set of month names recorded in the ancient lexicon Approaching Refinement (Erya 爾雅). Several of these names occur in other pre-Han and Han transmitted sources, and their meanings can be connected to ideas about the calendar, but we still know little about the origin of the month-name system in Approaching Refinement. Nevertheless, it is worth speculating on the underlying calendar system in text C with respect to its month-name system and the sequence of months and seasons.58 As noted, text C does not use the Chu month names, but Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2 does. Based on the evidence of the Chu month-name system in Warring States paleographic materials, I concur with the judgment that the first month, or zhengyue 正月 “standard month,” in the Chu month-name system is Dongxi 冬夕, which corresponds to the tenth month (branch haib12) according to the Xia 夏 standard month-count.59 The Xia standard monthcount begins the year with the first month at yinb3 (first month of spring); hence the tenth month is set at haib12 (first month of winter). It is generally thought that the texts of the yueling 月令 “monthly ordinances” tradition in transmitted sources follow the Xia standard month-count. Based on that assumption, two pieces of evidence in text C suggest that the keying of the Approaching Refinement month-name system to the seasonal year in text C is one month ahead of the Xia standard month-count.60 First, in the Approaching Refinement month-count system, Zou 陬—written Qu 取 in text C, section 1—is treated as the zhengyue “standard month.” In text C, section 1, Qu is the first month of spring and the month when swallows arrive, yet in the monthly-ordinances tradition, swallows

58 59 60

Li Xueqin, 1960, p. 68; Erya, 6.7b–8a (“Shitian” 釋天). For issues concerning the Chu calendar, see pp. 156–57 in chap. 4. It is worth noting that the Qin calendar known as the Zhuanxu li 顓頊曆, while based on the Xia standard month-count, began the civil year at the tenth month-haib12. For further discussion of the Zhuanxu system, see pp. 292–94 in chap. 7. For further discussion of the monthly ordinances, see p. 274 in this chapter.

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Table 6.1

Comparison of month names in the Erya and Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1

Month

Erya

Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII

Zou 陬 Ru 如 Bing 寎 Yu 余 Gao 皐 Qie 且 Xiang 相 Zhuang 壯 Xuan 玄 Yang 陽 Gu 辜 Tu 涂

取 女 秉 余 叴

倉 臧 玄 昜 姑

arrive in the second month of spring.61 Second, in text C, section 10, Yang is the name for the first month of winter and for the tenth month in the Approaching Refinement month-count system, yet in the monthly-ordinances tradition, the corresponding name Chang 暢 is applied to the second month of winter (table 6.1).62 To resolve the discrepancy, I propose that the text C calendar system is based on setting the zhengyue “standard month” of the calendar year at choub2 rather than at yinb3, as in the Xia standard month-count (transmitted sources refer to beginning the year with the first month at choub2 as the Yin 殷 standard month-count).

Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2: Wuxing ling (Ordinances of the Five Agents) Based on the surviving fragments, it appears that Wuxing ling 五行令 (Ordinances of the five agents) originally had a diagram in the upper part of the silk sheet and text below it. The reconstructed diagram is composed of two circular lines, one inside the other, each line drawn with black and red ink, making a thick double line (black on the outside, red on the inside). Chu month names are written in the band between the two lines and in the inner circle (plate 6). Below the diagram are vertical columns ruled with red ink. The text in the columns is written in black ink in relatively small graphs; red horizontal bars the width of the column mark divisions between sections of

61 62

Liji, 15.4a (“Yueling” 月令). Note that the word for “swallow” is yi 鳦 in text C, section 1, and xuanniao 玄鳥 in the Liji. Liji, 17.17a (“Yueling”).

the text. The content addresses favorable and unfavorable aspects of the seasons and months based on five-agents correspondences (plate 7). Calendar-based ordinances for both the five agents and the four seasons were current in the pre-Han and Han periods. After the Han, however, five-agents ordinances fell into disuse, leaving only four-seasons ordinances. Four-seasons ordinances were organized on the basis of the system of twenty-four solar periods (jieqi 節氣), with one period consisting of 15 days. The twenty-four periods were evenly distributed among the seasons. Each season contained six periods, for a total of 90 days, which produced an ideal year of 360 days. In contrast, five-agents ordinances used a system of thirty solar periods, with one period consisting of 12 days. Six periods totaling 72 days were assigned to each agent, again producing a 360-day year. The even four-division system was easier to correlate directly with seasons and months, and it had practical applications that ensured its continuous use down to the present. The odd five-division system had to accommodate the five agents and was difficult to divide into equal segments; its inflexibility in comparison to the four-divisions system accounts for its disuse. In Warring States transmitted sources, the main evidence of five-agents ordinances are two chapters in Master Guan (Guanzi 管子): “Dark Palace” (Xuangong 玄宮), originally arranged in the form of a calendar, and “Five Agents” (Wuxing). The astrological chapter of the Master of Huainan serves as testimony for the Han period.63 Among excavated manuscripts, in addition to Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2, a second-century bce example of five-agents ordinances was found in Yinqueshan 銀雀山 tomb 1, Shandong, among fragmentary bambooslip manuscripts related to divination, calendrical astrology, and hemerology. The Yinqueshan text enumerates the thirty periods in two groups of fifteen, noting the accumulation of days for the half-year count in each period (first period, 12 days; second period, 24 days; third period, 36 days; fourth period, 48 days; fifth period, 60 days; and so forth).64 In format and type of information, the text presented in Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2 differs from the three texts of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1. Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 mostly addresses favorable and unfavorable hemerological 63

64

For a detailed introduction to and translation of the “Dark Palace” chapter of the Guanzi, see Rickett, 1985–98, vol. 1, pp. 148–92; for a translation of the “Five Agents” chapter, see ibid., vol. 2, pp. 118–28. See also Huainanzi, 3, pp. 105–6 (“Tianwen xun” 天文訓). Yinqueshan Han mu zhujian, vol. 2, pp. 211–23.

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indications throughout the year and the misfortunes and disasters that result from ignoring seasonal ordinances; text C in particular provides a month-by-month list of what to do and what to avoid. Whereas reference to the five agents is minimal in Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, the five agents supply the organizing structure for Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2. The phrases jumu 居木 “occupying Wood” and jujin 居金 “occupying Metal” occurring on fragments at the head of several sections indicate the original format of the five-agents organization. The agents are assigned specific periods of time, and the system of correlations is composed of the five colors (se 色), five tastes (wei 味), five notes (yin 音), five domestic animals (chu 畜), five buglike creatures (chong 蟲), five weapons (bing 兵), five garments (fu 服), and five vessels (min 皿).65 Transmitted monthly-ordinances texts contain examples of seasonal correlations among things in nature as well as in human society, indicating the blending of four-seasons ordinances with correlation-based ordinances. Viewed from the perspective of the history of ideas, it is likely that five-agents ordinances in texts such as Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2 gave rise to the wider use of correlationbased systems.

cient Chinese hemerology. In particular, choosing the favorable direction and avoiding the unfavorable direction when engaging in construction, travel, or military action were as important as choosing the time of the activity. Zidanku Silk Manuscript 3 is the oldest example of military hemerology involving time and space. In text and in diagrams, Zidanku Silk Manuscript 3 correlates the four seasons with the four directions: east and spring, south and summer, west and autumn, and north and winter. The four main sections of the text detail relevant hemerological information by season and direction, indicating favorable sexagenary days for defense and attack. In spring, the jiazi1 day was best for defense, and the critical direction to defend was east. The same day and direction applied to attacking. The hemerologically important days and direction in summer were from yiyou22 to jimao16 and south; in autumn, from gengzi37 to bingwu43 and west; in winter, from yimao52 to xinyou58 and north. Other details to be gleaned from the fragments are the correlation of directions and colors, observation of the sky for astrologically significant signs, and the definition of shengqi 生氣 “vapor of life” and siqi 死氣 “vapor of death.”



Additional Manuscript Fragments We have enough fragments to identify Zidanku Silk Manuscripts 2 and 3 as two distinct silk sheets even though we are unable to determine their original size, the arrangement of text, and the full content. Two groups of fragments that cannot be associated with either manuscript indicate the probability that the bamboo basket contained more than three silk manuscripts: one type of fragment has ruled columns and relatively large graphs written in red ink; the other type has ruled columns and graphs in black ink. A few fragments with drawings cannot be associated with a particular manuscript. The conservation work completed in 2007 has raised the study of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts to a new level. At present, it is uncertain whether future technology will enable another stage of conservation to obtain more evidence from the two remaining fused masses of carbonized silk.

Zidanku Silk Manuscript 3: Gongshou zhan (Divination for Attack and Defense) The few fragments of Gongshou zhan 攻守占 (Divination for attack and defense) are sufficient to provide an impression of the original. The graphs are written in black ink, slightly larger than those in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts 1 and 2, and there are no ruled columns. As with Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, text is written in different directions, following a clockwise sequence on the surface of the silk sheet. In addition, diagrams with L-shaped lines in red ink and sexagenary binoms written in black ink alongside the right-angled lines are drawn in the corners of the manuscript. The diagrams are related to both time and space, like other examples of such diagrams in ancient Chinese hemerology.66 The text treats of favorable and unfavorable days and directions in regard to either attacking or defending city walls. Hemerology primarily concerned seasons and days, but the simultaneous application of the same hemerological system to determining favorable and unfavorable aspects of spatial circumstances was an important feature of an65

66

Details regarding the periods of time assigned to the agents and the overall arrangement of the five-agents ordinances in Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2 cannot be determined from the few surviving fragments. See pp. 272–73 in this chapter; and pp. 162–63 in chap. 4.



The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and Ancient Chinese Hemerological Literature

My research on the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts has developed over a period of several decades. During this time, research on the ancient Chinese literature that scholars in China generally call shushu 數術 “calculations and arts” has gained new prominence in China and led to the

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development of the field of shushu studies (or fangshu 方術 “techniques and arts” studies). At present, the dialogue on shushu studies involves mainly scholars from East Asia, Europe, and North America. When communicating across modern scholarly traditions, we must give careful consideration to the terminology we use in our respective languages and recognize similarities and differences in our understanding of how the terminology applies to ancient Chinese texts and ideas. For instance, in English, the compound “occult and scientific” is used in historical research to describe ideas, activities, and texts similar to those described by the terms shushu and fangshu. At the same time, the term “technical literature” is applied to writings that contain practical knowledge in areas as diverse as divination, astrology, medicine, and law. When shushu and fangshu are placed alongside “occult and scientific” and “technical literature,” we appreciate the degree of congruence between them as research categories in Chinese and Western scholarship, and this congruence is an important element of the international field of shushu studies.67 The calendar and the determination of favorable conditions for activities according to seasons, months, days, and directions inform all the texts of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts. My purpose in this section is to situate the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts in the context of the hemerological literature that was part of the technical literature for occult and scientific knowledge (or shushu knowledge) in early China. Current terminology in Chinese and English is discussed and a classification of hemerological literature is proposed that takes account of the types of writings known from excavated manuscripts, transmitted texts, and bibliographic records. Hemerology and Hemerological Literature The Chinese terms corresponding to the word “hemerology” are xuanze 選擇 “choosing and selecting” and zeri 擇日 “selecting days.” The latter term is attested in ancient texts, and occasionally the single word ri “day” was used to refer to hemerology.68 The term xuanze is not ancient, but it is centuries old and has become the standard modern Chinese term in scholarly and popular use. Put simply, xuanze writings are writings on xuanze shu 術 “art of xuan­ ze,” or hemerology. The specialist with mastery of xuanze is a xuanze jia 家 “xuanze expert,” or hemerologist. There is a notable similarity between the ancient Chinese term 67 68

See pp. 4–5 in the introduction. For use of the term zeri to refer to the practice of hemerology, see Lunheng, 24, p. 1008 (“Biansui” 辨祟); for ri, see ibid., 24, p. 989 (“Jiri” 譏日), translated on p. 274 in this chapter.

zeri “selecting days” and the current Western term “hemerology” for the body of knowledge (-logy) related to days (hemero-) and their favorable or unfavorable qualities. Specific terminology aside, all ancient cultures shared an interest in ascertaining the qualitative aspects of days arising from their calendrical systems and determining the favorable times and places for activities in contexts that connect hemerology and divination.69 While zeri “selecting days” signifies ancient Chinese xuanze/hemerology using the day as time unit, the still smaller hour unit should also be included along with incrementally larger units such as solar periods, months, seasons, years, and multiyear cycles. Given the correspondences between time and space, directions also form part of xuanze/hemerology. Nevertheless, ri “day” remains significant as the most basic calendrical unit of time in the early notion of xuanze/hemerology, as is evident from the occurrences of ri alone to mean “hemerology” and rizhe 日者 “day-ist” to mean “hemerologist.”70 In terms of bibliographic classification, hemerological writings in early China were placed in the “Shushu” (Calculations and arts) division as set forth in Ban Gu’s 班固 bibliographic treatise in the Book of Han (Han shu 漢書), which is based on now lost bibliographic records made by Liu Xiang 劉向 and his son Liu Xin 劉歆 at the end of the first century bce. The six subdivisions in the “Calculations and Arts” division of the treatise are “Tianwen” 天文 (Heaven patterns), “Lipu” 曆譜 (Calendars and chronologies), “Wuxing” 五行 (Five agents), “Shigui” 蓍龜 (Milfoil and turtle), “Zazhan” 雜占 (Miscellaneous divination), and “Xingfa” 形法 (Form structures).71 Of the six subdivisions, “Heaven Patterns” and “Calendars and Chronologies” list works whose contents correlate roughly with astronomy and calendrics in modern notions of science. The connection of the other subdivisions to modern notions of science is tenuous: “Five Agents” lists works related to xuanze/hemerology; “Milfoil and Turtle” is for turtle divination and milfoil-hexagram divination; “Miscellaneous Divination” contains other forms of divination and includes magic and demonology; and “Form Structures” is for topomancy and physiognomy. After the Han period, xuanze/hemerology continued to be classified under “Five Agents” in the bibliographic treatises of later dynastic histories.72 69 70 71 72

See pp. 2–4 in the introduction. See the discussions of ri and rizhe on pp. 59–60 in chap. 2 and pp. 109–10 in chap. 3. See pp. 84–87 in chap. 2. Han shu, 30, pp. 1763–75. For further discussion, see also pp. 84–87 in chap. 2.

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The names and classification of the Book of Han bibliographic treatise serve as useful points of reference for broad developments reaching back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties and continuing through the imperial period. Whereas turtle divination and milfoil-hexagram divination maintained a dominant position in the Shang and Western Zhou and continued into the Spring and Autumn period, by Warring States, Qin, and Han times there was a shift to xuanze/hemerology, and from the Han period onward, the position of xuanze/hemerology has remained higher than turtle divination and milfoilhexagram divination. Two concrete indications of the priority given to xuanze/hemerology are the placement of the “Five Agents” subdivision before the “Milfoil and Turtle” subdivision in the “Calculations and Arts” division in the Book of Han bibliographic treatise, and Sima Qian’s 司馬遷 placement of the chapter devoted to hemerological specialists (rizhe “day-ists”) ahead of the chapter for turtle and milfoil specialists in his plan for the Records of the Scribe (Shiji 史記). Sima Qian’s account of hemerological specialists was lost by the first century bce, but the nearly contemporaneous testimony of Chu Shaosun 褚少孫 in the addendum to the reconstituted chapter names seven types of hemerological specialists summoned to the court of Emperor Wu (r. 140–87 bce) and includes the emperor’s judgment that the five-agents specialist was superior to the others.73 Taking a broad view of the circumstances in the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods, it could be said that the popularity of writings related to xuanze/hemerology paralleled the popularity of yinyang and five-agents ideas: the hemerological writings constituted the practical techniques in the background of ideas, and the yinyang and five-agents ideas supplied theory and method for the techniques. The tight bond between them makes it impossible to treat them separately. Consider, for instance, the fact that the first six works listed in the “Five Agents” subdivision in the Book of Han bibliographic treatise all have the term yinyang in their titles.74 Moreover, from Han times, “yinyang writings” was another name for xuanze/hemerology literature, and yinyang sheng 生 (or xiansheng 先生) “yinyang master” was another name for a xuanze/hemerology specialist.75 73 74 75

Shiji, 127, p. 3222. On turtle and milfoil specialists, see Shiji, chap. 128. Han shu, 30, p. 1767. For “yinyang writings” (yinyang zhi shu 陰陽之書), see Hou Han shu, 82A, p. 2705. The expression occurs in a quotation from Sima Tan 司馬談 (second century bce), whose original statement refers to the “arts of yinyang” (yinyang zhi shu 陰陽之術)

The reason for giving the xuanze/hemerology subdivision in the bibliographic treatise the title “Five Agents” rather than “Yinyang” may lie with contemporaneous trends and specifically with Liu Xiang’s influence. By the first century bce, the “Great Model” (Hongfan 洪範) chapter of the Classic of Documents (Shujing 書經) was treated as the ancestral source of five-agents ideas. Liu Xiang himself composed the Record of the Great Model Five-Agents Chronicle (Hongfan wuxing zhuanji 洪範五行傳記), his exegesis on the Great Model in which he used yinyang and five-agents ideas to explain historical events.76 When Ban Gu compiled the treatise on the five agents in the Book of Han, he incorporated Liu Xiang’s Record, just as he based the bibliographic treatise on the bibliographic records of Liu Xiang and Liu Xin.77 Both treatises adopted the term that was prevalent at the time and whose use followed the precedent set by Liu Xiang. The treatises of later dynastic histories maintained the classification of hemerological literature under “five agents,” as in the Book of Han bibliographic treatise, with the result that the association of the five agents with hemerology continued over the centuries. Despite changes in technical terminology and adjustments to systems, no one could eliminate the one term that ran through the tradition from its beginnings. The modern rediscovery of hemerological writings in Warring States, Qin, and Han manuscripts reveals a kind of “new knowledge” for today, which is better characterized as newly found “old knowledge.” The relation of the manuscript texts to later writings in transmitted sources is one of origin and outflow. While some scholars focus on the origin evidenced in manuscripts, what purpose is served if, in the name of scientific precision, we treat the origin separately from the outflow and cut history into discrete segments when the result benefits neither interpretation of the earliest evidence nor understanding of later developments? The present situation in studies of excavated manuscripts is reminiscent of the story recorded in the Spring and Autumn of Master Lü (Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋) about the man from Chu who lost his sword while crossing the Yangzi River. He notched the spot on the boat where the sword had fallen into the water and

76 77

that “are elaborate with prohibitions and avoidances” (Shiji, 130, p. 3289). For expressions corresponding to “yinyang master” in medieval sources, see Kalinowski, 2003b, pp. 21, 26, 32. In addition to fortune-telling and topomancy, the yinyang masters of Ming and Qing times handled matters related to death and burial, including recording the time and cause of death. Han shu, 30, p. 1705, gives the title as Liu Xiang wuxing zhuanji 劉向五行傳記. The five-agents treatise is in chap. 27, subdivided into five parts; Han shu, pp. 1315–1522.

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was surprised that he could not find the sword in the water beneath the notch when the boat reached the other side.78 Better still is a line from Li Bo’s 李白 (701–762) poetry: “Draw your knife to slice the water, and the water keeps on flowing.”79 Ancient Chinese xuanze/hemerology was modeled on astrological and calendrical knowledge, yet it was not connected to actual observation of celestial phenomena or to the quantitative methods of calendar making. Having become a kind of idealized model, xuanze/hemerology was even better suited to divinatory functions. I propose a twofold classification of xuanze/hemerology. One form of hemerology involved making calculations and performing procedures with the shi device, whose two movable plates constituted a heaven-earth model. The round “heaven” plate in the center was turned to make the correct alignment with the square “earth” plate, and the information obtained from this alignment was the basis for choosing days that were favorable and avoiding days that were unfavorable. The other form took information that was readymade and written down in a source such as a daybook, an almanac, or an annotated calendar (juzhu li 具注曆). One relied on the skill of using a device, the other on looking in a book. Reliance on the device facilitated adjusting to circumstances as they occurred but required complicated procedures. Looking up information in the book had the advantage of providing instant answers but reduced everything to a mechanical formula. The dual nature of xuanze/hemerology is evident from another perspective in the traditional saying “Selecting the day is not as good as hitting the day.”80 “Selecting the day” means picking good days from the almanac and avoiding bad days. “Hitting the day” necessitates making fresh calculations for each day as it arrives in order to “hit” the cycles of fortune. The saying “old teeth-fallingout almanac,” which people still use today to comment on someone’s outdated way of thinking or behavior, expresses a similar meaning. In the popular almanac, the sense of history and the here-and-now moment is absent: for hundreds and thousands of years, it never varies from the same old routinized pattern. For modern research on ancient Chinese hemerological literature, I propose the following classification based on the contrast between hemerology using calculations and the shi device and hemerology using information from almanacs and calendars: first, “shi-method” (shifa 式法) writings; second, “seasonal-ordinances” 78 79 80

Lüshi chunqiu, 15, p. 945 (“Chajin” 察今). Quan Tang shi, 177, p. 1809 (“Xuanzhou Xie Tiao lou jianbie jiaoshu Shuyun” 宣州謝眺樓餞別校書叔雲). For the saying in Qing novels, see Xie Lujun, 1999, p. 106.

(shiling 時令) writings; and third, “daybook” (rishu) writings. This classification applies to the evidence of hemerological literature in excavated manuscripts, transmitted texts, and bibliographic records. Shi-Method Writings The writings that I classify as “shi method” are connected to ideas that involve divination with the shi device.81 In the simplest definition, shi-method writings are writings that discuss methods of employing the shi device in hemerology. These writings represent a large, uncharted territory within ancient hemerological literature that cannot be ignored but is difficult to assess because none of the writings survive among transmitted texts, nor have any been rediscovered among the excavated manuscripts. Yet we must avoid the trap of thinking that we need not consider these writings because there are no examples to study; conversely, we cannot assume that the daybook (rishu) writings in excavated manuscripts represent the entirety of hemerological literature. Bibliographic records in the dynastic histories beginning with the Book of Han bibliographic treatise list the titles of shi-method works, and transmitted examples from the medieval and later periods give us some clues about the ancient works. In the Book of Han bibliographic treatise alone, a sequence of three titles in the “Five Agents” subdivision appear to be shi-method books: Cyclic Positions of the Twelve Spirits (Zhuanwei shi’er shen 轉位 十二神), Xianmen Shi Method (Xianmen shifa 羡門式法), and Xianmen Shi (Xianmen shi 羡門式).82 Medieval transmitted texts are mainly the Yellow Emperor DragonHead Classic (Huangdi longshou jing 黃帝龍首經) and Taiyi Golden Mirror Shi Classic (Taiyi jinjing shijing 太乙金鏡式經).83 Yang Weide 楊惟德, a member of the Astronomical Bureau during the Jingyou 景祐 (Brilliant Aid) reign period (1034–38) of Song emperor Renzong 仁宗, contributes three works: Brilliant Aid Taiyi FortuneResponding Classic (Jingyou Taiyi fuying jing 景祐太乙福 應經), Brilliant Aid Hidden Jia Portent-Responding Classic (Jingyou dunjia fuying jing 景祐遁甲符應經), and Brilliant Aid Six Ren Spirit-Securing Classic (Jingyou Liuren shending jing 景祐六壬神定經).84 These later works represent a continuing tradition with earlier antecedents. The following discussion of four related terms that have significance for the place of the shi device in ancient 81

82 83 84

The following discussion of the shi device and shi-method writings reflects my current ideas following from Marc Kalinowski’s examination of relevant issues; see Kalinowski, 2013. Han shu, 30, pp. 1768–69. Li Ling, 2006c, pp. 88–91. Ibid., p. 91; see also Kalinowski, 2013, pp. 336–37.

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Chinese hemerology will help refine our understanding of shi-method writings. Shi Device In my understanding, the word shi denotes the object composed of two movable plates and used for divination. When written with the signific component for wood on the left side (栻), the graph specifies the material of which the device was made, but other materials were also used, such as bronze and ivory. Among English translations of the word shi, “astrolabe” and “cosmic board” draw attention to the material object and its astrological or cosmological design; “diviner’s board” and “mantic device” draw attention to the shi device’s mantic function. In contrast, “cosmic model” and “cosmograph” draw attention to the ideas that underlie the shi device rather than to the material object itself.85 The word shi also had other meanings and is glossed in ancient texts as fa 法 “model,” ze 則 “rule,” yi 儀 “instrument,” and xing 型 “mold.” We may distinguish between two kinds of meanings, one more abstract in the sense of methods, patterns, and plans, and the other more concrete in the sense of the physical model or technical drawing. In actual usage, the meanings are interchangeable. Later occurrences are useful for understanding the ancient meaning of the word shi as both concrete and abstract. Consider, for instance, the term fashi 法式 “models and technical plans” in the title Yingzao fashi 營造法式 (Models and technical plans for building), a guide to the architecture and construction of buildings compiled by Li Jie 李誡 and completed in 1100. The work provides precise specifications for planning, use of materials, measurements, and the like, as well as various “drawings of designs” (tuyang 圖樣). The use of scale models in Qing architecture is associated with the Lei 雷 family of builders for the imperial court, and one name for the scale models is “Lei technical design models” (yangshi Lei 樣式雷).86 For the Han period, the terms fa and shi are similarly used to refer to models of horses based on the art of horse physiognomy. In 43 ce, Ma Yuan 馬援 conquered Jiaozhi 交趾 (in present-day Vietnam), seized the local bronze drums, and recast the bronze as a horse model (shi) that conformed to the ideal physiognomy, which he presented to Emperor Guangwu (r. 25–57). Ma Yuan’s memorial of presentation cited the precedent of the bronze horse 85 86

Kalinowski (2013, p. 332) identifies the scholars associated with each translation. For a detailed description of the Yingzao fashi, see Zhongguo kexue jishu shi: Jianzhu juan, pp. 432–50; for the Lei family and scale models in Qing architecture, see ibid., p. 807.

model (fa) cast by Dongmen Jing 東門京, expert in horse physiognomy, and presented to Emperor Wu.87 The use of the word shi for the divination device indicates that it was not just a synonym for fa and that it specifically denoted the device employed in the method of divination known as shizhan 式占 “shi divination.” As the name of the object, shi designated something that people held in their hands, with movable parts that they adjusted when divining. Shi divination entailed the skillful manipulation of the shi device. The materiality of the shi device that supported shi divination is fully evident in Han texts and commentaries. One example is in Zheng Zhong’s 鄭眾 (d. 83) commentary on the passage in the Rites of Zhou (Zhou li 周禮) describing the duties of the Great Scribe (Dashi 大史). During major military campaigns, the Great Scribe rode in the general’s chariot holding the tianshi 天時 “heaven times.” In Zheng Zhong’s explanation, tianshi refers to the shi device, and the Great Scribe held the device in order “to know the times of heaven and to determine auspicious and inauspicious.”88 The second and third examples are from the hemerology and divination chapters of the Records of the Scribe. Both references are in a later addition to the Records of the Scribe, not in Sima Qian’s original text. In the hemerology chapter, “rotating the shi device and aligning the markers” is given as one of several means of knowing the configuration of heaven and earth in order to predict the consequences for human affairs. The divination chapter describes how Wei Ping 衛平 performed shi divination in the sixth century bce for King Yuan of Song 宋元王: “Ping moved the shi device to fix the day and month, adjust the settings, and examine auspiciousness and inauspiciousness.”89 We have examples of excavated artifacts that can be identified as shi devices, and medieval texts give a variety of names for shi devices. A discussion of how the artifactual and textual evidence contributes to our knowledge of shi devices and shi divination over a period of centuries is not within the scope of this chapter, so I will simply comment on three of the most recently discovered Qin and Han artifacts.90 The two-piece device from Huxishan 虎溪山 tomb 1, Hunan (burial dated 162 bce), is comparable in appearance to the so-called Nine Palaces (Jiu Gong 九宮) device from Shuanggudui 雙古堆 tomb 1, Anhui 87 88 89 90

Hou Han shu, 24, p. 840. Zhou li, 26, 15a (“Dashi” 大史). Shiji, 127, p. 3218; 128, p. 3229. For information on the three artifacts (with line drawings of each artifact), see Kalinowski, 2013, pp. 349–55. For complete information on other known examples of the shi device, see Li Ling, 2006c, pp. 69–84.

272 (burial dated 165 bce); both artifacts may be identified as shi devices. However, the single board with handle from Wangjiatai 王家臺 tomb 15, Hubei (burial dated second half of the third century bce), lacks the functionality of the shi device, and identification is less certain in this case. Identification of the Han lacquer plate from Lianying 聯營 tomb 10, Jiangsu (burial dated to the Western Han period), as a shi device is similarly problematic. Neither artifact was a working device for the specialist who knew the technique of setting the two plates in the correct position. For now, I regard them as having diagrams related to the shi device. Shi Diagram The relation of the shi device to a diagrammatic representation and the relation of both to ideas about the cosmos, astrology, the calendar, and hemerology raise the problem of the correlation between idea, visual design, and object. In general, it is often the case that certain ideas find visual expression in diagrammatic representations and that diagrams in turn influence the form of ideas. When idea and visual design coalesce in an object dedicated to a specific use, the object instantiates idea and design in a material form that is actively present in people’s lives. On the one hand, we cannot say that objects produce ideas; on the other hand, we cannot say that ideas exist independently of objects. Moreover, related ideas may be realized in a variety of visual forms and in multiple objects that people use for different purposes. This accounts for my hesitation regarding the relation between the ancient shi device and the artifacts from the Wangjiatai and Lianying tombs. Despite their similarities, the form and function of the artifacts were not necessarily derived from the shi device and shi divination. At the same time, in order to better understand the world of ideas of which hemerology and divination were a part, we need a terminology that can be applied to a modern, historical presentation showing the interconnections. In my Chinese publications, I have adopted the term shitu 式圖 “shi diagram” to refer to diagrammatic representations occurring in shi-method writings and in seasonal-ordinances and daybook writings, which collectively constitute the ancient hemerological literature. Narrowly defined, the term “shi diagram” refers only to diagrammatic representations occurring on artifacts that are identified with certainty as shi devices. A broader definition serves to show how similar categories of information—time, space, seasons, months, stellar lodges, the sexagenary cycle, colors, the five agents, yinyang, and day qualifiers, as well as everything associated with them—were schematically expressed in a visual plan.

li

When writing in English, I continue to find the broad definition of “shi diagram” useful for referring to this schematic visual plan. Several other terms are currently being used. Marc Kalinowski has suggested the English translation “cosmogram” for “shi diagram.” To me, this term suggests primarily cosmological information. The term “shi diagram,” however, may be applied to the range of hemerological information listed above, which occurs in multiple visual forms that yet have a common core. Two other terms are widely used by Chinese and Western scholars in the field of shushu studies. “Cord-hook diagram” (gou­ sheng tu 鈎繩圖) is a modern term applied to the basic diagram composed of an orthogonal cross in the center with outward-facing right-angle hooks in the four corners of the square defined by the cross.91 Like a diagram with compass points, the cord-hook diagram occurs frequently in manuscripts with hemerological writings as a means of displaying temporal and spatial information relevant for specific hemerological systems and methods. Most recently, the Kongjiapo 孔家坡 tomb 8 daybook names this diagram the “Day Court” (Riting 日庭) diagram (KJP.18).92 The name is attested in Han sources, and some scholars now accept “ ‘Day Court’ diagram” as the ancient term in place of “cord-hook diagram.” As with “cosmogram,” both terms still lack the resonance of “shi diagram” as I understand it. My description of Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, for instance, compares the arrangement of text and diagrams on the manuscript to the plan of the shi device. The drawings of the trees in the four corners, the sequence of the twelve months with their associated spirits drawn next to the hemerological text for each month along the four sides, and the placement of text A and text B in the center all indicate a distinctive plan that is also connected to other diagrammatic representations. “Shi diagram” is a flexible term that facilitates the discussion of the interconnections among diagrams occurring in manuscripts and on a variety of artifacts. Thus, in addition to Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, the Wangjiatai board and Lianying lacquer plate can be considered examples of the shi diagram and can be examined together with diagrams such as the many “Day Court” diagrams and the “Liubo Board” diagram on the wooden board from Yinwan 尹灣 tomb 6 (YW.5).93 To sum up, I use the term “shi diagram” to cover a broad category of diagrams, some of which were not derived directly from the shi device and were not used in shi divination. However, the original users of hemerologically 91 92 93

Kalinowski, 2013, pp. 349–51. See pp. 162–64 in chap. 4. See figs. 4.25–29, 4.35, in chap. 4.

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significant artifacts and manuscripts with hemerological writings would have recognized the conceptual similarity that is approximated by my use of the term. Shi Divination The term “shi divination” is understood here to mean hemerological divination accomplished through the use of the shi device; divination that does not make direct use of the device is not shi divination. As noted by Marc Kalinowski, the term shizhan “shi divination” first occurs in medieval sources. In addition, Song and later sources treat shi divination as referring more broadly to ideas and practices related to calendrical astrology as opposed to information obtained from observation of the sky. I agree with Kalinowski that the term is not attested in pre-Han or Han sources and that the evidence is insufficient to judge whether the broader meaning of calendrical astrology existed in ancient times.94 Hence, in my judgment, the ancient practice of shi divination was divination using the shi device. Shi Method The term shifa 式法 “shi method” is attested in the book title Xianmen shifa (Xianmen shi method) listed in the Book of Han bibliographic treatise. As noted at the beginning of this discussion, shi-method writings discuss methods of employing the shi device in hemerology. Because no ancient texts on shi-method hemerology survive either in transmitted literature or in manuscripts, we can only wonder about the relation of the lost ancient texts to several medieval texts and the eleventh-century works of Yang Weide. My view of the Han understanding of shi method and the category of shi-method writings is different from those advanced in several recent arguments. First, I do not agree with suggestions that the broader use of “shi divination” in Song texts to include calendrical astrology in general was part of the Han understanding of shi method. To be sure, hemerology performed with the shi device was no longer an observation-based astrological calculation but a calendar-based calculation for which the shi device provided both the hemerological model and the material object necessary for calculation. However, other systems of calendrical astrology are attested in ancient transmitted texts, and manuscripts with hemerological texts have brought to light a wealth of new evidence that cannot be considered shi method. The Xingde 刑德 (PunishmentVirtue) system described in several Mawangdui manuscripts is a prime example. The movement of Xing and 94

Kalinowski, 2013, p. 335.

De was a calendrical calculation that was plotted on sixty cord-hook diagrams—one for each year as represented by the sexagenary binoms—as well as on a more elaborate diagram of the Nine Palaces, which showed the daily movements of Xing and De.95 The distinctive characteristics of the Xingde system as observed in the Mawangdui manuscripts are reconfirmed by the title Xingde (Punishment-Virtue) listed in the “Five Agents” subdivision of the “Calculations and Arts” division in the Book of Han bibliographic treatise.96 Similarly, in the first manuscript from Zhoujiatai 周家臺 tomb 30, Hubei, the diagram used to determine the hourly position of the Dipper among the twenty-eight stellar lodges (ZJTA.3) belongs with other examples of shi diagrams, but use of the diagram was based on the regular correspondence between the calendar and the rotation of the Dipper, not on the shi device and shi method.97 We should continue to discuss and evaluate the ancient understanding of hemerology in light of excavated manuscripts and transmitted sources. At present, however, the notion that “shi method” referred both to hemerology using the shi device and to hemerology more generally is very unlikely. Finally, there is the case of the Mawangdui hemerological manuscript that was assigned several titles in the past, including Shifa (Shi method) when a partial transcription was first published in 2000, and that is currently referred to as Yinyang wuxing A 陰陽五行甲篇 (Yinyang and five agents A).98 The editorial team responsible for the 2000 transcription judged a diagram and the following section of text to be a shi-method text, occurring together with a selection of other hemerologies, and assigned the general manuscript title Shifa, understood in both the specific and general meanings of “shi method.” Had this been an accurate assessment, the Mawangdui manuscript might have been the one extant example of shi-method writings. However, more recently a text with the original title Kanyu 堪與 (Canopy and Chassis) has been found among the Peking University Han manuscripts, and its content coincides with that of the Mawangdui manuscript section.99 Thus, the Mawangdui section treats of Kanyu

95 96 97 98 99

See Kalinowski, 1999. Han shu, 30, p. 1768. See pp. 181–83 in chap. 4. Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, pp. 65–116 (see pp. 65–67 for details on the manuscript’s several names). Beijing daxue cang Xi Han zhushu, vol. 5, pp. 91–143. On the relation of the Peking University text to the Mawangdui manuscript, see Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, p. 67.

274 hemerology, not shi-method hemerology, and the title Shifa has been abandoned. Seasonal-Ordinances Writings The tradition of calendar-based ordinances based on four seasons and twelve months has been described in relation to Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, and, likewise, ordinances based on the five agents in relation to Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2. Both Zidanku Silk Manuscripts indicate the place of seasonal-ordinances texts in daily life, providing people with information about correlations between the human environment and cycles in nature and about favorable and unfavorable times and places for various activities. In contrast, the transmitted seasonal-ordinances literature has been seen as belonging to the realm of government-approved ritual: the third-century bce Spring and Autumn of Master Lü, in which each of the first twelve chapters commences with an essay on ordinances for the corresponding month (the foundation of good government); chapter 5 of the Master of Huainan; and the monthly-ordinances chapters of the Han ritual classics, the Record of Rites (Liji 禮記) and Elder Dai’s Record of Rites (Da Dai liji 大戴禮記).100 The close association with ritual and a Confucian worldview continues to influence modern opinion of the seasonal-ordinances tradition, which is often treated separately from the hemerology rediscovered in excavated manuscripts. Exclusive identification of seasonal-ordinances texts with ritual literature is based on a misconception. Han ritual specialists included chapters on seasonal ordinances when they compiled the Record of Rites and Elder Dai’s Record of Rites because these texts were useful in elucidating ancient ritual tradition. We should not conclude from their inclusion that seasonal-ordinances texts originated in ancient ritual literature. Rather, seasonal-ordinances texts existed independently. As we now know from the manuscripts, seasonal-ordinances texts and daybooks belonged to the larger category of literature devoted to xuan­ ze/hemerology. Daybooks addressed the day as the basic calendrical unit of time, but daybook manuscripts include occasional references to months, seasons, and years. Seasonal-ordinances texts focused on the larger units of time. At present, Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 and Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2 are the oldest examples of seasonal-ordinances texts used in daily life, and the contemporaneous Jiudian daybook manuscript is their complement as the oldest example of a daybook. All three manuscripts 100 For discussion of the relationship among the monthly-ordinances texts in the four transmitted sources, see Major et al., 2010, pp. 178–80.

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reflect their background in Chu culture of the late Warring States period. Complementarity between years and seasons, on the one hand, and days, on the other, was also noted by Wang Chong 王充 (27–ca. 100) in his critique of hemerology in the Assay of Arguments (Lunheng 論衡): The vulgar of the age believe in years and seasons, and they also believe in days. Whether the activity be illness, death, calamity, or affliction: when major, they say that year and month were violated; when minor, they say that prohibited days were not avoided. Records of years and months are used, and books of day prohibitions also circulate. Vulgar people trust their heart and believe it; gentlemen of discernment are also unable to judge. Hence when people engage in activities, they conform to the day without examining their heart; they resort to seasons without considering the justification.101 Throughout the passage, the terms “year,” “season,” “month,” and “day” are to be understood as the hemerology based on those units of time. Moreover, “records of years and months” (suiyue zhi zhuan 歲月之傳) and “books of day prohibitions” (rijin zhi shu 日禁之書) clearly refer to seasonal-ordinances texts and daybooks respectively. Daybook Writings The term rishu “daybook” has been in use since the mid1970s following the discovery of the two Shuihudi manuscripts, SHDA and SHDB, the second of which has the title Rishu written on the verso of the last slip (see fig. 2.1 in chap. 2). Issues to be considered here in light of the continuing discovery of manuscripts similar to the Shuihudi daybooks over the past forty years are the characteristics of the manuscripts themselves (their contents, the arrangement of text and diagrams, and their function for users), the relation of the manuscripts to evidence of hemerological literature in transmitted sources, and how various scholars use rishu as a modern term in shushu studies. I am sympathetic to the reasoning behind Liu Lexian’s account of the daybook text type represented by the six manuscripts from Jiudian, Shuihudi, Fangmatan, and Kongjiapo (chap. 2). In content and physical arrangement, these manuscripts have more in common than do other published manuscripts that have been identified as rishu and that are treated as daybook-related manuscripts in chapter 2. Liu’s criteria for distinguishing the six manuscripts are based on a modern judgment of their form and 101 Lunheng, 24, p. 989 (“Jiri”); Kalinowski, 2011a, p. 243.

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contents. “Daybook text type” is a pragmatic term that facilitates description of the manuscripts for the purpose of modern research and at the same time indicates conventions in manuscript production that would have been recognized by the ancient users of rishu.102 Liu avoids the mistake of treating rishu as the title of a specific book. Nevertheless, my preference is to apply the name rishu to the broader group of related manuscripts with hemerological content. One reason is the idea of the book and how manuscripts were made in early China. It was customary for books to be identified by general categories, such as bingfa 兵法 “military methods” or yijing 醫經 “medical classic.” Manuscripts of many kinds of writings belonging to the same category were in circulation, and specific cultural or historical figures were sometimes credited as authors or patrons. Examples of military writings include Taigong bingfa 太公兵法 (Grand Sire military methods), Wu Sunzi bingfa 吳孫子兵法 (Sunzi of Wu military methods), and Qi Sunzi 齊孫子 (Sunzi of Qi).103 The “Yijing” (Medical classics) subdivision in the medical division of the Book of Han bibliographic treatise lists works associated with the Yellow Emperor 黃帝, Bian Que 扁鵲, and Master Bai 白氏, each consisting of multiple scrolls divided into “inner classic” (neijing 内經) and “outer classic” (waijing 外經).104 Among excavated manuscripts, untitled manuscripts are more common than manuscripts with titles. I suspect that when the copyist of the second Shuihudi daybook manuscript wrote the title Rishu at the end, it was understood as a general label for the category of hemerology. Inasmuch as the manuscript writings that I call “daybook writings” are unknown in transmitted sources, it is all the more difficult to judge how their original users distinguished among them. Yet it is my sense that they must have been recognized as belonging to the same general category, which I think was named rishu. On a practical level, for historical study I prefer the flexibility of having one Chinese term that can cover the range of excavated manuscripts already discovered and include manuscripts not yet discovered; I am more concerned with similarities and continuities over time than with the detailed classification of text types. Rishu is a suitable term for the numerous manuscripts that collectively constitute daybook hemerology. The discussion of ancient Chinese hemerology and the evidence from excavated manuscripts is ongoing, and it is in the spirit of

102 See pp. 65–66 in chap. 2. 103 Li Ling, 2011b, pp. 150–54. 104 Ibid., pp. 202–4.

275 scholarly dialogue that I offer an overview of the general category of writings that I consider to be rishu. First, it is clear that the name rishu does not refer to an almanac, and the distinction is evident in the current English translation “daybook,” which has replaced the use of “almanac” in earlier Western studies. In China, the medieval annotated calendars (juzhu li) and more recent huangli 黃曆 calendars better fit the description of an almanac, a work arranged in the form of a calendar and containing a variety of information, including hemerology. In contrast, excavated daybook manuscripts have been found together with calendars, but daybooks themselves do not have the form of a calendar and their content is not specific for a designated calendar year. Daybooks provided hemerologies, which users then applied by referring to the calendar as a separate document. Transmitted sources and bibliographic records are silent on daybooks, and it is only since the discoveries of the 1970s that it has been possible to study their form and content and compare them to later hemerological literature. Daybook writings are defined by two basic characteristics: first, they were intended to be a manual or practical guide used in everyday life by people of different social levels; second, their contents are best described as miscellanies, and the combinations of information varied from one manuscript to another. Regarding the first characteristic, daybooks should be seen in relation to technical occult and scientific literature, all of which had practical functions. In the classification of ancient literature in the Book of Han bibliographic treatise, works in the “Calculations and Arts” division were the repositories of technical knowledge, which contrasted with the classics, historical texts, intellectual texts, and poetry. In the case of daybooks, every manuscript reflected its function as a useful manual for everyday life in local communities. Of all hemerological writings, daybooks were the most popular and are directly related to popular culture. Identification of daybooks as miscellanies involves several elements related to their form as writings, the interconnections between hemerology and other technical knowledge (including magic), and the popularity of daybooks among users. In China, many ancient writings can be qualified as za 雜 “miscellany,” meaning that the composition of the text is open to being expanded, abbreviated, or copied with other texts in a variety of combinations. The tendency among ancient compilers or copyists to combine and alter texts calls into question the idea of the original text in textual studies, as it is impossible to determine a single original when the text is a miscellany. The term za occurs frequently in the bibliographic treatise of the Book of Han, and its meanings in transmitted

276 bibliographic records shed light on the ancient idea of text as miscellany. At least three distinct meanings are relevant to this discussion: to collect or combine, as, for instance, in book titles that use “miscellaneous masters” (zazi 雜子) to refer to the collective knowledge of the many experts found in the work;105 to make a digest;106 and to supplement a text with additions, as in the zapian 雜篇 “miscellaneous chapters” added to the main text of a work.107 Daybooks as miscellanies were organized to suit their practical use, and practical use was behind the inclusion of non-hemerological content: topomancy for building sites, demonology, magic and ritual acts, dream divination, and the like. The second manuscript from Zhoujiatai tomb 30 (ZJTB) is difficult to classify precisely because it combines hemerology with medical recipes (using magic, rituals, and drugs to treat ailments) and an assortment of household recipes. Yet ZJTB serves as confirmation of the relationship between hemerology and other kinds of technical knowledge that circulated widely in daybooks and related manuscript miscellanies. Based on the number of daybooks discovered to date and their diversity, their function appears to have been to provide people with broad coverage of hemerologically oriented divination and related knowledge in a form suited to their users’ daily needs. The status of daybooks as popular miscellanies leads to another observation: although daybooks belong to hemerological literature, hemerological literature consists of more than daybooks. On the one hand, Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 and Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2 are examples of seasonal-ordinances writings within hemerological literature, and both manuscripts can be connected to transmitted examples of seasonal-ordinances texts. On the other hand, manuscripts from Mawangdui and Yinqueshan are examples of more specialized hemerological texts, and the titles of lost works recorded in the Book of Han bibliographic treatise indicate the existence of an extensive hemerological literature.108 Several text parallels in Mawangdui manuscripts and daybooks are ev-

105 Li Ling (2011b, pp. 174–75) discusses the meaning of zazi in the book titles in the Han shu bibliographic treatise. 106 The Guza 古雜 (Ancient miscellany), no doubt a digest of milfoil-hexagram divination, is among the ancilla to the Changes (Yi 易) in the Han shu bibliographic treatise; see ibid., pp. 16–17. 107 Among ancient texts, Zhuangzi 莊子 is best known for being divided into three parts—neipian 内篇 “inner chapters,” waip­ ian 外篇 “outer chapters,” and zapian 雜篇 “miscellaneous chapters”—with the miscellaneous chapters considered as additional textual material; see ibid., p. 89. 108 See pp. 80–81 in chap. 2.

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idence of a common source in hemerological literature.109 However, knowledge about the relationship between popular daybooks and the hemerological literature that circulated only among specialists remains meager. The time span represented by the excavated manuscripts and their locales is another consideration. The oldest daybook from Jiudian tomb 56 and the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts are dated to around 300 bce, and together they reflect Chu culture. The Shuihudi and Zhoujiatai daybooks, again from the south, are Qin period, dating to the 210s bce, as are the Fangmatan daybooks, from the northwest. For the Western Han period, the Kongjiapo daybook is mid-second century bce, and the Yinwan daybook is the end of the first century bce. Daybook fragments from Mozuizi 磨嘴子 tomb 6, Gansu, date to the era of Wang Mang in the early first century ce. Thus, evidence of daybooks extends from around 300 bce to the early first century ce, covering the late Warring States, Qin, and Western Han periods. Wang Chong’s testimony in the Assay of Arguments critique of hemerology indicates that hemerological manuscripts related to days as well as to years and seasons continued to be popular during the first century. However, daybooks as known from the excavated manuscripts were ephemeral products of popular culture. We rely on Wang Chong for evidence of comparable hemerological writings but lack the physical evidence of the manuscripts themselves, except for stray fragments among the documents from Dunhuang and other sites in the northwest. In these circumstances, it seems reasonable to refer to these fragments as daybook writings based on the assumption that they and yet-to-be-discovered Eastern Han writings are closely related to the daybook writings of earlier centuries. It remains to note the importance of daybook writings for the history of divination and the formation of yinyang and five-agents ideas as the basis of correlative cosmology. With the rise of hemerology during the Warring States period, divination increasingly favored numerological systems such as the sexagenary cycle, which were coordinated with the calendar and other cycles manifest in nature—that is, in heaven and earth—and in human society. Hemerology provided a mechanism for correlating human activities and fortune with the world of nature and the spirits. It continued to flourish into the Qin and Han periods, while turtle divination and milfoil-hexagram divination diminished and were adapted to correlative schemes. Daybook writings represent the practical application of hemerology to the activities of everyday life in society at large. At the same time, together with specialized 109 See p. 81 in chap. 2.

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hemerological literature such as the Mawangdui silk manuscript Yinyang and Five Agents A, daybook writings indicate the role of hemerology and hemerological literature in the formation of correlative cosmology. The abundance of daybook writings and their popularity were clearly a factor in the acceptance of yinyang and five-agents ideas. Daybook writings also help explain the continuing relationship between divination and correlative cosmology. Conclusion Among the silk, bamboo-, and wooden-slip manuscripts discovered to date, the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts occupy an extraordinary position. They are the first silk manuscripts to be discovered. Discoveries of bambooand wooden-slip manuscripts have been frequent, but to this day the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts are the only Warring States silk manuscripts, and there has been just one other discovery of silk manuscripts in the Han tomb at Mawangdui. The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts remain unique and are unmatched as examples of the form of the book in early China. Since reports of their existence first circulated in the 1940s, they have generated a large body of research and publications and have been at the center of all manner of scholarly discussions. The field of Zidanku Silk Manuscript studies is notable for being international, whether in regard to scientific studies of their conservation or to research on paleography, text interpretation, and the history of ideas. The story of the discovery and ownership of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts is full of unusual events and circumstances, with many details uncertain. In China and the United States, archival records and personal accounts have made it possible to reconstruct a fairly complete

277 picture of events. The stories of the two principal figures, Cai Jixiang and John Cox, resonate with the shifting fortunes of China in modern times and the convoluted relations between China and the United States. This history touches on not only the “prehistory” of archaeology in the Changsha region but also the history of American missionary work in China and the involvement of Western collectors in the Chinese antiquities market. Finally, from the standpoint of research on excavated manuscripts, the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts are the only examples of seasonal-ordinances writings in the ancient hemerological literature and represent both subtypes: one based on the four seasons (Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1) and the other on the five agents (Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2). Subsequent discoveries of daybook writings have made possible the comparison of daybook hemerology and seasonal-ordinances hemerology, showing both the similarities and the differences. Moreover, the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and daybook writings hold significance for the field of shushu studies and research on the history of ideas related to yinyang and the five agents. It has been more than seventy years since the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts were discovered, and I have studied them for more than thirty years. While the manuscript texts are not long, the decipherment and interpretation of the graphs are unusually difficult, more so than all other excavated manuscripts of the same type. Work on the manuscripts has honed my skills in paleography and text interpretation and refined my awareness of the world of thought in early China. This has all been my good fortune, and I am grateful to the workings of fate that have allowed me such close contact with this remarkable manuscript discovery. I am also grateful to scholars and friends, past and current, whose help and insights are responsible for what knowledge I now have.

CHAPTER 7

Calendars and Calendar Making in Qin and Han Times Christopher Cullen Anybody who wants to make use of the many different hemerological methods discussed in this volume will first need to situate himself or herself in the time sequences on which they are based. In some circumstances, it will be necessary to know the time of day, but for most purposes it will be enough to know what day it is, in the sense of locating the day in question in relation to the start of the current month and knowing its position in the sixty-day cycle. Days do not naturally come with any kind of label attached: in order to put a name to a day, human beings need something that corresponds to what twenty-firstcentury English speakers call a “calendar,” a document or device that enables one to give a unique label to each succeeding day in a systematic way. In recent decades, an increasing number of documents have been excavated from sites of the early imperial age of ancient China that seem to fulfill a function close to that of a modern calendar. I refer deliberately to a resemblance of function rather than of form, since a number of very different formats of document are known, all of which would have enabled their users to answer the basic question “What day is it?”1 Further, I use the English word “calendar” rather than a Chinese term, despite the risks of importing associated alien concepts into the Chinese past, simply because we are not at all sure what people normally called these documents in the early imperial period. One modern Chinese scholar has adopted a similar stratagem by using the term liri 曆日, literally, “sequenced days” or “days of the calendar,” which is well attested in the post-Han period and occurs at least once in Qin and Han sources.2

Looking at a Calendar

One common type of calendrical document does follow a pattern that will be easily recognizable to a modern reader once its content is understood. The example here comes from Yinqueshan 銀雀山 tomb 2, Shandong. It takes a very common form for documents in early imperial China—a series of columns of writing, each on its own bamboo slip, with the slips bound together in sequence with cords to 1  See the typology set out in Liu Lexian, 2011, pp. 351–56. 2  Ibid., pp. 356–59.

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form a bundle that could be rolled up for storage. Figure 7.1 is a reconstruction of this calendar, using standardstyle graphs, from the original somewhat damaged bamboo slips on which it was written more than two thousand years ago.3 The slip on the extreme right-hand side would have been read first. It bears the four graphs qi nian shi ri 七年 視日 “conspectus of days for the seventh year.” Here, the “seventh year” corresponds closely to the year 134 bce in the Julian calendar.4 The next slip has a series of thirteen notations beginning at the top with shi yue da 十月大 “tenth month, large” (Xl in fig. 7.1), followed by shiyi yue xiao 十一月小 “eleventh month, small” (XI s) and shier yue da 十二月大 “twelfth month, large” (XII l). Below that, the month-count starts again with the first month, marked zheng yue da 正月大 “standard month, large” (Il), and continues on downward. It seems therefore that for users of this calendar, the year began with the month numbered ten (X). This is consistent with the pattern that is known to have been introduced at the time of the Qin unification in 221 bce, as part of which, as told in the Records of the Scribe (Shiji 史記), “they changed the beginning of the year, so that the court ceremonies (for New Year) were held on the first day of the tenth month.”5 This numbering system for months is based on what is commonly called the Xia zheng 夏正 “Xia (dynasty) standard month,” which is, roughly speaking, the lunar month in which the season of spring is said to begin. In early imperial China, the Xia month-count was the normal reference. Here is Sima Qian’s 司馬遷 (145?–86? bce) explanation: “If we take the Xia standard as the standard month, then the Yin standard is the twelfth month, and the Zhou standard is the eleventh month. So the standards of the three royal lines are like a cycle, which then returns to the start when it is completed.”6 After 104 bce, 3  For reproduction of the original slips, see Chen Jiujin and Chen Meidong, 1974, pp. 67–68. 4  This is the “proleptic” Julian calendar used by historians, which projects the system set in place after the early imperial Roman calendar reforms of Julius Caesar and Augustus back into the past for convenience of dating. 5  Shiji, 6, p. 237. 6  Ibid., 26, p. 1258. The Zhou, Yin, and Xia standards might also be designated as Celestial (Tian 天), Terrestrial (Di 地), and Anthropic

calendars and calendar making in qin and han times

Figure 7.1 Drawing of the 134 bce calendar from Yinqueshan and schematic representation with codes. Missing graphs have been restored in the drawing. Calendar arrangement based on the schematic representation, right to left: slip 1, calendar title; slip 2, month names; slips 3–32, row 1, numerical count of days of the month, 1–30; slips 3–32, rows 2–14, sexagenary day count, n1–n60. Additional codes: long months (X l, XII l, etc.) and short months (XI s, II s, etc.); Reverse days (F); Retreat days (IR, MR, LR); Setting-Out-Seeds day (SOS); La festival (LF); winter solstice (WS); beginning of spring (BS); summer solstice (SS); and beginning of autumn (BA). After Liu Lexian, 2011, pp. 373–74, fig. 1.1–2.

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280 the Xia standard month was made the first month of the civil year, and it remains the month of Chinese New Year in traditional almanacs published today. Next to be read are the numbers across the top of the slips, which run from one to thirty. Below those are thirteen rows aligned with the month notations and consisting of either twenty-nine or thirty sexagenary day names (the sixty ganzhi 干支). It is easily verified that these run in a continuous sequence from row to row, so that, for instance, while the first row ends with day wuwu55 on the left, the second row begins on the right with day jiwei56.7 This is a list of the day names for a thirteen-month year whose months mostly alternate between twenty-nine and thirty days. In considering these facts in turn, we may use as our starting point some basic information about the calendar set out in a work dated a few years earlier than this calendar, the Master of Huainan (Huainanzi 淮南子), which was offered to the throne in 139 bce and devotes the whole of its third chapter to matters relating to the heavens. Month Lengths In general, the months on this calendar alternate between twenty-nine days (xiao yue 小月 “small month”) and thirty days (da yue 大月 “large month”), but the twelfth (XII) and first (I) months are a pair of successive long months (lian da yue 連大月 “joined large months”). A month in ancient China was always a lunar month, and its first day, designated by the term shuo 朔 (used here with the sense “beginning”), ideally should include the new moon, the moment when the sun and moon are so closely aligned from the point of view of a terrestrial observer that the moon cannot be seen. The Master of Huainan contains the following statement: “29499/940 days make a month.”8 This definition of the word yue “month” brings to our attention the need for (Ren 人) or labeled with the branches zib1, choub2, and yinb3, these being understood in terms of an idealized scheme of the different directions indicated by the tail of the Northern Dipper at dusk throughout the year, as shown on the mantic devices known as shi 栻 “(cosmic) models,” “cosmographs,” or “cosmic boards” (see Cullen, 1981). In imperial times, technical astronomical calculations were frequently based on the Celestial standard (Tian zheng 天正), so that the first month of the count was the Xia eleventh month. 7  In this chapter, sexagenary day names are written left to right, with the stem followed by the branch. The calendar discussed here uses the normal ancient right-to-left order. For the system of codes used for the numerical transcription of the ten stems, the twelve branches, and the sexagenary day names or binoms, see tables 0.4 and 0.5 in this volume. 8  Huainanzi, 3, p. 105 (“Tianwen xun” 天文訓).

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drawing a clear distinction between two possible senses of yue. In simple discussions of calendrical dates, yue may be rendered as “month” and refers to the groups of 29 or 30 whole days that form a basic element of the dating system. However, it clearly means something different in the statement cited—the actual length of time that elapses during a complete sequence of lunar phases, or lunation, which in Chinese practice was normally counted as beginning at the moment of new moon, when the sun and moon are at their minimum separation, known as “conjunction.”9 This time interval varies slightly from lunation to lunation but is never an integer number of days. A modern value for the long-term average length of the lunation is 29.5306 days (to six significant figures); this value is commonly known to astronomers as the “mean synodic month.”10 Since 29499/940 = 29.5309 to the same precision, the two values agree to within 0.0003 day, just under half a minute. This interval is a little longer than the average length of 29.5 days that would result from a strict alternation of short and long months, and so it is clear that there should indeed be “joined large months” from time to time in order to keep months in step with the lunation, as seen in this example with the twelfth (XII l) and first (Il) months.11 Number of Months and the Year For a modern reader, the Yinqueshan calendar for 134 bce has two additional features that need more explanation. 9  Because the moon’s path through the stars is slightly inclined to the ecliptic, the occurrence of a conjunction does not necessarily mean that the distance between sun and moon becomes zero for any given observer, so that the moon appears to pass across the face of the sun. When this does happen, a solar eclipse will be seen. 10  I avoid using this term in this chapter, partly to avoid confusion with my normal use of “month” to refer to a civil dating period consisting of a whole number of days, and partly because values for this interval are not usually given directly in ancient Chinese texts, although they may be implied by the values given to other constants. The interval between new moons can vary from 29.18 to about 29.93 days. In the period we shall be discussing, no attempt was made to vary month lengths to reflect this: the month followed the “mean lunation” rather than the “true lunation.” This would rarely lead to any obviously visible problem. 11  Since 29.5306 days – 29.5 days = 0.0306 day ≈ 1/33 day, we should expect “joined large months” about every thirty-three months in order to maintain months in step with the moon. The very close correspondence between the Huainanzi figure and the modern value is partly fortuitous, because (as explained in the discussion that follows) it is probably derived from the combination of the length for the solar cycle and the nineteen-year intercalation cycle.

calendars and calendar making in qin and han times

First, it has thirteen months rather than twelve. Second, the last month in the sequence, which follows the month shown as jiu yue 九月 “ninth month” (IX), is marked as hou jiu yue 後九月 “latter ninth month” (IX*). What is going on here? The Master of Huainan passage cited above continues in a way that makes things clear: “(So) if you use twelve months for the year (sui 歲), the year will have a remainder of 10827/940 days. For that reason, there are seven intercalations (run 閏) in nineteen years.”12 This passage indicates a problem with making a year of twelve lunar months, which is that this period will be just under eleven days short of the solar cycle of close to 3651/4 days (see below), at which point the seasons repeat. As a result, after three years the deficit will have built up to more than a month, and it will be necessary to pause for a month (an intercalary month, run yue 閏月) before starting the month-count of the next year so that the month sequence will be put back in step with the seasons. That is evidently the function of the “latter ninth month” on this calendar.13 A story in the Zuo Chronicle (Zuozhuan 左傳), set in 484 bce, illustrates the outcome if this problem is not properly resolved, representing Confucius as criticizing the way the calendar was run: “Winter. The twelfth month. (There were) grasshoppers. Jisun asked Confucius (about this unseasonable event). Confucius said: ‘I have heard that (insects) are all in hibernation after the Fire (star, Antares) has set (i.e., it has ceased to be visible after sunset). Now the Fire is still sinking in the west. This is a mistake by those in charge of the calendar.’ ”14 The implication here is that the failure of “those in charge of the calendar” to insert an intercalary month has caused the calendar to get ahead of the seasons, a fact that Confucius verifies by pointing to an obvious astronomical event, in addition to the unseasonable presence of grasshoppers 12   Huainanzi, 3, p. 105 (“Tianwen xun”). 13  After 104 bce, when the beginning of the year was shifted to the first Xia month, it also became the practice to insert an intercalary month after any month of the year, so that, for instance, an intercalary month after the fifth month would be labeled run wu yue 閏五月 “intercalary fifth month.” The reasons for choosing a particular month for an intercalation will be discussed later. 14   Zuozhuan, 59, 5b (Ai 12). The twelfth month referred to in the heading of this entry is not the twelfth month according to the Xia month-count, but rather uses the so-called Zhou count that begins two months earlier. This twelfth Zhou month would normally begin in Julian late October or early November, by which time the sun would normally be passing close to Antares in its eastward motion, so that this star would have ceased to be visible in the west after sunset, as it had been a month earlier. If Antares is still visible in this month, it would have been clear that an intercalation was needed to allow the seasons to catch up with the calendar.

281 in a month when they would normally have gone into hibernation. To take a more detailed look at these figures: 12 lunations of 29499/940 days each = 354348/940 days; adding the “excess,” 354348/940 days + 10827/940 days = 365235/940 days. So the length of the sui “year” (i.e., the solar cycle from one winter solstice to the next) is 365235/940 days = 3651/4 days. This information is stated directly in the third chapter of the Master of Huainan in a passage that precedes the data on month length and intercalation: “(The sun) moves 1 du 度 in a day, and thus makes its circuit of the heavens. At the winter solstice it is at (the position called) High Wolf Mountain. It moves 1815/8 du, and at summer solstice it is at (the position called) Ox Head Mountain. It returns through 3651/4 du to make a whole year (sui).”15 A du is a measure of displacement of a heavenly body against the background of the stars, equal to the amount of the sun’s daily motion, which, at this period, was taken as constant throughout the year. A period of 3651/4 days (365.250 days) for the sui interval between winter solstices is not a bad approximation of the value assigned to the period by modern astronomy, which is 365.243 days. In modern terms, this period is called the “tropical year,” to distinguish it from the slightly longer sidereal year, the time taken for the sun to return to the same apparent position relative to the stars.16 But in the early imperial period, there was as yet no systematic recognition in China of the difference between the two periods, and so my use of the term “solar cycle” represents the conflation of the two—an interval after which the sun supposedly returned both to winter solstice and to the same position relative to the stars. If, as advised by the Master of Huainan, we insert seven intercalary months in nineteen years, what will be the result?

15   Huainanzi, 3, pp. 94–95 (“Tianwen xun”). These mountains are unknown to geography. The commentary of Gao You 高誘 (fl. 210 ce) says that they are the mountains of the “southern limit” (nan ji 南極; High Wolf) and of the “northern limit” (beiji 北極; Ox Head). Presumably the idea was that the sun was overhead at noon as seen from these locations at winter and summer solstice respectively, when the sun is at its extreme southern and northern positions. The term sui used here for “year” is often used in technical contexts to refer specifically to the solar cycle from one winter solstice to the next, as opposed to the civil year of twelve or thirteen whole months, called nian 年. 16  In the ancient West, the cycle of the seasons was counted from the spring equinox rather than the winter solstice. For a more precise discussion of what exactly the term “tropical year” has meant in the past, see Meeus and Savoie, 1992.

282 The total number of lunations in this period will be: 12 × 19 + 7 = 235. In days this comes to: 235 × 29499/940 days = 6,939705/940 days = 6,9393/4 days. 19 solar cycles in days comes to: 19 × 3651/4 days = 6,9393/4 days. So if we begin this period with coincidence of conjunction and winter solstice, those conditions will repeat at the end of it, although not at the same time of day. The nineteen-year intercalation pattern works exactly with the values given in the Master of Huainan, and indeed it seems most likely that the lunation length was chosen so as to fit with this period and a 3651/4-day solar cycle, rather than being directly observed. Even using modern values, the discrepancy is less than two hours over nineteen years. The nineteen-year cycle is known in Chinese as a Zhang 章 (Rule). In the West, it is called the “Metonic period,” after Meton, the fifth-century bce Athenian, although it was probably in use in Babylonia before his time.17 The great majority of scholars agree that before 104 bce, all calendars were based on a solar cycle of 3651/4 days with the insertion of seven intercalary months in each nineteen-year Rule period. As we have seen, that implies a length for the lunation of (29499/940) days. From the fact that the fractional part of the solar cycle was 1/4 day, for which the Chinese term is si fen ri zhi yi 四分日 之一 “one of four parts of a day,” systems based on these data were referred to collectively as “si fen systems.” A common English rendering is “quarter-remainder” systems. Marking the Seasons The 134 bce calendar has four notations showing the passage of the seasons (see fig. 7.1): Winter solstice (WS), dong ri zhi 冬日至: eleventh month, twenty-eighth day (bingxu23) Beginning of spring (BS), li chun 立春: first month, fifteenth day (renshen9) Summer solstice (SS), xia ri zhi 夏日至: sixth month, third day (wuzi25) Beginning of autumn (BA), li qiu 立秋: seventh month, twentieth day (jiaxu11) The term ri zhi 日至, rendered here as “solstice” (from Latin solstitium “standing still of the sun”), means literally “extreme (position of) the sun.” The abbreviated forms dong zhi 冬至 and xia zhi 夏至, literally, “winter extreme” and “summer extreme,” are more common. Other calen17  See Rochberg, 2004, pp. 239–40.

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dars may show as many as eight seasonal markers (the ba jie 八節 “eight nodes”): Dongzhi 冬至 (winter solstice) Lichun 立春 (beginning of spring) Chunfen 春分 (division of spring; i.e., spring equinox) Lixia 立夏 (beginning of summer) Xiazhi 夏至 (summer solstice) Liqiu 立秋 (beginning of autumn) Qiufen 秋分 (division of autumn; i.e., autumn equinox) Lidong 立冬 (beginning of winter) The terms for the equinoxes (fen 分) are abbreviations, like those for the solstices. Earlier texts refer to ri ye fen 日夜分 “the (equal) division between day and night.”18 All such systems of seasonal markers in the early imperial age were based on division of the period between winter solstices into equal intervals. Thus, counting from the day of winter solstice to the day of summer solstice on the calendar shown in figure 7.1 gives an inclusive interval of 183 days from the start of the first day to the end of the last, which allows for the exact interval between the two solstices to be 3651/4 days/2 = 1825/8 days. The period from winter solstice to beginning of spring is 47 days from the start of the first day to the end of the last, which allows for the exact interval between the two markers to be 3651/4/8 = 4521/32 days. While this set of eight is the largest that has actually been found on calendars, from the second century bce onward, some texts give a set of twenty-four seasonal markers (jieqi 節氣), of which the eight nodes are a subset. Each marker in this set is thus 3651/4/24 = 157/32 days from the preceding marker. In the early imperial period, the full set of twenty-four is found first in the Master of Huainan, but it does not appear on any excavated calendar (listed here for convenience in table 7.1).19 Because of the steady shift of the lunar months relative to the seasons, markers of the kind described here would fall on different days of the month in different years; however, a properly run system of intercalation would prevent them straying too far from their expected positions. Hemerological Markings A calendar is not simply a help in consulting texts of the daybook type; it may also carry hemerological information on its own. The calendar in figure 7.1 gives information of two kinds. First are the Fanzhi 反支 (Reverse 18   See, for instance, Lüshi chunqiu, 2, p. 64 (“Zhongchun ji” 仲春紀); and ibid., 8, p. 427 (“Zhongqiu ji” 中秋紀). Lüshi chunqiu was completed in 239 BCE. 19   Huainanzi, 3, pp. 98–102 (“Tianwen xun”).

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calendars and calendar making in qin and han times Table 7.1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The twenty-four seasonal markers in the Master of Huainan 冬 小 大 立 雨 驚 春 清 穀 立 小 芒

至 寒 寒 春 水 蟄 分 明 雨 夏 滿 種

winter solstice lesser cold great cold beginning of spring rain waters awakened insects spring equinox clear and bright grain rains beginning of summer lesser filling grain in ear

Branch) days, when the day qualifier Fanzhi was active, which were in principle ominous. On this calendar, these days occur in every month (marked simply as Fan 反; F in fig. 7.1). For instance, in the tenth month Fanzhi days are found on days 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30. The sexagenary day names that correspond to these six-day intervals have either wub7 午 or zib1 子 as branch components. Each month associates a different pair of branches with the Fanzhi days.20 As explained in the Kongjiapo 孔家坡 tomb 8 daybook, Fanzhi days are determined based on the branch of the sexagenary day name of the first day of the month: [子朔巳亥反]支[丑朔午子反]支寅朔午子反支[卯]朔未 丑反支辰朔未丑反支巳朔申寅反支午朔申寅反支未朔酉 卯反支申朔酉卯反支酉朔戌辰反支戌朔戌辰反支亥朔亥 巳反支

[When the first day of a month is a zib1 day, sib6 and haib12 are the Reverse] Branch days; [when the first day of a month is a choub2 day, wub7 and zib1 are the Reverse] Branch days; when the first day of a month is a yinb3 day, wub7 and zib1 are the Reverse Branch days; when the first day of a month is a [maob4 day], weib8 and choub2 are the Reverse Branch days; when the first day of a month is a chenb5 day, weib8 and choub2 are the Reverse Branch days; when the first day of a month is a sib6 day, shenb9 and yinb3 are the Reverse Branch days; when the first day of a month is a wub7 day, shenb9 and yinb3 are the Reverse Branch days; when the first day of a month is a weib8 day, youb10 and maob4 are the Reverse Branch days; when 20  For reasons that are unclear, the Fanzhi days on days 11 and 23 of month nine are marked with the graph zi 子 instead of Fan (Z in fig. 7.1).

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

夏 小 大 立 處 白 秋 寒 霜 立 小 大

至 暑 暑 秋 暑 露 分 露 降 冬 雪 雪

summer solstice lesser heat great heat beginning of autumn enduring heat white dew autumn equinox cold dew frost fall beginning of winter lesser snow great snow

the first day of a month is a shenb9 day, youb10 and maob4 are the Reverse Branch days; when the first day of a month is a youb10 day, xub11 and chenb5 are the Reverse Branch days; when the first day of a month is a xub11 day, xub11 and chenb5 are the Reverse Branch days; when the first day of a month is a haib12 day, haib12 and sib6 are the Reverse Branch days.21 According to this list, in a month whose first day is a zib1 branch day, the Fanzhi days will fall on any days with branches sib6 and haib12; in a month whose first day is a choub2 branch day, the Fanzhi days will fall on days with branches wub7 and zib1 (as is the case with the tenth month of the calendar for 134 bce in fig. 7.1), and so on down the list (see table 7.2). A story about Emperor Ming (r. 58– 75 ce), retold by Wang Fu 王符 (83–170 ce), illustrates what such a day could mean in practice: “Emperor Ming once asked (his ministers): ‘At the dawn (audience) today, how is it that there were no petitions submitted?’ The ministers answered ‘Because of Reverse Branch.’ The emperor said, ‘When the people have abandoned their agricultural work and come to the capital from afar, and on top of that the officials “avoid Reverse Branch,” this amounts to cheating (the people) by stealing a day from them.’ Thereupon he decreed that the bureau of complaints should receive documents, and the avoidance of Reverse Branch ceased.”22 The 134 bce calendar also marks the following days:

21   K JP. 17, slips 1232–1342, 1351–1371; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 143. On Reverse Branch hemerology, see appendix C in this volume. 22   Qianfu lun, 4, p. 221 (“Airi” 愛日).

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Table 7.2 Reverse Branch days for the months of the year recorded in the calendar for 134 bce from Yinqueshan Month First day branch Reverse branches

Days of the month

Xl XI s XII l Il II s III l IV s Vl VI s VII l VIII s IX l IX s*

[6], 12, 18, 24, 30 3, 9, 15, 21, 27 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 3, 9, 15, 21, 27 6, 12, [18], 24 4, 10, 16, 22, 28 1, 7, 13, 19, 25 4, 10, 16, 22, 28 1, 7, 13, 19, 25 5, 11, 17, 23, 29 2, [8], 14, 20, 26 5, 11, 17, 23, 29 2, [8], 14, 20, 26

[choub2] [weib8] [zib1] [wub7] zib1 [sib6] haib12 chenb5 xub11 maob4 youb10 yinb3 shenb9

wub7, zib1 youb10, maob4 sib6, haib12 shenb9, yinb3 sib6, haib12 shenb9, yinb3 haib12, sib6 weib8, choub2 xub11, chenb5 weib8, choub2 xub11, chenb5 wub7, zib1 youb10, maob4

Note: In the bottom row, IX s* indicates the intercalary month.

Twelfth month, day 11 (wuxu35): La 臘 “La” festival (LF) Twelfth month, day 24 (xinhai48): Chu Zhong 出種 “Setting-Out-Seeds” day (SOS) Sixth month, day 15 (gengzi37): Chu Fu 初伏 “Initial (Summer) Retreat” (IR) Sixth month, day 25 (gengxu47): Zhong Fu 中伏 “Middle (Summer) Retreat” (MR) Seventh month, day 26 (gengchen17): Hou Fu 後伏 “Latter (Summer) Retreat” (LR) The Setting-Out-Seeds day involved a communal rite closely related to the La festival and marking the beginning of the agricultural year. It is mentioned twice in the daybooks.23 The year-end La festival and its associated Retreat days are well known from ancient sources, but there does not seem to be any clear agreement on when they ought to fall.24 In this case, La is marked on the first day with the branch xub11 following winter solstice, while the three Retreat days are on the second, third, and sixth days with the stem gengs7 following summer solstice. Another calendar of the same slip-bundle type has both similarities and differences that make it useful for 23   K JP. 85 and ZJTB.18; see the discussion on p. 312 in chap. 8. The calendar found in Kongjiapo tomb 8 corresponding to 142 bce also marks the Setting-Out-Seeds day on a xinhai48 day; see Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 192. 24  See Liu Lexian, 2011, pp. 360–61.

comparison with the Yinqueshan calendar for 134 bce. It is from the site of Qingshuigou 清水溝, Gansu, and may be dated to the year corresponding to 69 bce. The calendar is missing the slips that indicate the year and the names of the months, as well as the slips for days 1, 2, 3, and 11 (the day numbers are written in large graphs at the top of the slips) (see fig. 7.2).25 The Qingshuigou calendar shows the two special features seen in the Yinqueshan calendar, in that it has two successive large months, corresponding to the fourth and fifth rows of days (month III l and month IV l in fig. 7.2), and shows the thirteen rows that indicate the presence of an intercalary month in the year. However, two things had changed by the time this calendar was made. First, the first month of the year is no longer the month numbered ten (X) but is the month labeled as the zheng yue “standard (first) month” (I) of the Xia standard. This is the month whose sexagenary days are in the uppermost row, just under the day numbers. Second, the intercalary month may be placed anywhere in the year, and in the Qingshuigou calendar it follows the first month (I l* in fig. 7.2).26 Like the 134 bce calendar, the 69 bce calendar shows seasonal markers, and seems to have originally contained all eight of the ba jie “eight nodes”: Beginning of spring: first month, fourteenth day (guichou50) Spring equinox (missing due to the lost slip at the beginning of month two) Beginning of summer: third month, seventeenth day (jiashen21) Summer solstice (missing due to the lost slip at the beginning of month five) 25  On this calendar, see Yin Guangming, 1996; and Jianbo yanjiu 2 (1996), pp. 373–74 and plate 2 (black and white photograph of the original slips). Plate 2 is a poor quality photograph, but is more accurate than the color photograph published in 2002 in Dunhuang wenwu, p. 33. In the color photograph, the slip for day 7 is misplaced and the slip for day 11, shown in the black and white photograph, is missing. 26  The system of intercalation used from 104 bce onward set out to guarantee that twelve of the full set of twenty-four seasonal markers would always be found in a given month corresponding to each marker. These were the odd-numbered seasonal markers on the list, beginning from winter solstice and known as zhongqi 中氣 “medial qi,” the even-numbered qi being known as jieqi 節氣 “nodal qi.” Since the interval between two medial qi is 3651/4/12 = 3014/32 days, it will eventually be the case that a month does not contain a medial qi. This month will be designated an intercalary month.

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Figure 7.2 Reconstruction of the Qingshuigou calendar for the year 69 bce based on the color photograph in Dunhuang wenwu, with corrections based on the black and white photograph in Jianbo yanjiu 2, plate 2. After Dunhuang wenwu, p. 33.

Beginning of autumn: sixth month, twentieth day (bingchen53) Autumn equinox: eighth month, sixth day (xinchou38) Beginning of winter: ninth month, twenty-second day (dinghai24) Winter solstice: eleventh month, ninth day (guiyou10) As for hemerological indications, this calendar does not mark any of the days shown in the 134 bce calendar. Instead, the term Jian 建 (Establish) occurs two or three times in every month except for the intercalary month in the second row (I l*). This indicates the use of Jianchu

建除 (Establish-Remove) hemerology, which assigns a

set of twelve day qualifiers to the days of a month in sequence, beginning with Jian (Establish) (table 7.3).27 Assignment of the Jianchu day qualifiers is based on the sexagenary day names. Thus, for the first month, any day that includes the third of the twelve branches (yinb3) is a Jian day; for the second month, a Jian day is any day that includes the fourth branch (maob4); and so on for the other months. No provision is made for an intercalary 27  On the early uses of Jianchu hemerology, see appendix C in this volume; and Sun Zhanyu, 2010.

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Table 7.3 Seasonal markers and Establish days for the months of the year recorded in the Qingshuigou calendar for 69 bce Month

Branch

Seasonal marker, day

Is

寅 yinb3

II s

卯 maob4

beginning of spring, 14 [spring equinox, 1]

III l

辰 chenb5

IV l Vs

巳 sib6 午 wub7

VI l

未 weib8

VII s VIII l

申 shenb9 酉 youb10

IX s

戌 xub11

Xl

亥 haib12

XI s

子 zib1

XII l

丑 choub2

Establish days

[?], 15 (n51), 27 (n3) 5 (n40), 17 (n52), 29 (n4) beginning of [?], 13 (n17), summer, 17 25 (n29) 8 (n42), 20 (n54) [summer solstice, 3] [?], 15 (n19), 27 (n31) beginning of [11 (n44)], autumn, 4 23 (n56) 6 (n9), 18 (n21) autumn equinox, 6 14 (n46), 26 (n58) beginning of 9 (n11), 21 (n23) winter, 22 5 (n36), 17 (n48), 29 (n60) winter solstice, 9 12 (n13), 24 (n25) 8 (n38), 20 (n50)

Notes: The months and their associated branches are shown according to the Dipper Establishment method (see pp. 163–64 in chap. 4). For Establish days, the numerical day count and sexagenary binom (n) recorded in the calendar are given. Restored information (shown in brackets) is based on Zhang Peiyu, 1990, p. 84.

month, which is also left blank in the 69 bce calendar. In the sequence of twelve Jianchu day qualifiers, the second is Chu 除. Daybooks regularly include Jianchu hemerology and describe each day qualifier. The first Fangmatan 放馬灘 tomb 1 daybook gives the following indications of what to expect on Jian and Chu days: 建日良日殹可為嗇夫可以祝祠可以畜六生不可入黔首

Jian (Establish) days: A good day. Permitted to be an overseer; permitted for prayers and cults; permitted for breeding domestic animals. Not permitted for bringing common people into the home. 除日逃亡不得癉疾死可以治嗇夫可以徹言君子 除罪

Chu (Remove) days: Those who run away will not be caught; those who are sick from exhaustion will die. Permitted to deal with an overseer; permitted to speak thoroughly. The superior man will escape blame.28 The Qingshuigou calendar has another kind of notation that is almost certainly hemerological in significance. There are about ten instances of indications referring to the time of day, such as ri ru shi 日入時 “time of sunset” (third month, day 18) and ri zhong 日中 “midday” (twelfth month, day 13). The precise meaning of these notations is not yet clear.29 A variation on the Yinqueshan type of calendar lists the odd and even months of the year in two separate sequences, each with its thirty day-slips preceded by a slip with month names, so that the calendar for the year requires almost twice the number of slips. This has the advantage of increasing the spaces between the day names on each slip, allowing for what appear to have been notes of events as the year progressed.30 Another type of calendar, often called a “panoptical” calendar, is organized according to a quite different principle. It is typically written on a single wooden tablet, as is the case with the calendar for the first year of the Yuanyan 元延 (Epochal Extension) reign period (12 bce) unearthed at Yinwan 尹灣 tomb 6, Jiangsu. Unlike the slip-bundle types discussed above, this calendar shows only the sexagenary day names of the first days of months and some seasonal and hemerological markers (fig. 7.3).31 The ingenious form of the calendar ensures that the names of the sixty-day cycle have to be written out only once. The top-right position is marked with the following graphs in a column: 十一月大甲子朔. The first four graphs are large and read shiyi yue da “eleventh month, large,” meaning that the eleventh month of this year is a long month of thirty days. The three smaller graphs that follow read jiazi shuo “the first day/conjunction day is jiazi1,” so that the first day of the eleventh month happens 28   F MTA.1, slips 13–14; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 67. 29  Compare, for instance, the details given in the Kongjiapo daybook (KJP.7, KJP.19) of the times of day in successive months when the Dipper constellation “strikes” (ji 擊) in particular directions corresponding to the twelve branches; for a reproduction of the “Dipper strike” table, see fig. 4.15 in chap. 4 in this volume. The times given there do not match the data given in this calendar. See also Liu Lexian, 2011, p. 360; and Yin Guangming, 1996. 30  See Liu Lexian, 2011, pp. 354, 376–82, plates 3.1–7. 31  See Zhang Xiancheng and Zhou Qunli, 2011, p. 97; Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 183–85; and Zhang Yongshan, 2001.

calendars and calendar making in qin and han times

Figure 7.3 The panoptical calendar for the year 12 bce on the recto of tablet D10, Yinwan tomb 6. Left: facsimile by Xu Datong. Right: drawing with added numerical notations for months and sexagenary binoms of the first days of each month. After Yinwan Han mu jiandu, pp. 21, 127.

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Table 7.4 Comparison of La days and retreat days in the Yinqueshan calendar for 134 bce and the Yinwan calendar for 12 bce Event

Yinqueshan calendar Month, day Stem or branch

Yinwan calendar Month, day Stem or branch

La festival Initial Retreat Middle Retreat Late Retreat

XII, 11 VI, 15 VI, 25 VII, 26

XII, 17 V, 24 VI, 5 VI, 25

First xub11 after winter solstice Second gengs7 after summer solstice Third gengs7 after summer solstice Sixth gengs7 after summer solstice

to be the first binom of the sixty-day cycle (n1). The next column to the left reads “ninth month, small, the first day/ conjunction day is yichou2,” so that the ninth month is a short month of twenty-nine days and its first day is the second binom of the cycle (n2). As for the tenth month, it is at the other end of the tablet, where, upside down at the bottom-left, there is a double column of graphs with the tenth month (a long month) to the right of the twelfth month (a short month); both months have jiawu31 (n31) as first day/conjunction day. The alternating pattern of even- and odd-numbered months at opposite ends of the tablet is easy to discern. At the top, from right to left, are the odd-numbered months XI, IX, VII, V, III, and an intercalary month (the intercalary month would have followed the first month in this particular year); at the bottom, from right to left, is month I, followed by the even-numbered months II, IV, VI, and VIII, with X and XII in the double column on the left. The arrangement of months follows the counterclockwise sequence of the binoms for the first day/conjunction day of each month. These are, at the top, XI (n1), IX (n2), VII (n3), V (n4), III (n5), and intercalary month (n6); at the bottom, XII-X (n31), VIII (n32), VI (n33), IV (n34), II (n35), and I (n36). Clearly, the basis for this arrangement is an idealized year in which there are not two long months in succession and no intercalary month occurs; hence, the first days of alternate months shift by 29 + 30 = 59 days, one day short of the sixty-day cycle, with the result that the sequential sexagenary day-count of the first days of alternate months will move one step backward each time. In the year 12 bce, however, the tenth and eleventh months were both long, thus the first days of the twelfth and tenth months were separated by an interval of a whole sixty days, resulting in both months having the same first-day binom. Further, there was an intercalary month after the first month, and in the calendar, the intercalary month occupies the position at the top left side of the tablet (Is* in fig. 7.3) that normally would have been occupied by the

Fourth xub11 after winter solstice Third gengs7 after summer solstice Fourth gengs7 after summer solstice Sixth gengs7 after summer solstice

first month itself, while the first month is placed with the even-numbered months at the bottom of the tablet. What about the two sides of the tablet? That is where the forty-eight other day names of the sixty-day cycle are to be found. As already seen, n6 is at the top-left, where it marks the first day of the intercalary month; on the left side reading downward are twenty-four day names, from n7 to n30. The count continues from the bottom-left, with n31 marking the first days of the tenth and twelfth months, to the bottom right, with n36 marking the first day of the first month. On the right side reading upward are the final twenty-four day names, from n37 to n60. Thus, all sixty day names of the cycle have been written counterclockwise, beginning with the top-right position. The cleverness of this arrangement should be apparent: if one knows, for instance, that the first day of the ninth month is yichou2 (n2), then, moving counterclockwise, the second day of the ninth month must fall on bingyin3 (n3). By continuing the count, one may identify all the other days of the month in succession until arriving at the position on the bottom-left marked as the first day of the tenth month, given as jiawu31 (n31). This is as expected, since the ninth month is marked as a “short” month of 29 days, which includes the sexagenary days from n2 to n30. But the calendar has more information to give us: there are a number of additional notations along the left and right sides. Reading down from the top of the left side, the first is placed next to sexagenary day renshen9 (n9) and says “eleventh month, ninth day: winter solstice.” Similarly, there are notations for the other seasonal markers that make up the eight nodes; the day for the beginning of spring is marked twice, once for the current year and once for the following year.32 The year-end La festival 32  Once under renzi 壬子 (n49), the fourteenth day of the first month (I/14), and again 366 days later under dingsi 丁巳 (n54), the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month (XII/24). This occurred because Yuanyan 1 was a leap year of 384 days.

calendars and calendar making in qin and han times

and the three Fu (Retreat) days are also marked. These do, however, differ significantly from those seen earlier on the 134 bce calendar from Yinqueshan (see table 7.4).33 As noted, transmitted texts give different rules for how these dates are to be fixed;34 whether we are dealing with systematic change over time or with ad hoc variation is not yet clear. Among slip-bundle calendars, there is one type whose form resembles the panoptical calendars in that it is organized on the basis of the sexagenary day names. Rather than having numerals to indicate the numbered days of the months across the top of the bound slips, the sixty binoms are written at the top of sixty slips, one to a slip. The months are recorded lower on the slips that bear the binom of a given month’s first day. Seasonal and hemerological markings may also be included.35

Calculating the Calendar

A calendar is something one needs to have ready before the year starts. One possible sign that calendars were indeed prepared in advance is the fact that the Yinqueshan slip-bundle calendar described above is labeled as being for the “seventh year.” The year in question, corresponding to 134 bce, followed the sixth year of the Jianyuan 建元 (Establishment Epoch) reign period of Emperor Wu, which had begun in 140 bce, so it was reasonable to anticipate that it would have been year number seven. But in fact a new reign period, Yuanguang 元光 (Epochal Brilliance), began that year, apparently in commemoration of the appearance of a comet, so that there was no seventh year in the Jianyuan reign period.36 Cycles and Quarter-Remainder Calculations How were the calculations for such documents carried out? As the Master of Huainan makes clear, the relations of the basic constants of a quarter-remainder calculation system lead to certain cycles that are helpful in working out a calendar in advance without resorting to large numbers:

33  A similar panoptical calendar for the year 55 bce was found at Jinguan 金關, Gansu (tablet 73EJT29:117A); see Jianshui Jinguan Han jian, vol. 3.1, pp. 159–60 (photograph); vol. 3.3, p. 100 (transcription); and fig. 4.3 in chap. 4 in this volume. 34  See Liu Lexian, 2011, pp. 360–61. 35  See ibid., p. 354 and p. 384, plate 5. 36   Shiji, 12, p. 460.

289 At the epochal beginning of the Celestial One, in the standard month, for which the (Dipper) Establishment is yinb3, the sun and moon both enter the fifth du of the lodge House13.37 Once Celestial One has marked seventy-six years (sui), the sun and moon go back to entering the fifth du of the lodge House13 in the first month, with no remaining fractions. This is called one Era (Ji 紀) period. After twenty Eras, making 1,520 years, there is a Grand Conclusion (Da Zhong 大終), and the sun, moon, and constellations once more begin with an Origin (Yuan 元) on a jiayin51 day.38 In the Master of Huainan, the cycles are not named in exactly the same way as they are in later sources. Here are the four basic cycles associated with quarter-remainder calculations, as set out in the detailed description of such a system that came into use in 85 ce.39 The Rule (Zhang 章) cycle: 19 solar cycles = 235 mean lunations = 6,9393/4 days. Within this cycle, the placing of intercalary months (however chosen) repeats. Thus, if one wishes to know when the next intercalary month will occur, one reckons up the years from system origin (li yuan 曆元) and casts out multiples of nineteen. The remainder then fixes one’s position within the nineteen-year cycle, and one simply looks ahead to see when the next intercalation is due according to the established pattern.40 The Obscuration (Bu 蔀) cycle: 4 Rules = 76 years = 940 months = 27,759 days. The Rule cycle was not a whole number of days and hence could not be an exact number of civil months or civil years. Only after an Obscuration cycle has passed is there precise repetition of system origin conditions for sun and moon at the original time of day specified. The cycle thus contains a whole number of days, a whole number of months (which will of course alternate between twenty-nine and thirty whole days in length, with occasional pairs of thirty-day months in 37  Celestial One (Tianyi 天一) is said to be the same as Grand Yin (Taiyin 太陰), which marks the passage of the twelve-year Jupiter cycle, in Huainanzi, 3, p. 126 (“Tianwen xun”). For the Dipper Establishment (Doujian 斗建) method, see pp. 163–64 in chap. 4. 38   Huainanzi, 3, p. 95 (“Tianwen xun”). 39  See, for instance, the explanation and figures given in Hou Han shu, “Zhi” 志, 3, pp. 3057–59. 40  One common pattern used was to intercalate at the following intervals in the nineteen-year cycle: 3-3-3-2-3-3-2; see Li Zhonglin, 2012, p. 62. But different decisions as to which reference points one was trying to keep in the right place could produce different patterns.

290 succession), and a whole number of calendar years. By finding which Rule cycle of the current Obscuration cycle one is in, one can determine the offset, counted in quarters of a day, between the starting conditions of the current Rule Cycle and system origin conditions. The Era (Ji 紀) cycle: 20 Obscuration cycles = 1,520 years = 18,800 months = 555,180 days. The Obscuration cycle did not contain a multiple of the sixty-day reference cycle. System origin conditions repeat on the same sexagenary day as before because 555,180 = 9,253 × 60. Each further Obscuration cycle within the Era cycle shifts its initial conditions three extra days from the sexagenary day of system origin. The Origin (Yuan 元) cycle: 3 Era cycles = 4,560 years = 56,400 months = 1,665,540 days. For the first time, the number of years is a multiple of 60, because 4,560 = 60 × 76. So in addition to the conditions specified for the Era cycle repeating, the position of the year in the sexagenary cycle also repeats. Constants and Cycles after the 104 bce Reform For the period beginning in 104 bce and continuing until the first century ce, we have a very full description of how calculations were to be done.41 Although the text in which the description is found forms part of the Book of Han (Han shu 漢書), which was not completed until around 110 ce, the precise match between known dates after 104 bce with the results of the prescribed calculations makes it clear that identical or equivalent procedures must have been used from the start. The system of constants and algorithms that makes up the instructions for calendrical calculations originally laid down in 104 bce is referred to in historical sources as the Taichu li 太初曆.42 The first element in this name is easy enough to understand. It is simply the name of the reign period of Emperor Wu that began in 104 bce and can be rendered as “Grand Inception.” The other element, li 曆, has already been encountered but deserves further discussion at this point. The graph shown in modern form as 曆 is just one way of writing a word whose ancient pronunciation was something like *rêk.43 A common alternative 41  See Han shu, chap. 21B. 42  After reworking by Liu Xin 劉歆 under Wang Mang 王莽, the system was also known as the Santong li 三統曆. Santong refers to the “Three Concordances,” which are at the core of the calculations prescribed. For a full translation of Liu Xin's system, see Cullen, 2017, chap. 2. 43  Schuessler, 2009, p. 132. The asterisk is conventionally used in historical phonology to indicate a hypothetical reconstructed form for which there is no direct attestation.

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was 歷,44 and in one case what is clearly the identical word is written as 磿 in a publicly displayed copy of an edict dated 5 ce.45 *Rêk has a group of related senses, such as “count, calculate,” “sequence,” and more particularly refers to the sequence of data that is called a “calendar” in English. As noted, the calendars on bamboo slips might be described by the term liri, literally, “sequenced days” or “days of the calendar.” The term li can also refer to the entire system of constants and algorithms that generates a calendar and can thus be rendered as “calendrical system” or (following Nathan Sivin) “astronomical system.”46 This last rendering takes into account the fact that a li may enable us to calculate not simply when months and years will begin and end but also the times when lunar eclipses might be expected and even the motions of the planets. What was the core of the Taichu system? Systems of the quarter-remainder type described in the Master of Huainan are based on a 3651/4-day solar cycle combined with a cycle of seven intercalary months in nineteen years, which results in a lunation length of 29499/940 days. The Taichu system started from a different basis, which made the combination of intercalation cycle and length of the lunation fundamental. The length of the lunation was fixed on the basis of the cosmologically significant number eighty-one, the square of the square of the yang number three, which was seen as fundamental to the system of musical harmonics: “The method was to start the astronomical system from the (twelve) pitch standards (i.e., pitch pipes): the capacity of the (Yellow Bell) pitch standard is one yue, a volume of eighty-one cun, so that is the fraction for the day.… The method is that the days of a month (i.e., lunation) are 2943/81.”47 Since 43/81 is almost exactly 499.01/940, there is very little difference between this lunation (synodic month) length and that of the quarter-remainder systems. If the cycle of seven intercalary months in nineteen years is to apply, this implies that the length of the solar cycle must be 235 × 2943/81/19 days = 365385/1,539 days. In decimal form, this gives 365.25016 days for the length of the solar cycle, which is very slightly further from the modern tropical 44  Thus, in explaining the statement in the Hou Han shu that a scholar had studied the Santong li 歷, the commentator refers to Santong li 曆 without any sign that he expects the reader to be concerned by the change in the graph used; see Hou Han shu, 35, p. 1207. 45  Dunhuang Xuanquan yueling zhaotiao, pp. 10 and 33. The graph 磿 is also seen in ZJTA.6 in the name of a hemerological system labeled “Rong liri” 戎磿日 (Rong calendar); see pp. 184–85 in chap. 4. 46  See Sivin, 2009, pp. 38–40. 47   Han shu, 21A, pp. 975–76.

calendars and calendar making in qin and han times

year value of 365.243 days than the 365.25000 days of the quarter-remainder. Naturally, the cycles resulting from these new constants were not the same as the four cycles described earlier.48 The Rule (Zhang 章) cycle: 19 solar cycles = 235 mean lunations = 6,93961/81 days. This cycle functions as before, in that if winter solstice and conjunction coincide at the start of the period (usually taken to occur at midnight), they coincide once more at the start of the next period, though not at the same time of day. The Concordance (Tong 統) cycle: 81 Rules = 1,539 solar cycles = 19,035 months = 562,120 days. Solstice and conjunction coincide once more at midnight, since the cycle has a whole number of days. As with the Obscuration cycle of quarter-remainder systems, this cycle contains a whole number of days and months. Given that 562,120 = 9,368 × 60 + 40, the first day of each Concordance will be forty days later in the sixty-day cycle than its predecessor. The Origin (Yuan 元) cycle: 3 Concordances = 4,617 solar cycles = 57,105 months = 1,686,360 days. Solstice and conjunction coincide once more at midnight, beginning a day with the same position in the sixty-day cycle, because 1,686,360 = 28,106 × 60. Of course there is no point in knowing the length of these cycles, or those of the quarter-remainder systems, without knowing at what point to begin counting, which would be the system origin (li yuan) mentioned above. For the Taichu system, that point was set at the instant when winter solstice and conjunction were supposed to have coincided at the midnight beginning a jiazi1 day at the start of the eleventh month (according to the Xia monthcount) in late 105 bce, although the actual first year of the new reign period did not begin until the start of the first Xia-standard month two months later. According to Sima Qian, the imperial edict said: “Now that it has been determined that in the eleventh month on the day jiazi1 there will be coincidence of the conjunction and winter solstice (at midnight), let the seventh year (of the current reign period) be changed to the first year of the Taichu period.”49 For the quarter-remainder system introduced in 85 ce, the starting conditions are described as follows: In the forty-fifth year (161 bce) of the mandate received by Emperor Gao of Han (Liu Bang 劉邦), the yang was at Shangzhang 上章 (i.e., the stem was at gengs7) and the yin was at Zhixu 執徐 (i.e., the branch was at chenb5, so that the year was gengchen17 in the sexagenary cycle). In winter, the eleventh (Xia) 48  For further discussion, see Cullen, 2017, pp. 32–39. 49   Shiji, 26, p. 1261.

291 month, on day jiazi1 at midnight there was (coincidence of) conjunction and winter solstice. The numbers for the day and month and for the accumulation of intercalations all start from here. (Thus) is established the conjunction beginning the standard month. This is called the Han system 漢曆.50 Quite apart from the fact that the Han system was not created until the first century ce, this was not the quarterremainder system in use at the time the 134 bce calendar from Yinqueshan was created. To offer one example as confirmation, according to the Han system, winter solstice should fall in the eleventh month belonging to that year, on a day that is yiyou22 in the sexagenary cycle, but the 134 bce calendar records winter solstice on day bingxu23, a day later.51 So, again, what was the system in use before 104 bce? What was it called and when was its system origin? Before trying to answer that question, it will be helpful to discuss a wider question relating to the early history of calendrical and astronomical systems, the so-called six systems (liu li 六曆). The Six Systems By the time of the second century ce, it seems to have become a commonplace idea that a number of different calendrical systems (li) had existed before the imperial age, each with its own characteristics and its own name. The first sign of this view is in the Book of Han, which states near the end of the essay on calendrical innovation, “In the time of Emperor Cheng (r. 32–7 bce), Liu Xiang 劉向 gave a complete account of the six systems, setting out the rights and wrongs of them, and composed his Wuji lun 五紀論 (Discussion of the five measures of time).”52 As to what these six systems were, the first explicit listing comes somewhat earlier in the same text: So from the Yin and Zhou (dynasties), all took on the responsibility to make changes. When the structures of astronomical systems had been completely 50   Hou Han shu, “Zhi,” 3, p. 3057. See Cullen, 2017, p. 150. 51  The calculation is easy. From the solstice before the beginning of 161 bce to the solstice before the beginning of 134 bce is 162 − 135 = 27 solar cycles, and 27 × 3651/4 days = 9,8613/4 days. Casting out whole sixty-day cycles, leaves 213/4 days. Since the first solstice fell at the start of the day jiazi1 (n1) in the sixty-day cycle, the solstice of interest to us fell during day twenty-two of the cycle, yiyou22 (n22). 52   Han shu, 21A, p. 979.

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rectified, ritual colors accorded with them, following the qi of the seasons, in order to respond to the Way of Heaven. When the three dynasties fell, at the end of the time of the Five Hegemons, the Scribes’ Office lost its continuity, and the experts and their disciples were scattered, some among the outer barbarians. Thus, in the records, we find the systems of the Yellow Emperor, Zhuanxu 顓頊, Xia, Yin, Zhou, and Lu 魯.53 Liu Xiang (79–8 bce) and his son Liu Xin 劉歆 (ca. 50 bce–23 ce) were responsible for the bibliographic work that the Book of Han compilers used in abbreviated form, so that it is not surprising to find the following titles in the “Lipu” 曆譜 (Calendars and chronologies) subdivision of the Book of Han bibliographic treatise: The Systems of the Five Schools of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi wujia li 黃帝五家曆), thirty-three scrolls; The Zhuanxu System (Zhuanxu li 顓頊曆), twenty-one scrolls; The Zhuanxu System for the Five Planets (Zhuanxu wuxing li 顓頊五 星曆), fourteen scrolls; The System for the Lodges of the Sun and Moon (Riyue xiu li 日月宿曆), thirteen scrolls; The Xia, Yin, Zhou and Lu Systems (Xia Yin Zhou Lu li 夏殷周魯曆), fourteen scrolls; The Celestial System and the Great System (Tian li Da li 天曆大曆), eighteen scrolls; and Tables of the Yin and Zhou Systems for the First Year of Han (Han yuan Yin Zhou dieli 漢元殷周諜曆), seventeen scrolls.54 All these writings, along with Liu Xiang’s Discussion of the Five Measures of Time, are now lost. The latter text must have survived into the time of the Tang scholar Kong Yingda 孔穎達 (574–648 ce), because he notes that the account of the Yin system (Yin li 殷曆) in the Discussion of the Five Measures of Time gave methods for calculating only the qi (the subdivisions of the solar cycle) and conjunctions and specified no means for calculating planetary motions.55 No doubt Liu Xiang provided a complete list of when each of these systems had its system origin. But in default of his work, we have no document from early imperial times that provides this information in complete form.56 53  Ibid., 21A, p. 973. A short reference to the role of political disorder in the origins of the six systems, referred to as the liu jia 六家 “six schools,” is also found in the compilers’ essay on the composition of the Book of Han; see ibid., 100B, p. 4241. 54  Ibid., 30, pp. 1765–66. 55  See Shijing, 16B, 8b (Mao 236, “Daming” 大明). 56  There is a list of the systems with the years of their system origins in the eighth century work Kaiyuan zhanjing 開元 占經, 105, 1a–2a. In the preface to his monograph on calendrical astronomy, now incorporated in the Hou Han shu, Sima Biao

His son Liu Xin did, however, write a major chronological study, the Canon of the Ages (Shijing 世經), that compares the dates in ancient texts with the predictions of the Taichu system (or Santong 三統 system).57 His comparisons frequently refer to dates based on the Yin system, including one example in which he states that the winter solstice preceding 47 bce coincided with conjunction on day jiazi1, making an Era Head (Jishou 紀首) for the Yin system, which implies that all the conditions of system origin except the sexagenary name of the year were repeated.58 Since the Era cycle is 1,520 years, the preceding Era Head for the Yin system must have occurred at the winter solstice preceding 1567 bce.

Identifying the Qin and Han Systems: Textual Evidence So in the last few decades of the first century bce, when Liu Xiang did his work, some seem to have accepted that the six systems actually existed, presumably from some time in the pre-imperial period. Can one of these six be identified as the basis of calendrical calculations in the early imperial period up to 104 bce? The earliest discussion on that topic of which we have a record took place in 78 bce: “In the twenty-seventh year after (the changes made in 104 bce), in the third year of the Yuanfeng 元鳳 reign period, the Grand Scribe Zhang Shouwang 張壽王 submitted a memorial saying: ‘The (astronomical) system is the great era of Heaven, created by the Supreme Di/Emperor 上帝. It was handed down as the Yellow Emperor’s Accorded Harmonics System, and it was used from the start of the Han dynasty.59 Now the yin and yang are out of adjustment, a fault that renders it expedient to change the system.’ ”60 司馬彪 (ca. 240–ca. 306 ce) lists the sexagenary years of the origins for each system, but no actual dates (Hou Han shu, “Zhi,” 3, p. 3082). See Cullen, 2017, pp. 232–34. 57  On the Santong system, see note 42. 58   Han shu, 21B, p. 1024. 59  A Tang commentator on a different passage of the Shiji has preserved a fragment that may clarify where Zhang Shouwang got such an idea. A citation from a lost (possibly late Warring States or Qin) work known as the Xi ben 系本 (Origin of the generations; i.e., Shi ben 世本) tells us that the Yellow Emperor charged six people to deal with divination by the sun, divination by the moon, divination by the stars, musical harmonics, the sexagenary cycle, and the reckoning of numbers. Rong Cheng 容成 was to synthesize these six arts and create a tiao li 調曆 “accorded system.” See Shiji, 26, p. 1256; and Shiben bazhong, p. 279. 60   Han shu, 21A, p. 978. See Cullen, 2017, p. 371. The reference to the Supreme Emperor does not indicate any human ruler of the past but rather names the highest embodiment of ancestral power referred to in texts that were already ancient in Han times.

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After a program of observations lasting several years, Zhang’s proposals for a revised system were rejected as making worse predictions than those already known. The Book of Han compilers note: “(Zhang) Shouwang’s system was in fact the Yin system in (the records of) the office of the Grand Scribe.”61 Interestingly, the Book of Han compilers (writing in the first century ce) do not state what they think the early Han system actually was, only what they think Zhang Shouwang’s Yellow Emperor system was. There is no statement dated to before 104 bce that tells us the name of a system in current use or even provides the name of any system.62 The Master of Huainan does not do so. In his account of relevant issues from early times up to 104 bce in the “Treatise on the Calendar” (Lishu 曆書), chapter 26 of the Records of the Scribe, Sima Qian says that the Han dynasty continued the practice of the Qin, but he does not mention a named system. Nor does he do so in the quite frequent references to controversies on calendrical matters in the “Treatise on Feng and Shan Rituals” (Feng Shan shu 封禪書), chapter 28 of the Records of the Scribe. When the Book of Han covers the same ground nearly two centuries later, things are quite different. Consider, for instance, the contrast between two very similar passages. The first is from the Records of the Scribe: At the rise of Han, the High Ancestor said, “It was the northern borders that rose in my support,” so accordingly he took himself to have received an omen of the power of Water (the agent corresponding to the north). Even brilliant calendrical practitioners, with Zhang Cang 張蒼 and others, all took it to be so. At that time, the empire had only just been settled, and they were only just about to knit together the foundational structures; while the High Empress played the role of a female ruler, there was as yet no spare time. So they continued using the first day of the standard month and ritual colors of Qin.63 So all that is said to have been carried on from Qin is the correlation with the agent Water, the use of the Xia tenth month for the New Year, and the ritual color black. Nothing is said about methods of calculation. The second passage is from the Book of Han: 61   Han shu, 21A, p. 978. See Cullen, 2017, p. 373. 62  In one famous passage in the Analects, Confucius advises a disciple who asks about how to run a state, “Follow the seasons of Xia” (Lunyu, 15, 4b). But this seems likely to be no more than an exhortation to use the Xia first month as the reference point for the year. 63   Shiji, 26, p. 1260.

At the rise of Han, they were only just about to knit together the foundational structures, and many matters were dealt with provisionally, so they continued using the first day of the standard month of Qin. In accordance with the words of the Beiping marquis Zhang Cang, they used the Zhuanxu system, since in comparison with the inaccuracy of (the rest of ) the six systems, it was nearest to (the truth). So they did not perceive the reality of the first day of the standard month and the ritual colors. Thus the moon might be visible on the first and last days of a month, and the crescents and oppositions were too late or too early, and were mostly in error.64 Three new elements have been introduced into the Book of Han account, all contained in the italicized phrase, none of which is hinted at in the Records of the Scribe version: first, there is a reference to a named system, the Zhuanxu system (Zhuanxu li); second, the six systems are mentioned; and, third, the notion of accuracy is introduced as a basis for system choice. For events at the start of the Han dynasty, it is clearly very unlikely that the Book of Han, completed around 110 ce, had access to more sources than were available to the author of the Records of the Scribe, completed around 90 bce. Between the two lies the major destruction of records at the end of the rule of Wang Mang (r. 9–23 ce) and the transfer of the capital from Chang’an 長安 to Luoyang 洛陽. We can only conclude that the Book of Han compilers were reading back later views into their modification of the Records of the Scribe material. On the basis of what we have seen so far, it seems difficult to trace the idea of the six systems back any further than the reign of Emperor Cheng (r. 32–7 bce), when Liu Xiang wrote. There is, however, one possibly earlier reference to one of the six systems. The main discussions of calendrical matters in the Records of the Scribe do not contain references to the Zhuanxu system of the kind that were added to the account in the Book of Han. However, the following summation follows the section of the Records of the Scribe that contains the biography of Zhang Cang, ostensibly written some time before 90 bce: “His Honor the Grand Scribe observes: Zhang Cang’s literary learning (embraced) harmonics and the calendar, and he was a famous minister of the Han. But he treated with contempt Jia Sheng 賈生, Gongsun Chen 公孫臣, and others who spoke of the matter of the conjunction of the standard month and ritual colors and did not follow them. How could it be that he clearly used the Qin’s Zhuanxu 64   Han shu, 21A, p. 974. See Cullen, 2017, p. 367.

294 system (明用秦之顓頊曆何哉)?”65 The Book of Han ends its version of this material differently: “Encomium: Zhang Cang’s literary learning excelled in harmonics and the calendar, and he was a famous minister of the Han. But how could it be that he confined himself to continuing to use the Qin’s Zhuanxu system (而專遵用顓頊曆何哉)?”66 I am frankly unsure what to make of this situation. Did Sima Qian really write the last sentence in the Records of the Scribe passage (which is not entirely easy to parse as it stands)? As is well known, parts of the Records of the Scribe suffered alteration or are later “restorations”: immediately following the summation quoted above, the narrative continues with accounts of events after Sima Qian’s death. If the last sentence is omitted, the passage is in no way inconsistent with what is said about calendrical matters before 104 bce in major sections of the Records of the Scribe, but if it is included, its meaning is still not clear. The significance of ming yong 明用 “clearly used” in this sentence is obscure, and as a result it is impossible to know whether the sentence is blaming Zhang Cang for using the Zhuanxu system or criticizing others for saying that he did. Nearly two centuries later, the Book of Han would unambiguously state that Zhang Cang is being criticized for allegedly using the Zhuanxu system, which, according to the text, he adopted from the Qin. Even allowing for this passage, we can state the following provisional conclusions: first, it does not seem that any of the six systems are referred to in any surviving document written before 104 bce; second, the first evidence of the six systems being thought of as a group is not found until the last decades of the first century bce. We are therefore still without any firm evidence of the system in use before 104 bce.

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the data we have for the Yin system to the 134 bce calendar from Yinqueshan; this system was, according to the Book of Han compilers, the real basis of the system that Zhang Shouwang claimed in 78 bce was the one used in the early Han period. As seen from Liu Xin’s statement, an Era Head for the Yin system fell at the winter solstice preceding 1567 bce, on day jiazi1 (n1). This implies that conjunction and the solstice coincided at the midnight beginning that day. Now from that instant to the winter solstice preceding 134 bce is 1,567 – 134 = 1,433 solar cycles, each of which is 3651/4 days. Given that 1,433 × 3651/4 days = 523,4031/4 days, and 523,4031/4 = 8,723 × 60 + 231/4, and the first solstice fell at the midnight beginning sexagenary day 1, jiazi1 (n1), the solstice we are calculating should fall during day 1 + 23 = 24, dinghai24 (n24). But the calendar itself marks winter solstice on sexagenary day 23, bingxu23 (n23), in the eleventh month, so the Yin system prediction is a day too late. Similar calculations using the lunation length show that the first days of most months predicted by the Yin system match the calendar, but those for the second, fourth, and sixth months are a day too early.68 So whatever system was used in 134 bce, it cannot have been the Yin system as it was known to Liu Xin more than a century later. What about the Zhuanxu system? Unlike the case of the Yin system, we do not have an early complete statement of the conditions at its system origin. We can, however, assemble enough information to reconstruct such a statement. The Book of Later Han (Hou Han shu 後漢書) records a statement made by Cai Yong 蔡邕 (132–192 ce) during a discussion of astronomical systems that took place in 175 in the presence of a great assembly of officials: “At the beginning of the Han they continued (the practice of) Qin, and for an astronomical system they used the Zhuanxu, whose (system) origin used a yimao52 (year).”69

65   Shiji, 96, p. 2685. 66   Han shu, 42, p. 2103. 67  Zhang Peiyu (2007, pp. 62–63) points out that efforts to give systematic reconstructions of the Qin and Han calendars go back at least as far as Liu Xisou 劉羲叟 (1018–1060). His article addresses the same problem in its turn. For the most recent listing and critical overview of the considerable number of attempts to solve such problems in recent decades on the basis of an

ever-growing amount of evidence from excavated texts, see Li Zhonglin, 2012, pp. 17–23. 68  For those interested in checking these results, we may calculate as follows: If the winter solstice falls 523,4031/4 days after system origin, and if the lunation is 29 499/940 days long, then the number of lunations since system origin up to winter solstice is 523,4031/4 /29499/940 = 17,723 to the nearest whole lunation. Now, because 17,723 × 29499/940 = 523,375 to the nearest whole number, which is the number of days from the winter solstice at system origin to the conjunction preceding this winter solstice, and 523,375 = 8722 × 60 + 55, the predicted day of conjunction is sexagenary day 1 + 55 = 56, jiwei56 (n56), as marked on the calendar. The conjunction of the next month is 17,724 lunations from system origin, and calculations proceed accordingly for that and subsequent months. 69   Hou Han shu, “Zhi,” 2, p. 3038. See Cullen, 2017, p. 405.

Identifying the Qin and Han Systems: Calculating Back It seems that our only option is to look at the surviving evidence of calendar dates from before 104 bce and try to work out which system fits them. That is easier said than done, as shown by the ever-lengthening list of scholars who have attempted to find a solution over past centuries.67 Simply by way of illustration, we could try to apply

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The commentary on this passage quotes from another writing by Cai Yong: “The procedure of the Zhuanxu system states: ‘At the Celestial Origin, the conjunction beginning the first (Xia) month coincides with the instant of beginning of spring (at midnight beginning the) day jisi6 (n6).’ ”70 But in order to use this information for calculation, we need to know in which yimao52 year the system origin fell. On this point, Cai Yong offers no assistance. However, if Liu Xiang’s account of the six systems survived into the time of Kong Yingda in the seventh century (Kong cites Liu’s Discussion of the Five Measures of Time), perhaps the data for the six systems given in the Opening Epoch Divination Classic (Kaiyuan zhanjing 開元占經) of around 725 may be considered reasonably reliable. At the start of chapter 105, the Zhuanxu system is characterized as follows: “From the High Origin of the Zhuanxu system in yimao52, count off 2,761,019 (years) before arriving at the present.”71 The text before this passage identifies “the present” as the second year of the Kaiyuan period, which is 714 ce. Thus the High Origin may be calculated as falling in 2,761,019 – 714 + 1 = 2,760,306 bce (allowing for the fact that there was no year zero). This is indeed a yimao52 year, as Cai Yong claimed. Moving ahead toward the imperial age by casting out whole Origin cycles of 4,560 years brings us to an Origin Head (and hence another yimao52 year) in 1506 bce. So, following a procedure similar to the preceding calculation: Solar cycles elapsed from beginning of spring in 1506 bce to beginning of spring in 134 bce: 1,506 –134 = 1,372 Days elapsed: 1,372 × 3651/4 = 501,123 and 501,123 = 8,352 × 60 + 3 The sexagenary day of the beginning of spring in this year should thus be numbered 6 + 3 = 9, renshen9 (n9). This is precisely the day shown on the 134 bce calendar for this instant in the solar cycle. The other three seasonal markers shown on this calendar may be calculated similarly: the preceding winter solstice, which is correctly predicted on day bingxu23, and the subsequent summer solstice and beginning of autumn, again correctly predicted on days wuzi25 and jiaxu11. Although the seasons seem to work out quite well, for the months, the match is worse than with the Yin system: the first days predicted for the eleventh, second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and latter ninth months are

70  Ibid. 71   Kaiyuan zhanjing, 105, 1b.

295 all a day too early.72 It seems that neither the Yin system nor the Zhuanxu system as later known was in operation in 134 bce. The same may be said of the other four of the six systems, at least as they are described in the Opening Epoch Divination Classic. This has been only an illustration of the problems and processes involved in attempting to reverse engineer the method of calculation underlying calendars from the period before 104 bce. We are concerned here with one particular document, the 134 bce calendar, but the data that have to be satisfied by any solution—or solutions—are much greater than the thirteen conjunction dates and the four seasonal markers listed in that document. In addition to all the dates listed in the received literature of Qin and Han times, we now have to deal with an increasing mass of dates from excavated documents. A recent study by Li Zhonglin, which attempts a reconstruction of Qin and early Han calendrical practice, relies on a very large number of items, comprising 305 data points giving the sexagenary days of conjunctions, 136 data points giving the sexagenary day names of days in given months, and seven items giving the sexagenary days of seasonal markers.73 The earliest date in his repertoire is the conjunction of the tenth month beginning the second year of the reign of King Zheng of Qin 秦政王, which fell toward the end of 246 bce on day guiyou10, and the last is the conjunction of the eleventh month that fell in late 105 bce, on day jiazi1. The constraints on any solution are clearly tight, and Li’s conclusion is that it is not possible to find a single sequence of continuous reckoning based on quarter-remainder values that fits all the data from the earliest to the last date immediately before the 104 bce reform. His solution involves the suggestion that calendrical practice from the Qin era to 104 bce can be divided into three main periods: Period A system: from 246 bce, the first year of the reign of King Zheng of Qin, who took the title First Emperor of Qin in 221 bce, to the twelfth Xia month of the year corresponding to 202 bce, the fifth year of the first ruler of Han, which is the year when Liu Bang accepted the imperial title.74

72  A solution proposed by some of the first scholars to study the 134 bce calendar was, in essence, that conjunctions predicted by the Zhuanxu system for times after noon on a given day would be taken as falling on the next day. See Chen Jiujin and Chen Meidong, 1989. 73  See Li Zhonglin, 2012, pp. 24–36. 74   Shiji, 8, p. 379.

296 Period B system: from the first Xia month of 202 bce to the “latter ninth month” of 164 bce, which was followed by the year when Emperor Wen, under the influence of Gongsun Chen after having dispensed with the services of the aged Zhang Cang, decided to begin a new year-count.75 Period C system: from the first Xia month of 163 bce to the fifth Xia month of 104 bce. None of the sequences of dates constructed by Li Zhonglin is based on a full-scale system origin in the sense known from the 104 bce reforms onward. Instead, he identifies a starting date for calculations, when a conjunction begins at midnight on a named day some time before the period of currency of the date sequence, and calculates conjunctions on that basis. The discontinuities between periods identified by Li consist essentially in the decision to make the timing of conjunctions slightly earlier: from period A to period B, the shift is identified as 144/940 day, and from period B to period C as 18/940 day.76 The overall shift of 162/940 day will leave many conjunctions on the same day as originally predicted, but conjunctions initially calculated to fall close to the start of a day may end up being shifted to the day before. One important example is the final date in Li’s repertoire, the conjunction of the eleventh month falling in late 105 bce, which we know from the historical record to have fallen on day jiazi1. If the period A system had continued to operate, this conjunction would have been placed 100/940 day into day yichou2, instead of at 878/940 day into day jiazi1, which is the day on which the period C system places it. Li takes the seasonal markers of the solar cycle as following the pattern seen in the Zhuanxu system, and adds intercalations after the Xia ninth month on the basis of the familiar 3-3-3-2-3-3-2 pattern in a nineteen-year cycle, although the starting point of this pattern shifts as we change systems. It would be premature to claim that Li’s results have settled the problem. This is a debate that is likely to continue. But whatever solution may be proposed as the basis for dates before 104 bce, it seems unlikely that any one of the six systems studied by Liu Xiang and his successors 75  Ibid., 28, pp. 1381–83; 10, p. 430. 76  One obvious reason for the tendency to shift the calendar forward in this way is that in the early Han there was clear evidence that predicted dates for conjunctions were too late, as shown by the fact that the majority of solar eclipses (which can occur only at the instant of conjunction, supposedly the first day of a month) in the period were mostly recorded as happening on the last day of the months in which they fell; see Han shu, 27C.2, pp. 1500–1503.

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can be taken as representing actual practice in the Qin and early Han periods.

Who Calculated the Calendar?

The accounts commonly given of the origins of Chinese calendrical and astronomical practice have tended to stress the degree to which such matters were seen as of vital concern to the ruler. In the Records of the Scribe, Sima Qian represents the Yellow Emperor in person as being the first to define the essential points: “Now the Yellow Emperor examined and determined the stars and the astronomical system, established the beginning for the five agents, commenced origin and extinction, and standardized intercalation remainders.”77

The Traditional View: The Ruler “Grants” the Calendar Moving down in time, the Records of the Scribe relates that the world was thrown into disorder by the Nine Li 九黎, and order was restored by Zhuanxu. Then the Three Miao 三苗 rebelled, and the officials responsible for the calendar ceased to operate, so that “the reckonings of the system lost their proper sequence” (li shu shi xu 曆數 失序).78 The next part of Sima Qian’s story is familiar from the account in an often-cited passage from the Classic of Documents (Shujing 書經) in which Emperor Yao 堯 commissions the Xi 羲 and He 和 families to observe the heavens, attend to the intercalary months, and “respectfully deliver (or “grant”) the seasons to the people” (jing shou min shi 敬授民時).79 A perhaps overenthusiastic modern Western writer once dignified this passage as “The Foundation Charter of Chinese astronomy,”80 and more recently the author of a book on the astronomical system of the Yuan dynasty borrowed his title from the words in Yao’s charge.81 The message of this narration is clear enough, as Sima Qian notes: “This is (a matter) that those who reign treat as important” (wang zhe suo zhong ye 王者所重也).

77   Shiji, 26, p. 1256. The expression runyu 閏餘 “intercalation remainders” refers to the surpluses of the solar cycle over twelve lunations that accumulate year by year, until they are wiped out (at least in part) by the insertion of an intercalary month. 78   Shiji, 26, p. 1257. 79   Shangshu, 2, 9a–10b (“Yao dian” 堯典). 80  Cullen, 1996. 81  Sivin, 2009.

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Not only was the operation of an astronomical system of vital interest to the ruler, but it was even claimed that such matters were best kept entirely out of the hands of the lowly and presumptuous. Ban Gu’s 班固 (32–92) summary of the “Calendars and Chronologies” subdivision in the Book of Han bibliographic treatise states: Calendars (li 曆) and chronologies (pu 譜) set in order the positions of the four seasons, correct the nodes of the equinoxes and solstices, and bring together the conjunctions of the sun, moon, and five planets, in order to examine the reality of cold and heat, and decay and growth. So sage-kings must correct the reckonings of the astronomical system (li shu 曆數).… This is the art by which the sage obtains knowledge of destiny, and if someone is not the highest talent in the empire, what has he to do with it? When the Way falls into disorder, the trouble stems from petty men who seek to know the Way of Heaven by violent means. They destroy the great by treating it as small and cut off the distant by treating it as nearby. So the methods of the Way are broken in pieces and cannot be understood.82 Since most of our material relating to the history of astronomical systems comes from the writings of high officials who no doubt regarded themselves (or at least hoped to be regarded) as among the highest talents in the empire, it is perhaps not surprising that the picture most easily derived from reading historical sources is that such affairs were the concern of those in office and that rulers would not need to look outside such circles for their advisers. There is, however, evidence that this was not the case in the early empire, and perhaps later on as well. The Abortive Reform under Emperor Wen The early Han continued to use the New Year of the Qin in the tenth Xia month, as well as the symbolic colors of court robes and designs of ritual paraphernalia. But as the dynasty became more firmly established, pressure mounted in favor of giving recognition to the fact that Han had replaced Qin and ruled in its own right, without the need to borrow the cosmic symbolism of its predecessor. In the thirteenth regnal year of Emperor Wen, which ran from late 167 bce, someone who was not among the court officials laid an important proposal before the emperor: “Gongsun Chen from Lu 魯 submitted a writing, saying: ‘In the beginning Qin obtained the power of Water. Now Han has received it. Predicting in accordance with the 82   Han shu, 30, p. 1767.

succession of the end and beginning (of the five agents; here called de 德 “powers”), then Han corresponds to the power of Earth. In response to the power of Earth, a yellow dragon will be seen. It would be appropriate to change the conjunction of the standard month, and change the ritual color, so that the color exalts yellow.’ ”83 Clearly, Gongsun Chen made his prediction in accordance with the “conquest sequence” (xiangsheng 相勝) of the five agents in which Earth overcomes Water. Yellow is the color corresponding to Earth. Zhang Cang, who had supported the continuation of Qin practices at the start of the dynasty, was still in office and would have none of this amateur interference in his specialty: “At that time, Chancellor Zhang Cang excelled in harmonics and astronomical systems, and he held that Han had its origin in the power of Water and that the Yellow River overflowing at Gold Dyke was an omen of that. Beginning the year in the tenth month, with the colors black outside and red within, was in correspondence with the (governing) power. As for what Gongsun Chen said, it was wrong. So (Gongsun Chen) was dismissed.”84 But two years later, it was reported that a yellow dragon had indeed been seen in Qinzhou 秦州 county (in present-day Gansu), and Zhang Cang thereupon decided to resign on grounds of illness.85 We have no way of knowing what had actually happened in Qinzhou (and who was responsible for it), but as a result Gongsun Chen was summoned to court, given the rank of boshi 博士 “scholar of wide learning,” and tasked with leading discussions to draft plans for changing the astronomical system and ritual colors. The emperor also accepted advice that he should carry out a number of innovations in religious ritual, including making a visit to the shrines at Yong 雍. Over the next two years, interest in making changes mounted, stirred in part by the arrival of another outsider, Xinyuan Ping 新垣平 from Zhao 趙, who claimed to be able to detect increasing activity in the spirit world by “discerning the qi.” He persuaded the emperor to set up a new shrine to the Five Powers (Wudi 五帝) near the capital.86 The year after his visit to Yong, the emperor worshipped at the new shrine and gave Xinyuan a large sum in gold. Over the next year, 164–163 bce, Xinyuan maintained his influence by secretly arranging for someone to present Emperor Wen with a mysteriously inscribed jade cup, whose arrival he predicted by discerning the qi. In addition, he claimed that the sun had climbed 83   Shiji, 28, p. 1381. 84  Ibid., 28, p. 1381. 85  Ibid., 96, p. 2682. 86  Ibid., 28, p. 1382.

298 back to its noon height after passing it once in a single day. Consequently, and no doubt also on Gongsun Chen’s advice, Emperor Wen began a new count of regnal years to mark the auspicious event, and the seventeenth year of his reign was counted as the first year of the Houyuan 後元 (Later Origin) period. If Li Zhonglin is correct, the procedure for calculating the first days of months was also changed at this point. Xinyuan Ping’s next claim was that he had discerned the qi of the ancient sacred tripods that had embodied the power of the kings of the Zhou dynasty, long submerged in the Si 泗 River in Shandong, and a shrine was set up on the riverbank at Fenyin 汾陰 in the hope that the tripods would be recovered. But his growing influence had evidently made Xinyuan enemies, for shortly after this, he was denounced as a fraud, investigated, and executed along with his entire clan. The wave of confidence the emperor had ridden for the past few years was broken, and he lost interest in making further innovations in calendrical or ritual matters. No doubt the major incursion of the Xiongnu 匈奴 nomads in the following year helped fix the court’s attention on other matters.

The Origins and Nature of the Reform under Emperor Wu The reign of Emperor Jing (r. 156–141 bce), who followed Emperor Wen, did not bring any significant innovations in state policy in relation to the cosmic powers. But in 104 bce, in the fourth decade of the reign of his successor, Emperor Wu, change did eventually come. The account of the astronomical reforms of that year in the Book of Han could give the impression that a group of expert officials had deliberated among themselves, advised the emperor on technical grounds that the calendar was in some way faulty, and concluded that reform was needed: “When it came to the seventh year of the Yuanfeng 元封 period of Emperor Wu, it was 102 years since the rise of Han; Palace Grandee Gongsun Qing 公孫卿 and Hu Sui 壺遂 with Grand Scribe Sima Qian and others stated: ‘The guiding threads of the astronomical system have been broken and lost. It is appropriate to change the conjunction of the standard month.’ ” After further exchanges, the project for reform was launched, and the same experts began a program of observation to determine what the elements of the new system should be: “Subsequently an edict ordered (Gongsun) Qing, (Hu) Sui, and (Sima) Qian, together with Attendant Gentleman Zun 尊, Senior Star Watcher She Xing 射姓, and others, to deliberate on the creation of a new astronomical system. So they fixed east and west, set up instruments for observing shadows (i.e., gnomons), and set water clocks running in order to find the extent of

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the twenty-eight stellar lodges in the four quarters and to seek a conclusion (of cycles) so as to fix the first and last days of months, with the equinoxes and solstices.”87 In fact, the decision to put a new system into effect had been made years before, and the reasons for that decision had little apparent connection with systematic astronomical observation. To understand what lay behind the decisions made in 104 bce, we need to go back to the start of the emperor’s reign. In the spring of 141 bce, Emperor Wu came to the throne as a boy in his sixteenth year. The posthumous title Wudi 武帝 (Martial Emperor) by which this emperor is known to history is certainly justified by the vigor and success of Chinese military policy during his long reign, which saw imperial power extended deep into Central Asia. Unlike his ancestor Liu Bang, Emperor Wu took no direct part in fighting. Much of his personal energy was devoted to establishing relations with the unseen world of spiritual powers. It is possible to distinguish two main strands in Emperor Wu’s religious activity. The first is the use of intermediaries to make contact with the spirits. Some of these intermediaries were wu 巫 “shamans” whom the spirits would possess and through whom they would speak. Others claimed to have means of contacting the mysterious xian 僊 (also written 仙) “immortals,” beings who lived in eternal felicity on the islands of Penglai 蓬萊 far beyond the eastern sea but might sometimes be found closer at hand. With proper preparation, it was possible to induce xian to visit the world of men, and a few favored human beings might even be allowed to join their number and obtain immortality. The second is further development of the ancient imperial worship of the cosmic powers, a process already begun by Emperor Wen. At a crucial stage in Emperor Wu’s reign, his obsession with obtaining personal immortality became linked to imperial religious practice and the establishment of a new relation between the dynasty and the powers that controlled the universe. Astronomical reforms were finally introduced as a necessary part of this process. There had been moves to initiate change at the start of the young emperor’s reign. The country had enjoyed relative peace and security for a number of years, the people were growing prosperous, and the government’s reserves of cash and grain were straining the available storage capacity.88 Some of those at court argued that it was time for a new beginning:

87   Han shu, 21A, pp. 974–75. See Cullen, 2017, p. 369. 88   Shiji, 30, p. 1420.

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Courtiers all expected that the Son of Heaven would carry out the Feng and Shan rituals and reform standards and measures.89 Emperor Wu, who was inclined to the doctrines of the literati (ru 儒), summoned the worthy (to offer advice), and Zhao Wan 趙綰, Wang Zang 王臧, and others were given ministerial rank by reason of their literary learning. They planned to report on how the Hall of Holiness (Mingtang 明堂) had been constructed to the south of the city in ancient times in order to give audience to the feudal lords. They prepared a draft on the business of tours of inspection, hunting expeditions, the Feng and Shan, the reform of the calendar, and the color of court robes—but it was never completed.90 It was at this point that political opposition from Empress Dowager Dou 竇, who was no friend to Zhao Wan, put a stop to such initiatives. Although Emperor Wu continued to show his support for the literati by setting up professorships in the Five Classics in 136 bce, by the time the Empress Dowager died in the following year, it was too late to pursue the idea of beginning his reign with the symbolism of cosmic change, and all such projects, including astronomical reform, were laid aside for some years.91 Two years after the death of the Empress Dowager, in the regnal year 134–133 bce, Emperor Wu paid his first visit to the shrines at Yong and performed the ceremony of Jiao 郊 (The Bounds) in honor of the Five Powers.92 Thereafter these rituals were to be performed every three years, although the emperor did not always attend in person. At this time, Emperor Wu came under the influence of Li Shaojun 李少君, the first of his principal spiritual intermediaries, who claimed to be several hundred years old. Li told the emperor that he had met Master Anqi 安期, one of the immortals of Penglai, during a sea voyage. His instructions to the emperor presented the pursuit of immortality and imperial religion as a single enterprise: “Through worshipping the god of the stove, you will become able to command all creatures, and thus you will be able to turn cinnabar into gold. By the use of eating and 89  On the Feng and Shan rituals, see Loewe, 1982, pp. 130–43. While many scholars were convinced that these two rituals (always spoken of as a pair) were of the greatest importance in establishing the legitimacy of a ruler, and that they had been performed by sage-kings in remote antiquity, there was no consensus on what the rituals really involved, only that they were associated with Mount Tai 泰山 in Shandong. 90   Shiji, 12, p. 452. 91  On the establishment of the professorships, see Han shu, 6, p. 159. 92   Shiji, 28, p. 1384.

drinking vessels made of this gold, you will lengthen your days and thus be able to visit the immortals of Penglai in the midst of the sea. When you have visited them, you may perform the Feng and Shan ceremonies and obtain immortality. This is what the Yellow Emperor did.”93 Emperor Wu’s faith in Li was so great that even Li’s death shortly afterward failed to shake it; in his view, Li had simply been “transformed” into an immortal himself. The emperor set into motion a great search among all the fangshi 方士 “specialists in recondite arts,” literally “recipe gentlemen,” on the sea coasts of the ancient eastern states of Yan 燕 and Qi 齊 in an effort to find someone else who could contact Master Anqi for him. In view of the rewards offered, there was no lack of applicants, and Emperor Wu’s reign must have been a golden age for fangshi. Unfortunately, whatever their initial sincerity may have been, they were inevitably tempted to promise more than they could deliver, and the emperor had no mercy when their fraudulence was exposed. In 120 bce, Shao Weng 少翁 from Qi was given high rank for summoning the spirit of a deceased imperial concubine at a séance in the palace. He promised more direct communications with the unseen world, but a year later, nothing had materialized. In desperation, he faked a “spirit message” but was secretly executed when Emperor Wu noticed the suspicious similarity of the calligraphy to Shao’s own handwriting.94 A few years later, in 113 bce, when the emperor was beginning to regret having executed Shao before his art had been allowed to produce results, one of Shao’s old associates, Luan Da 欒大, came forward to take his place. Like Li Shaojun, he claimed to have met Master Anqi of Penglai but had been rebuffed because he was a mere commoner. If only the emperor would give him high rank and treat him with honor, perhaps he might succeed in establishing relations with the immortal court on his next trip to Penglai. The emperor responded enthusiastically, marrying Luan to a princess with a rich dowry. During the months when Luan was ostensibly preparing for his expedition, he was treated as almost more than the emperor’s equal. There was an understandable outbreak of enthusiasm among the fangshi of the eastern seaboard, all of whom now claimed to have secret methods for contacting the immortals. All, no doubt, also claimed to be in need of a substantial amount of research funding. Meanwhile, there had been further innovations in the ancient cosmic cults. In 133 bce, the emperor had been persuaded to set up a new shrine to the southeast of the capital in honor of Grand One (Taiyi 太一), who was said 93  Ibid., 28, p. 1385. 94  Ibid., 28, pp. 1387–88.

300 to rule the sovereigns of the Five Powers worshipped at Yong.95 In 121 bce, a “unicorn” was said to have been captured after the emperor had performed the ceremony of The Bounds. Encouraged by this omen, Emperor Wu took personal possession of the territory around the sacred Mount Tai 泰山 and the land around Mount Chang 常山. All five sacred mountains of the realm were now in his hands, and the feeling grew that the time for the great imperial rites of Feng and Shan was near.96 The last attempt to perform these rites had taken place in 219 bce, when the First Emperor of Qin had climbed Mount Tai to announce his accession to the cosmic powers and, according to the story current under the Han, had been met with a great storm, an inauspicious omen of cosmic disapproval.97 Perhaps mindful of this example, and unsure of how the ceremonies were to be performed, the emperor delayed for several years. The events leading up to the consummation of the Feng and Shan ceremonies had a more precise connection than has previously been thought with the choice of 104 bce as a suitable year for astronomical reform. The story begins in the summer of 113 bce, when Luan Da was preparing for his embassy to Penglai. A shaman (wu) was conducting invocations at the shrine of Sovereign Earth (Houtu 后土), which the emperor had recently set up at Fenyin. This was where his grandfather Emperor Wen had commissioned ceremonies in 164 bce in an attempt to recover the lost sacred tripods of the Zhou dynasty. Upon seeing a glint of metal, the shaman dug away the soil and recovered a strange tripod vessel inscribed with indecipherable writing. The emperor was doubtful as to the significance of this discovery, especially in view of the recent succession of evil omens such as bad harvests and flooding on the Yellow River. His ministers nevertheless recounted the stories of the great bronze tripods that had been in the possession of the sage-rulers of high antiquity and assured him that this was a highly complimentary omen in regard to the wisdom of his rule. The tripod, which was probably a genuine enough object from the Shang or early Zhou dynasties, perhaps buried at the site of an earlier shrine, was given an honored place in the hall of imperial audience.98 The discovery of the tripod intensified the emperor’s interest in immortality and imperial religion. That autumn there arose a question as to whether the emperor himself ought to carry out the worship of Grand One set 95  Ibid., 28, p. 1386. 96  Ibid., 28, p. 1287. 97  Ibid., 28, p. 1367. 98  Ibid., 28, p. 1392.

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up twenty years earlier. Spurred on by the rich success of Luan Da, Gongsun Qing from Qi (the same Gongsun Qing who advised astronomical reform in 104 bce) decided that this was an opportunity not to be missed. He announced: “This year a precious tripod has been discovered, and the coming winter solstice will fall on the first day of the month, on sexagenary day xinsi18. Things are as in the time of the Yellow Emperor.”99 He attempted to present a document to the emperor but was blocked by a court official who told him, “That business about the tripod is all over now. Why raise it again?” Perhaps he was a little tired of gentlemen from Qi with mystic and rather expensive secrets. Gongsun simply submitted the document by another route. It read as follows: The Yellow Emperor discovered a precious tripod at Wanqu 宛朐. He asked Guiyu Qu 鬼臾區 about it, who replied, “Your Majesty has obtained this precious tripod, (with which is associated a certain) numinous reckoning. This year winter solstice will fall on the first day of the month, on a jiyou46 day. To accord with the Era period of heaven, things must complete the cycle and return to their origin.” Thereupon the Yellow Emperor attended to the days and worked out the Reckoning (Ce 策); in the twentieth year, winter solstice fell once more on the first day of the month, and after twenty such Reckonings, making 380 years, the Yellow Emperor ascended to heaven as an immortal.100 What did Gongsun Qing intend with these pronouncements about Emperor Wu and the Yellow Emperor and their tripods? In the first place, his statement that the coming winter solstice (in late 113 bce) would fall on xinsi18, the first day of the eleventh month, is confirmed by an explicit reference to the date in the Records of the Scribe text.101 From the document he submitted, it is clear that Gongsun Qing was cognizant of standard quarterremainder calendrical periods such as the Era (Ji) of 1,520 years and the Rule (Zhang) of 19 years (though he calls the latter a Ce 策, or Reckoning). Our knowledge of these calendrical periods and their properties supports a striking conclusion. At the start of a new Era period, winter solstice and the moment of new moon would both occur at midnight at the start of a given sexagenary day. Now supposing that, as stated in Gongsun Qing’s account, the Yellow Emperor discovered the tripod 380 years 99  Ibid., 28, p. 1393. 100  Ibid. 101  Ibid., 28, p. 1395.

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before the start of an Era and, in the same year, new moon and winter solstice subsequently occurred together on a jiyou46 day. On which day would they occur at the start of an Era cycle? Again, assuming that each cycle from one winter solstice to the next is 3651/4 days, then 380 years’ worth of cycles amounts to 380 × 3651/4 days = 138,795 days, and 138,795 = 2,313 × 60 + 15. Thus, the sexagenary day of the start of an Era cycle is found by counting 15 days from the jiyou46 (n46) day from which the reckoning began. The calculation 46 + 15 = 61 takes us through to the beginning of the next cycle of sixty, a jiazi1 (n1) day. On such a day, when winter solstice and the new moon of the eleventh month coincided at the midnight beginning the first day (n1) of the sixty-day cycle, the Yellow Emperor ascended to heaven. These conditions for the Yellow Emperor’s ascent are noteworthy in that they are precisely those specified in the calendrical reform that was eventually carried out in 104 bce, and Gongsun Qing’s name heads the list of those who proposed the change at that time. But several years earlier, in 113 bce, Gongsun Qing had stated that “things are as in the time of the Yellow Emperor,” thus alerting Emperor Wu to the approach of a new Era cycle, according to the Yellow Emperor’s reckoning. But whereas the Yellow Emperor had 380 years before favorable conditions for his ascent to heaven occurred, Emperor Wu had only 8 years’ notice. For Gongsun Qing, it was important that the discovery of the tripod at Fenyin had taken place in a year that was followed by a winter solstice on the first day of the month, just as in the year when the Yellow Emperor made his discovery. Emperor Wu reacted favorably to Gongsun’s document and summoned him for consultation. Gongsun explained that the document he had submitted was one that he had received from Shen Gong 申公 of Qi. Shen Gong was a literatus who had come to the capital at the beginning of the emperor’s reign twenty-seven years earlier, when he was already in his eighties, and had participated in the abortive discussions aimed at recognizing the Han dynasty as partaking of a new cosmic dispensation.102 Shen Gong was now dead, but Gongsun proceeded to tell his story. (Shen Gong) was in contact with Master Anqi, from whom he heard the sayings of the Yellow Emperor. He left no book apart from this writing about the tripod. It goes on to say: “The rise of Han takes us back to the time of the Yellow Emperor” and “The holy sage of Han will be among the sons and grandsons of the High Ancestor (Liu Bang). When the precious tri102  Ibid., 121, pp. 3120–22.

pod appears he will establish contact with the spirits and perform the Feng and Shan ceremonies. Of the fifty-two kings who have (attempted) the Feng and Shan, only the Yellow Emperor (really) succeeded in climbing Mount Tai to perform the ceremony.” Shen Gong told me, “The ruler of Han must ascend the mountain and perform the Feng likewise. When he has done so, he will be able to rise up to heaven as an immortal.”103 Gongsun went on to stress the significant parallels between Emperor Wu and the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor, too, had anciently performed The Bounds ceremony at Yong, which was also the site of the tomb of his minister Guiyu Qu, who had advised him on the finding of the tripod. The emperor’s palace at Ganquan 甘泉 was where the Yellow Emperor had met with a great concourse of divinities. After casting a new tripod of bronze from Mount Jing 荊山, the Yellow Emperor and more than seventy of his ministers and concubines had been borne up to heaven by a dragon. The place where this happened was none other than Tripod Lake 鼎湖, where, in 118 bce, Emperor Wu had been cured of a severe illness through the intervention of a female medium,104 who had relayed mysterious messages from the spirits to him. All this delighted the emperor, who was eager to repeat his predecessor’s ascent to heaven, and he appointed Gongsun Qing to the rank of Court Gentleman. Unlike his predecessors, Gongsun did not end his life on the executioner’s block. Although he would become adept at feeding the emperor’s appetite for stories of occult manifestations in years to come, he never seems to have put himself forward as an intermediary with the spirit world in the style of Li Shaojun, Shao Weng, and Luan Da. From this point onward, it was the emperor himself who was to be responsible for contacting the unseen powers, and if the results were unsatisfactory, there would be no doubt where the blame lay. Shortly after Gongsun Qing’s rise to power, the emperor tired of the unfortunate Luan Da, who was evidently never going to summon up the courage to depart for Penglai, and had him executed.105 The emperor now set in motion the process of recognizing the new dispensation under which the dynasty ruled, in the hope that, like the Yellow Emperor, he would achieve immortality. At the winter solstice following the discovery of the tripod, the emperor, clad in yellow robes, personally worshipped Grand One for the first time. In his 103  Ibid., 28, p. 1393. 104  Ibid., 28, p. 1388. 105  Ibid., 28, p. 1395.

302 sacrificial prayer, he stated: “Heaven began by granting the precious tripod and the numinous reckoning to (me,) the Eminent Emperor. Now, after new moon succeeding upon new moon, the cycle has reached its end and will begin again. (Now I as) Eminent Emperor reverently perform obeisance (to Heaven).”106 Sima Qian’s father, at that time Grand Scribe, was among those who sent in memorials congratulating Emperor Wu on the favorable omens that had accompanied the sacrifice.107 From this time onward, although the emperor never lost interest in making direct contact with Penglai, he devoted most of his attention to preparing for his performance of the Feng and Shan ceremonies, by which he hoped to emulate the Yellow Emperor. The problem was that all the scholars he consulted could not decide just what the rituals entailed. In the end, one of them, Ni Kuan 兒寬, made the politic suggestion that the person best fitted to decide on the form of the ceremonies was, of course, the Sage-Emperor himself.108 Having made the necessary preparations, the emperor performed the Feng and Shan ceremonies on Mount Tai in the fourth Xia month of the regnal year of 111–110 bce. For the Feng ritual, an earthen mound nine chi high and twelve chi broad was built, and jade tablets bearing a secret inscription were buried beneath it. The ceremony was that used in the worship of Grand One and took place on the eastern side of the mountain. Afterward, the emperor climbed to the summit with a single companion and performed secret rites. He descended the next day, and the Shan ceremony took place, the form of worship being that used for Earth Eminence 后土. Throughout the rituals, he was clad in yellow robes.109 Upon completion of the ceremonies, the emperor’s ministers gathered to offer felicitations in a ritual Hall of Holiness at the foot of the mountain. Ni Kuan was among them, having received the rank of Chief Imperial Prosecutor before the ceremony. In his congratulatory memorial, he spoke of the coming new epoch foretold by Gongsun Qing, when, “having waited for the (gnomon) shadow to reach its extreme (length at the winter solstice), on day guihai60 there will be ancestral worship, and the sun will give forth redoubled radiance. (The next day)

106  Ibid. I have chosen to take both instances of the term Huangdi 皇帝 (Eminent Emperor) in this prayer as referring to Emperor Wu himself, although it is possible that the first may be referring back to the Yellow Emperor. See the similar instance below. 107  Ibid. 108  Ibid., 28, p. 1397; Han shu, 58, pp. 2630–31. 109   Shiji, 28, p. 1398.

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at the ultimate origin on day jiazi1, (there will be initiated) reverent concord and eternal prosperity.”110 The emperor was convinced that the rituals had been a success and traveled hopefully to the shores of the eastern sea to see if the immortals of Penglai would show themselves at last. Although he was disappointed yet again in this respect, the appearance of what may have been two comets in the heavens that autumn was taken as an omen of cosmic approval.111 After five more years, at the end of 105 bce, the promised day came: The conjunction beginning the eleventh month and the winter solstice fell together (at midnight beginning) a jiazi1 day, conditions that astronomers held to be the basic concord. The emperor came in person to Mount Tai, and on this day, he worshipped the Supreme Emperors in the Hall of Holiness but did not perform the Feng and Shan. In his sacrificial prayer, he said: “Heaven has further bestowed on (me), the Eminent Emperor, the numinous reckoning of the Grand Origin: the cycle has returned to its starting point. The Eminent Emperor makes reverent obeisance to Grand One.” He traveled east to the seashore and questioned voyagers and the fangshi who sought the spirits, but none of them could produce any proof (of contact with immortals). So he sent out more (searchers), for he longed to meet with them.112 In the summer of 104 bce, the new cosmic dispensation was formalized: “In the summer, the Han dynasty changed the astronomical system so that the regnal year began in the first month. The dominant color was made yellow (in place of the former black), the names of the offices of state were revised, and seals of office bore five graphs (since this had replaced six as the canonical number inherited from the Qin). This year was made the first of the Grand Inception period.”113 This project could never have been carried through had it not been for the good luck and, perhaps we can say, chutzpah of Gongsun Qing, the adventurer from Qi. But others from outside the central bureaucracy also played essential roles. The Book of Han, but not the Records of the Scribe, contains a good deal of information about those others:

110   Han shu, 58, p. 2632. 111   Shiji, 28, p. 1399. 112  Ibid., 28, p. 1401. 113  Ibid., 28, p. 1402.

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(Senior Star Watcher She) Xing and the rest memorialized that they were unable to perform the calculations and wished to summon experts on astronomical systems so as to achieve greater precision, with each (expert) making adjustments, so as to create a Han Grand Inception astronomical system. So they chose the experts on astronomical systems Deng Ping 鄧平, Changle Palace Major Ke 可, Jiuquan Subcommandant Yi Jun 宜君, and Attendant Gentleman Zun, as well as experts on astronomical systems from among the people—more than twenty persons. The fangshi Tang Du 唐都 and Luoxia Hong 落下閎 from Ba prefecture were among them. (Tang) Du distinguished the divisions of the heavens, while (Luoxia) Hong carried out calculations for revising the astronomical system. His method derived the astronomical system from harmonics. He said, “The capacity of the (Yellow Bell) pitch standard is one yue, a volume of eighty-one cun, so that is the fraction for the day.”114 It is quite clear from this account that not only basic skills in astronomical and calendrical matters but also recognized high-level expertise sufficient to serve the needs of state were available in locations that were socially and geographically far removed from the court in Chang’an. This makes Gongsun Qing’s role in initiating the process of reform that culminated in 104 bce seem much less anomalous.

Lang Yi was styled Yaguang 雅光 and was a man from Anqiu in Beihai. His father, Zong 宗, was styled Zhongsui 仲綏. He studied the Classic of Changes (as taught by) Mr. Jing 京 (Fang 房) and was good at (divining by) wind directions, making calculations about stars (planets?), and (divination by) the six days and seven parts.… When Yi was young, he took up his father’s work and also excelled in the classical canons. He lived in retirement by the seashore and often had several hundred visiting students. By day they researched the essential significance (of the classics), and at night they divined by the du 度 of the observed phenomena.116 This school of classics, astronomical calculation, and divinatory skills was clearly a major center of learning quite outside official structures. For the Grand Inception reforms, the central government had called on the services of “more than twenty” astronomical experts “from among the people.” But by Lang Yi’s time, at least, it appears that they could have called on hundreds had they wished. Conclusion

The Case of Lang Yi: A Non-Official Center of Astronomical Learning A detailed account continuing this story into succeeding centuries is beyond the scope of this chapter, but one additional brief example may serve to underline the strength of the non-official knowledge base. I refer here to Lang Yi 郎顗 (fl. ca. 133 ce), who was summoned to court under Emperor Shun (r. 126–144 ce) and whose lengthy written submissions have been preserved in the Book of Later Han.115 His skills seem to have included hemerology and the interpretation of such transient celestial phenomena as parhelia and unusual vapors in the night sky. In his discussions of planetary omens and their significance, he shows that he is capable of carrying out the quite complex calculations needed for predicting where a planet should be seen on a given date in accordance with the methods current in his day. But where had he acquired this skill set?

This brief survey provides some background for other chapters of this volume, which deal with the nature and function of texts of the daybook type, so in a sense it is not strictly necessary to come to any independent conclusions here. But after thinking about the nature and development of the astronomical systems that underpinned the Chinese lunisolar calendar in the context of the daybooks, some new perspectives have emerged. First, the wide social and geographic distribution of astronomical and calendrical expertise in early imperial China: Contrary to the received stereotype, the “official” history of astronomy in this period seems to represent no more than the tip of an iceberg. The historical examples given above point to a mass of “submerged” expertise that reveals its existence only when it affects official activity centered on the court. Another example of such expertise that would have remained unknown if it had not been for an archaeological excavation is the detailed account of planetary phenomena in the text known to modern scholars as the Wuxing zhan 五星占 (Prognostics of the five planets), recovered from Mawangdui 馬王堆 tomb 3, at Changsha 長沙, Hunan (closed in 168 bce). Clearly there

114   Han shu, 21A, p. 975. 115   Hou Han shu, 30B, pp. 1053–74.

116  Ibid., 30B, p. 1053.



304 were experts far from the capital who knew as much or more about such matters as the experts at court.117 Second, the impossibility of describing the nature and function of this widespread expertise in terms that would be acceptable to a positivist historian of science: Gongsun Chen, Gongsun Qing, and Lang Yi were no doubt skilled in the calculations needed to run an astronomical system. But the benefit they proposed to those who made use of their skills was not the simple pleasure of understanding the numerical regularities of the visible phenomena but rather the power, by means of divinatory insight, to find a way through the uncertainties of public and private life, or even (in the case of Emperor Wu) to attain personal immortality. For such men, the purposes served by the daybooks and other types of hemerological manuscripts would have been both familiar and proper. Third, the possibility of turning the early history of Chinese astronomy on its head: The early imperial state 117  See Cullen, 2011a, 2011b.

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devoted much energy to creating an image of itself as the true and proper source and authority for all learning about the motions seen in the heavens. I know from experience how difficult it is not to follow along obediently and retell the story of how it was the initiatives and needs of those at the top of society that drove the study of the heavens. But writing this chapter has given me a glimpse of another possibility—that one might attempt to write history from the bottom up, so that the daybooks appear not as a lowlevel parasitizing of knowledge generated by the tiny elite of official experts but rather as visible evidence of the existence of a huge popular reservoir of activity and expertise, a reservoir that fueled the elite activity of which we have hitherto heard so much.118

118  Broader discussion of the issues raised in the preceding paragraphs, in the full historical context of the early development of Chinese astronomical systems, will be found in Cullen, forthcoming.

CHAPTER 8

Daybooks in Qin and Han Religion Marianne Bujard Wang Chong 王充 (27–ca. 100), the well-known Han critic of conventional wisdom, devoted an entire essay in his Assay of Arguments (Lunheng 論衡) to denouncing the various beliefs held by his contemporaries regarding the selection of appropriate days for engaging in activities. The essay, “Refuting Day Avoidances” (Jiri 譏日), describes the beliefs in detail in the course of denouncing them, addressing hemerologies related to burial, sacrifices and cults, toiletries, clothing, and construction work.1 Wang Chong refuted the hemerological prohibitions, demonstrating that they were contrary to tradition, that the choice of proscribed activities was arbitrary, that the prohibitions relied on absurd beliefs, and that the hemerologies failed to recognize that the spirits were indifferent to the petty affairs of humans. Wang Chong referred to the writings that people consulted for guidance as “books of day prohibitions” (rijin zhi shu 日禁之書). Archaeological discoveries of the past forty years have recovered many examples of manuscripts in tombs that contain this type of text. The manuscripts, written on slips of bamboo or wood or on wooden tablets, have been grouped under the generic heading “daybook” (rishu 日書). The texts inform users of the days to be avoided for activities ranging from birth, marriage, illness, and death to those related to agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, fishing, travel, cults, celebrations, theft, lost objects, administrative and military affairs, and commerce. The historian of religions will find in these primary sources at least two areas of interest: first, the most mundane activities are subject to prescriptions based on complex and constraining symbolic systems originating in religion and, second, activities related more directly to the spirit world, the celebration of cults, and apotropaic rituals are presented in an everyday, local context. The daybooks nicely complement knowledge of these matters gained from transmitted texts and epigraphy and, at the same time, add considerable new evidence. This chapter focuses on religious practices disclosed by daybooks and situates them in the religious landscape of the Qin and Han periods. Whereas transmitted texts address mainly the public side of religion with the imperial cult at the center, daybooks provide access to the local and 1  Lunheng, 24, pp. 989–97 (“Jiri”); Kalinowski, 2011a, pp. 243–53.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004349315_010

private sides of religious life. My presentation is intended to show the interconnections among these manifestations of religion as seen through the daybooks that once guided people in their daily activities and now are unique primary sources for the history of religions. I begin with the cult of Xiannong 先農 (First Tiller), the god of agriculture. Emblematic of the three levels on which Qin and Han religion manifested itself—imperial cult, local celebrations, and private rituals—the First Tiller cult was practiced in the imperial court as well as in the administrative commanderies and counties of the empire. A remarkable entry in the late third-century bce recipe miscellany from Zhoujiatai 周家臺 tomb 30, Hubei (ZJTB.18), indicates that household sacrifices were also offered to First Tiller with the hope of increasing the family’s prosperity and success in farming. In addition, Qin administrative documents excavated from well no. 1 at Liye 里耶, Hunan, are evidence of the contemporaneous observance of the First Tiller cult by local officials. Next comes an examination of local cults celebrated with the cooperation of officials of the regional administration, that is, individuals whose social status was comparable to that of the occupants of the tombs in which daybook manuscripts were discovered. Among the transmitted sources, the “Treatise on Feng and Shan Rituals” (Feng Shan shu 封禪書) in the Records of the Scribe (Shiji 史記) and the “Treatise on Sacrifices” (Jiaosi zhi 郊祀志) in the Book of Han (Han shu 漢書) enumerate the many sacred places throughout the empire that were dedicated to mountains and rivers; to crags, caves, and rocks; to springs and wells; to animals, swords, and drums; and to all manner of objects rare and familiar in which men believed they could detect wondrous powers. But historians for the most part have provided only the names of revered divinities and little about the cults that were dedicated to them. Epigraphy is a useful resource in trying to fill in the gaps in official history. Translations of three stela inscriptions dedicated to Wuji 無極 Mountain (Hebei), the Huai 淮 River, and Mount Song 嵩山 (Henan) show the role of government officials in the promotion, organization, and maintenance of local cults. Finally, this chapter addresses the daybooks as sources for private life. Excavated manuscripts reveal that the same officials who engaged in public and collective cult

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activities also used daybooks in their domestic settings, either by making personal copies or by acquiring manuscripts copied by others.2 The Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany that contains the First Tiller entry has entries that touch on the private rituals of individuals in a variety of circumstances—including recipes for the magical and ritual treatment of illness alongside others that use drugs—and has hemerological entries on safe travel and recovering lost livestock, as well as recipes for various household needs. The manuscript does not belong to the daybook text type as described in chapter 2, but it has an abundance of content that is directly related to religion in everyday life and reflects the non-hemerological content found in the daybook text type. My overview of the whole manuscript shows that daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts were part of how people experienced religion in the household and local community.

The First Tiller Cult: Public and Private Rites

Transmitted sources identify First Tiller as the recipient of imperial sacrifice in the ceremony of the first plowing (geng 耕). According to the “Treatise on Rites” (Liyi zhi 禮儀志) of the Book of Later Han (Hou Han shu 後漢書), the imperial plowing ceremony took place in the first month and began with the First Tiller sacrifice.3 Following the sacrifice, the emperor personally pushed the plow at the sacred field (jitian 籍田), initiating cultivation of the grain used for offerings in the imperial sacrifice. In his detailed study of the ceremony, Derk Bodde counts twelve occasions between 178 bce and 194 ce when Han emperors performed the ceremony, based on records in the Han histories. Notably, the ceremony did not always take place in the first month: the first month was used four times, the second month six times, the third month once, and the fourth month once.4 Moreover, according to the records, the ceremony was performed only three times at the imperial sacred field outside the capital. On six occasions, the ceremony took place wherever the emperor found himself while on inspection tours; for three occasions, there is no indication of the location.5 2  On the makers and users of the daybooks, see pp. 104–10 in chap. 3. 3  Hou Han shu, “Zhi” 志, 4, p. 3106. 4  Bodde (1975, p. 226) identifies the years and the emperor who performed the ceremony. In one instance, Bodde errs by identifying the celebration of the second month of 86 bce, during the reign of Emperor Zhao (r. 86–74 bce), as having occurred in the first month of the same year, during the reign of Emperor Wu (r. 140–87 bce). 5  It should be noted that First Tiller does not occur in either the Shiji or the Han shu. Bodde (1975, p. 227) also notes that the name

In addition to the imperial plowing ceremony, First Tiller was included in sacrifices to Heaven instituted by Emperor Guangwu (r. 25–57) of the Eastern Han in 26 ce. First Tiller received offerings behind the eight-tiered round altar, newly installed in the southern suburbs of Luoyang 洛陽. Sharing offerings with more than 1,500 other divinities, First Tiller is listed before Rain General (Yushi 雨師) and Wind Elder (Fengbo 風伯) and after Sire of Thunder (Leigong 雷公) (fig. 8.1).6 At the regional level, the “Treatise on Sacrifices” in the Book of Later Han indicates that in the counties and towns of the empire, local officials regularly offered sacrifices to First Tiller, Wind Elder, and Rain General. Sacrifices for First Tiller took place on the day yiwei32 at a location in the yis2 direction (east); for Wind Elder, on the day bingxu23 in the xub11 direction (west); and for Rain General, on the day jichou26 in the choub2 direction (north). The sacrifice consisted of a sheep and a pig.7 The discovery in 2002 of Qin administrative documents in well no. 1 at Liye, Hunan, has transformed our knowledge of the organization of official sacrifices to First Tiller at the local level. The documents are evidence of administrative activities in Qianling 遷陵 county (located in Dongting 洞庭 commandery) in the last decades of the third century bce. Archaeologists identified eighteen levels when excavating the well; documents were found in levels 5 through 17. Among the more than thirty-seven thousand pieces of wooden and bamboo documents (slips, tablets, and fragments), roughly half (seventeen thousand to eighteen thousand) had writing on them. The documents with dates recorded on them range between 222 and 208 bce.8 Twenty-nine slips are related to sacrifices offered to First Tiller in 215 bce. The original slips are not yet published, but in 2005 and 2006, Zhang Chunlong, the archaeologist in charge of the excavation, presented his paper on the twenty-nine First Tiller slips at conferences and published his transcription in 2007.9 In 2009, Peng Hao published a study in which he arranged the slips in three categories: the thirteen slips in category A concern preparations for jitian “sacred field” does not occur in Western Han sources but that other evidence confirms the existence of such a ceremonial location south of the capital at Chang’an. In the Eastern Han period, the location shifted to Luoyang. 6  Hou Han shu, “Zhi,” 7, p. 3160. 7  Ibid., “Zhi,” 9, p. 3204. A sheep and a pig represent the shaolao 少牢 sacrifice. 8  For an overview of the Liye discovery, see Yates, 2013. See also pp. 101–2 in chap. 3. 9  Zhang Chunlong, 2007. Some slips are reconstructions composed of several slip fragments.

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Figure 8.1 Sire of Thunder (Leigong 雷公) holding a drum and standing on a chariot drawn by three tigers. Ink rubbing of carved stone relief from Yingzhuang 英莊, Henan, Eastern Han. After Zhongguo meishu quanji: Huihua bian, vol. 18, plate 146.

the sacrifice, recording the goods furnished for offerings by the responsible officials; the fifteen slips in category B concern the selling of sacrificial leftovers, recording the amounts obtained by sales made to three convict-laborers (named He 赫, Ju 冣, and Wen 文); and the one slip in category C is a writing exercise.10 Most recently, Charles Sanft published a study of Qin religion based on the manuscript materials from Liye and Zhoujiatai, with partial translation of the Liye First Tiller slips.11 Two slips from category A, reconstructed from fragments, are the most complete statements of preparations for the sacrifice: 卅二年三月丁丑朔丙申倉是佐狗出牂[一]以祠先農

Thirty-second year (215 bce), third month, which had dingchou14 as its first day, on day bingshen33, granary official Shi and assistant Gou provided [one] ewe for sacrifice to First Tiller.12

10  Peng Hao, 2009; see also Peng Hao, 2007 (which is based on Zhang Chunlong’s earliest transcription and therefore is less complete). 11  Sanft, 2014. 12  Peng Hao, 2009, p. 196, slip 4 (reconstructed from 14-639 and 14762; the number 14 refers to the level in well no. 1 and is followed by the slip or fragment number assigned at the time of excavation). Translation follows Sanft, 2014, p. 335, with modifications.

卅二年三月丁丑朔丙申倉是佐狗出黍米四斗以祠先農

Thirty-second year (215 bce), third month, which had dingchou14 as its first day, on day bingshen33, granary official Shi and assistant Gou provided 4 dou (8 liters) of millet for sacrifice to First Tiller.13 Another slip records the distribution of salt.14 The rest of the category A slips are missing significant information but clearly belong together as evidence of First Tiller sacrifices. Two slips from category B present complete statements: 卅二年三月丁丑朔丙申倉是佐狗出祠[先]農餘徹酒一斗 半斗賣於城旦冣所取錢一率之一斗半斗一錢令史尚視平 狗手

Thirty-second year (215 bce), third month, which had dingchou14 as its first day, on day bingshen33, granary official Shi and assistant Gou provided 1½ dou (3 liters) of leftover ale from the sacrifice to [First] Tiller and sold it to wall-builder Ju. They received 1 cash at the rate of 1 cash for 1½ dou. Scribe director Shang ensured fairness. Written by Gou.15

13  Peng Hao, 2009, p. 196, slip 7 (reconstructed from 14-656 and 15434). Translation follows Sanft, 2014, p. 336, with modifications. 14  Peng Hao, 2009, p. 196, slip 1 (14-4). 15  Ibid., p. 197, slip 21 (14-650, 14-652).

308

bujard 卅二年三月丁丑朔丙申倉是佐狗出祠[先]農餘徹豚肉一 斗半斗賣於城旦赫所取錢四令史尚視平狗手

Thirty-second year (215 bce), third month, which had dingchou14 as its first day, on day bingshen33, granary official Shi and assistant Gou provided 1½ dou (4.5 kilograms) of suckling pig left over from the sacrifice to [First] Tiller and sold it to wall-builder He. They received 4 cash. Scribe director Shang ensured fairness. Written by Gou.16 Although the First Tiller slips provide no information on the ritual itself, they do offer insights on the bookkeeping behind the operations, the details of the offerings by individual item, and how the offerings were handled—all little-known aspects of official sacrifices. They reveal a procedure framed by administrative requirements that local officials had to satisfy so as to ensure rigorous financial control. A separate record was made of each item when it was taken out of the reserves, and officials made at least two copies of the record produced for each leftover item when it was sold, as evidenced by ten of the category B slips (five pairs of slips for five items): the head and feet of a sheep, meat (mutton or pork), meat juices (rouzhi 肉汁), cooked millet (shi 食), and ale (jiu 酒).17 From the standpoint of local administration, one copy of the record was kept by those responsible for the granary and one copy by the public treasury (shaonei 少內) where payments were deposited; hence the two copies of each record found in well no. 1. Peng Hao notes that a third copy was almost certainly given to the purchaser and therefore would not have been among the documents that officials stashed in the abandoned well.18 Three officials supervised the operations: the granary official Shi and his assistant Gou, who were involved in both the preparations and the sale of the leftovers, and Shang, the scribe who oversaw the fairness of the sale of the leftovers. The commercial use of sacrificial leftovers to produce income for the public treasury reveals a novel aspect of the official rites. We usually assume that the economy of the sacrifice depended on expenditures by the state, the imperial court, and the faithful. For instance, the back of the stela of the Lord of the White Stone (Baishi Shenjun 白石神君), erected in 183 ce in Yuanshi 元氏 county 16  Ibid., p. 197, slip 23 (14-649, 14-679). On the use of dou for weight rather than volume in Qin measurements based on excavated administrative documents, see Peng Hao, 2007, p. 23. 17  Peng Hao, 2009, p. 197, slips 13–14 (sheep), 15–16 (meat), 17–18 (meat juices), 19–20 (cooked millet), 21–22 (ale). Only slip 23, for suckling pig, translated above, is missing the second copy. 18  Peng Hao, 2007, p. 21.

(present-day Hebei), records the sums donors paid for entertainment of the divinities associated with the local cult.19 The presumption that sacrificial offerings were a gift made by the state or by individuals in exchange for the goodwill of the divinity has been part of the perception of the sacrifice as an equitable exchange. The First Tiller slips showing the commercialization of sacrificial leftovers are the first evidence of a previously unknown aspect of sacrifice. It is tempting to see this as a form of accounting management in Qin government, whereby the administration attempted to partially recover its costs. The data for goods provided and goods sold (the leftovers) are sketchy, but suggestive nonetheless. Liquids and grain, measured by volume, range from ¼ sheng of salt (50 milliliters) to 1½ half dou of ale (3 liters), 2 dou of meat juices (4 liters), and 7 dou of cooked millet (14 liters).20 Meat ranges from the whole animal (one ewe), to parts (the head and feet of one sheep), to meat measured by weight, 1½ dou of suckling pig (4.5 kilograms) and 2 dou of meat (6 kilograms). Prices are specified for three of the six goods sold as leftovers. Overall, the quantities of goods involved were considerable, and there was clear differentiation in their value when sold (4 cash for 1½ dou of suckling pig versus 1 cash for 1½ dou of ale) (see table 8.1). Besides reducing expenditures, there may have been other motivations for selling sacrificial leftovers. Perhaps there were reasons for allowing the distribution of leftovers to people on the margins of society. It is noteworthy that all the sales in the First Tiller slips were made to “wall-builders” (chengdan 城旦), male convicts whose hard-labor punishment was the most severe of the five degrees of punishment.21 Several explanations have been proposed. One speculation is that convicts were not permitted to share in the distribution of offerings or in the banquets that concluded communal rites but were permitted to purchase the leftovers (for personal consumption or resale).22 At the same time, the convicts to whom leftovers were sold may have been assigned to perform labor for the office that organized the sacrifices and were able to purchase the goods for this reason. The Liye documents also record sacrifices to a second deity that are 19  On the identity of the donors, see R. Stein, 1963, pp. 44–48; the stela inscription is translated in Brashier, 2002, pp. 226–31. 20  Zhang Chunlong (2007, p. 394n1) confirms that slips 19 and 20 for the sale of cooked millet both read qi 七 (the earlier transcription of slip 20 had shi 十 “ten”). 21  On chengdan as a name for the hard-labor punishment for male convicts, see Hulsewé, 1985, pp. 14–15. 22  Peng Hao, 2007, pp. 22–23.

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daybooks in qin and han religion Table 8.1

Goods provided and goods sold recorded in the First Tiller slips from Liye well no. 1

Slip numbers Goods provided

1, 2 4, 5 7, 8 13, 14

15, 16 17, 18

19, 20

21, 22 23

¼ sheng salt (鹽四分升一) 1 ewe (牂一) 4 dou millet (黍米四斗)

Goods sold

Price

1 sheep head (羊頭一) 4 sheep feet (足四) 2 dou meat (肉二斗) 2 dou meat juices (肉汁二斗) 7 dou cooked millet (食七斗) 1½ dou ale (酒一斗半斗) 1½ dou suckling pig (豚肉一斗半斗)

4 cash (錢四)

1 cash (錢一) 4 cash (錢四)

Note: The slip numbers represent the reconstructed slip numbers given in Zhang Chunlong, 2007.

administered by the armory (ku 庫), and it appears that the sacrificial leftovers were sold to a convict-laborer attached to the armory.23 As to the offerings, they consisted of mutton and pork, meat juices and ale, grain and cooked millet (shi 食). Offering of these “cooked” sacrifices ended with the apportionment of the offerings and a banquet. Such offerings contrast with those of local cults known from the Han histories, in particular the ones described in the “Treatise on Feng and Shan Rituals” in the Records of the Scribe. Among the sacrifices adopted by the First Emperor of Qin, the treatise features the eight famous cult sites dedicated to the Eight Spirits (Bashen 八神), all situated on the Shandong peninsula and along its coasts. The First Emperor of Qin offered sacrifices at the sites while on inspection tours of the east in the same years during which the First Tiller sacrifices were carried out in Liye. 23  The evidence is presented in Yates, 2013, pp. 321–22.

Jade tablets and pieces of silk were offered in addition to animals. Archaeologists have excavated jade disks (bi 璧) and tablets (gui 圭), as well as jade pieces of the xi 觽 and huang 璜 types at two of the eight cult sites: Yang Ruler (Yangzhu 陽主) at Zhifu 芝罘 and Sun Ruler (Rizhu 日主) at Chengshan 成山 (at the end of the Shandong headland).24 The jades no doubt correspond to the offerings intended for the cult of the Eight Spirits as described in the “Treatise on Feng and Shan Rituals”: “It is said that at the beginning of each year, sacrifices consisting of one set of sacrificial animals were offered at all of these places, though the jade and silk offerings presented by the shamans and invokers who directed the ceremonies were of various kinds and number.”25 “Sacrificial animals” is the translation of lao 牢, which means either the tailao 太牢 (composed of an ox, a sheep, and a pig) or the shaolao 少牢 (composed of a sheep and a pig). It is unclear whether the animals were offered as “cooked” sacrifices for consumption afterward. Historical sources and archaeological evidence for the Qin period distinguish among several categories of sacrifices, depending on whether or not the offerings were cooked and, if cooked, whether they were burned, buried, or consumed. The great imperial rites of the four Supreme Di/Emperors (Shangdi 上帝) at Yong 雍 and the sacrifices to the Treasure of Chen (Chenbao 陳寶) belong to the category of sacrifices that were not consumed. The “Treatise on Feng and Shan Rituals” describes the sacrifices at the four Altars (Zhi 畤): “The colts sacrificed at the Altars were always four in number, along with a belled chariot drawn by four dragons and a regular chariot drawn by four horses, these last two both wooden replicas painted the color appropriate to the deity that received the sacrifice. Four yellow calves and four lambs were also sacrificed along with a specified number of pieces of jade and silk. All the sacrifices were buried alive in the ground, and no sacrificial implements such as stands or platters were used.”26 Another category includes sacrifices to mountains and rivers, which received pieces of jade and silk as well as animals, but it is unknown if the animal sacrifices were cooked and consumed. This is the type of sacrifice that Han officials of Yuanshi county claimed for the Lord of the White Stone, as recorded on the stela:

24  Wang Rui, 2011, pp. 12–27, plates 8, 9, and 14. 25   Shiji, 28, pp. 1367–68. Translation follows Watson, 1993, pp. 13–14, with modifications. 26   Shiji, 28, pp. 1376–77. Translation follows Watson, 1993, pp. 17–18, with modifications.

310

bujard

There are six famous mountains within the borders of the county. The Sangong 三公, Fenglong 封龍, and Ling 靈 mountains have previously received formal sacrifices. Back in the fourth year of the Guanghe reign period (181 ce), Sangong Mountain’s Maintainer of the People Gai Gao and others for the first time visited the Grand Chamberlain of Ceremonials to request permission to carry out the formal sacrifices on behalf of Wuji Mountain. The chancellor and magistrate judged the dao and the de of the Lord of the White Stone to be apparent, and they thereupon recorded all the spirit’s details from beginning to end and submitted them to the Secretariat, seeking to rely on the case of Wuji Mountain as precedent. At the court interview, this was regarded as permissible.27 The term “formal sacrifices” (fashi 法食) applies to animals, food, and non-food offerings. The request was granted, and the Lord of the White Stone received formal sacrifices seasonally “with the expenses provided for by the county” (xianchu jingyong 縣出經用). These consisted of jade tablets and pieces of silk to be interred (as in the sacrifices to the Eight Spirits), animal sacrifices, grain (millet), and ale. A third category comprised offerings of an edible nature, exemplified by the sacrifices to First Tiller documented in the Liye slips. Offerings named in the slips are salt, meat, meat juices, grain, and ale; there is no mention of pieces of jade or silk. The implicit connection between “sacrificing to” and “feeding” the deity is explicit in the First Tiller entry in the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany (examined below). Whereas the interment of victims or the destruction of offerings indicates a distant and formidable god, the consumption of cooked offerings suggests a relationship of familiarity with the recipient. In the case of the First Tiller cult, it is possible that as a culture hero became a deity, his status was akin to that of an ancestor, while he was already part of a “national” pantheon. No doubt the official sacrifices offered to First Tiller on a regular basis contributed to the growth of a cult among the people, who addressed the deity in private, household rituals—exactly as in the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany. The First Tiller entry in ZJTB.18 concerns the third level of First Tiller rituals that occurred in the context of a private cult intended to secure the prosperity of the household and the well-being of the individual. The occupant

27   Baishi shenjun bei 白石神君碑, Lishi, 3, 23a. Translation follows Brashier, 2002, pp. 227–28, with modifications.

of Zhoujiatai tomb 30 (burial dated ca. 209 bce) may have been a minor local official with knowledge of both the official and private First Tiller cults. This entry is the longest passage in a roughly produced manuscript miscellany of recipes and entries related to illness, personal care, and household matters (fig. 8.2): 先農以臘日令女子之市買牛胙市酒過街即行拜言曰人皆 祠泰父我獨祠先農到囷下為一席東郷三腏以酒沃祝曰某 以壺露牛胙為先農除舍先農苟令某禾多一邑先農恒先泰 父食到明出種即[1]邑最富者與皆出種即已禹步三出種所 曰臣非異也農夫事也即名富者名曰某不能傷其富農夫使 其徒來代之即取腏以歸到囷下先侍豚即言囷下曰某為農 夫畜農夫苟如 [2]歲歸其禱即斬豚耳與腏以并涂囷廥下 恒以臘日塞禱如故

First Tiller. On the La day, send a woman to the marketplace to buy sacrificial beef and ale. After crossing the main road, perform the roadway obeisance and say: “People all sacrifice to their ancestors. I alone sacrifice to First Tiller.” When you reach the base of the granary, use one mat, face east, make the triple offering of food sacrifice, and pour the ale. Chant this incantation: “With dew of the flask and sacrificial beef, so and so (I) purifies the dwelling for First Tiller. If First Tiller makes so and so’s (my) grain be more than that of the entire village, First Tiller will always be fed before my ancestors.” When it is the time for Setting-Out-Seeds, then [1] go to the richest man in the village and together with him set out the seeds. When finished, perform the Pace of Yu thrice. At the place for Setting-OutSeeds, say: “Your servant is no different; I do nothing more than serve you.” Then pronounce the rich man’s name and say: “I cannot reduce his wealth. May Tiller send one of his followers to come and do it for me.” Then take the food sacrifice and return home. When you reach the base of the granary, have a suckling pig in readiness and then address the base of the granary, saying: “So and so (I) provides sustenance to Tiller. If Tiller [2], may he return annually to receive the prayer for favor.” Then cut off the suckling pig’s ears, combine them with the food sacrifice, and daub it on the base of the granary. Always perform the requital sacrifice of the prayer for favor on the La day as customary.28

28   Z JTB.18, slips 347–353; Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu, p. 132. Translation follows Harper, 2010a, with modifications. See also Sanft, 2014, pp. 352–56.

daybooks in qin and han religion

311 This example of a propitiatory ritual of individual enrichment that proceeded on the margins of the La 臘 day celebrations and the communal rite of Setting-Out-Seeds (Chuzhong 出種) involved taking grain seeds stored from the previous harvest and selecting the best to sow for the next crop.29 After the peasant has declared his intention on the main road to worship First Tiller, the ritual takes place mainly in two locations: the granary and the place where grain seeds are set out. The granary belongs to the household of the peasant who is designated variously as “I” (wo 我), “so and so” (mou 某), and “your servant” (chen 臣). He has probably erected an altar to First Tiller in front of his granary. He makes his prayers and offerings in order to obtain a good harvest that will make him the “richest peasant in the village.” This kind of domestic cult is comparable to customs still observed today by Chinese storekeepers and restaurant owners who make offerings to the gods for success in business. Note also the explicit statements in the first two incantations that when sacrificing to First Tiller the peasant is placing First Tiller ahead of his ancestors. This detail is connected to the La day, which was the day in the twelfth month for popular celebrations directed to ancestors and domestic spirits.30 Whereas the Liye slips document official sacrifices to First Tiller in the third month and the Han period plowing ceremony occurred at various times between the first and fourth months, the propitiatory ritual to First Tiller occurred amid the La day celebrations, before the commencement of agricultural field work and at a time when the household was already propitiating the ancestors in order to receive their beneficence. This element of the ritual is examined below. The second location is connected to a stage in the agricultural cycle: the selection and distribution of grain seeds. In contrast to the household granary, the “place for Setting-Out-Seeds” (Chuzhong suo 出種所) is a public space, indicating community involvement in the distribution of grain seeds in advance of the first work of plowing and sowing. The peasant comes to this space accompanied by another peasant who is well off, and they set out the seeds together. Still at the place for Setting-Out-Seeds, the peasant performs a popular ritual gesture, the Yu Bu 禹步 (Pace of Yu), followed by a two-part incantation, in which he declares the intention of borrowing the identity

Figure 8.2 The Xiannong slips from the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany (ZJTB.18). After Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, p. 161.

29  For an explanation of the precise meaning of “setting out seeds,” see Gao You’s 高誘 (ca. 168–212) commentary on the occurrence of the term in Lüshi chunqiu, 12, p. 622 (“Jidong ji” 季冬紀). Gao You does not treat the term as the proper name for a seasonal event. 30  Bodde, 1975, pp. 55–56.

312 of the rich peasant and capturing his wealth. Then the peasant leaves, returns to the granary at his household, reaffirms his devotion to First Tiller in a final prayer, and sacrifices the suckling pig, the ears of which are combined with other offerings and smeared on the granary (or, in my understanding, on the altar to First Tiller in front of the granary). The account concludes by associating the First Tiller ritual with other La day prayers that were customary (ru gu 如故), that is, prayers addressed to the ancestors and the domestic spirits. There is, however, the problem of the time sequence for the First Tiller ritual at the two locations. While the first sacrifices clearly were made at the household granary on the La day, when did the Setting-Out-Seeds event take place? In the translation, the phrase “when it is the time for Setting-Out-Seeds” is a loose rendering of dao ming Chuzhong 到明出種 and avoids the uncertainty in the precise meaning of the word ming 明 “bright, brightening.” It could simply mean “the next brightening,” presumably the next morning or the next day. In that case, the rituals, one at the household granary and the other at the place for Setting-Out-Seeds, are consecutive events occurring over two days, with the selection of the seeds taking place the day after the La day. However, ming may also refer to what comes “next” in a sequence of activities or to an activity taking place in the next year (mingnian 明年). Evidence from transmitted sources and excavated manuscripts might support any one of the three interpretations of ming: the day after the La day, next in the time sequence, or the next year. Contemporaneous third-century bce evidence consists mainly of the Spring and Autumn of Master Lü (Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋) monthly ordinances (yueling 月令), which occur at the beginning of the first twelve chapters. For the twelfth month, the monthly ordinances include the instruction to “set out the five grain seeds” (chu wuzhong 出五種) and to repair farming implements in preparation for spring sowing.31 The passage does not refer to First Tiller, nor does it indicate a public ceremony of Setting-Out-Seeds, but it is plausible that setting out seeds would have occurred the day after the La day in the twelfth month.32 The daybook and calendar from Kongjiapo 孔家坡 tomb 8 (burial dated 142 bce) both indicate a time in 31   Lüshi chunqiu, 12, p. 622 (“Jidong ji”). 32  The La day in the twelfth month was determined annually by the date of the winter solstice; see Bodde, 1975, pp. 51–52. Two calendars found in Zhoujiatai tomb 30 note the date of the La day (named Jiaping 嘉平) in the twelfth month. See Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu, pp. 94, 103.

bujard

the first month for the event of Setting-Out-Seeds. In the calendar, for the year corresponding to 142 bce, the La day occurs on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, on wuxu35, and the Setting-Out-Seeds day occurs on the eighth day of the first month, on xinhai48; that is, the two events are thirteen days apart.33 In the daybook, KJP.85 identifies chenb5 and sib6 days as prohibited for SettingOut-Seeds. The passage that follows describes how to store grain seeds from the previous harvest in clay jars and specifies the first month as the time when the jars are opened and the best seeds selected.34 The calendar for the year corresponding to 134 bce from Yinqueshan 銀雀山 tomb 2 (burial dated ca. 134–118 bce) records the same sexagenary cycle days for the La day and SettingOut-Seeds day, yet in that year the La day fell on the eleventh day of the twelfth month and the Setting-Out-Seeds day on the twenty-fourth day of the same month (see fig. 7.1 in chap. 7).35 In short, the Kongjiapo and Yinqueshan calendars are alike in specifying an interval of thirteen days between the La day and the Setting-Out-Seeds day, but the days occur in the twelfth month in the Yinqueshan calendar, thus conflicting with the KJP.85 reference to selecting seeds in the first month. And none of the evidence resolves the problematic phrase in the First Tiller entry in ZJTB.18. For now, we must allow for one of two alternatives in ZJTB.18: either the two stages of the ritual take place over two days (the La day and the morning after), or there is an interval of days between them. While the first stage at the household granary occurs on the La day in the twelfth month, the second stage at the public space and then again at the household granary may or may not be in the first month of the next year. In the second stage of the First Tiller ritual, the food sacrifice (zhui 腏) that the peasant takes when he returns home may be his share of a communal sacrifice at the public space for Setting-Out-Seeds; again, there is no definite evidence for this in the ZJTB.18 text. In any case, the peasant arrives at the household granary with the food sacrifice, which he mixes with the ears of the suckling pig and feeds to First Tiller—the words of the incantation are “so and so provides sustenance to Tiller”—by smearing the offering on the bottom of the granary. In doing so, he seals the pact that he has just made with First Tiller: the annual renewal of the sacrificial offerings on the La day in 33   Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 192. 34   K JP.85, slips 453, 456; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 184. 35  For detailed discussion of the Yinqueshan calendar and the Setting-Out-Seeds day notation, see Kudō Motoo, 2014, pp. 313, 319.

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exchange for increasing his wealth. This ritual for acquiring private wealth has nothing to do with the collective, official rite documented in the Liye slips. The final instruction in the First Tiller entry—“Always perform the requital sacrifice of the prayer for favor on the La day as customary”—is a general recommendation for offerings that are presented on the La day, those addressed not to First Tiller but to the ancestors. The association of the La day with the cult of the ancestors is well known. According to the Records of the Scribe, in 216 bce, when the First Emperor of Qin changed the name of the La day to Jiaping 嘉平 by decree, he also granted villages throughout the empire six shi (120 liters) of rice and two sheep.36 This was no doubt an official contribution to local La day celebrations and was probably not intended for the First Tiller cult. Based on the Liye slips and transmitted sources, observance of the First Tiller cult occurred at various times between the first and fourth months of the year and was associated with the beginning of agricultural field work, most notably the imperial plowing ceremony in the Han historical sources. ZJTB.18 is the only record of sacrifices to First Tiller on the La day. It is useful to juxtapose the third-century bce manuscript evidence of the First Tiller cult practiced privately in a local setting with the Eastern Han epigraphic evidence of the Wangzi Qiao 王子喬 cult, which was also associated with La day celebrations. Wangzi Qiao was already a legendary figure in longlife practices when a miraculous La day event in Meng 蒙 county (present-day Henan) led to the establishment of a cult site for him. According to the record of the event in the Wangzi Qiao stela of 165 ce (now lost but said to have been erected in Meng county), “in the first year of the Yonghe 永和 reign period (136 CE) in the twelfth month on the night of La, the sound of grievous wailing rose from the abandoned mound,” which local tradition associated with the Wang family and hence with Wangzi Qiao. The next day, the immortal Wangzi Qiao himself suddenly appeared at the mound and called to a wood gatherer, exhorting the youth not to remove the tree at the tumulus of his ancestors. The eulogy in verse that concludes the inscription underscores the piety for ancestors, among his many marvelous attributes, exhibited by Wangzi Qiao’s La day actions: “He manifests devout filial piety, longing for those who gave him life. When the year comes to its end, he expresses true-hearted feelings. He remains by the tomb mound, emitting sounds of grief.”37

36   Shiji, 6, p. 251. 37   Daojia jinshi lüe, p. 2.

The Wangzi Qiao stela corroborates the identification of La day celebrations with sacrifices to family ancestors, while also showing how La day ancestral sacrifices provided the context for worshipping other spirits. In the case of the ZJTB.18 ritual, the First Tiller cult may have become associated with the La day precisely because this was a time for thanksgiving celebrations and ancestral sacrifices. The propitiatory ritual described in ZJTB.18 represents a formula for acquiring wealth that was carried out privately and in a secretive manner, coinciding with La day ceremonies for ancestors and the Setting-Out-Seeds ceremony. The practice of exploiting the festive period as a propitious time for achieving one’s wishes and satisfying a personal request is still seen today in the wide variety of games of chance that accompany temple festivals and pilgrimages. This is a very old instance of a private relationship with the divinity at the center of a public cult.

Local Cults of the Qin and Han

The formation of the imperial cult, first at the Qin court and then during the Western Han, with its successive reforms of ritual and the pantheon, has been treated extensively.38 These developments were played out at court and most likely had little effect on local populations. The state cults of the Qin dynasty, however, are contemporaneous with the Liye and Zhoujiatai documents discussed in this chapter. A review of these state cults is relevant to our understanding of the local cults reflected in the excavated material. According to the “Treatise on Feng and Shan Rituals” in the Records of the Scribe, the great cult that inaugurated the year, beginning in the tenth month, took place on the outskirts of Xianyang 咸陽, the new imperial capital of the Qin dynasty. The emperor himself, dressed in white, conducted the rite at night by torchlight. The treatise does not say to which deity or deities it was addressed, but the white color and the western position of the capital at Xianyang point to Baidi 白帝 (White Di/Emperor), one of the four emperors of the colors who dominate the pantheon of the house of Qin.39 Nevertheless, the real religious center of the dynasty was Yong, the previous capital, with its altars 38  For the Western Han court, see Bujard, 2000b. 39   Shiji, 28, p. 1377. The identification is confirmed by the fact that there were two other sacred sites set aside for White Emperor at Xizhi 西畤 and Huizhi 畦畤 that continued to be honored as in the past but without the emperor attending the rituals in person. From this point onward, the Qin emperor celebrated the White Emperor cult at the new capital, Xianyang.

314 devoted to the Supreme Di/Emperors (Shangdi 上帝), the stellar divinities, Wind Elder, Rain General, the Four Seas, and hundreds of other deities.40 When the First Emperor of Qin declared himself emperor, he ordered, in addition to the official sacrifices, the registration of five “famous mountains” and two “great rivers” to the east of the Xiao 崤 mountains, as well as seven mountains and four rivers to the west of Mount Hua 華山.41 The former group comprised well-known places such as Mount Song, Mount Heng 恆山, and the Huai River, which remained in the official pantheon for a long time; in the latter group, far removed from the imperial domain, only Mount Hua and the He 河 (that is, the Yellow River) continued to be active. The treatise notes several other sacred sites, such as the famous Treasure of Chen at Baoji 寶雞, and adds that “the spirits and holy places of the commanderies, counties, and other distant regions were worshipped by the people of their respective localities and were not under the control of the emperor’s religious officials.”42 Other cults were officially celebrated when an emperor visited but were not regularly maintained by the administration, such as those of the Eight Spirits, whose cult sites were located on the Shandong peninsula and to whom the First Emperor of Qin and, later, Emperor Wu made sacrifices during tours of inspection in the eastern region of the empire. Groupings and differentiation among the spirits were determined not by the nature of the spirits but by the degree of favor an emperor accorded a given divinity, whether due to personal inclination or because of the efficacy the divinity was reputed to confer; that is, the status of the spirits was constantly redefined as their groupings and functions changed. This process was at the heart of religious reforms that were gradually implemented during the Western Han period and were intended to establish the list of deities worthy of receiving imperial sacrifices.43 In the process of assimilating local deities for imperial benefit—and conversely excluding them when they were judged to be either inefficient or perverse—officials of the regional administration acted as either promoters or destroyers of local cults.44 Additional documentation con40  In 31 bce, 203 cults were still being celebrated; the subsequent religious reform left only 15 that were judged to be “in conformity with the rites” (yingli 應禮). See Han shu, 25B, p. 1257; and Bujard, 2000b, p. 196. 41   Shiji, 28, pp. 1371–72. The Xiao mountains are in the west of present-day Henan. 42  Ibid., 28, p. 1377. Translation follows Watson, 1993, p. 18, with modifications. For the Treasure of Chen, see Bujard, 1998. 43  See Loewe, 1982b, pp. 154–92; and Bujard, 2000b, pp. 165–225. 44  On this topic, see Levi, 1989, pp. 219–69.

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temporaneous with the Liye and Zhoujiatai manuscripts that shows the involvement of officials in local cults is lacking. Information on this subject becomes available again in the Eastern Han period, with the appearance of stelae and their inscriptions in the second century ce. Older epigraphic sources do not provide comparable insights on local religious practices, including the inscriptions engraved on mountain faces by order of the First Emperor of Qin when he carried out inspection tours of the empire.45 Despite the chronological differences among these sources and the need to take the appropriate precautions, Eastern Han stela inscriptions from various locales provide invaluable evidence on the religious lives of representatives of the administration that supplements the Qin and Western Han evidence.46 Mountain and River Cults From ancient times, the mountains were places for sacrifice. In the Classic of Documents (Shujing 書經), the “Rule of Shun” (Shundian 舜典) describes the tour of inspection that brought the legendary ruler Shun to visit the four mountains situated to the east, south, west, and north of his territory for the purpose of fixing the bounds and arranging the space of the realm.47 According to tradition, it was customary in the Zhou period for the lords of the states to offer sacrifices to the mountains in their domains. One of the bamboo-slip manuscripts currently held by the Shanghai Museum, dated around 300 bce, provides indirect evidence of the practice. In Jian Dawang bohan 簡大王泊旱 (Great King Jian ends the drought), Chu 楚 is plagued by drought, and King Jian 簡王 (r. 431–401 bce) suffers sunstroke while divination is being performed in order to determine to which divinities he should address his appeal. The diviner proposes sacrifices to the high mountains and deep rivers, but the king questions the 45  The texts of the First Emperor of Qin’s inscriptions are preserved in Shiji, 6, pp. 242–62. For translations, see Chavannes, 1893, pp. 484–511; and Kern, 2000, pp. 1–49. The most ancient inscriptions on stone are the Qin stone drums engraved between 335 and 325 bce. Another inscription from the same period (313–312 bce) titled “Zu Chu wen” 詛楚文 reproduces the same text addressed to three distinct deities on three stones placed in three locations (Chavannes, 1893, pp. 473–82; 1895–1905, vol. 2, pp. 544 –49). Finally, in 1970, a round stone with nineteen graphs was found in the state of Zhongshan 中山 near the tomb of King Cuo 王, Hebei (late fourth century bce); see Kern, 2000, p. 55. None can properly be called stelae. 46  Issues of differences between sources as well as chronological and geographic disparities are discussed further in the conclusion of this chapter. 47   Shangshu, 3, 5a–18b (“Shundian”).

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appropriateness of the sacrifices: “My anxiety is great and my sickness increases. Several times I have dreamed of the high mountains and the deep rivers, but none of them are among the mountains and great rivers within our lands.”48 When the First Emperor of Qin ordered that a list be made of famous mountains and great rivers where he intended to hold celebrations, the officers made an inventory of twelve mountains and six rivers.49 However, the Five Peaks and Four Rivers (Wuyue Sidu 五嶽四瀆) system—geographically, cosmologically, and spiritually the most renowned system of mountains and rivers—was not fixed until the Han dynasty. There were still variations to this system, particularly in the choice of the northern and southern peaks.50 Emperor Wu visited Mount Tai 泰山 several times; he also went to the central mountain, Mount Song, and to the western mountain, Mount Hua. It was known that these mountains sheltered deities and immortals, and temples had been erected in their honor. Mount Song enjoyed increased prestige during the Eastern Han period, both for its location in the center of the realm and for its proximity to the new capital at Luoyang. In contrast to evidence of the imperial cult in Han historical sources, epigraphy indicates initiatives proposed by officials in the local administration that led to the establishment of sacrifices and the maintenance of temples built on mountains or by rivers. Thus, the spread of local cults to mountains and rivers was not necessarily due to the initiative of the imperial court—or at least records of local cults in the Han histories are infrequent—but came about through the endeavors of local officials. Six stelae erected between 117 and 183 ce to commemorate the formal establishment of celebrations for the deities of several adjacent mountains in Yuanshi county, to the north of present-day Shijiazhuang 石家莊, Hebei, are invaluable evidence of this phenomenon. The stela inscriptions supplement the transmitted sources, which focus on sacrifices to the Five Peaks and other renowned mountains in connection with the imperial cult, and provide a better understanding of Han religion. The first stela of 117 marked the reconstruction of a temple that was maintained by the surrounding population. The 48  The translation follows Kalinowski, 2009, p. 392. For the first published transcription of the text, see Shanghai bowuguan cang Zhanguo Chu zhushu, vol. 4, pp. 191–215. The translation is based on the revised reconstruction of the slip sequence and text transcription in Zhou Fengwu, 2006, p. 120; and Chen Wei, 2007, p. 261. 49   Shiji, 28, pp. 1371–72. 50  On mountain cults, see Kleeman, 1994.

315 last stela, dated 183, records the allocation of regular sacrifices for the Lord of the White Stone by the imperial administration.51 Between these two dates, several generations of officials had worked patiently for recognition of the cults in their local communities. One of the six inscriptions on the Yuanshi stelae illustrates perfectly the process that led to the official recognition of a cult and the role played by different levels of bureaucrats in its success. The stela was engraved in 181 for Wuji Mountain, situated in the south of Yuanshi county. The Sangong, Fenglong, and Lingshan mountains in the north of the county were already favored with official sacrifices financed by the administration, and local officials asked for and obtained the same treatment for Wuji Mountain in the same year. As soon as they were granted permission for Wuji Mountain, they requested another permit for the mountain of the Lord of the White Stone, indicating a chain reaction that had begun twenty years earlier with the recognition of the cult of Fenglong Mountain in 164.52 The original Wuji Mountain stela is lost. The following translation is based on the transcription made in the twelfth century by Hong Kuo 洪适 (1117– 1184) and printed in his Examination of Clerical Script (Lishi 隸釋) (see fig. 8.3).53 In the fourth year of the Guanghe reign period (181 ce), [1] month, which had xinmao28 as its first day, on the twenty-second day, renzi49, Chamberlain of Ceremonials, Dan, and his Aide, Min, prostrated themselves and delivered their report to the Imperial Secretariat. According to this report, the commoners Gai Gao of Changshan and Fan Qian of Shangdang reached [3]. For the deity of Sangong in Yuanshi [1], as per the decrees, in the first year of the Benchu reign period (146 ce), second month, day guiyou10, and in the second year of the Guanghe reign period (179 ce), second month, day wuzi25, the four seasonal 51  See p. 308 in this chapter. 52  See Bujard, 2000a. 53  “Wujishan bei” 無極山碑, Lishi, 3, 18b–21b. According to Zhao Chao (personal communication, June 21, 2017), the stela was lost long ago. Zhao Chao also confirms that poor quality photographs and a rubbing published in 1931 in Yuanshi xianzhi, pp. 163 and 170, are misidentified as the Wuji Mountain stela and inscription, and actually show the “Sangongshan shen bei” 三公山神碑 (now also lost). Indications of missing graphs are based on the notations made by Hong Kuo in the Lishi transcription. Following the transcription and translation conventions used in this volume, missing graphs in the Chinese text (see fig. 8.3) are indicated by brackets enclosing numbers to indicate how many graphs are missing.

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sacrifices were financed by the county. Last year, in the fifth month, Chancellor of Changshan, (Feng) Xun, sent Secretary Wang Xun and Elder54 Hong Bao to Sangong Mountain to request rain from the deity of the mountain. The deity transmitted through (Gai) Gao that (Wang) Xun and (Hong) Bao should return [1] and to announce that it will rain. Sangong Mountain, like Fenglong Mountain and Wuji Mountain, causes the clouds to form and the rain to fall. Chancellor (Feng) Xun and Magistrate of Yuanshi, Wang Yi, have each presented couch-grass offerings55 to the deities as tokens of gratitude. They then sent again (Gai) Gao and (Fan) Qian, as well as a county secretary named He Bian, to pay a visit to the Chamberlain of Ceremonials so that they could request regular sacrifices for Wuji Mountain equal to those that were granted to Sangong Mountain. Suspecting that the words of Gai Gao and Fan Qian do not conform to reality, I have transmitted their account (to the administration of) the kingdom of Changshan [1] to be verified. I have now received a missive from the Chancellor of Changshan that announces that Secretary Cheng Xi, of the Regional Inspection Bureau, has verified the facts and collected the evidence. Cheng Xi and Magistrate Wang Yi both said that Wuji Mountain was born at the same time as Heaven and Earth, that it measures approximately three li from its summit to its base, and that the rocky wall measures approximately two zhang and five chi.56 The top [1] is south-facing [1] and green in color, while the base is yellowish white. In front of the wall, there is a perfectly flat surface big enough for two large mats; the circumference of the mountain is more than twenty (li); it is situated thirty li to the southwest of the administrative center of the county. The county (of Yuanshi) contains various famous mountains among which Sangong, Fenglong, and Lingshan have all received regular sacrifices. Each time that a magistrate or an administrative officer 54  The Lishi transcription indicates a graph missing after san 三, which I suspect is lao 老. Hence the text reads sanlao 三老 “elder,” the title of an official at the county level. 55  I owe the identification of baigan 白芉 as couch grass (Elymus repens) to personal communication from Zhao Chao, Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The graph 芉 may be a miswriting or mistranscription of mao 茅. Baimao 白茅 is woolly grass (Imperata cylindrica). In the stela inscription, the phrase “couch-grass offerings as tokens of gratitude” indicates an offering of wine that has been filtered through couch grass. 56  About 5.7 meters.

requests blessings or that minor officials or the common people address their prayers to it, their wishes are granted. Also (Cheng Xi and Magistrate Wang Yi) request that, in the same manner as the three other mountains, Wuji Mountain should benefit from [1] seven animal sacrifices and that the expenses be borne by the kingdom. Thus, at a low cost, we will obtain great blessings while demonstrating our respect to the deity by offering jade tablets and disks. In my stupidity, I believe that, according to the claims of (Feng) Xun, the sacrifices are fundamental in order to ensure the happiness of the people. I entreat the Treasury of the Palace to provide jade tablets and disks and (entreat) the county to purchase sacrificial articles for the sacrifices as stipulated by the decrees for the guiyou10 and wuzi25 days.57 I, Dan, your foolish servant, prostrate myself repeatedly and send my report to the Imperial Secretariat. This request is approved by imperial decree. The Imperial Secretariat has received the decree and ordered that the proceedings be acted upon. In the [1]58 (eighth) month, on the seventeenth day, dingchou14, the Imperial Secretariat respectfully submits his request to the Imperial Palace in Luoyang. In the fourth year of the Guanghe reign period, eighth month, which had xinyou58 as its first day, on the seventeenth day, dingchou14, the Imperial Secretariat respectfully transmits the (decree). In the fourth year of the Guanghe reign period, eighth month, which had xinyou58 as its first day, on the seventeenth day, dingchou14, Chamberlain for Ceremonials, Chen Dan, and his Aide, Min, forward the decree. The Chancellor of Changshan [1] forwards [1] so that all proceed according to the decree. The decree that reached (the county) reads as follows: “Formerly, according to the Registry of Rites, when kingdoms sheltered famous mountains that contained certain riches (of special powers and useful resources), or could raise the clouds causing the rain to fall, or could even bestow benefits on the people and repel calamity, they were offered sacrifices. In the past, the first to receive regular sacrifices were Sangong Mountain, Fenglong Mountain, and Ling Mountain. Only Wuji Mountain was deprived of 57  That is, the decrees of 146 and 179 ce, when the county financed the seasonal sacrifices. 58  The missing graph no doubt repeats the date that recurs later in the text. The different stages and actions seem to have occurred on the same day.

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sacrifices. In the second month of the fourth year of the Guanghe reign period, the local adults Gai Gao and Fanqian of Shangdang submitted a report to the Chamberlain of Ceremonials. He transmitted it to the kingdom’s Chancellor, Lord Feng Xun of Nanyang, who examined local archives [1] and consulted the ancients. Everything indicates that it pertains to a deity and that the deity is efficacious. Thus, whenever droughts occurred in the kingdom and counties or whenever the people were stricken with illness, the prayers that were made to (the deity) were immediately granted. The mountain has as many riches as Zhongnan Mountain,59 pines like those of Mount Tai, and even mahogany trees like those of Yang and Yue [1], as well as pointed bamboo. When resources are thus provided, officials and the people should give in return; according to the rules of ritual, all good acts must be recompensed. It is time to grant to Wuji Mountain the regular sacrifices that it deserves. Thus, once the request of the Chamberlain of Ceremonials was accepted, in the eighth month of this year, on the day dingchou14, the decree was adopted. In the ninth month, the temple was reconstructed and the offerings chamber was enlarged. An officer was placed in charge of the sacrificial animals, and the Jiao sacrifice was offered each month in addition to the seasonal sacrifices, just as had been granted for the three other mountains.” A stela was erected in order to record (the mountain’s) virtue and praise its deity. It was inscribed as follows: “Majestic Wuji Mountain! Your mass is imposing, your peaks [1] vertiginous, your slope [2] steep, your valleys deep and winding, your forests dense and green, and your luxurious vegetation verdant. [1] Your craggy cliffs are impenetrable, forming a gigantic chain. [1] From far away we can see your lofty stature, which from close up imposes respect. Gripping the rocks, the clouds rise calmly and blanket the sky;60 the ‘rain falls on the communal fields and soon after on the private fields.’61 The harvest is abundant and the families are prosperous. Prayers for well-being and against calamity are granted without delay.62 The birds and the beasts, the plants and 59  Zhongnan 終南 Mountain is south of Xi’an in Shaanxi; see Brashier, 2002, pp. 182–83. 60  The graphs 解石膚寸 are a condensed version of 解石而出 膚寸而合 found in the Gongyang zhuan, 12, 21a (Xi 31); see the analysis of this expression in Brashier, 2002, pp. 185–91. 61  See Shijing, 14A, 16b (Mao 212, “Datian” 大田). 62  See Brashier, 2002, p. 175.

317 the trees, increase and multiply. [4] the deity takes pity. According to the sacrificial registry, and in keeping with the rules inherited from the past, as soon as the people receive blessings (from the deity), the officials reward its virtue. Today the seven sacrificial animals as well as the jade tablets and disks of regular sacrifice are ready. The temple has been reconstructed, its halls enlarged, and the number of local officials and corvée laborers has been increased and placed in the service of the respected sire (the deity). In each of the monthly and seasonal sacrifices, with reverence and good order [1] it is suitable that the (sacrificial animals) are numerous and fat, that the ale is made of the best millet, and that the grain urns are filled to the brim and fragrant so that the rites are carried out without blemish. We hope that the deity will taste our offerings and will soon spread his blessings. [1] The officials and the people address their prayers, and all [1] behave conscientiously. If the prayers are made, they will necessarily be granted.63 [2] the regular sacrifices protect our lord. Our lord is noble [1] he will have innumerable children and grandchildren. The favor granted by the deity corresponds exactly to our wishes.” Chancellor of Changshan, Military Commander Feng Xun of Nanyang, personal name Jizu; Aide Shen Tu [1] of Ying Chuan [1], personal name [2]; Magistrate of Yuanshi Wang Yi of Xinfeng in the metropolitan region of Jingzhao, personal name Yuan Fu; Deputy [5] of Henei; Commandant of the Left [2] of Baitu in Shangjun, personal name [2]; Clerk in Charge of Sacrifices [1] xian lian xiang64 [1]; Clerk He65 [5]; Kindly and Virtuous Clerk in Charge of Sacrifices Fan Shu; Scribe Wu Yi; Small Officer Wu Hei. In the fourth year of the Guanghe reign period, tenth month, thirteenth day [2]. Made by the master carver [2]. When using stelae as evidence of particular cults, it is important to keep in mind that every local cult rested primarily on the support of local devotees who maintained the sanctuaries and perpetuated official and nonofficial celebrations. They came from various levels of society— including peasants, artisans, and merchants—and the 63  See ibid. 64  Due to missing graphs, the interpretation of the three graphs xian lian xiang 賢廉香 is uncertain. 65  The first missing graph after He 和 must be 卞. He Bian 和卞 is mentioned above in the inscription.

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Figure 8.3 Text of the inscription dedicated to Wuji Mountain printed in Lishi. Copy of Lishi courtesy of the Library of the Institut des hautes études chinoises, Collège de France, Paris.

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efficacy of the deity was measured by the deity’s response to people’s prayers in times of need. Retired literati who were native to the region and officials in the local administration, the group responsible for the composition and production of stelae when temples were reconstructed or repaired, sometimes joined in the ceremonies. The majority of the cults were organized and maintained entirely at the local level and brought together devotees from the vicinity. As shown in the Wuji Mountain stela inscription, an official sought imperial recognition when he wanted to promote efficacious sacrifices that were relevant for the people in his jurisdiction. He then initiated formal proceedings, beginning with a request and a report, portions of which were typically retranscribed on the stela. He noted the cult’s antecedents, the identity of the deity, the deity’s miraculous manifestations, and the devotion of the faithful, as well as the benefits conferred on the neighboring population by the cult, such as the fertility of the land and the people, regular rainfall, and recovery from illness. The report was sent to the Court of Ceremonials (Taichangsi 太常寺) at the capital, Luoyang, which ordered an inquiry to verify the information provided and collect proof of the deity’s efficacy. The inquiry would be entrusted to the chancellor or other officials connected to government administration or, alternatively, was conducted by an inspector who was sent to the locality by the Court of Ceremonials. After a renewed verification process, a new report was submitted, on the basis of which the court directed a request to the Imperial Secretariat, which, in turn, transmitted it to the Imperial Palace. Once the request was granted, the formal decree was passed through successive hands ending with the chancellor or official responsible for the county. The person charged with the reconstruction or enlargement of the temple drew on the county’s revenues for the necessary amount and for the standard offerings stipulated in the decree, and an official was named to be in charge of the sacrifices. Based on the stela inscription, the procedure for the Wuji Mountain cult lasted about six months, from the initial submission of the request to the decree granting it, and went through three stages: the request, the inquiry, and the decree. The Wuji Mountain stela inscription illustrates in great detail the actions of representatives of the local administration who were determined to validate and legitimate religious observances conducted at a sacred site within their jurisdiction. The challenge for the local officials was not only to obtain public funds to finance the cult but above all to win recognition for the deity and establish the legitimacy of the cult dedicated to the deity. The procedure

319 was rigorous: evidence had to be compiled and subjected to verification before the efficacy of the deity in question could be accepted. The process is comparable to the process of beatification and canonization in Christianity. A detail at the end of the Wuji Mountain stela inscription is related to a theme that appears more prominently in other stela inscriptions: the tendency of officials who carry out the renovation of a sacred site to link the eulogy for the deity with praise for the representative of the administration. Such praise is often found in stelae associated with the Five Peaks and Four Rivers system, among which the stela inscriptions for the Huai River and Mount Song are notable examples. In eulogizing the human representative as prominently as the deity, those responsible for carrying out the formally recognized “official” ceremonies for the deity in effect appropriate them. As Jean Levi notes, the cult of the official substitutes for that of the deity.66 The stela dedicated to the sacrifices to the Huai River (translated below) was engraved in 163 ce. The original stela still existed at the time of the temple’s restoration in 1344, but the stone had deteriorated to the point that the inscription could not be read, and a new stela was engraved based on the text printed in the Examination of Clerical Script (see fig. 8.4). Subsequently, the original stela was lost.67 My translation follows the newly engraved stela and printed text. 延熹六年正月八日乙酉南陽大守中山盧奴[張]君處正好 禮尊神敬祀以淮出平氏始於大復潛行地中見于陽口立廟 桐柏春秋宗奉災異告愬水旱請求位比諸侯聖漢所尊受珪 上帝大常定甲郡守奉祀齋絜沈祭從郭君以來廿餘年不復 身至遺丞行事簡略不敬明神弗歆灾害以生

In the sixth year of the Yanxi reign period (163 ce), first month, eighth day, yiyou22. Governor of Nanyang and native of Lunu in the kingdom of Zhongshan, Lord Zhang68 is a man of integrity who loves the rites, venerates the gods, and respects the sacrifices. The Huai River emerges in Pingshi, its source is in the Dafu mountains, and it flows almost hidden before appearing at Yangkou. A temple was built in Tongbo, 66  Levi, 1989, p. 239. 67  “Tongbo Huaiyuan miaobei” 桐柏淮源廟碑, Lishi, 2, 12a–13b. For a rubbing, transcription, and annotated Japanese translation, see Nagata Hidemasa, 1994, vol. 1, pp. 109–14; vol. 2, pp. 142– 43. On the history of the stela and its rubbings, see Shi Zhecun, 1987, pp. 341–43. 68  The official’s surname, Zhang 張, is missing in the Lishi and the newly engraved stela. I restore it based on the text of the inscription in the Guwen yuan 古文苑; see Shi Zhecun, 1987, p. 342.

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where regular sacrifices were offered in spring and autumn, as well as prayers to avoid calamities and requests to end droughts.69 (The deity of the Huai River) is the equivalent of a feudal lord, and the sacred dynasty of the Han respects it; it receives from the emperor jade tablets, and the Court of Ceremonials has established its rank. The governor of the commandery gives sacrifices to it. He provides grain and places the offerings in the water. But from the time of Lord Guo,70 more than twenty years have passed without any governor coming to this place in person to carry out the rites; they assign only one officer to this task. The ritual is abbreviated and carried out without respect. The enlightened deity does not taste the offerings, and disasters follow. 五嶽四瀆與天合德仲尼慎祭常若神在君准則大聖親之桐 柏奉見廟祠崎嶇逼狹開袥神門立闕四達增廣壇場飭治華 盖高大殿宇[1]齊傳館石獸表道靈龜十四衢廷弘敞宮廟嵩 峻祗慎慶祀一年再至躬進三牲執玉以沈為民祈福靈祗報 祐天地清和嘉祥昭格禽獸碩茂草木芬芳黎庶賴祉民用作 頌其辭曰

The virtue of the Five Peaks and Four Rivers is associated with Heaven; Confucius sacrificed with circumspection and always as if the spirits were present.71 Lord (Zhang) takes the great sage as his model. He personally went to Tongbo to offer sacrifices in the temple. In the steep and narrow passage, he has built an entryway and has erected pillars to the four directions. He has extended the ritual area, decorated the awning, erected halls [1] and expanded the resting quarters (for visitors). In order to indicate the path, he has installed stone animals in the shape of fourteen tortoises. The site is vast, the temple imposing, and the sacrifices are made twice a year with circumspection and respect. (Lord Zhang) brings the three sacrificial animals in person and presents jade pieces to be thrown into the river. He prays for the happiness of the people and for the assistance of the efficacious spirits. So that Heaven and Earth are in harmony, that good omens become manifest, that animals multiply, that vegetation grows, and that

69  Tongbo is located southeast of Nanyang, Henan. 70  A reference to Guo Bao 郭苞, who erected the first stela during the Yonghe reign period (136–143 ce) (mentioned in Shuijing zhu, 30, 1b). 71  The phrase is based on Lunyu, 3, 7a (“Bayi” 八佾): “One should sacrifice to a spirit as though that spirit was present” (ji ru shen zai 祭如神在).

the black-haired people enjoy these blessings, he has composed this poem: 泫泫淮源聖禹所導湯湯其逝惟海是造穢濟遠柔順其道弱 而能強仁而能武 [2]晝夜明哲所取寔為四凟與河合矩烈 烈

The Huai erupts from its source, and Sage Yu directs its course. It streams along, flowing into the sea. It carries impurities far away, and its way is mild and pliant. Weak, it can also be strong; peaceful, it can also be martial. [2] day and night, the sage is inspired by it. (The Huai) is truly one of the Four Rivers, as steady as the Yellow River. 明府好古之則虔恭禮祀不衍其德惟前廢弛匪躬匪力灾 眚以興陰陽以忒陟彼高岡臻茲廟側肅肅其敬靈祗降福 雍雍其和民用悅服穰穰其慶年榖豐殖望君輿駕扶老攜 息慕君塵軌奔走忘食懷君惠賜思君罔極于胥樂兮傳于 萬億

Our excellent, enlightened Governor cherishes the ancient principles; he holds the sacrifices in great respect, and his virtue is without blemish. Because in the past sacrifices were neglected and were not celebrated by the magistrate in person, nor with all the devotion required, calamities and disasters ensued, and the yin and yang were disordered. It was then that (our Governor) climbed to the summit of the mountain and arrived near the temple. Confronted with his solemn respect, the deity sent down blessings. Faced with his perfect equanimity, the people willingly obeyed, and his multiple acts of kindness ensured abundant harvests. Seeing the chariot of our Lord, they supported the elderly and took their children by their hands, running after him, forgetting even to eat.72 They love him in their hearts for his goodness and constantly keep him in their thoughts. They are all happy, and their joy is transmitted for thousands of years. 春侍祠官屬五官掾章陵劉訢功曹史安眾劉瑗主簿蔡陽樂 茂戶曹史宛任巽

In spring, the officials employed for the sacrifices include Clerk for Miscellaneous Uses, Liu Xin of Zhangling; Scribe of the Bureau of Merits, Liu Yuan 72  The allusions concern legends of Gugong Danfu 古公亶父, or Taiwang 太王, who preferred exile to risking the lives of his people fighting the barbarian Rong 戎 and Di 狄. However, his subjects followed him to the foot of Qi 岐 Mountain in Shaanxi, which became the cradle of the Zhou dynasty. See Shiji, 4, pp. 113–14.

daybooks in qin and han religion

of Anzhong; Recorder Yue Mao of Caiyang; and Scribe of the Bureau of Civil Affairs, Ren Xun of Yuan county. 秋五官掾新[野]梁懿功曹史酈周謙主簿安眾鄧嶷主記史 宛趙旻戶曹史宛謝綜

In autumn: Clerk for Miscellaneous Uses, Liang Yi of Xinye;73 Scribe of the Bureau of Merits, Zhouqian of Li county; Recorder Deng Yi of Anzhong; Recording Scribe Zhao Min; and Scribe of the Bureau of Civil Affairs, Xie Zong of Yuan county. The eulogy for Governor Zhang is longer than the eulogy for the deity in the Huai River stela inscription and represents the kind of inscription that subordinates composed for a higher official or disciples for their master. Inscriptions in which subordinates or disciples composed an encomium recounting the career of their superior or master could be made during that person’s lifetime. In the Huai River stela, it is noteworthy that only minor local officials are named. They engraved the stela to celebrate the cult and at the same time seem to have already obtained or wished to obtain Governor Zhang’s patronage. The Mount Song stela inscription was composed by Tangxi Dian 堂谿典 in 175 ce (fig. 8.5). It was carved on the same stone pillar (shique 石闕) as an earlier inscription from 123 ce celebrating the cult of Kaimu 開母, or Qimu 啓母, the mother of Qi and the spouse of Yu the Great 大禹.74 The latter inscription is devoted to the deeds of Yu the Great and the miraculous birth of his son from a stone. This stone, from which Qi was removed after his mother was petrified, had been the object of a cult until the great religious purge of 31 bce. Tangxi Dian’s inscription resembles an epitaph, which, based on the total number of Eastern Han inscriptions that have survived, is the most frequent genre for stela inscriptions.75 [1]寺[1][五官中郎將𨻳陵堂谿典伯并熹平四年來請雨嵩 高廟] [1] Attendant [1] and Leader of Court Gentlemen for Miscellaneous Uses Tangxi Dian of Yanling, personal name Bobing, in the fourth year of the Xiping reign

73  The missing graph ye 野 is restored based on the Guwen yuan. 74   Kai 開 was used as a substitute for qi 啓 in order to avoid the personal name of Emperor Jing (r. 156–141 bce). 75  Among a total of 314 inscriptions, Patricia Ebrey has counted 146 epitaphs, of which 98 are by “central government officials and higher provincial officials”; see Ebrey, 1980, p. 332.

321 period (175 ce), has come to the temple at Mount Song to ask for rain.76 典大君諱協字季度[1]為郡主簿作闕銘文後舉孝廉西鄂長 早終

Dian’s deceased father, (Tangxi) Xie, personal name Jidu, [1] was commandery registrar. The pillar and its inscriptions were made at his request.77 He was specially recommended for office in the category of filiality and honesty and was made magistrate of Xi’e county.78 However, he died young. 敍曰於惟我君明允廣淵學兼游夏德配臧文歿而不朽實有 立言其言惟[…]

Eulogy: My father was discerning and loyal, magnanimous and wise. His knowledge was the equal of that of Ziyou and Zixia together; his virtue was comparable to that of Zang Wenzhong.79 We will never forget him. His teaching will truly endure. His teaching …80 It seems that although Tangxi Dian was sent to Mount Song to pray for rain, his actual purpose in composing the inscription was to eulogize his father. All three inscriptions presented above show the involvement of officials in the religious life of the region where they held office. As a result of their actions, sacred sites under their administration were incorporated into the larger sacred geography of the empire. Imperial recognition served several purposes. Recognition required proof of the deity’s efficacy in order to celebrate the cult legally, which further enhanced the cult’s prestige locally 76  These twenty-five graphs of the inscription text (representing five columns) are no longer extant, either on the pillar or in rubbings. For earlier transcriptions as the basis for restoring the text, see Nagata Hidemasa, 1994, vol. 1, p. 213. 77  Tangxi Xie’s name does not appear on the list of promoters of the 123 ce inscription for the cult of the mother of Qi (see Nagata Hidemasa, 1994, vol. 2, pp. 62–63). Perhaps it has worn off the surface of the stone. 78  Near Nanyang, Henan. 79  Ziyou 子游 and Zixia 子夏 are famous disciples of Confucius; Zang Wenzhong 臧文中 was a wise counselor under the reign of Sire Xiang of Lu 魯襄公. 80  “Tangxi Dian qingyu Songgao miao ming” 堂谿典請雨嵩高 廟銘. For a rubbing, transcription, and annotated Japanese translation, see Nagata Hidemasa, 1994, vol. 1, p. 213; vol. 2, pp. 216–17. The inscription was engraved on the pillar beneath the inscription for the cult of the mother of Qi and is arranged in short columns of five graphs per column. Columns of text are missing at the beginning and end of the currently extant inscription on the pillar.

322

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Figure 8.4 Ink rubbing of stela with the Huai River inscription, reinscribed under the Yuan dynasty. After Beijing tushuguan cang Zhongguo lidai shike taben huibian, vol. 1, p. 118.

323

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Figure 8.5 Ink rubbing of stela with the Mount Song inscription by Tangxi Dian. After Beijing tushuguan cang Zhongguo lidai shike taben huibian, vol. 1, p. 167.

while ensuring its stable continuation (unrecognized cults were by definition illegitimate and at risk of being abolished). Recognition of a sacred site also brought economic advantages, not the least of which was that offerings were financed by the public treasury. Yet officials clearly had other motivations. Obtaining an imperial decree approving a cult meant increased prestige and power for them, which was more than adequate compensation for their pious tenacity. Beyond that, an official’s real reward was realized in the blessings of deities who—wrapped in the mantle of legitimacy conferred by imperial recognition— granted favor to the men who had worked to promote their cult, while the official himself gained the prospect of his own divinization in regional cults. Long-Life Practices The court activities of specialists in long-life practices and immortality are well known, especially during the reign of Emperor Wu but also earlier in the Qin dynasty and throughout the Han dynasty. In particular, Han historical sources recount the activities of so-called fangshi 方士, who presented themselves to emperors as teachers of the arts of long life. There have been various translations of the term. Literal translations include “masters of recipes” and “recipe gentlemen”; others are interpretive and focus on occult aspects of the fangshi and how they were perceived by others, such as “masters of esoterica” or simply “magicians.” Kristofer Schipper has recently proposed the term “wise initiates” to indicate that fangshi had been initiated into the arts of Yellow Emperor (Huangdi 黃帝), the patron saint of immortality cults and all kinds of man-

tic, physiological, and meditative techniques.81 Evidence for fangshi comes mainly from transmitted texts, and the variety of translations reflects the difficulty of reaching an understanding of the social identity of the specialists labeled fangshi in Han historical sources. It was claimed that in the late second century bce, during Emperor Wu’s reign, fangshi were concentrated in the ancient regions of Yan 燕 and Qi 齊, where they were counted in the tens of thousands, and presided over hundreds of cults of questionable legitimacy in the first century bce.82 There are no clear traces of long-life practices in daybooks, and this chapter does not provide a detailed review of these practices and the involvement of fangshi as recorded in transmitted sources. It is instructive, however, to briefly consider the evidence in Eastern Han epigraphy for this component of local religious life. Sources include the Yuanshi county stelae described above and inscriptions for Laozi 老子 and Wangzi Qiao.83 There are also two stelae with inscriptions dedicated to Tang Gongfang 唐公房 and Fei Zhi 肥致, Han specialists in the

81  Schipper, 2008, pp. 49–50. For fangshi at the court of Emperor Wu, see Han shu, 25A, pp. 1216–20. 82  On the fangshi in Yan and Qi, see Han shu, 25B, p. 1260; and Bujard, 2000b, p. 203. On the involvement of fangshi in regional cults, see Han shu, 25B, p. 1257; and Bujard, 2000b, p. 221. 83  For a detailed presentation of the Laozi inscription, see Seidel, 1969, pp. 36–50. I do not discuss it further in this chapter. For the Wangzi Qiao inscription, see Daojia jinshi lüe, p. 2; and for a translation of the inscription, see Bujard, 1999, pp. 125–30.

324 immortality cult, which recount their achievement of immortality and their cult.84 People were drawn to mountains and the deities at mountains for multiple reasons. The Yuanshi county stelae attest primarily to the public activities of prayer and sacrifice. Among the stela inscriptions, however, the Sangong Mountain inscription of 181 ce preserves vivid testimony of the activities of people, including adepts of eternal life, who came to the sacred site seeking to separate themselves from the rest of society: “Among them were those who hid away as hermits, avoiding speech; among them were those who practiced quietude, nourishing purity; among them were those who employed breathing techniques, seeking to prolong their existence.”85 The pattern of seeking immortality at temples in the mountains may be traced back to the Western Han period and the efforts of Emperor Wu, who traveled on multiple occasions to Mount Song with the expectation of encountering the blessed ones.86 In a dream, Emperor Wu had a vision of ascending Mount Song with the fangshi Li Shaojun 李少君 when the deity Taiyi 太一 (Grand One) summoned Li to achieve eternal life.87 Emperor Wu also built the Palace for the Gathering of Spirits (Jiling Gong 集靈宮) as a site for greeting the immortals at Mount Hua.88 Regarding religious activity at Mount Hua, people were already going there in the Warring States period seeking divine help in curing illness. A pair of third-century bce stone tablets found at Mount Hua preserves the text of the prayer of Qin Yin 秦駰 to the mountain deity and other divinities. In exchange for his recovery, Qin Yin promised offerings of beef, mutton, pork, and jade disks.89 84  “Xianren Tang Gongfang bei” 仙人唐公房碑, Lishi, 3, 9b–11a. For a rubbing, transcription, and annotated Japanese translation, see Nagata Hidemasa, 1994, vol. 1, pp. 277–81; vol. 2, pp. 270– 71. For a translation and study of the Tang Gongfang inscription, see Schipper, 1991. The Fei Zhi stela inscription was discovered in 1991 and reported in Wenwu 1992.9, p. 39. For studies, see Xing Yitian, 1997; and Schipper, 1997. 85  Translation follows Brashier, 2002, p. 164, with modifications. 86  Bujard, 2000b, p. 171n26. 87   Shiji, 12, p. 455n1. 88  This is according to Huan Tan 桓譚 (43 bce–28 ce), who visited the palace when he accompanied Emperor Cheng (r. 32–7 bce) to Mount Hua; see Pokora, 1975, pp. 231–32. 89  Li Ling, 2006b, pp. 343–61, and plate 8. The tablets are made of serpentine. They were not archaeologically excavated and are currently held by the Shanghai Museum. I follow the judgment of Li Ling (2006b, p. 353) that the tablets are most likely thirdcentury bce and that Qin Yin was most likely a member of the Qin ruling family, not one of the fourth- or third-century bce Qin kings.

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As to the miraculous appearance of the immortal Wangzi Qiao over the tomb of his ancestors on the La day (mentioned above), the original stela marking the event and the establishment of the Wangzi Qiao cult was erected in Meng county in 165 ce. According to the inscription, the temple to Wangzi Qiao became the meeting place for “companions who loved the Way” (hao Dao zhi chou 好道 之儔). The devotees gathered in great numbers to praise Grand One in song, practice meditation exercises, and seek healing. According to the inscription, when prayers for a cure to illness came from a sincere heart, it was granted, but those whose hearts were insincere were struck down, because, in collective cults, good faith was the indispensable virtue for anyone who wanted to receive the deity’s blessing.90 Singing hymns to deities, meditating, and praying for healing are activities that signal both ordinary religious devotion and the quest for immortality. The stela inscription is invaluable evidence of the cult organized around the legendary figure of Wangzi Qiao as recounted in transmitted sources. The stela in honor of the immortal Tang Gongfang attests to the divinization of historical figures from Han times and the establishment of their cults. The date of the stela is uncertain. It was erected in Chenggu 城固 county by the governor of Hanzhong 漢中 commandery (in southeastern Shaanxi) along with fifteen other eminent local figures. Locals believed that Tang Gongfang had been a commandery official in the first decade of the first century ce and that he became a follower of a perfected one (zhenren 真人). Initially, the perfected one gave Tang a magical drug that allowed him to wander over vast spaces and understand the speech of birds and beasts. Later, his spiritual master gave Tang and his entire household— domestic animals included—the drug of immortality, dispatching them to the paradise world above. Details of Tang Gongfang’s legend suggest that he was also revered as a rat hunter. Thus the divinized Tang Gongfang received the prayers of those who sought protection from rodents while also enjoying the support of local elites, including those with Daoist inclinations. The latter collected funds in order to, in the words of the inscription, pay homage to the “spiritual beauty of Lord Tang … and spread his wonderful teachings.”91 From the end of the Eastern Han period onward, Tang Gongfang’s cult spread more widely in the Hanzhong region, where several sanctuaries dedicated to him were built. The cult dedicated to Fei Zhi is known thanks to the discovery in 1991 of a stela placed inside a large tomb with 90  Bujard, 1999, p. 127. 91  Schipper, 1991, p. 64.

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Private Rituals in the Daybooks

several occupants in an area east of Luoyang. The stela inscription dates Fei Zhi’s activities in life to the first century ce, when he was called to court twice, during the reigns of Emperor Zhang (r. 76–88) and Emperor He (r. 89–105). His usual dwelling place was in a jujube tree, where, it was said, he once remained for three years without descending. Fei Zhi mingled with the immortals and could transport himself instantly across vast distances. First brought to court in response to the omen of red vapor enveloping the palace, he gained the emperor’s favor and was appointed Expectant Officer of the Bureau for the Palace Women (Yeting Daizhao 掖庭待詔). He demonstrated his ability for magical travel when the emperor desired a plant from the south that was unobtainable in the capital, and Fei Zhi returned with the plant after a momentary absence, explaining that it had been given to him by the governor of Shu 蜀 commandery. The inscription describes Fei Zhi as an adept of the Way (Daoren 道人) and a perfected one. He attracted many to his teachings of immortality and lived at the home of one of his followers, an official named Xu You 許幼. Details of the inscription related to Xu You indicate that he in turn had followers and that he and five disciples became immortals after ingesting mineral drugs. The stela inscription was made in 169 by Xu You’s son, Xu Jian 許建, who was responsible for perpetuating the cult of the Daoist Fei Zhi. How the stela came to be placed in the tomb where it was found in 1991 remains unclear, but it owes its survival to this circumstance. Fei Zhi is known today only from the stela inscription. The Fei Zhi cult exemplifies what were probably numerous local cults sustained by a limited community of followers, evidently not subjected to the scrutiny of local officials. As such, the Fei Zhi inscription informs us of an important aspect of the ordinary religion of this period. The Fei Zhi cult appears to have had a popular following as well as a more limited following of adepts who dedicated themselves to achieving immortality, that is, Xu You and his own disciples. Similarities with the Wangzi Qiao and Tang Gongfang stelae indicate that the Daoist Fei Zhi fitted a pattern of legendary figures who became deities and who served as role models with multiple spiritual functions. Much work remains to be done to delineate how ordinary religion, the quest for immortality, and Daoist religion mingled in the lives of members of various social groups across the centuries of the Han dynasty.92

The third level of religious life concerns the private practices of individuals for whom daybooks and related manuscript miscellanies reflected the circumstances of everyday life in both the household and the community. The daybooks are of great interest for understanding the formation of the symbolic configurations within which Qin and Han people lived from day to day. People were aware that they occupied an environment governed by spatial and geographic orientations and that their activities participated in rhythmic time patterns. Successful action was understood to require harmony between the individual person and the general order underlying all things. The hemerologies, calendrical prohibitions, rituals, and medical information collected in daybooks and related manuscript miscellanies attempted to present this general order in a written document that enabled the user to foresee or manipulate the daily circumstances of life so as to ensure a good outcome. At the same time, as Poo Muchou has remarked, the information recorded in daybooks was often contradictory, reflecting the numerous rival hemerological systems presented in the same manuscript and applied to the same activities.93 Other types of writings addressed similar needs, such as the shiling 時令 “seasonal ordinances” literature exemplified by the Zidanku 子彈庫 Silk Manuscripts (dated ca. 300 bce) (described in chap. 6) and the more specialized hemerological literature known from the second-century bce Mawangdui 馬王堆 tomb 3 silk manuscripts.94 However, we should refrain from judging daybooks for what they were not—they were not carefully formulated and erudite treatises—and rather consider how daybooks as miscellaneous compilations of hemerologies, ritual and magical methods, and random information fulfilled their intended role in local communities. Daybooks were repositories of shared conventions and expectations, and as artifacts that someone in antiquity once possessed, they offer insight into the logic embedded in the patterns of everyday life as perceived by individual users. For this reason, daybooks are invaluable for thinking about religion in early China. Ancestors, spirits, and demons are fully present in the daybooks. First, hemerologies in daybooks prescribe good days and avoidance days for their cults, chiefly the days when sacrifices should be offered to the five domestic spirits (wusi 五祀)

92  For recent scholarship, see Campany, 2002; Cedzich, 2001; and Pregadio, 2008.

93  Poo, 1993, pp. 238–41. On the occurrence of conflicting hemerological information in daybooks, see also pp. 116–18 in chap. 3. 94  See pp. 80–81 in chap. 2.

326 and to the ancestors.95 Daybooks also provided their users with the proper methods of obtaining divine assistance or eliminating the harm of demonic influences (sui 祟). Sometimes particular spirits and demons harm people directly through their actions, as seen in the “Jie” 詰 (Spellbinding) and “Bing” 病 (Illness) sections in the first Shuihudi daybook.96 Sometimes certain activities are prohibited on days associated with a spirit or legendary figure. For instance, the twentieth day of every month marks the death day of Chiyou 蚩尤, the spirit of war, and crying and mourning is one of three prohibited activities (KJP.32); on the five choub2 days, shaman activities are prohibited because this is when Di 帝 killed Shaman Xian 巫 咸 (SHDA.9); and because Di commanded Yi 益 to manage fire for Yu 禹 on the five maob4 days, all major activities are prohibited on those days (JD.4).97 It is impossible to consider here the complete array of spirits presented in the daybooks, in part because many of those spirits are still unfamiliar to us. Nor is it possible to analyze in full the apotropaic practices dictated by hemerology.98 Rather, this presentation of individual religious practices is organized around one manuscript, the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany (ZJTB), which contains the First Tiller ritual described above. The recipe miscellany has some hemerological content that overlaps with the other Zhoujiatai manuscript (ZJTA), and both can be considered daybook-related manuscripts. Because so many of the recipes and entries in ZJTB deal with spirits, ritual acts, and magic, and because they constitute a representative sample of the themes treated elsewhere in daybooks, examination of ZJTB serves to introduce the main elements of this aspect of religion, which is so richly documented in daybooks. This account of ZJTB also supplies necessary context for the First Tiller entry, which can be viewed as one among several individual practices occurring in the manuscript miscellany. This discussion begins with observations on the Zhoujiatai manuscripts in relation to the tomb and the man buried in it, who was, presumably, their user.99 Zhoujiatai tomb 30 was in a cemetery located in the old Chu heartland near the present-day city of Jingzhou 荊州, Hubei. When he died in 209 bce or slightly later, the man was between thirty and forty years old. One of the three 95  See, for instance, SHDA.19 and SHDB.5. 96   S HDA.59, SHDA.18. 97  See the discussion on pp. 232–34 in chap. 5. 98  For an index of names of spirits and demons in the daybooks, see supplement 5.1 in chap. 5; for an overview of the magical practices in the manuscripts, see Lü Yahu, 2010. 99  For a detailed account, see pp. 72–73 in chap. 2.

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calendars found with the two daybook-related manuscripts, corresponding to 213 bce, is an event calendar (zhiri 質日) written on bamboo slips with occasional notations related to travel and official business (the La day in the twelfth month is also marked on the calendar).100 We cannot associate the names mentioned in the event calendar with the deceased, who remains anonymous, but it is presumed that he was a low-level official and that notations beneath certain days in the calendar about stopping overnight or engaging in administrative activities at particular places indicate activities in which he was involved. A second calendar corresponding to 211–210 bce is written on bamboo slips that match the shape and preparation of the slips in ZJTA, and reference to the year 211 bce in ZJTA.13 is material evidence of the close connection between calendars and daybooks, which had to be consulted together. The careful arrangement of text and diagrams in ZJTA, as well as the inclusion of hemerologies with particular relevance for officials, permit us to imagine a middle-aged official who routinely consulted calendars and daybooks when going about his daily affairs. In contrast to the neat appearance of ZJTA, the ZJTB slips are of varying dimensions and the bamboo of some slips is roughly finished. The handwriting also has a hasty appearance, and it is clear that multiple hands were involved in copying the text. The question of how such a manuscript came to be produced raises further questions about how ZJTB was used and by whom that are relevant to the miscellaneous content. One final note: the binding cords had rotted and the slips were jumbled at the time of excavation, and because most of the recipes or entries were copied on just one slip, it was impossible to reconstruct the original sequence of the ZJTB slips. I adopt the provisional reconstruction as published, but the ordering of the content represents a modern judgment and is not the form in which ZJTB’s original users experienced the manuscript. Aside from several entries related to hemerology (ZJTB.20–21, ZJTB.23–24, ZJTB.26) and recipes placed at the end of the reconstructed manuscript that are too fragmentary to interpret (ZJTB.29, ZJTB.31–33), classification of the remaining content of ZJTB in this discussion is based on the criteria for distinguishing medical from magical recipes proposed by Donald Harper in his study of the Mawangdui medical manuscripts.101 Of the thirteen recipes in the first category, seven recipes use substances as drugs to treat ailments (ZJTB.1–4, ZJTB.8–10), three similar recipes address the human body (ZJTB.5–7), 100  Referred to by the Qin name Jiaping. 101  Harper, 1998, pp. 150–52.

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daybooks in qin and han religion Table 8.2 Medical and medical-related recipes in the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany (ZJTB) Section

Topic

Active material

ZJTB.1 ZJTB.2 ZJTB.3 ZJTB.4 ZJTB.5 ZJTB.6 ZJTB.7 ZJTB.8 ZJTB.9 ZJTB.10 ZJTB.19 ZJTB.27 ZJTB.28

intestinal illness (腸辟) warm illness (溫病) making qi descend (下氣) exhaustion illness (單病) lengthening hair (長髮) removing dark spots (去黑子) uncertain continuous panting (恆吹) internal conglomerations (瘕) impotence (痿) grain-head malformation (令禾毋稂) exterminating rats (已鼠) fattening cattle (肥牛)

ox bile (牛膽), black beans (黑菽) alcohol (醇酒) plantain (車前草) peach-wood borer feces (桃蠹屎) puppy (乳狗) angelica (藁), magnolia ash (欄灰), mulberry wood (桑木), beef (牛肉) uncertain tussilago (橐莫), arsenopyrite (礜) sword (劍), dagger (有方), alcohol (醇酒) sheep feces (羊屎), aconite (烏頭), beef fat (牛脂) sacrificial millet offering (腏黍) arsenopyrite (白礜) rainwater (沫)

Table 8.3 Magical recipes in the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany (ZJTB) Section

Topic

Active material/action

Spirits

Pace of Yu

Incantation

ZJTB.11 ZJTB.12

dental decay (齲) dental decay (齲)

Lord of the Old East Wall Foot of the Wall

two times one time

one time one time

ZJTB.13 ZJTB.14

dental decay (齲) heart illness (病心)

Chassis and Carriage Mount Tai

one time one time

one time two times

ZJTB.15 ZJTB.16 ZJTB.17 ZJTB.18

abscess (癰) breast-feeding horse skittishness (馬心) good harvest

Curved Pool Yu High Mountain, High Si Road Spirit, First Tiller

two times two times one time one time

one time two times one time five times

ZJTB.25

washing silkworm eggs (浴蠶)

ZJTB.30

malaria (瘧)

tile (瓦), head bug (頭虫) tile (瓦), black beans (黑菽), rice (米) linchpin (舝) place hands on belly of sick person, stamp on sick person with left foot rice (米) rice (米) earth (土) sacrificial beef (牛胙), ale (酒), suckling pig (豚) white stones (皦), red beans (赤菽) uncertain

and three recipes apply the substances to other household circumstances (ZJTB.19, ZJTB.27–28).102 The ten recipes in the second category are magical, involving ritual acts, gestures, incantations, substances, and sacrificial offerings to spirits. Six recipes concern ailments (ZJTB.11–15, ZJTB.30), one recipe is related to the human body (ZJTB.16), and 102   Z JTB.7 is fragmentary, but the editors of the manuscript presume that it is related to ZJTB.6.

one time Nüe

one time

one time

three recipes address other household circumstances (ZJTB.17–18, ZJTB.25) (see tables 8.2 and 8.3). We should not make too strong a distinction between the two categories. In regard to topic, the majority of the recipes concern named ailments, divided equally between magical and medical recipes; that is, medicine as presented to the users of ZJTB encompasses both approaches to treatment. The ailments range from intestinal illness (ZJTB.1, medical) and “making qi descend” (ZJTB.3,

328 medical) to continuous panting (ZJTB.8, medical), impotence (ZJTB.10, medical), dental decay (ZJTB.11–13, magical), abscesses (ZJTB.15, magical), and malaria (ZJTB.30, magical).103 The recipes directed toward other household circumstances are likewise equally divided. Among the substances, some are used as drugs and in magical applications: black beans are a drug in ZJTB.1 and are part of the dental decay ritual in ZJTB.12; the ash applied to grain before sowing in ZJTB.19 is made from sacrificial cooked-millet offerings; rice has ritual use in ZJTB.12 and ZJTB.15–16; and red beans have ritual use in ZJTB.25. Further, the numerologically significant numbers seven and twice seven occur in medical applications of substances (ZJTB.8–9) and in magical applications (ZJTB.12, ZJTB.14, ZJTB.25). In the category of magical recipes, the propitiatory ritual addressed to First Tiller for personal enrichment is the longest and most elaborate of the ZJTB magical recipes. Among the details in ZJTB.18 are instructions relating to time (La day and the time interval for the second stage of the ritual), direction (facing east to present offerings), and space (the succession of locations for the ritual); the spirit addressed by name in incantations (First Tiller, Tiller); the text for incantations and prayers to be spoken, with indications of where to insert the name of the person who is speaking; description of the ritual gesture of the Pace of Yu; and an enumeration of offerings, including the purchase of beef and ale at the marketplace, with instructions on their preparation. Of the other nine magical recipes, eight also include the Pace of Yu in combination with incantations to a spirit. The regular occurrence of the Pace of Yu is notable and is discussed below. Additional regular features of the magical recipes include facing a particular direction (usually east), spitting, spouting, throwing substances (rice is thrown on the ground in ZJTB.16), and making exorcistic gestures (stamping the sick person twice-seven times with the left foot in ZJTB.14). In general, these nine recipes are less elaborate than the First Tiller recipe, which has the appearance of a more formal ritual. For instance, the instruction to use one mat to “make the triple offering of food sacrifice” in ZJTB.18 occurs only in the First Tiller ritual and represents high-level ritual conduct. In contrast, in the ritual treatment for dental decay in ZJTB.11, 103  Keep in mind that in reconstructing the manuscript, the editors decided to place medical recipes for ailments at the beginning, followed by magical recipes for ailments, followed by other recipes (it is not clear why ZJTB.30 for malaria is placed near the end of the manuscript). The arrangement was no doubt different in the original manuscript.

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the words of the incantation promise to give the spirit a black cow (liniu zimu 驪牛子母), and the explanation at the end of the recipe defines “cow” (niu 牛) as “head bug” (touniu 頭牛); that is, in the recipe, bugs are substituted for the cow.104 For abscesses (ZJTB.15), the recipe requires a cup of rice, but the rice is thrown into a pool, not offered in sacrifice (the word for the “pool” is the same as the name of the spirit who caused the abscess and is being asked to cure it, Quchi 曲池). The cup of rice is thrown on the ground in the recipe to treat difficulty with breast-feeding (ZJTB.16). This ritual act resembles what Harper refers to as “magical transfer.”105 In both situations, the ailment (abscess) or body dysfunction (lack of breast milk) has been transferred to an object—the rice—which is immediately discarded in order to make the condition disappear. Only one of the nine recipes, the incantation and ritual for washing silkworm eggs in ZJTB.25, specifies the date for performing the ritual, on day gengwu7. Mention of directions is much more frequent. Two of the three recipes for dental decay specify the direction east (ZJTB.11–12); the word for “east” (dong 東) becomes part of the name of the dental decay spirit in one of them (ZJTB.11) (translated below). Other medical recipes advise placing the patient’s head toward the south before having another person exorcistically stamp on the patient as a treatment for heart illness (ZJTB.14); facing east before performing the Pace of Yu and addressing the abscess spirit (ZJTB.15); and facing north before performing the Pace of Yu and addressing the malaria spirit (ZJTB.30). A Heterogeneous Pantheon The spirits named in the ten magical recipes make an interesting group. Two are well known: First Tiller and Mount Tai. About First Tiller there is no need to say more. In ZJTB.14, the deity of Mount Tai is called upon to treat heart illness. Mount Tai and its deity also occur in magical recipes for treating scorpion stings and abscesses in the Mawangdui manuscript Wushi’er bingfang 五十二病方 (Recipes for fifty-two ailments), and Mount Tai is invoked to protect travelers in another Mawangdui manuscript, Yangsheng fang 養生方 (Recipes for nurturing life).106 The two deities are very different—First Tiller is a divinized legendary figure, and Mount Tai is the god of the dead and of immortality—yet both are deities of “national” status. 104  Wang Guiyuan (2010, p. 71) speculates that the bug could be a black beetle with antennae that suggest cow horns. 105  Harper, 1998, p. 170. 106   Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, pp. 230, 283; vol. 6, p. 60. See Harper, 1998, pp. 239, 291, 354.

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In ZJTB, they appear without the pomp and ceremony that surrounded official cults, and their efficacy has been appropriated by individuals for their personal needs. Other deities are more obscure, and in the absence of information, attempts to identify them necessarily rely on conjecture. Most often they appear as divinized entities in a metaphoric relationship—at times both punning and homophonic—with the illness with which they are associated or with a particular element involved in the treatment of the illness. For instance, the efficacy of Lord of the Old East Wall (Dongchenyuan Junzi 東陳垣君子) or of Foot of the Wall (Yuanzhi 垣址) in treating dental decay is based on an analogy between the tiles that cover the top of the wall and teeth. The following recipe involves Lord of the Old East Wall (ZJTB.11): 已齲方見東陳垣禹步三步曰皋敢告東陳垣君子某病齲齒 苟令某齲已請獻驪牛子母前見地瓦操見垣有瓦及禹步已 即取垣瓦埋東陳垣址下置垣瓦下置牛上乃以所操瓦蓋之 堅埋之所謂牛者頭虫也

Recipe for dental decay: Looking at the Old East Wall, perform the three paces of the Pace of Yu and say: “Ha! I announce to Lord of the Old East Wall: I, so and so, suffer from dental decay. If you make it stop, I promise to offer you a black cow.” Find before you a tile on the ground. Pick it up and, looking at the tiles on the wall, perform the Pace of Yu. When you have finished, pick up a tile from the wall and bury it at the foot of the Old East Wall. (Do it by) putting the tile from the wall on the bottom, putting the cow on it, and covering the top firmly with the tile picked up from the ground; then bury it all. The reference to “cow” means head bugs.107 In this procedure, the tiles stand for the teeth that are symbolically treated: imbued with magical efficacy after the Pace of Yu is performed, the bug associated with the cause of dental decay is imprisoned between two tiles. But the bug is also called “cow” (niu 牛). Thus the bug pressed between two tiles and buried represents the offering of the “black cow” (liniu zimu 驪牛子母) promised to Lord of the Old East Wall in exchange for eliminating the dental decay.108

107   Z JTB.11, slips 326–328; Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu, p. 129. 108  The same term, “old east wall,” occurs in a magical recipe for treating inguinal swelling in the Wushi’er bingfang, which perhaps refers both to a wall and to its divinized entity as in ZJTB.11. See Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, p. 256; see also Harper, 1998, p. 266.

329 Metaphoric and punning strategies are attested in ZJTB.13 in the treatment for dental decay and in ZJTB.15 in the treatment for abscesses. In ZJTB.13, the person with dental decay first looks at a chariot (che/*ka 車), performs the Pace of Yu, and then begins the incantation by shouting the spirit name Fuche 輔車 (Chassis and Chariot). Both Yu/*WaɁ 禹 and the word che/*ka 車 pun with the name for dental decay, qu/*kwaɁ 齲. Exploitation of sound and graph extends to the magical use of the chariot’s linchpin as a substitute for the decayed tooth: in ZJTB.13, the graph/word for “linchpin,” written xia 舝 in transmitted texts, is written with yu 禹 in the middle as an indication of the sound of the word.109 Quchi 曲池 (Curved Pool), the deity for abscesses in ZJTB.15, remains obscure.110 Wang Guiyuan argues for a metaphoric interpretation of the name by linking it to an expression in the incantation that comes immediately after the invocation of the deity’s name, mou yong mou po 某癰某波, which might be rendered as “my, so and so’s, abscesses, so and so’s waves.” In Wang’s explanation, the incantation is addressed to Curved Pool because the bloody, pus-filled abscesses on the person’s body are identified with the waves on the surface of the pool divinized as Curved Pool. Thus the deity Curved Pool has efficacy for healing abscesses.111 ZJTB.16, the plea to Yu 鬻—the possibly feminine deity of births—to produce milk in a new mother shifts to functional spirits created in relation to the assistance expected of them. In regular usages, the word yu 鬻 means both “give birth” and “nurture,” and the deity Yu is expected to aid mother and infant.112 Similarly, Nüe 瘧 in ZJTB.30 is a disease spirit whose name is the ailment name (malaria).113 The spirits Gaoshan 高山 (High Mountain) and Gaosi 高絲 (High Si), who are efficacious for the horse ailment in ZJTB.17 (possibly skittishness), might be invoked in the incantation because of an association with travel and with earth.114 Like several travel departure rituals, ZJTB.17 109  See p. 131 in chap. 3, for more discussion of the wordplay involved in ZJTB.13. 110  The compound occurs in Chu ci, 9 p. 206 (“Zhaohun” 招魂); and in Zuozhuan, 7, 12b (Huan 12). However, neither occurrence is related to a deity. 111  Wang Guiyuan, 2009, p. 71. 112  Ibid., p. 72. 113  For examples of reifying an ailment as a spirit who can be invoked to treat the ailment in the Mawangdui manuscript Wushi’er bingfang, see Harper, 1998, p. 72. 114  For identification of the graph si 絲, which was previously thought to be a miswritten form of the graph guo 郭 “rampart,” see Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, p. 66n2. The meaning of si in the spirit name is uncertain; hence I leave it in pinyin transcription. For translation of the recipe, see p. 330 in this chapter.

330 instructs the person to draw a cross on the ground and gather earth from the spot; in ZJTB.17, the earth is then rubbed inside the horse’s nostrils. The mode of operation of the spirits called upon in the Zhoujiatai recipes makes their similarity to the “functional” gods of the Roman pantheon apparent. John Scheid has said that these functional gods “have a sporadic existence, limited to the current, active process, but were nevertheless in this period honored in the manner of other immortal gods.” In the Roman case, theology was based on a notion of efficacy, and Scheid adds that “instead of taking into consideration all the power of action of one deity, the Romans were able to establish distinctions between the differents aspects of an action and its effects, which became as many divine figures.”115 The deities who preside over magical procedures in ZJTB do not form an orderly and well-organized pantheon, unifying all similar powers of nature. Rather, they represent a variety of spirits, as diverse as the many hemerological systems and day qualifiers recorded in daybooks. First Tiller and Mount Tai, known throughout the land but removed from their “national” status to serve individual needs, appear alongside functional deities created for the occasion and effective in part because of wordplay and functions linking them to the illness or condition in need of treatment. The Pace of Yu In ZJTB, the Pace of Yu occurs as a magical gesture in all but one of the magical recipes and is employed twice in three recipes (see table 8.3).116 Further, the nine recipes that include the Pace of Yu include incantations in which a deity is invoked, thus confirming that the main function of this gesture is to establish contact with the spirit world. Liu Zenggui has shown that the divinized Yu was a polyvalent, “democratic” deity, not simply a god of roads and travels.117 To perform the Pace of Yu was to embody in that moment the legendary figure, for the purpose of either overcoming a present danger by borrowing his power or establishing identity with him in order to address other deities who would take action against the evil to be defeated. As is evident in the many occurrences of the Pace of Yu found in excavated manuscripts, this magical gesture was available to everyone in all kinds of situations and had 115  Scheid, 2011, p. 135. 116  For the popularity of the Pace of Yu, based on the evidence in daybooks, related manuscript miscellanies, and medical manuscripts, see pp. 130–33 in chap. 3. 117  Liu Zenggui, 2001, esp. pp. 526–31.

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the effect of mobilizing occult powers for the individual’s benefit.118 Despite the popularity of the Pace of Yu during the Qin and Han dynasties, transmitted sources offer virtually no evidence of its use. In this instance, manuscripts and epigraphy again shed new light on local and individual religious practices. Three examples of the Pace of Yu from three different manuscripts illustrate several motifs associated with it as expressed in the context of a particular recipe. One such motif is earth—whether it is the ground in a magically enclosed space or soil imbued with magical efficacy—and Yu’s special association with earth. Legends of Yu primarily recount how he conquered earth as he walked across a chaotic world and reshaped the earth so that free-flowing water was channeled into controlled waterways, thereby creating a stable world for an agricultural society. In recipes in which the Pace of Yu occurs, the language of the recipe and the magical nature of the ritual procedure at times resonate with Yu in legend. The ZJTB.17 remedy for the horse ailment begins with the Pace of Yu: 馬心禹步三鄉馬祝曰高山高絲某馬心天某為我已之并企 侍之即午畫地而撮其土以摩其鼻中

Horse skittishness:119 Perform the Pace of Yu thrice, turning toward the horse and pronouncing the following incantation: “High Mountain! High Si! My, so and so’s, horse is skittish.120 Heaven so and so, heal it on my behalf. Standing at attention, I await it.” Then draw a cross on the ground, pick up the earth, and rub it inside the horse’s nostrils.121 I have already speculated on the two deities invoked— High Mountain and High Si—and their probable connection with travel and earth. As parts of a complete procedure, the ritual gestures performed before and after 118  For the manuscript occurrences of the Pace of Yu known to date, see pp. 130–31 in chap. 3. 119  The translation “horse skittishness” for maxin 馬心, literally, “horse heart,” is tentative. I concur with the manuscript editors that maxin represents an ailment name. The conjecture that xin refers to skittishness follows Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, p. 66n1, and is based in part on context (use of the Pace of Yu and magical earth, which may be related to travel departure rituals). 120  I adopt the identification of tian 天 as dian 顛 “madness” proposed in Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, p. 66n3, and read xintian 心天 as a compound meaning “skittish.” 121   Z JTB.17, slips 345–346; Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu, p. 132. For the revised transcription followed here, see Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3, pp. 66–67.

daybooks in qin and han religion

the incantation are similar to those of travel departure rituals found in the Fangmatan and Shuihudi daybooks. These rituals give greater prominence to Yu and to the act of demarcating an enclosed space on the ground where the traveler obtains magically efficacious earth that will protect him, as described in SHDA.70: 行到邦門閫禹步三勉壹步謼皋敢告曰某行毋咎先為禹除 道即五畫地掓其畫中央土而懷之

For traveling, when you arrive at the gate of the town, perform the Pace of Yu thrice. Take one step and shout: “Ha! I declare: I, so and so, will take a trip without danger, as I am preceded by Yu, who clears the way.” Then draw a cross on the ground, pick up the earth from the center of the cross, and carry it close to your chest.122 The phrase “draw a cross on the ground” is written wuhua di 五畫地 in SHDA.70 and wuhua di 午畫地 in ZJTB.17, and the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany occurrence confirms the correct interpretation (previously, the phrase in the Shuihudi daybook was thought to mean “draw five lines on the ground”).123 In the incantations, what distinguishes SHDA.70 is the direct appeal to Yu “who clears the way” as part of the protective power of the ritual to ensure safe travel; that is, the person who performed the ritual was identified with Yu. However, leaving aside the incantations, it is evident that the ritual gestures before and after are essentially the same in SHDA.70 and ZJTB.17. In the travel departure ritual, the earth taken from the cross on the ground was probably attached to the traveler’s body or clothing like a talisman, to provide magical protection. Notably, the travel departure ritual in SHDB.30 substitutes a talisman referred to as “Yu’s talisman” (Yu fu 禹符) for the earth. In ZJTB.17, the horse becomes the carrier of the magical earth, which is rubbed inside its nostrils. People who performed both rituals are likely to have been aware of the similar nature of the actions and the intended result. A magical recipe for treating warts in the Mawangdui Recipes for Fifty-Two Ailments provides additional evidence of motifs that formed around the Pace of Yu and earth. In this case, earth took the form of clods aligned from south to north as a remedy for warts:

122   S HDA.70, slips 111v–112v; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 223. For related rituals performed when departing for travel at the city gate, see SHDB.30, FMTA.10, FMTB.48. 123  For further discussion, see pp. 124–25 in chap. 3.

331 一以月晦日 =下餔時取塊大如雞卵者男子七女子二七先 塊置室後令南北列[1]以晦往之塊所禹步三道南方始取塊 言曰塊言曰今日月晦磨疣北塊一磨一二[七]已磨置塊其 處去勿顧磨大者

Another (recipe). On the last day of the month at the end of the late afternoon, take clods the size of a chicken egg—men seven and women twice seven. First set the clods down behind the house, arranging them in a line from south to north [1]. When it is dark, go to the place where the clods are. Perform the Pace of Yu thrice. Starting from the southern quarter, pick up a clod and say: “Today is the last day of the month. I rub the warts to the north.” Rub (the warts) once with each clod, (using all) seven or twice seven. After rubbing, set each clod back in its place and leave without looking back. Rub the large (warts).124 In the recipe, various magical actions complement the performance of the Pace of Yu, and the whole procedure was executed according to a detailed plan involving timing, spatial orientation, and numbers: the day had to be the last day of the month when the moon was at its darkest, and the time had to be night (with advance preparations completed in the late afternoon); the clods numbered seven for men (an odd, yang number) and twice seven (fourteen) for women (an even, yin number); the place had to be behind the house; the placement of the clods on the ground in the afternoon had to be from south to north; at night the person with warts had to proceed from the south, pick up each clod in turn, and rub just the large warts before setting each one back on the ground and continuing north; and, having magically transferred the warts to the clods, the person had to leave the place without looking back. Considered separately, these actions can be found in different combinations in other magical recipes, and as a group they form a repertoire of magic that remains to be studied in detail.125 To recap the main elements of the recipe for warts translated above, the choice of the last day of the month corresponded to the weakest period of malevolent lunar influences. Expelling evil from south to north cast evil into the northern place where noxious things were known to be imprisoned, be they the dead

124   Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, p. 235, cols. 105–7. Translation follows Harper, 1998, pp. 244–45, with modifications. 125  For partial attempts to establish such a repertoire, see Harper, 1998, pp. 170–72; and Lü Yahu, 2010.

332 or demons.126 The alignment of the seven or twice-seven clods is connected to the seven stars of the Northern Dipper, whose exorcistic powers were well known, including the power to keep thieves away.127 Leaving without looking back was also a basic imperative of exorcisms. As mentioned, Yu’s wife had been petrified for ignoring this rule, and Yu’s son, Qi, was removed from the stone.128 Among the seven magical and nonmagical recipes for warts in Recipes for Fifty-Two Ailments, this is the most complex. The simpler magical recipes still transfer the warts to objects—such as by brushing them with an old broom, grain stalks, and the like—and then discard the objects, and north recurs as a significant direction.129 The recipe with the Pace of Yu and the clods is set apart from the others by the degree of ritual behavior it encapsulates and made available to people for individual use. Like the travel departure rituals, it exploits the Pace of Yu and magical earth to address an everyday problem while simultaneously making ritual action into an everyday routine. As a magical strategy, the efficacious combination of the Pace of Yu and incantations addressed to deities requesting their aid must have been as obvious to its original users as it is to us. Part of the value of ZJTB for the historian of religions is the number and variety of magical recipes collected in a manuscript miscellany that includes medical and other recipes in a random selection. Of course daybook manuscripts as well as Recipes for FiftyTwo Ailments and other Mawangdui medical manuscripts contain magical and ritual procedures without the Pace of Yu, with incantations that are not addressed to a particular deity by name, or without an incantation at all. As noted, the repertoires of magic and ritual action available to individuals were extensive and are being rediscovered through the study of the excavated manuscripts. Levels of Complexity of Ritual Behavior A final group of issues for research on daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts concerns differing strategies and levels of complexity. Through daybooks, people had access to methods of all kinds, and the methods— magical and ritual, hemerological, medical—as set out in writing in locally produced manuscripts all promised to be effective in confronting the hazards of existence. Given the popularity of daybooks, their mainly hemero126  On Han customs related to the La day exorcism and the north as the place where noxious things were imprisoned, see Bodde, 1975, pp. 81–138. 127  See Han shu, 45, p. 2186. 128  On the prohibition against looking back, see p. 127 in chap. 3. 129  For translation of all seven recipes, see Harper, 1998, pp. 244–46.

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logical content, and the influence of hemerology on the users of daybooks, hemerological methods should be considered as representing the first level of ritual behavior. Hemerological methods are not absent from ZJTB. The list of Guxu 孤虛 (Orphan-Empty) branches in ZJTB.20 and the application of Orphan-Empty hemerology to finding lost horses and cattle are evidence of hemerology’s importance to the person who produced and copied ZJTB. In ZJTB.20, the Orphan-Empty branches were applied both to days and to spatial directions. It is noteworthy that ZJTB.21 provides a method of circumventing reliance on hemerology for determining a good day for travel, relying instead on the conquest sequence of the five agents to overcome the hazards of travel, regardless of the day (when going east do something to conquer wood, when going south conquer fire, when going west conquer metal, when going north conquer water).130 Like many of the hemerologies commonly seen in daybooks, the Orphan-Empty and fiveagents prescriptions constitute an elementary form of ritual behavior. While the calculations involved in many hemerologies were complicated, daybook users did not have to do these calculations themselves but needed only to consult the resulting list of days and apply it to the current calendar. Thus, from the point of view of ritual behavior, consulting the hemerological prescriptions attached to the calendar was a simple operation. The majority of hemerological prescriptions and day avoidances in daybooks operated at this basic and uncomplicated level. The hemerologies also evidence an element of religious behavior when the favorable or unfavorable status of certain days is associated with prominent spirits or legendary figures, often the anniversaries of their deaths.131 The involvement of spirits in hemerology is also seen in relation to the familiar deities of the household, above all the five domestic spirits and the family ancestors, who were celebrated in a regular cycle of hemerologically favorable days. At the next level of complexity are magical and ritual actions that constitute basic manipulations, but need not involve incantations or the presence of a deity in the form of a gesture, such as the Pace of Yu. The magical recipes in Recipes for Fifty-Two Ailments offer many examples, as does

130  For this and related methods that instruct a person to carry the material object corresponding to the conquering agent (e.g., a piece of metal when going east because metal conquers wood, a container of water when going south because water conquers fire), see pp. 117–18 in chap. 3. 131  For discussion of spirits and legendary figures in hemerology, see pp. 231–43 in chap. 5.

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the “Spellbinding” section of the first Shuihudi daybook in which the acts of throwing ashes, stones, and shoes are effective against demons.132 As recorded in the manuscripts, substances had medicinal and magical uses, and patterns of ritual behavior also belonged to medicine. For instance, in ZJTB.8–9, the medical treatments for continuous panting and internal conglomerations were accomplished by drinking the drug. The prescription in ZJTB.8 is twice-seven times for men and seven times for women, whereas in ZJTB.9 it is twice-seven times for women and seven times for men. Both recipes must be seen in relation to the use of seven and twice seven in the magical treatment for warts in Recipes for Fifty-Two Ailments. The Pace of Yu and incantations represent the next higher level of complexity of ritual gestures, and incantations that ask for the intervention of a deity are a still higher level. In ZJTB, most of the ritual gestures consist of both the Pace of Yu and an incantation addressed to a deity. The incantation usually begins with an interjection—most often “ha” (gao/*kû 皋)—and is accompanied by different gestures and postures that complement the magical procedure.133 Whether simpler or more complex, whether offerings were presented or not, the constant in the performance of these rituals is the user’s desire to establish contact with the deity in a manner that often seems collaborative in that the person was not simply reverential but at times cajoled or threatened the deity. These are manipulative and exorcistic procedures intended to benefit the individual rather than the pious and respectful worship practiced by devotees of collective cults. The First Tiller ritual in ZJTB.18 is a prime example of highly complex ritual behavior in which all these elements are at play. Travel departure rituals in the Shuihudi and Fangmatan daybooks illustrate comparable elements of complexity involved in a common activity, including the ritual method for circumventing hemerology when departure could not be postponed to a favorable travel day (the same circumstance addressed in ZJTB.21 using the five-agents method). Xing 行 (Road) is one of the five domestic spirits for whom favorable and unfavorable days for making sacrificial offerings are listed in SHDB.5. The favorable days for Road are jiashen21, bingshen33, wushen45, renshen9, and yihai12. In addition to occupying a place among the five domestic spirits, the road as the site of travel was iden132   S HDA.59; and Harper, 1985, pp. 494–96. For discussion of the magical recipes in Recipes for Fifty-Two Ailments, see Harper, 1998, pp. 159–72. 133  For other interjections used to address the spirit world, see Harper, 1998, pp. 163–64.

333 tified as a distinctive spirit with its own designated days for receiving sacrifices. According to SHDB.56, which provides the basic hemerological information, this spirit is named Changxing 常行 (Constant Path): 祠常行甲辰甲申庚申壬辰壬申吉毋以丙丁戊壬 […] 凡行 祠常行道右左 […]

For sacrifices to Constant Path, the auspicious days are jiachen41, jiashen21, gengshen57, and renchen29; do not (sacrifice) on days bings3, ding s4, wu s5, ren s9 […] Whenever traveling, offer a sacrifice to Constant Path on the right side of the road; left […]134 The next section, SHDB.57, is a detailed account of the sacrificial ritual to be performed when departing on a trip, including the variant name for the spirit, Da Changxing 大常行 (Great Constant Path): 行祠東行南祠道左西北行祠道右其號曰大常行合三土皇 耐為四席席餟其後亦席三餟其祝曰毋王事唯福是司勉飲 食多投福

For sacrifices to Road. If you are traveling toward the east or south, offer a sacrifice on the left side of the road.135 If you are traveling toward the west or north, offer a sacrifice on the right side. The spirit’s name is Great Constant Path, (whose mat) is combined with the three Earth Eminences to make four mats (for the sacrificial offerings). The sacrificial offerings are set at the back of the mats. In addition, altogether three sacrificial offerings are made on each mat. Here is the incantation to use: “This does not pertain to the affairs of kings, only to good fortune for this official. Drink! Eat until you are sated! Grant much good fortune!”136 SHDB.56–57 occur at the end of a sequence of short sections broadly related to travel and travel prohibitions. SHDB.56 is fragmentary, but the two sections represent separate pieces of information copied consecutively in the Shuihidi daybook: there is the slight variation between the names Constant Path and Great Constant Path, and SHDB.57 specifies which side of the road to use depending on the direction of travel. Read together, the two sections span the full range of levels of ritual behavior, from hemerology to invocation of spirits for personal benefit.

134   S HDB.56, slips 144, 143; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 243. 135  The copyist mistakenly wrote dong xing nan 東行南 rather than dong nan xing “traveling toward the east or south.” 136   S HDB.57, slips 145–146; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 243.

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bujard

Finally, both Fangmatan daybooks contain the text of the travel departure ritual to be performed when travel cannot be delayed. The following version is from FMTA.10:

The sources I have used in this chapter are chronologically and geographically disparate. For instance, with the First Tiller cult, I rely mainly on two sets of excavated documents from Liye and Zhoujiatai, both dating from the later part of the third century bce. Yet the Wangzi Qiao stela from the second century ce is relevant to our understanding of local La day customs, including private practices involving spirits other than ancestors, and therefore contributes to my analysis. I apply a similar strategy throughout this chapter, using manuscript and epigraphic sources

that treat of religion in the localities where they occur and are separated in time by as much as four centuries. Despite the chronological gap between the two types of sources, and the differences between personal-use manuscripts and public stela inscriptions, the continuity of religious ideas and practices is clear. There is sufficient evidence to show that the private religious practices described in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts continued until the end of the Eastern Han period. Textual parallels between Eastern Han hemerological fragments from settlement sites in the northwest and the Qin and Western Han daybooks are the best proof, along with critiques of hemerology and popular hemerological literature by Wang Chong and other literati.138 Stela inscriptions did not appear before the second century ce, and their form and function in Eastern Han society differ from the Qin and Western Han daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts. The stelae provide invaluable documentation of contemporaneous cults and collective religious practices devoted to mountains and rivers. Although comparable epigraphic evidence for the Qin and Western Han periods is lacking, cults for the deities of mountains and rivers are attested in the Records of the Scribe and the Book of Han. For instance, the “Treatise on Feng and Shan Rituals” contains accounts of the Qin and Han imperial projects to systematize the spiritual geography of the realm. The cults overseen by officials at that time were not fundamentally different from those known from stelae dated several centuries later. As for geography, the majority of the manuscripts come from Hubei and Hunan in South China, whereas not a single stela giving evidence of collective celebrations involving local officials has been preserved in this region. Epigraphic sources, mostly funerary inscriptions, generally come from North China and Sichuan.139 The geographic disparities in manuscripts and stelae do not mean that there were great differences in content from one region to the next. The same calendrical tables and topics in the Shuihudi daybooks from Hubei can be found in the Fangmatan daybooks from Gansu, on the northwestern edge of the realm. The overall stability of textual traditions makes it possible to draw from daybooks for evidence of private religious practices and from epigraphy for evidence of collective religious practices, which is useful in delineating some distinctive features of the religious landscape of the early empires.

137   F MTA.10, slips 662–672; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 89. For translation of the parallel text in FMTB.48, see p. 119 in chap. 3 (p. 119n108 identifies the single variant graph between the two texts).

138  For the views of Wang Jing 王景 (first century ce) and Cai Yong 蔡邕 (132–192), see pp. 94–97 in chap. 3. 139  See Ebrey, 1980, p. 332.

禹須臾行不得擇日出邑門禹步三鄉北斗質畫地祝之曰禹 有直五橫今利行 = 毋咎為禹前除道

Yu’s quick method for travel when the person is not able to select the day: When leaving through the gate of the city, perform the Pace of Yu thrice, face the Northern Dipper, and draw clearly on the ground. Chant this incantation: “Yu knows how to set the Five. Today is beneficial for travel. I travel without danger, preceded by Yu who clears the way.”137 By bringing together SHDB.5, SHDB.56–57, and FMTA.10, we can reconstruct the forms of ritual behavior that people associated with Road as a domestic god and a spirit of travel. Hemerology and ritual behavior were clearly imbricated in people’s views of religion and everyday life. Although daybooks made methods of all kinds available to their users, choosing among them was not done “by the book,” without regard to the social and cultural conventions that already informed people’s lives. Whether in a miscellany such as ZJTB or the assortments of information found in daybooks, the texts copied in the manuscripts were not arbitrary templates for life but a reflection of possibilities and norms arising from the accumulated cultural knowledge and experience of local society. And these manuscripts, which once served the needs of people living in the Qin and Han empires, have a new role in facilitating present-day examination of their private religious experience. Conclusion

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daybooks in qin and han religion

The great imperial cults were remote from the experience of people of this era, unless perhaps they were local officials with duties attached to the cult. The familiar cults were celebrated in the immediate environment, whether at a nearby mountain, a sacred place near water, or any number of other sites where marvelous powers were detected. These celebrations were public. The local official was involved as the representative of the imperial administration. He could also actively promote the cult and, through his devotion, not only enhance its prestige but also insert his own aspirations into the process. Virtues of goodness and magnanimity attributed to the deity in turn reflected on the official, who conducted the sacrifice, protected the people, and eased their hardship. As for private religious practices revealed in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, following Poo Muchou, the absence of moral values in interactions between individuals and spirits must be noted.140 The belief that rituals and sacrifices carried out at the right times—times that hemerologies determined to be favorable—contributed to their efficacy in keeping harm away was a matter of fairness and reciprocity. Yet illness, accidents, and demonic curses showed that no precaution was completely efficacious and that knowledge of auspicious and inauspicious days was imperfect. Hence, daybooks contained alternative prescriptions and magical formulas as supplements to hemerology. People engaged the spirits using rituals and magical practices at various levels of complexity. When confronted with the demons in the “Spellbinding” section of the first Shuihudi daybook (SHDA.59), people knew to employ demonifugic substances and exorcistic actions against the troublemaker. The healing procedures and the First Tiller ritual for acquiring wealth in

the Zhoujiatai recipe miscellany show another aspect of religious practices. At times, people sought the deity’s intervention in exchange for offerings by establishing a relationship with particular efficacious deities by name, such as First Tiller, Lord of the Old East Wall, and the like. These deities, whose instantiation was linked to their function, formed an expanded domestic pantheon, an outer ring of familiar deities beyond the inner ring of protective deities formed by the five domestic spirits and ancestors. The individual orientation of religious practices as presented in daybooks contrasts with collective religious practices and the community-based system of values. However, the conduct implied in daybooks is motivated by more than individual personal welfare. The First Tiller ritual is a good example of a religious practice carried out privately but associated with La day public rituals for ancestors and the Setting-Out-Seeds ceremony. Even in contemporary Chinese society, people who fail to follow fundamental rules set forth in the almanacs risk social disapproval or worse. The idea that an undertaking fails because people do not respect or do not observe calendrical prescriptions remains current. For people today, hemerological prescriptions are not just guides for individual actions and private religious pratices but constitute social norms, as they did for people in earlier centuries. Finally we should consider how daybooks constitute “symbolic goods.” Possession of the daybook manuscript had a talismanic value, placing the user in the social category of those who had control of knowledge. In this, the daybook owner was no different from the famous scholar Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒 (second century bce), who was able to defeat demonic influences simply by reciting the Classics.141

140  Poo, 1993, p. 234.

141   Fengsu tongyi, 9, p. 423 (“Guaishen” 怪神).

CHAPTER 9

The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China Richard Smith The line of descent from the “daybooks” (rishu 日書) of the late Zhou, Qin, and Han periods to the “almanacs” (tongshu 通書, lishu 曆書, huangli 皇曆, and huangli 黃曆) of the late imperial era is remarkably direct. To be sure, China changed substantially during this vast span of time, and the political, social, economic, and intellectual changes it underwent have important implications for any comparative study across the intervening centuries. And yet, for all these transformations, certain assumptions about the workings of the cosmos and the position of human beings within the cosmic order proved remarkably persistent. Indeed, many of these assumptions are evident in Chinese almanacs to this day.1 One of the most significant features of Chinese life in the imperial era is a preoccupation with fate (ming 命). The reasons for this preoccupation have to do in part with the early importance of state-sponsored divination in the Shang and Zhou dynasties and, in particular, with the enormous cultural importance attached to a work that emerged in the Western Zhou period (ca. 1045–771 bce) as a divinatory text, the Zhou Changes (Zhouyi 周易), later known as the Classic of Changes (Yijing 易經).2 Supplemented by a set of philosophical commentaries known as the “Ten Wings” (Shiyi 十翼), the Classic of Changes acquired unparalleled scriptural authority in China after being designated a “classic” by the throne in 136 bce.3 For centuries, Chinese mantic works of all kinds, including almanacs, cited lines from the “Great Commentary” (Dazhuan 大傳) to the Classic of Changes, to the effect that the eight trigrams determined good and bad fortune (bagua ding jixiong 八 卦定吉凶) and that the Classic of Changes, through its indications of good and bad fortune, shared the anxieties of the common people (jixiong yu min tonghuan 吉凶與 民同患).4 1  Jonathan Yeh, “Bestseller Almanac Continues to Influence Chinese after Thousands of Years,” accessed April 1, 2011, http://culture.tw/ index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2033&Itemid=15 7/ (site discontinued). 2  For overviews of the place of divination in traditional Chinese culture, see R. Smith, 1993; Zhang Rongming, 2000; Li Ling, 2006c; and Li Ling, 2006b. 3  See R. Smith, 2008; 2012a. 4  Yijing, 7, 29a, 27b (“Xici shang” 繫辭上).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004349315_011

A discussion of the several conceptions of fate in imperial China is beyond the scope of this chapter.5 Suffice it to say that few areas of Chinese life at any level, from the imperial palace to rural villages, were untouched by deep and abiding concerns about the future. But was fate fixed or mutable? Opinions differed. Throughout Chinese history, there has been a profound ambivalence regarding the question of human destiny. On the one hand, nearly every Chinese believed that certain aspects of life were fixed at birth and that certain times and situations were either auspicious or inauspicious. On the other hand, most Chinese, and virtually all representatives of the scholarly elite, maintained for at least two millennia that a person could, not only “know fate” (zhi ming 知命), but also “establish fate” (li ming 立命), that is, an individual could help shape the course of destiny through self-cultivation and selfassertion.6 Yet the question remained: What was predestined, and what was subject to human control? No one knew for sure, and nearly everyone tried to find out, if only in the process of “resolving doubts” ( jue yi 决疑). Chinese almanacs provided an important and time-honored avenue of exploration. This chapter focuses primarily on the role of almanacs in the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), the last imperial era and an important bridge between “premodern” and “modern” China.7 But before proceeding, a brief note on terminology is in order. Unfortunately, but perhaps unavoidably, a great deal of confusion exists in the current Western literature on Chinese almanacs—in part because the Chinese terminology regarding such works is itself so rich and varied but also because the genre is still rather poorly understood. Generally speaking, almanacs may be defined as “unofficial” calendrical works, while calendars were official documents issued by the Chinese state as a

5  See Lupke, 2005. See also R. Smith, 1993, pp. 35–36 and 173–74. 6  See the discussion in R. Smith, 2008, pp. 25–39. 7  Portions of the following discussion have been drawn from R. Smith 1988; 1992; 1993. For a convenient, historically informed discussion of a contemporary Hong Kong almanac (together with selected sections of the Chinese text and partial translations of it), see Palmer, 1986. For a useful comparative analysis of Chinese and Western almanacs, see Wang Nan, 1993.

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The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China

matter of imperial prerogative.8 Both contained prognostic information. Every official dynastic history includes a substantial section on the calendar, since one of the most important acts of any new regime was to grant seasonal times (shou shi 授時) and to regulate the calendar (zhi li 治曆).9 From the Chinese government’s perspective, political legitimacy rested on the emperor’s claim to universal cosmic authority, expressed theoretically in terms of the Mandate of Heaven (Tian Ming 天命) and tangibly by publication of the state calendar. The calendar’s weighty symbolic meaning resulted in an “insatiable demand for increased precision in calendrical calculations, far in excess of normal agricultural, bureaucratic, or economic needs.”10 Theoretically, then, the distinction between calendars and almanacs was straightforward: one was “official,” and one was not. In practice, however, the state could not always monopolize the production of calendars, and Chinese bureaucrats often endorsed unofficial versions of the calendar (i.e., almanacs). Furthermore, over time, both calendars and almanacs incorporated information designed to take into account the variables that made activities for certain days and times either auspicious ( ji 吉) or inauspicious (xiong 凶). In short, from the Tang dynasty (618–907) onward, calendars and almanacs were closely connected, even if the emperor and his servants often wanted to keep them distinct. It might be noted here that an abiding concern with auspicious and inauspicious days and times is evident in a great variety of Chinese works that did not have a specific calendrical focus. “Encyclopedias for daily use” (riyong leishu 日用類書), for instance, which proliferated during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing dynasties, often contained sections (men 門) that dealt expressly with techniques of day selection, or the selection of auspicious and inauspicious days and times (relevant terms include xuanze 選擇, zouji 諏吉, and juanji 涓吉).11 These encyclopedias loomed large in Chinese daily life throughout the late imperial era, so I discuss them briefly at various points in this chapter.

8  9 

10  11 

S ee the discussion in R. Smith, 1988, pp. 123–45. See also Morgan, 1980, pp. 13–24; and Martzloff, 2002, pp. 155–67. The treatise on calendars in the Qing History runs to more than two hundred pages. See Qing shigao, chaps. 45–53, pp. 1657–1890. For useful overviews of Chinese calendars, see Zhu Wenxin, 1934; Zheng Tianjie, 1977; Yabuuchi Kiyoshi, 1969; Chen Jiujin, 1999; and Martzloff, 2002. Weschler, 1985, p. 213. See the discussion of these and related categories in works such as Wu Huifang, 2005; and Sakai Tadao, 2011. See also Zhong Shaohua, 1996.

Strictly speaking, however, they should not be considered almanacs. The same qualification applies to publications such as the Imperially Approved Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions (Qinding xieji bianfang shu 欽定協紀辨方書) (1741) and its two predecessors, the Imperially Approved Investigation into Stars and the Calendar (Yuding xingli kaoyuan 御定星曆考原) (1713) (discussed below) and the Almanac for Day Selection (Xuanze tongshu 選擇通書) (1682), based on a work of the same title commissioned by the first Ming emperor in 1376. This latter work might be considered an almanac by virtue of its name, but its imperial origins place it in a different category. For our purposes, the focus should be on works designed primarily for literate commoners, many of which bore down-to-earth names such as Almanac for the Convenience of the People (Bianmin tongshu 便民通書), Convenient Reference for Daily Use (Riyong bianlan 日用便覽), Essentials for Daily Use in Day Selection (Xuanji riyong bixu 選吉日用必需), Almanac for Day Selection (Zouji tongshu 諏吉通書), and Convenient Reference for Day Selection (Zouji bianlan 諏吉便覽). There were, however, large and sophisticated private productions such as Wei Jian’s 魏鑒 Almanac of Essentials Concerning Auspicious Images (Xiangji beiyao tongshu 象吉備要通書) (1721) that were clearly designed for elite consumption. The three-volume modern edition of this Qing dynasty work runs to 1,583 pages.12

Brief Overview of Calendars and Almanacs from the Tang through the Ming Dynasty

As Marc Kalinowski and his colleagues have demonstrated vividly in Divination et société dans la Chine médiévale, the Tang dynasty was an extraordinarily rich period in the development of Chinese calendars and almanacs. The chapter titled “Calendriers,” written by Alain Arrault and Jean-Claude Martzloff, demonstrates why the “annual calendars” (liri 曆日) found at Dunhuang (more than fifty, dating from the ninth and tenth centuries) are such a rich source of information about the Tang.13 The greatest contribution of their two-part essay is their analysis of the specific contents of these documents, done in exquisite and illuminating detail, showing similarities and differences across time and space, documenting China’s 12  X  iangji tongshu. 13  Arrault and Martzloff, 2003. See also Arrault, 2000, 2011; and Huang Yinong, 1992. For an excellent collection of Dunhuang astro-calendrical documents, see Deng Wenkuan, 1996.

338 interaction with other cultures (including the period when the Tibetans occupied Dunhuang, ca. 786– 848 ce), and giving particular attention to the way that the written texts and symbolic features of the calendars, including both charts and illustrations, indicate their political, social, and religious importance. Arrault and Martzloff also offer insightful comparisons with calendars and almanacs from earlier epochs and at least a few words concerning later ones.14 I am aware of no comparable study of calendars and almanacs in late imperial times, although Huang Yinong has done some excellent work on the topic in both Chinese and English.15 There are important continuities between the Dunhuang calendars and almanacs and those of the Song (960–1279), Yuan (1279–1368), Ming, and Qing dynasties. Among the similarities are abundant and often colorful diagrams and illustrations (including fu 符, charms or talismans for geomantic and other purposes); the assumed operation of cosmic forces such as yin and yang, the five agents (wuxing 五行), and the eight trigrams (bagua 八卦); multicolored Nine Palaces (Jiugong 九宮) symbolism related to the magic square of the Luo River Writing (Luoshu 洛書); the Jianchu 建除 (Establish-Remove) and Nayin 納音 (Containing Notes) systems based on the ten stems and the twelve branches of the sexagenary cycle; references to the twenty-four seasonal markers (jieqi 節氣) and the twenty-eight stellar lodges (xiu 宿); the identification of benevolent and malevolent “calendar spirits” (shensha 神殺 or 神煞);16 and the designation of days and times considered auspicious or inauspicious for various activities.17 At the same time, however, there are 14 

S ee also the excellent discussion of Dunhuang and later calendars and almanacs in de Pee, 2007, pp. 137–78. 15  See, for instance, Huang Yi-Long, 1991; Huang Yinong, 1996; and Huang Yi-Long, 2012. 16  For discussion of shensha “calendar spirits” and the modern equivalent “day qualifiers” used in this volume, see pp. 171–72 in chap. 4. Because shensha was the accepted term in the sources discussed in this chapter, I continue to use “calendar spirits” rather than “day qualifiers.” 17  For details on these aspects of the Dunhuang calendars and almanacs (including differences between the two types of documents), as well as comparisons with their earlier (and occasionally later) counterparts, see Arrault and Martzloff, 2003, pp. 95–123. The authors point out (p. 113), for instance, that prescriptions for washing one’s head (xitou ri 洗頭日) differ not only between calendars and almanacs but also among almanacs. As an example of a reference to later periods, the authors observe (p. 111) that the compilers of the Qing dynasty compendium Xieji bianfang shu were unaware that the concept of a traveling “spirit of the day” (riyou 日遊) dated from the Tang.

smith

significant differences between the calendars and almanacs of Tang times and their successors. Like the daybooks of the Qin and Han, and also like Japanese almanacs from the period contemporaneous with the Tang dynasty, the calendars and almanacs preserved at Dunhuang have specific notations of activities that are considered auspicious or inauspicious. Among the prominent categories in the Tang works are official activities, care of the body (such as taking a bath and cutting the nails), funerals, domestic work (such as sweeping and making the bed), ritual activities (sacrifices and exorcisms), medical activities (taking medicines and treating maladies), field work (such as planting, digging canals, cutting wood, repairing tools, fishing), construction (such as building, repairing, dismantling, raising ridgepoles, digging wells), marriage, education, moving (such as going on a trip and changing residence), and commercial activities (collecting goods and selling items, including slaves and domestic animals). Some topics seem to appear only in the prefaces of such works, for instance, military affairs (especially when not to deploy troops) and entertainment (such as banquets and playing music) (see plate 8).18 On the whole, in matters such as betrothals and weddings, Tang calendars and almanacs emphasize the negative effect of “baleful” calendar spirits (called sha 殺 or 煞) more than the positive influence of “beneficial” calendar spirits (called shen 神), but research on the Dunhuang materials suggests that calculations regarding auspicious and inauspicious days involved several variables, including the time-honored Jianchu system and a new system known as the “noninterference method” (bujiang zhi fa 不將之法). In the noninterference method, certain configurations of stems and branches, arranged according to their relationship to the calendar spirit Yueyan 月厭 (Month Oppressor), can keep evil astral influences from “intervening” on certain dates. The Jianchu and noninterference systems sometimes conflicted, so that, for instance, a noninterference date for a wedding might be inauspicious if it coincided with an inauspicious Po 破 (Crush) day in the Jianchu cycle.19 As Yabuuchi Kiyoshi has emphasized, in contrast to the official calendars of the previous three major dynasties— the Qin, the Han, and the Sui (589–618 ce)—the Tang 18  Ibid., pp. 114–17. The authors point out that certain activities, such as taking a bath, shaving the head, and cutting clothes, pose problems of classification, while other activities involve unclear technical terms. 19  For details, see de Pee, 2007, pp. 148–50. The variables of the Jianchu system are discussed at greater length below. For details on Jianchu hemerology, see appendix C in this volume.

The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China

calendar underwent a great many changes, nine in all.20 In each case, the calendar reforms were designed to give the Tang rulers a particular political advantage at a critical historical moment, while at the same time the court astronomers, like their predecessors and successors, tirelessly sought to improve calendrical calculations. Joseph Needham once described the history of calendarmaking as “that of successive attempts to reconcile the irreconcilable.”21 The longest-lasting calendrical system of the Tang period was the Unicorn Virtue Calendar (Linde Li 麟德曆), which lasted from 666 to 728.22 According to an edict issued by Emperor Taizong (r. 626–49), the promulgation of this calendar was marked by the appearance of auspicious omens; it was a time when the sun and moon “rose together,” and the five planets were “lined up like strung pearls.”23 One of the calendar’s principal architects was the Daoist-oriented diviner-astronomer-mathematician Li Chunfeng 李淳風 (602–670), who became Assistant Grand Astrologer (Taishi Cheng 太史丞) by the end of Taizong’s reign. Subsequently, Li’s name would be closely associated with the divinatory elements of many popular Chinese almanacs. By the tenth century at the latest, the state began issuing special editions of the calendar for public consumption.24 Nonetheless, from the standpoint of the Tang rulers, calendrical science—undertaken with the help of foreign (especially Indian) astronomers and foreign astronomical texts—remained a carefully guarded sphere of imperial responsibility. As a result, the dynasty made especially stringent efforts to control popular mantic practices, particularly those bearing on astrological and calendrical matters. The dynasty’s legal code, promulgated in 653, stipulated that, with only a few trivial exceptions, no private household could possess books, implements, and other objects pertaining to “occult images” (xuanxiang 玄象), nor could its members keep astrological charts and prognostication texts. Certain privately produced almanacs based on the Seven Luminaries (Qiyao 七曜)—that is, the sun, moon, and five visible planets—were specifically banned by this provision. Periodically, individual emperors attempted to make the state’s prohibitions even 20  Y  abuuchi Kiyoshi, 1969, pp. 94–104. See also Zhu Wenxin, 1934, pp. 137–67; and Weschler, 1985, pp. 212–23. 21  Quoted in Ho Peng-Yoke, 2003, p. 31. See also Elman, 2005, pp. 63–106. 22  I am putting aside here the two short-lived calendars produced during Wu Zetian’s self-proclaimed Zhou dynasty (689–705). 23  Quoted in Weschler, 1985, p. 221. 24  See de Pee, 2007, pp. 137–39.

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more stringent. In 739, for instance, Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712–56) decreed, “All yinyang extrapolative numerology, unless it be for choosing (auspicious) days for weddings and funerals by divination, is forbidden,” and in 835 an imperial edict outlawed the private printing of almanacs altogether (bu de sizhi rili ban 不得私置日曆版).25 But these efforts to control mantic activities and the private production of calendars and almanacs were largely unsuccessful, in part because of the declining power of the once highly centralized state in the ninth century. This was also a period when block printing (a Tang invention) came into greater use, making it possible to produce almanacs and other popular works privately at very little cost. As it developed, private commercial publishers were quicker than the Tang state to see the economic advantages of printing.26 The Song dynasty went through even more calendrical changes than the Tang, twice as many, in fact.27 By contrast, the Yuan, Ming, and Qing stayed with one basic model.28 In the Song era, the Chinese government, building on technological and social developments that occurred during the Five Dynasties period (907–960), began producing a wide variety of printed materials, from collections of religious documents (such as the Buddhist canon) to standardized (and authorized) texts needed by officials, scholars, and students. Naturally, the robust Song educational system, like the burgeoning Song economy, both contributed to and benefited from the spread of printing. Developments in many other areas of Chinese life— including medicine, science, technology, literature, art, architecture, geography, cartography, and divination— spread with unprecedented speed and across extraordinary geographic range through the medium of print. At the same time, the Chinese state sought to control printing in order to serve both its own political interests and the general interest of “standardizing” culture.29 Liu Xiangguang has written extensively about the relationship between printing and divination in the Song dynasty. According to his research, much of the interest in the mantic arts during this time arose as a result of chron25  R  . Smith, 1993, p. 39; see also Whitfield, 1998, p. 4. 26  See Chia and De Weerdt, 2011, pp. 8–9. 27  Zhu Wenxin, 1934, pp. 172–98; Yabuuchi Kiyoshi, 1969, pp. 113– 35; and Zhang Peiyu et al., 2008, pp. 554–612. 28  See the useful comparative chart in Zhu Wenxin, 1934, pp. 32– 34. See also the discussion in Yabuuchi Kiyoshi, 1969, pp. 136–62; and Zhang Peiyu et al., 2008, pp. 613–719. 29  For an excellent overview of the social impact of printing from around 900–1400, see Chia and De Weerdt, 2011. On the “supernatural” repercussions of social change in the Song, see Davis, 2001.

340 ic uncertainty and insecurity—mainly due to apprehension over social and economic changes, competition within the civil service examination system, and foreign aggression.30 Other factors noted by Liu include a burst of creative scholarship on the Classic of Changes.31 There was also the relentless spread of printing, which encouraged the circulation of all sorts of “practical” books. But there can be little doubt that almanacs and works on divination circulating during the Song gave readers a measure of psychological security in uncertain times. It also gave them a sense of personal agency, particularly in matters of vital concern, including travel, assumption of office, entrance to school, marriage, and many other domestic rituals, notably proper burial for one’s family, all potentially disruptive events that reduced or increased the size of the household.32 Song and later almanacs invariably addressed such matters, and these works, together with books on the mantic arts, gave both literate scholars and commoners a means by which to test the knowledge of professional fortune-tellers. This seems to have been particularly true of siting specialists, or geomancers, who began to flourish during the Song. In any case, as Christian de Pee points out: “The almanacs and calendars that appeared on the early market for printed materials outnumbered, by thousands of titles and millions of copies, rarified, expensive works such as canonical commentaries, ritual handbooks, collected works, and writing manuals.”33 Despite the relatively few examples of calendars and almanacs dating from the Song period, it is clear that several important changes took place in the calculation of calendrical time during this era. One of these, which seems to have occurred during the Southern Song dynasty, was the introduction of a new method for counting and naming days. Previously, days had been designated primarily by cycles of the moon and/or correlations with the sexagenary system of stems and branches. Although an indigenous day-counting system based on the twenty-eight stellar lodges can be traced back to the Warring States period, Southern Song calendrical specialists combined elements of other zodiacal traditions to create a synthetic system that involved correlations between the stellar lodges, the foreign-inspired seven days of the week (identified by the names of the Seven Luminaries), the sixty days of the sexagenary cycle, and the incorporation 30  S ee Liu Xiangguang, 2010; 2013. See also Liu Hsiang-kwang, 2007. 31  For a lengthy discussion of this phenomenon, see R. Smith, 2008, pp. 112–39. See also R. Smith, 2012b, pp. 92–104. 32  See de Pee, 2007, p. 142. 33  Ibid., pp. 145–46.

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of twenty-eight symbolic animals, which were organized into four groups of seven. The result was a “perpetual” calendar with recurrent cycles of 480 days, calculated in terms of seven successive Epochs (Yuan 元).34 This system of infinitely recurring time periods continued into the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Another significant development in the Song period was a proliferation of calendar spirits, particularly baleful ones. A beautiful edition of the Fully Annotated Huitian Eternal Calendar for the Fourth Year of the Baoyou Reign Period (1256) of the Great Song (Da Song Baoyou sinian bingchen sui Huitian wannian juzhu li 大宋寳祐四年丙 辰歲會天萬年具注曆) reflects this change, as well as the continued importance of the noninterference (bujiang) system.35 The Essentials of the Three Calendrical Systems (Sanli cuoyao 三曆撮要) is another more or less contemporaneous document. As its name suggests, this composite work was not designed for a particular year; instead it provides sexagenary-cycle dates that are appropriate for twenty-two different activities, including betrothals, weddings, travel, moving one’s residence, construction, burial, and filing lawsuits. As with the Song calendar for 1256, a large number of auspicious dates for weddings are occasions for noninterference.36 The Essentials of the Three Calendrical Systems contains explanations of the day-selection process that refer to other calendars, a feature not found in the Dunhuang calendars and almanacs, as shown in the following example: “Third month. Auspicious day for weddings: jiazi1. One day only, from the Huiyao 會要 calendar. Although this date conflicts with Returning Avoidance (Guiji 歸忌), it is an acceptable date because of its many propitious calendar spirits. Previous systems listed dinghai24 and yihai12, but these are days of death according to the Wantong 萬通 calendar. Although bingzi13 is a noninterference day in this month, its conflict with Returning Avoidance renders it unusable.”37 Similarly, for the eleventh month, the text says: “Eleventh month. Auspicious day for weddings: dingchou14. Only this one date is a proper (zheng 正) wedding day.… The dates xinsi18 and xinchou38, from the Fully Annotated Eternal Calendar (Wannian juzhu li 34 

35 

36  37 

Kalinowski, 1996, pp. 58–62. See also the illustrations and discussions of these correlations in Xieji bianfang shu, 1, 24a–28b. For an interesting perspective on the attitude of scholars toward Song dynasty calendars, see Kim, 1992. As with other discussions in his stimulating book, de Pee (2007, pp. 150–55) does a splendid job explaining the technical features of this calendar. See ibid., pp. 151–52. Sanli cuoyao, 8a–b. Translation follows de Pee, 2007, p. 151, with modifications.

The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China 萬年具注曆), are both noninterference days and are both

(normally) advantageous, but the Hundred Avoidance Calendar (Baiji li 百忌曆) does not include them.”38 During the early Song period, the Chinese state seems to have quickly come to recognize the power and influence of private printing enterprises. For instance, at times the Song government granted monopolies to family businesses for the printing and selling of private calendars that matched the style and content of the official calendar. The price for a private or pirated copy was reportedly one or two “cash” (qian 錢), less than the cost of one-half kilogram of rice at the time. In 1024, the Song court decided to assume responsibility for printing the official calendar, which led to a 90 percent reduction in production costs. In 1071, under the regime of the ill-fated reformer Wang Anshi 王安石 (1021–1086), the Song government raised the price of a single calendar to several hundred cash in an effort to increase state revenues, but ultimately, as a result of factional opposition to his “pragmatic policies,” Wang fell from power and profits from calendar sales declined.39 Although there is no extant complete copy of the Yuan dynasty work known as the Season Granting Calendar (Shoushi li 授時曆), first promulgated in 1280, the research of He Qilong and others strongly suggests that it marks a significant change in style from Tang and Song calendars.40 For instance, the section of the earlier calendars based on the Seven Luminaries Calendar (Qiyao Li 七曜曆) no longer appears (see plate 8). Moreover, auspicious and inauspicious activities are now displayed in sequential day columns, with appropriate and inappropriate activities listed for each day of the entire year.41 Significantly, the Ming and Qing dynasties continued to closely follow the Yuan model, generally considered to be the most advanced calendar ever produced in premodern

38 

S anli cuoyao, 39b. Translation follows de Pee, 2007, p. 152, with modifications. 39  Discussed in Huang Yi-Long, 2012, p. 265. A contemporary denounced Wang and his followers for “employing every possible way of making money, including selling calendars on the street” (quoted in Twitchett and Smith, 2009, p. 420n234). 40  He Qilong, 2012, pp. 110–44. For a study and translation of the Shoushi li, see Sivin, 2009. It is true, however, that, like the Tang, the Yuan and all subsequent dynasties employed foreign experts as calendrical specialists. The Mongols established, for instance, the Muslim Astronomy Bureau (Huihui Sitian Jian 回回司天監), which employed Islamic astronomers and used an Arabic calendar, from 1267 to 1280. See Yabuuchi Kiyoshi, 1969, pp. 136–45; and Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 3, pp. 49, 379–86. 41  See Zhu Wenxin, 1934, pp. 207–16.

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China.42 These regimes, like the Yuan, engaged in the practice of “bestowing” (ci 賜) official Chinese calendars on close tributary states, Korea and Vietnam in particular.43 As with the Tang and Song dynasties, the Yuan, Ming, and Qing engaged foreign specialists to assist in calendar making, and all sought to ban private versions of the calendar. In the former pursuit, each regime was more or less successful; in the latter, each more or less failed.44 In any case, each dynasty persisted in its efforts to suppress illegal versions of the state calendar, offering rich rewards to those who informed on lawbreakers and threatening severe punishments for the lawbreakers themselves. According to the Yuan History (Yuan shi 元史), the central government had an office in the capital, known as the Court of the Grand Astrologer (Taishi Yuan 太史院), that printed official versions of the calendar. But provincial authorities were also responsible for publishing official calendars under the direct supervision of bureaucrats from the Court of the Grand Astrologer.45 The state turned a profit from these sales. In 1328, for instance, the Yuan History records that 3,123,185 calendars were sold, and that forty-five million taels (liang 兩) of silver were received in payment.46 Most of this revenue, it is safe to say, came from sales of the Season Granting Calendar rather than from other types of calendars, such as official Islamic, Uighur, and “secret” calendars produced by the Yuan government, as well as unofficial Mongolian versions.47 The state thus had at least two reasons for trying to control the illegal production of calendars. One was, of course, to maintain the idea of imperial legitimacy (from Yuan times onward, every state calendar had to carry an official seal); the other was financial. The Ming and Qing dynasties, like the Yuan, viewed calendar sales as a source of income, but the number of calendars produced varied considerably from reign to reign within each dynasty.48

42 

S ee Ho Kai-lung, 2006, p. 60; Zhu Wenxin, 1934, pp. 217–46; and Martzloff, 2009, pp. 197–220, 303–25. 43  Huang Yi-Long (2012) provides examples of pages from an official Qing dynasty calendar “printed in Korea.” 44  Jiang Xiaoyuan (1991, pp. 191–93) discusses this problem. For the situation with respect to Ming calendars, see Shen Jin, 1996. 45  Ho Kai-lung, 2006, pp. 62–64. 46  In Yuan weights and measures, 1 liang was approximately 40 grams. 47  See the discussion in Ho Kai-lung, 2006, pp. 63–64. 48  The number of copies of the official calendar printed by the state varied in Yuan, Ming, and Qing times. For instance, according to one report, in the Xuande period (1426–35) of the Ming, the number of copies of the official calendar (Qintian jian liri 欽天監曆日) was more than 500,000 but was reduced under

342 As in previous periods, locally produced almanacs flourished during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. There are relatively few extant copies of these publications for the Yuan, Ming, and early Qing periods, however, in part because most were designed for a given year and lost much of their utility beyond that time.49 The same was true for most “official” calendars as well. As Huang Yinong has written: “In spite of the large quantities printed each year, no more than 100 or 200 calendars before the end of Ming dynasty (in 1644) are extant out of billions of copies published. The main reason is because the content of a civil calendar is mostly related to the specific year and, therefore, is extremely time-sensitive. People either threw the used calendar book away or recycled it for other purposes (e.g., using its blank back or empty space to practice handwriting, using it as the paper lining for embroidery).”50 But while calendars and almanacs were not normally collected for posterity by the Chinese themselves, Westerners in China, from the time of the Jesuits in the seventeenth century onward, began acquiring Chinese almanacs and calendars out of curiosity, and many of these documents eventually found their way to libraries in Europe and the United States.51 Still, there are at least a few extant almanacs dating from the Yuan and Ming periods. One notable example from the Yuan is Song Luzhen’s 宋魯珍 Precious Mirror of Yin and Yang (Yinyang baojian 陰陽寶鑑), reprinted as A New Version of the Yin and Yang Precious Mirror Almanac for Day Selection (Xinkan yinyang baojian keze tongshu 新刊陰陽寶鑑剋擇通書). Another, from the Ming period but which continued to be published in Qing times, is the Orthodox Almanac of the Three Terraces (Santai tongshu zhengzong 三台通書正宗) (1598, reprinted in 1637 and later). Still another, dating from the Ming-Qing transition, is Mr. Liu’s Family Almanac Designed to Explicate Profundities (Liushi jiacang chanwei tongshu 劉氏家藏 闡微通書). Taken together, these three works provide excellent examples of the many areas of human activity controlled by calendar spirits. In the case of construction, activities such as “stirring the ground” (dongtu 動土), “erecting columns” (shuzhu 竪柱), “hoisting a ridgepole” (shangliang 上樑), “roofing” (gaiwu 蓋屋), “making a the next emperor to only about 120,000. See Ruitenbeek, 1993, p. 41n20. 49  There are, however, substantial excerpts from twenty-one Song and Yuan almanacs preserved in the extant sections of the Yongle dadian 永樂大典. See the discussion in Ruitenbeek, 1993, p. 138. 50  Huang Yi-Long, 2012, p. 265. 51  For partial inventories, see Morgan, 1980; R. Smith, 1988; 1993; 1992. See also Wang Nan, 1993.

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kitchen” (zaochu 造廚), “drilling a well” (chuanjing 穿井), and “situating a bed” (anchuang 安床) remained prominent in Chinese almanacs throughout the imperial era and into the twentieth century.52 It should be noted that the sections on day selection in Ming popular encyclopedias such as the Illustrated Compendium for the Convenience of the People (Bianmin tuzuan 便民圖纂) (1502) contain similar information.53 Since the history of the Ming dynasty’s Great Unified Calendar (Datong li 大統曆), with all its political controversies and technical problems,54 is essentially the same as that of the Qing dynasty’s Regulating Time Calendar (Shixian li 時憲曆) or Regulating Time Book (Shixian shu 時憲書), a closer look at Qing period calendars and almanacs will aid in discerning the relationship between the two.

State-Sponsored Cosmology in the Qing

One of the most striking features of the inherited cosmology in China has been its ability to tolerate a high degree of apparent inconsistency, despite the state’s continuous efforts to eliminate “contradictions” in its various official cosmological works.55 One reason for this toleration was undoubtedly the harmonizing, syncretic nature of traditional Chinese thought, which resisted the idea of mutual exclusiveness, even as it obviously recognized the principle, and esteemed “unitary meaning” (yi yi 一義) more than “mere logic.” As Paul Unschuld has observed in his study of Chinese medicine: “Somehow a way was always found in China to reconcile opposing views and to build 52  F or an illuminating inventory of the literally dozens of categories pertaining to building alone, see Ruitenbeek, 1993, pp. 43–45. 53  The Bianmin tuzuan lists ninety-four evil calendar spirits that “figure in the Santai tongshu zhengzong and several other encyclopedias and almanacs of the Ming dynasty”; ibid., p. 103n6. Ruitenbeek goes on to say that each of about 250 categories of human activities listed in the various almanacs is controlled by a different selection of evil calendar spirits. But while the majority of spirits are evil, they do not operate with the same effect on different spheres of human activity. According to Ruitenbeek, favorable spirits play a less important role than evil spirits. For instance, only fifty-one favorable calendar spirits are listed in the Bianmin tuzuan. 54  See Zhu Wenxin, 1934, pp. 216–37. For two useful overviews in English, see Peterson, 1986; and Elman, 2005, pp. 65–72, 80–84, 63–106. See also Chu Pingyi, 2007. For a manuscript version of the Ming Datong li with hemerological annotations, see Datong lizhu. 55  See Xieji bianfang shu, “Zouyi” 奏議, 10a–33b.

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bridges—fragile as they may appear to the outside observer—permitting thinkers and practitioners to employ liberally all the concepts available, as long as they were not regarded as destructive to society.”56 The Qianlong emperor’s preface to the thirty-sixchapter Imperially Approved Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions suggests another reason for tolerating inconsistency—a pragmatic concern for the preservation of popular customs that bolstered, or at least did not threaten, imperial authority. Pointing out that terrestrial harmony could be achieved only by faithfully following the patterns and principles of Heaven, the preface emphasizes that errors in previous Qing publications—including the Imperially Approved Perpetual Calendar (Yuding wannian shu 御定 萬年書), the Almanac for Day Selection, and the Imperially Approved Investigation into Stars and the Calendar— necessitated revisions in the form of the Imperially Approved Treatise.57 Significantly, however, not all the mistakes in earlier works could be corrected, since a number of popular practices based on admittedly flawed principles were so well established that “to eradicate them completely would be inconvenient to the people.”58 Although the Imperially Approved Treatise did not entirely replace its predecessors, it became the definitive work on hemerological ideas and practices from the mideighteenth century into the twentieth, and it still guides almanac makers to this day.59 The book begins with two chapters on the “basics” (benyuan 本原), the fundamental powers that interacted to produce change in the universe. These included the primal forces of yin and yang, as well as the capabilities associated with the five agents and the eight trigrams of the Classic of Changes. Each of these forces, operating under different temporal and spatial circumstances, had tangible cosmic power embodied in, or exerting influence on, objects of all sorts by virtue of the “sympathetic vibration” of qi 氣 “vital force.” Whether considered as external forces or intrinsic qualities, yin and yang, the five agents, and the eight 56  57 

58 

59 

 nschuld, 1985, pp. 57–58. U The editors of the Four Treasuries give the Xingli kaoyuan a very positive review, however, crediting it with “eliminating vulgar ideas and identifying important concepts,” in order to “follow the Way of Heaven and suit the needs of the people”; see Siku quanshu zongmu, 109, p. 1446. Xieji bianfang shu, “Xu” 序, 1a–2b. For translations of excerpts from the first two chapters of the Xieji bianfang shu, as well as the Qianlong emperor’s preface, see Aylward, 2007. See also Parker, 1888a, 1888b. For a glowing review of this work, see Siku quanshu zongmu, 109, p. 1446.

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trigrams constantly fluctuated and interacted as part of the eternal, cyclical rhythms of nature. Everything in the universe depended on timing and the relative strength of the cosmological variables involved. By taking these variables into account, one could predict whether movement would be progressive or retrogressive, fast or slow, auspicious or inauspicious.60 The distinctive feature of Chinese day-selection techniques in the late imperial era is the extraordinary complexity of these variables. Numerous, elaborate correlative schemes emerged, some of Han, Tang, and Song provenance, that linked yin and yang, the five agents, and the eight trigrams with the ten stems and twelve branches, the numerological configurations of the Yellow River Chart (Hetu 河圖) and the Luo River Writing, the Jianchu system, the twenty-four seasonal markers, the twentyeight stellar lodges, and other items. Naturally enough, the Classic of Changes was viewed as the foundation of many such correlative configurations.61 As the compilers of the Imperially Approved Treatise assert: “The Yellow River Chart and the Luo River Writing are the source of the production and conquest sequences of the five agents; the trigram numbers are the foundation for the changes and transformations (bianhua zhi ben 變化之本) of good and bad fortune.”62 The first two volumes of the Imperially Approved Treatise discuss several dozen correlative schemes at length, each accompanied by clear and useful illustrations. There are, for instance, extended discussions of the relationship between the eight trigrams (in both the xiantian 先天 “former heaven” and the houtian 後天 “later heaven” sequences) and the Yellow River Chart and the Luo River Writing; between the stems and branches and the twenty-eight stellar lodges; and between the five agents and the stems and branches. There are also long explanations of various trigram transformations, as well as explanations of the elaborate correlations involved in the Containing Notes system.63 The Containing Notes calculations are complex, as the stems and branches operate in both the generation and conquest sequences by virtue of their correlations with the five agents. Thus, the stem jias1 (Wood) generates the stem bings3 (Fire), just as the branch sib6 (Fire) conquers the branch shenb9 (Metal). Certain opposing signs have affinities with their opposites. While the stem jias1 harmonizes with the stem jis6 (Earth), just as the 60  61  62  63 

S ee R. Smith, 2012b, pp. 55–58. For examples, see R. Smith, 2008, pp. 62–71, 79–87, 114–26, 147– 66, 179–92. Xieji bianfang shu, “Zouyi,” 11a. Ibid., 1, 4a–71a; 2, 2a–53b.

344 stem bings3 harmonizes with the stem xins8 (Metal), the character of the stems and branches can change in combination. For instance, when a yin stem becomes linked to a yin branch, it acts like yang. As a result, a pairing of any of the even stems yis2, dings4, jis6, xins8, or guis10 with any of the even branches choub2, maob4, sib6, weib8, youb10, and haib12 produces a yang effect.64 A noteworthy feature of the entire Imperially Approved Treatise, in addition to its astonishing comprehensiveness, is the enormous range of authorities it draws upon, both individuals and texts, and the attention it gives to alternative points of view.65 In this respect, it should be seen as a detailed reference book rather than an almanac per se. The Jianchu system provides one brief example. The Imperially Approved Treatise discusses this system at length in several places, noting that according to the Imperially Approved Investigation into Stars and the Calendar, days associated with the calendar spirits Remove (Chu 除), Peril (Wei 危), Settle (Ding 定), Seize (Zhi 執), Achieve (Cheng 成), and Open (Kai 開) are all auspicious, while those marked by the calendar spirits Establish (Jian 建), Crush (Po 破), Level (Ping 平), Receive (Shou 收), Plenty (Man 滿), and Shut (Bi 閉) are all inauspicious. But other sources in the same discussion, including the Master of Huainan (Huainanzi 淮南子) and a Qianlong-era work titled Standard Mirror of Day Selection (Xuanze zongjing 選擇宗鏡), complicate the picture considerably. For instance, the Standard Mirror of Day Selection ascribes different values to the twelve Jianchu calendar spirits—distinguishing between the most auspicious among them (Level, Achieve, Open, Peril), the next most auspicious (Settle and Remove), and so forth—all in the course of linking each to a wide range of calendar spirits and constellations.66 64  R  . Smith, 1993, pp. 56–59. For a more elaborate discussion of the correlations involved in the Nayin system, see Xieji bianfang shu, 1, 47b–59b. Trigram transformations are discussed at length in Xieji bianfang shu, 2, 28a–53b. 65  It should be noted that when the compilers of the Xieji bianfang shu can iron out discrepancies, they do so decisively, but they confess to confusion or uncertainty with some regularity. As is typical of many Chinese reference works from the imperial era, conflicting interpretations are often offered together by the compilers without any necessary resolution of the differences that exist between them. See, for instance, Siku quanshu zong­ mu, 109, p. 1446. 66  Xieji bianfang shu, 4, 3a–8a; 10, 17a–22a. See Ruitenbeck, 1993, pp. 104–6; Doré, 1914–33, vol. 4, p. 386; and Loewe, 1988, pp. 7–14. For the names of the twelve Jianchu day qualifiers in the daybooks and their variations compared to the traditional terminology, see appendix C in this volume.

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Among the tangible celestial bodies discussed in the Imperially Approved Treatise, the most important, at least theoretically, are the Seven Regulators (Qizheng 七政), also known as the Seven Luminaries: the sun, the moon, and the five visible planets (Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury). The sun and moon represented, respectively, the emperor and his empress (as well as other royalty and senior officials), and changes in the appearance of either of these celestial bodies generally portended potential problems in imperial administration, including the possibility of usurpation of power. Jupiter, associated with the east, spring, agent Wood, and humaneness (ren 仁), could exert positive or negative influence on terrestrial affairs, depending on its color, position, and movement. The same was true of Mars, associated with the south, summer, agent Fire, and ritual conduct (li 禮); Saturn, center, associated with late summer, agent Earth, and faithfulness (xin 信); Venus, associated with west, autumn, agent Metal, and right behavior (yi 義); and Mercury, associated with north, winter, agent Water, and wisdom (zhi 智).67 Other cosmic influences of major significance include the twelve celestial “stations” (ci 次), the twenty-eight stellar lodges, and a vast number of individual stars, most of which existed only in the Chinese cultural imagination as calendar spirits or “empty” stars.68 All interacted with the Seven Regulators in more or less predictable ways. Taking the example of the stellar lodges, they were organized in seven groups of four, each group matched with one of the Seven Regulators. Thus, Horn1, Dipper8, Straddler15, and Well22 formed an auspicious conjunction with Jupiter; Base3, Woman10, Stomach17, and Willow24 did the same with Saturn.69 In the Qing dynasty, as in earlier periods, calendar spirits were designated either baleful (sha) or beneficial (shen).70 The simplest and most straightforward rationalist interpretation of this spiritual presence can be found in a review of the Imperially Approved Investigation into Stars and the Calendar, published in the Reviews of Books 67  F or a useful summary of the amount of material on calendar spirits in the Xieji bianfang shu, see Morgan, 1980, pp. 176–87. 68  See Xingli kaoyuan, 1, 40b–45a. 69  Xingli kaoyuan, 5, 8a–9a. See also R. Smith, 1993, pp. 63 and 300n58. 70  Although the editors of the Four Treasuries project claim not to know when shen and sha were first identified as specific deities, they date the process from at least the Han dynasty; and although they are critical of the idea of naming these forces, they nonetheless understand the need to do so. See Siku quan­ shu zongmu, 109, p. 1446. As is now known, the compound term shensha is first attested in medieval sources (see the discussion of day qualifiers on p. 171 in chap. 4).

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in the Complete Collection of the Four Treasuries of the Qianlong period. It states simply that when the yang phase of material force predominates in the process of mutual production, the spirits are auspicious, and when the yin phase prevails in the process of mutual conquest, they are inauspicious. This, in the opinion of the reviewers, was all in accordance with natural principles (ziran zhi li 自然之理).71 In fact, however, the actions of calendar spirits during any given year involved far more complex cosmological interactions. The Imperially Approved Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions, following in the footsteps of the Imperially Approved Investigation into Stars and the Calendar, provides an inventory of about 250 calendar spirits, the majority of which were negative, together with background information on each, including the year, month, hour, and position or direction in which they were presumed to be dominant.72 From an orthodox standpoint, concern with selecting the proper time and direction for undertaking various rituals as well as more mundane affairs was, in the words of the Imperially Approved Treatise, a matter of “reverence for Heaven and the celestial spirits,” but there was much more to it than this. In practical terms, nothing could be so dangerous for individuals or the state as to pick an inappropriate time or place for the conduct of important matters. The Classic of Changes and other Confucian classics are full of advice on this score, as are a myriad of other authoritative works.73 It is impossible to do justice here to the complexity of Chinese day-selection techniques, but a few general remarks may be useful.74 On the whole, calendar spirits whose names contained terms such as de 德 “virtue,” he 合 “conjunction,” xi 喜 “happiness,” cai 財 “wealth,” and gui 貴 “nobility” were considered auspicious, while those whose names included sha 殺/煞 “evil, lethal,” bai 敗 “defeat,” po 破 “crush,” yan 厭 “oppression,” hai 害 “harm,” huo 火 “fire,” and dao 刀 “knife” tended to be inauspicious. Among the most influential of the beneficial calendar spirits were Great One (Taiyi 太乙), Heaven Virtue (Tiande 天德), Year Virtue (Suide 歲德), and Month Conjunction (Yuehe 月合); among the most baleful were Great Year (Taisui 太歲), Month Oppressor (Yueyan 月厭), 71  72 

S iku quanshu zongmu, 109, p. 1446. See Xieji bianfang shu, chaps. 3–8; Xingli kaoyuan, chaps. 2–4; and Da Qing huidian, chaps. 77, 80. Only the spirits associated with the sun, moon, five planets, twenty-eight stellar lodges, and Northern Dipper (Beidou 北斗) seem to be linked to observable celestial bodies. 73  See, for instance, Gujin tushu jicheng, “Yishu,” 47, pp. 7071–99. 74  For a general overview, see Nakayama, 1966. See also Ho PengYoke, 2003, pp. 139–52.

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and Month Killer (Yuesha 月煞).75 But the actual influence of a given calendar spirit at any moment involved other cosmic factors, including its relationship to other spirits (whether in harmony or in opposition), its phase (ascendant or descendant), the time of its apogee, and its relationship to the five agents and the sexagenary binom of the year in question.76 The Imperially Approved Treatise devotes literally hundreds of pages to calendar spirits, discussing them not only periodically in the first two volumes but also at great length and more systematically in subsequent volumes.77 As in the past, Qing beliefs regarding baleful calendar spirits were much more highly developed than those pertaining to beneficial calendar spirits.78 This was particularly true of the Great Year calendar spirit, to whom the Qing emperors offered sacrifices before every military expedition.79 Prohibitions related to the compass points occupied by Great Year existed as early as the Warring States period, and by Qing times, concern with its regular twelve-year rotation through the twenty-eight stellar lodges was reflected not only in state rituals and official calendrical calculations but also in popular manuals of divination, Daoist ritual books, and exorcisms. Great Year played a leading but ambiguous role in all celestial affairs. When situated in conjunction with auspicious calendar spirits, it brought good fortune, and in conjunction with baleful spirits, it brought misfortune. According to Wei Jian’s Almanac of Essentials Concerning Auspicious Images, Great Year operated like an emperor: If its “ministers” were good, peace and prosperity prevailed on earth; if not, calamities ensued.80 During the Qing period, the inventory of identifiable calendar spirits increased substantially compared to earlier dynasties, thanks largely to the new astronomical methods and modern technologies of the Jesuits. In 1674, for instance, Ferdinand Verbiest added hundreds of new spirit names to the traditional Chinese list. Meanwhile, the pioneering work of Chinese scholars such as Gu Zuyu 顧祖禹 (1631–1692) indicated that important geographic changes had taken place in China since ancient times, 75 

S ee the excellent discussion in Morgan, 1980, pp. 175–220. Here, the author draws heavily upon the Xieji bianfang shu and the Xingli kaoyuan. 76  Morgan, 1980, p. 177. For instance, in terms of celestial movements, Yellow Road (Huangdao 黃道) is considered auspicious, and Black Road (Heidao 黑道), retrograde; see Xingli kaoyuan, 5, 3a–b. 77  Xieji bianfang shu, chaps. 3–10, 14–32. 78  R. Smith, 1993, pp. 63–66. 79  See Da Qing huidian, 80, 3a. See also Yates, 2005. 80  See R. Smith, 1993, p. 65.

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requiring a reconsideration of traditional cosmographic conceptions.81 Yet none of these discoveries, not even knowledge of the Copernican notion of the earth as a planet and the discovery of Uranus, significantly changed the state’s cosmological outlook. Although Chinese astronomical science progressed rapidly during the Qing period, it had no impact on state-sponsored astrology. Five-agents correlative thinking, after all, required no more than five planets, and the influence of invisible calendar spirits quite obviously could not be determined by mere observation. To be sure, the sometimes glaring inconsistencies of the orthodox cosmology invited heavy criticism from Qing scholars, just as they had from a number of scholars during the late Warring States period and thereafter.82 Early Qing critics such as Huang Zongxi 黃宗羲 (1610– 1695), Fang Yizhi 方以智 (1611–1671), Gu Yanwu 顧炎武 (1613–1682), Wang Fuzhi 王夫之 (1619–1692), Mei Wending 梅文鼎 (1633–1721), Hu Wei 胡渭 (1633–1714), Yan Yuan 顏元 (1635–1704), Yan Ruoju 閻若璩 (1636–1704), Li Gong 李塨 (1659–1733), Hui Dong 惠棟 (1697–1758), Dai Zhen 戴震 (1724–1777), and Zhang Huiyan 張惠言 (1761–1802) were among the many illustrious figures who, inspired in part by newly introduced Western scientific concepts, assailed various aspects of traditional Chinese correlative thought, numerology, and cosmography.83 But the critiques from these individuals remained narrowly focused on the faults of one or another schema, rather than on the inherited cosmology as a whole. Most Qing savants felt that the problem rested primarily with misguided efforts to “force a (cosmological) fit” (qiangpei 強配), not with basic assumptions about the workings of the universe itself. Although, as John Henderson has shown, a new recognition of anomaly as “constitutive of the fundamental order, or disorder, of the cosmos” undoubtedly caused at least some Qing intellectuals to doubt that traditional numerological and other correlative systems (and even Western science) could adequately describe the nature of the universe,84 none abandoned the Classic of Changes as a device for discovering basic patterns of cosmic change, including those involving the future. Moreover, there is abundant evidence to suggest that Qing officials, as well as scholars and com-

moners, tended to honor the prescriptions and prohibitions of the state calendar and derivative works. In fact, no prominent Confucian scholar denied the idea of a spiritual link between man and the cosmos, and none proved willing to abandon correlative thinking altogether.85 For every critic of systems builders such as Jing Fang 京房 (77–37 bce) or Shao Yong 邵雍 (1011–1077), there were dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Qing scholars who held closely to their views.86 The eclectic nature of Chinese thought made it possible for an individual such as Li Keqi 李克歧 to embrace Shao’s “unorthodox” numerology personally and yet teach Zhu Xi’s 朱熹 (1130–1200) orthodox works to his students.87 Moreover, the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century emphasis on “Han learning” (Hanxue 漢學) in China led paradoxically to a revival of interest in ancient cosmology. Pi Xirui 皮錫瑞 (1850– 1908) might declare that no one believed in the Yellow River Chart and the Luo River Writing by late Qing times, but this was assuredly not the case, particularly in the realms of divination, astrology, and hemerology.88 Like some Qing scholars, the imperial government periodically denounced the very mantic practices it employed.89 But here again, the problem was not with the theory of divination but with the practice. Both the Qing state and the scholars who supported it drew a sharp distinction between their own theories of cosmic correspondence and their own devices for “knowing fate” and those of professional fortune-tellers. The compilers of the Imperially Approved Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions repeatedly criticized practitioners of the “occult arts” (shushi 術士) for their wrongheaded notions, even as they enthusiastically embraced and articulated at length the same fundamental cosmological assumptions. Theirs was essentially a class prejudice masquerading as a matter of principle. On the whole, the Qing government reaffirmed and reinforced the inherited cosmology at every turn, in every way possible. Perhaps the single most significant way, aside from selecting auspicious days for imperial rituals, was in

81  I bid., 1993, pp. 66–67. 82  See ibid., pp. 40, 72–73, 88. 83  The following discussion of cosmological criticisms has been drawn primarily from R. Smith, 2001, pp. 70–74. See also R. Smith, 1993, pp. 186–87, 221–22. 84  Henderson, 1984, p. 249.

86 

85 

87  88  89 

 his was true even of so-called critics of correlative cosmology. T See, for instance, R. Smith, 2008, pp. 184–86; and R. Smith, 2012a, pp. 33, 162–64. See also Elman, 2000, pp. 295–370. For a few of many examples, see Yuan Shushan, 1948, 8, pp. 12– 13, 37; 18, pp. 17, 24; 19, pp. 33–34; 20, pp. 26–27, 29–30; and 28, pp. 2, 20. Ibid., 28, pp. 15–16. R. Smith, 1993, p. 71. Ibid., pp. 73–74.

The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China

Figure 9.1 Cover of the Qing official calendar, the Regulating Time Book (Shixian shu), for 1745. Left column: title and reign-year date. Right three columns: statement explaining that the Imperial Bureau of Astronomy produced the calendar, which was designed to be distributed throughout the empire. Washington, D.C., Library of Congress, V F273.9/1745. By permission of the Library of Congress.

publishing the state calendar, the Regulating Time Book (Shixian shu) (fig. 9.1).90

The State Calendar and Its Derivatives

The Qing calendar embodied official cosmology and reflected the state’s unmistakable concern with dayselection techniques. No single document did more to 90 

The name Shixian li was discontinued because the graph li 曆 became taboo with the ascension to the throne of the Qianlong emperor in 1735, whose personal name contained this graph, and it was replaced by shu 書.

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symbolize the legitimacy of the regime, and none was taken more seriously by the throne.91 The Manchus, like all their imperial predecessors, jealously guarded the emperor’s astronomical and calendrical prerogatives. The Great Qing Legal Code (Da Qing lüli 大清律例), for instance, forbade the keeping of astronomical instruments and charts at home, and the Great Qing Collected Statutes (Da Qing huidian 大清會典) outlawed all unauthorized versions of the Regulating Time Book. Other prohibitions, stipulated in the administrative regulations of the Six Boards (Liubu 六部), applied to astrological and/or calendrical books that might be used “to predict order and disorder” in the empire.92 As was the case during the Ming period, most, if not all, official editions of the Qing calendar carried an explicit warning on the cover or the back, based directly on the dynasty’s legal code, to the effect that those who forged copies were subject to decapitation and those who informed on such persons would receive an imperial reward of fifty liang (or taels) of silver (see fig. 9.2).93 Calendars that did not carry an official seal were considered to be private and therefore, strictly speaking, illegal. The cosmic sanctity of the state calendar can be seen in the solemn rituals that attended its annual presentation to the emperor and its official promulgation after months of preparation. According to the Collected Statutes, the presentation of the calendar took place at dawn each year at the new moon of the eleventh month. At that time, the director of the Board of Astronomy (Qintian Jian 欽天監) and a number of his subordinates presented the calendar to the emperor, his empress, and the principal concubines and other court women, as well as to princes of the blood and representatives of the lower nobility. These ceremonies were marked by kowtowing, musical processions, and elaborate displays of the calendar at certain points in the Imperial City complex, including the Meridian Gate (Wumen 午門) and the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe Dian 太和殿).94 Similar ceremonies at the capital and in the provinces marked the formal promulgation of the calendar, which found its way to every corner of the empire. Manchu 91  For an overview of the Qing calendrical systems, see Qing shigao, chaps. 45–53. See also Zhu Wenxin, 1934, pp. 238–46. 92  Cited in R. Smith, 1993, p. 74. 93  See Jones, 1994, p. 342. Jones, probably following the French translation of the Da Qing lüli by Boulais, 1966, p. 671, mistakenly refers to the Shixian shu as an “almanac.” In Qing weights and measures, 1 liang was approximately 37 grams. 94  Da Qing huidian, 36, 4b–5a; Huangchao zhengdian leizuan, 417, 1a–b. For Western-language accounts, see R. Smith, 1988, pp. 3–4; Morgan, 1980, pp. 17–19; and Hoang, 1904, pp. 4–5.

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Figure 9.2 Warning on the Qing official calendar for 1745 (shown in fig. 9.1), indicating that those who forged copies of the calendar would be decapitated and offering a reward of fifty taels of silver to anyone who informed on such a person. Washington, D.C., Library of Congress, V F273.9/1745. By permission of the Library of Congress.

functionaries received Manchu-language copies of the document; Mongol functionaries, Mongol-language copies; and Han functionaries, Chinese-language copies. Chinese-language copies were also provided to tributary states, notably Korea and Vietnam, as a tangible symbol of the Qing emperor’s dominion over these areas.95 At 95  F or a reproduction of material from two pages of an 1855 Qing calendar printed in Korea, see Huang Yi-Long, 2012, pp. 263–64.

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the provincial level in China proper, under the supervision of governors and/or governors-general, official copies of the calendar were printed in specified numbers and then sent by the provincial treasurer to appropriate civil and military officials. In all, as many as 2,340,000 calendars, perhaps more, were officially printed each year. The purchase price of these documents ranged from one-half to more than one tael of silver, at a time when one tael could buy 60 kilograms of rice or more.96 Ironically, some private publishers could offer copies (probably pirated) of the far more massive Imperially Approved Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions for only about one-third of a tael.97 At the village level of Chinese society, most households saw no need to purchase a copy of the official calendar or even to accept one offered by a low-ranking functionary of the county magistrate for the price of a meal.98 The hundred or so Qing calendars I have examined range in size from small versions of about 11.5 centimeters by 16.5 centimeters to larger versions about 15 centimeters by 30, 32.5, or 35 centimeters. These works conform closely to an organizational format based on the Ming dynasty’s Great Unified Calendar, and most are graced with an imperial yellow silk cover. The quality of print and paper varies substantially, however, as does the specific content, including not only the presence or absence of various charts and diagrams but also the use of red, black, and blue ink. Most such works bear “official” seals, but here again there is considerable variation in size and type, even for calendars bearing the same date. For instance, there are three different versions of a “calendar” for 1841 in the British Library, all styled Regulating Time Book. The two smaller versions, which differ slightly from each other and, more fundamentally, from the larger version, are clearly pirated, while the larger edition seems simply to be a nonofficial or quasi-official one. The smaller versions are local in orientation, poorly printed on cheap paper, have red covers, and contain illustrations of the “spring ox” (chunniu 春牛), features usually encountered only in almanacs. The second page is especially interesting because it shows the annotations in Chinese of a high Korean official. 96  R. Smith, 1992, p. 8. According to the diary of the late Qing scholar-official Li Ciming 李慈銘 (1830–1894), he paid from 500 cash (one-half tael) in 1863 to as much as 1,300 cash in 1882 for “a new calendar for the coming year” (mingnian xinli 明年新曆). Cited in R. Smith, 1993, p. 304n133. 97  See Brokaw, 2007, pp. 180, 450–51, 469. 98  See the amusing account of a mid-nineteenth-century scholar quoted in Ruitenbeek, 1993, p. 41. Simple prints of the “spring ox” (chunniu 春牛) with basic calendrical information could be bought for only a single cash or two. See Lister, 1872–73, p. 239.

The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China

In part, variations in “official” calendars can be explained by their different target audiences and the different time periods during which they were produced. According to the Classified Anecdotes from the Qing Dynasty (Qing bai leichao 清稗類鈔), for instance, there were three principal versions of the calendar presented to the emperor in the early Qing period: the Superior Position Calendar (Shangwei li 上位曆), the Calendar of the Seven Regulators (Qizheng li 七政曆), and the Monthly Ordinances Calendar (Yueling li 月令曆). Calendars distributed to nobles were generally known at this time as “inner calendars” (zhongli 中曆), while the calendar designed for civil and military officials was promulgated by the Board of Ritual and referred to as the “calendar bearing the seal of the Bureau of Astronomy” (Qintian Jian yinzao li 欽天監印造曆). Versions of this calendar available for sale to the public were called “people’s calendars” (minli 民曆).99 But some differences may be attributed to factors that remained beyond imperial control. Sources such as the Classified Compendium of Qing Government Statutes (Huangchao zhengdian leizuan 皇朝政典類纂) indicate that although the Qing emperors tried steadfastly to maintain an imperial monopoly over production of the state calendar, they were clearly not able to do so. Pirated editions called sili 私曆 “private calendars” that did not conform to official standards circulated widely during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, despite the dire warnings printed on the covers of authorized prototypes and repeated efforts on the part of the throne to punish offenders. An edict issued by the Yongzheng emperor in 1729, for instance, acknowledged the widespread publication of illegal private calendars in southern provinces such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian, and nearly a century later, the Jiaqing emperor all but conceded defeat in the war against premature circulation of the calendar and publication of pirated editions.100 Carole Morgan, in an illuminating article titled “De l’authenticité des calendriers Qing,” argues that with popular demand for the calendar in China consistently outstripping the supply available from official printing shops at the provincial level, private shops (shufang 書坊) increasingly assumed responsibility for producing 99 

 ing bai leichao, 1, p. 6 (“Shiling” 時令). Differences in the color Q and quality of calendar covers also distinguished status within the Qing sociopolitical hierarchy. See Huangchao zhengdian lei­ zuan, 417, 1a–2a. For a discussion of the distinctive features of calendars for the emperor’s use, see Qing bai leichao, 1, pp. 6–8. 100  Huangchao zhengdian leizuan, 415, 4a–8b. On banned books in the Qing dynasty, see Wang Bin, 1999, pp. 650–57.

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“official” calendars for sale to the public, perhaps as part of a subcontracting system found in other realms of Qing administration as well. After government production quotas for each region had been met, private firms could print and sell modified versions of the calendar that satisfied local tastes but still appeared to be in some sense “official.” These modified publications, although strictly speaking illegal, occupied a position in Chinese society roughly analogous to the several different published versions of the Kangxi emperor’s famous Sacred Edict (Shengyu 聖諭).101 Nonetheless, it was clearly dangerous to produce and possess pirated calendars. Some, for instance, displayed an elliptical but still ominous handwritten warning on the front cover to the effect that the work in hand might best be consulted at night: “night-viewing is not prohibited” (yeguan wuji 夜觀無忌).102 All Qing calendars, official as well as nonofficial and quasi-official, set forth the number of days in each month and the total number of days in the year. When necessary, calendar makers inserted intercalary months (occasionally by mistake) and provided precise information on phases of the moon, the onset of each of the year’s twenty-four seasonal markers, and times for sunrise and sunset. Some calendars included information pertaining only to a single locality, such as Beijing (Shuntian 順天 prefecture), while others contained the times for different provinces, outlying areas (such as Manchuria and Mongolia), and tributary states. At least a few devoted more space to these temporal concerns than to the individual days of the year. One way of determining the target audience of any given calendar is to consider the geographic range of its time charts.103 Each official calendar displayed a square, colorcoded “Diagram of the Position of the Spirits for the Year” (Nianshen fangwei zhi tu 年神方位之圖) near the front of the book and a smaller version at the beginning of each month (see fig. 9.3). This diagram, based on the Nine Palaces system, indicated the relationship of various calendar spirits to nine primary compass points: center, north, south, east, west, and four intermediate directions. Similar in appearance to the magic square of the Luo River 101  S ee Morgan, 1983, pp. 380–82. The analogy with the Sacred Edict is suggested in R. Smith, 1988, p. 125. 102  See Morgan, 1983, p. 380. See also Huangchao zhengdian leizuan, 415, 4a–b and 8b. I have seen the same inscription on an obviously unofficial calendar (labeled Shixian shu) dated 1886 at the University of California, Berkeley. 103  Huangchao zhengdian leizuan, 417, 3a–3b and 8b–9a. For an excellent example of a broad-ranging calendar devoted primarily to regional and temporal concerns, see the 1877 Shixian shu in the East Asiatic collection of the University of Washington, Seattle.

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Figure 9.3 “Diagram of the Position of the Spirits for the Year” from the Qing official calendar for 1886. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library, T7190.8/7494. By permission of the Harvard University Library.

Writing, the diagram consists of nine individual squares, each representing a directional “palace.” Each palace, in turn, contains a number indicated by a specific color and corresponding to a given trigram, although there are only seven basic colors in all. In this scheme, red is divided into true red (chi 赤) and purple (zi 紫), while green is divided into true green (lü 綠) and azure (bi 碧). The numbers 1, 6, and 8, all associated with the color white, represent good fortune for the direction in question, while the rest (2-black, 3-azure, 4-true green, 5-yellow, 7-true red, and 9-purple) indicate bad fortune. The numbers rotate each year in a pattern corresponding to the “later heaven” sequence of the trigrams.104 The exterior of the main diagram is subdivided into twenty-four directional units. Each corner of the square has a graph representing one of four primary trigrams (Qian 乾 at the northwest, Kun 坤 at the southwest, Xun 巽 104  H  uangchao zhengdian leizuan, 417, 2b, 5a–6a. See also Morgan, 1980, pp. 198–202; and plate 8 in this volume for an example of the multicolored “Nine Palaces” diagram in an early Song calendar from Dunhuang.

at the southeast, and Gen 艮 at the northeast), and each side has five graphs for the two stems and three branches corresponding to the cardinal directions. From year to year, four main calendar spirits—Canshi 蠶室 (Silkworm Room), Boshi 博士 (Erudite), Lishi 力士 (Strongman), and Zoushu 奏書 (Memorialist)—appeared in one or another of the four corners, while lesser spirits (the majority of them harmful to greater or lesser degrees) appeared in various locations on each side. In any given year, one or more of these twenty side spaces would usually be designated “empty” (kong 空), free from spirit influences. Columns of characters on the right side of the main diagram established the location of Great Year (Taisui), Year Virtue (Suide 歲德), and Month Conjunction (Yuehe). They also identified the relevant Containing Notes, fiveagents, and stem-branch correlations for the year and indicated the best time and location for undertaking repairs and construction. Columns on the left contained a standard admonition to the effect that of the four major calendar spirits located on the corners, only Erudite and Memorialist were auspicious and that if building repairs had to be made in any other direction, users could avoid

The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China

calamity by taking proper precautions to assure the presence of a lucky calendar spirit or at least the absence of an unlucky one.105 Many calendars included a section listing the death dates of emperors and empresses, since these days, like the specified times for sacrificial abstinence, were prohibited for most activities.106 Some calendars also contained supplementary information that, although not specified by statute, might be useful to recipients. One such addition was a list of the “birthdays” of various popular deities that were commonly celebrated in Chinese society. Another was a chart containing columns counting backward from the present, year to year by reigns for several decades, in order to show prevailing five-agents influences and Nine Palaces locations for men and women born in each of the years marked by cycles of the twelve cyclical animals.107 One purpose of this “popular” chart was to convey information regarding auspicious and inauspicious marriage relationships. At the core of all official calendars in the Qing, as in the Ming, was a month-by-month, day-by-day breakdown of the entire year, designed to coordinate and/or control all aspects of Chinese political, social, ritual, and economic life.108 For each month, the calendar included basic agricultural and meteorological information, with the direction of the handle of the Northern Dipper (Beidou 北斗, i.e., Ursa Major) at nightfall as a point of reference; the exact times for the onset of seasonal markers; and the location of major beneficial and baleful calendar spirits, such as Heaven Virtue (beneficial) and Month Oppressor (baleful). One literally “followed directions” for the month. Thus, for instance, if the calendar spirit Heaven Way (Tiandao 天道) moved eastward, journeys should begin in an easterly direction, sedan chairs sent to bring a bride home should likewise go eastward initially, and, if 105  H  uangchao zhengdian leizuan, 417, 2b. See also the description in Parker, 1888a, pp. 68–74. 106  Huangchao zhengdian leizuan, 415, 4a; 417, 2a, 7b–8a. See also Da Qing huidian, 80, 3a. In 1728, the Yongzheng emperor issued an edict indicating that on the death dates of imperial ancestors there should be no predictions regarding “joyous events” such as marriage or visiting relatives. This edict was reprinted in many almanacs, for instance, in the widely distributed Daquan tongshu 大全通書 (Comprehensive almanac), 1819, housed in the London School of Oriental and African Studies. 107  On animal correlations, see Morgan, 1983, pp. 367–68; and Hoang, 1904, pp. 7–9. The illuminating description by Parker (1888a, pp. 65–74) is clearly based on an irregular version of the calendar, which he calls an “almanac.” 108  Huangchao zhengdian leizuan, 415, 4a–b; 416, 13b; and 417, 2b. See Doré, 1914–33, vol. 4, pp. 381–87.

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possible, buildings and repairs ought to be undertaken on the east side of a building.109 The days, like the months, fell under the influence of various beneficial and baleful calendar spirits, which might or might not be specified. If indicated in the text, the beneficial spirits for each day appeared at the top of each daily column, and the baleful spirits at the bottom, a symbolic depiction of their celestial struggle for ascendancy in earthly affairs. Each day was identified with one of the five agents and assigned to one of the twenty-eight stellar lodges in succession. In Chinese popular lore, every lodge represented an animal with distinctive characteristics, and each one came to be associated with specific lucky and unlucky activities. For every day, with only a few exceptions in any given year, there were a certain number of activities designated appropriate (yi 宜), inappropriate (buyi 不宜), or prohibited (ji 忌). Some columns had specific indications of the proper time during the day or night for undertaking this or that affair (see fig. 9.4).110 And the appearance of the term “noninterference” on a given day gave notice that an unlucky calendar spirit would not be able to exert its normal malevolent influence.111 Activities subject to designation as auspicious or inauspicious in the state calendar were categorized and included in the Collected Statutes of both the Ming and Qing dynasties. During the Qing, sixty-seven matters fell under the rubric “imperial use” (yuyong 御用), thirty-seven under “useful for people” (minyong 民用), and sixty under “almanac selection” (tongshu xuanze 通書選擇).112 Of the sixty-seven categories of imperial concern, a great number naturally dealt with general administrative and ritual matters, such as various forms of sacrifice and prayer, the submission of documents, the promulgation of edicts, the bestowal of favors and awards (including amnesties, compensation, and titles), personnel matters (such as official appointments and the search for virtue and talent), diplomatic and military affairs, and events such as banquets. On a more personal level, the calendar provided guidance in choosing days for educational activities, domestic rituals (such as birth, capping, marriage), health, business 109  S ee R. Smith, 1988, p. 131; 1992, p. 13. See also Parker, 1888a, pp. 67–68; and Doré, 1914–33, vol. 4, pp. 381–87. 110  The Xieji bianfang shu devotes an enormous amount of space to activities considered appropriate. See, for instance, Xieji bian­ fang shu, chap. 11. 111  Xieji bianfang shu, 4, 52a–54b. See also the discussions in Morgan, 1983, pp. 366–70. 112  See R. Smith, 1988, pp. 130–31; and Xieji bianfang shu, 11, 1b–26a. For an excellent general description of a Chinese calendar, including a list of appropriate and inappropriate activities for the first month of 1853, see Milne, 1857, pp. 161–67.

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Figure 9.4 Page from a copy of the Qing official calendar for 1773 with the first thirteen days of the first month, one vertical column for each day. Printed text beneath the day indicates auspicious and inauspicious activities for that day; handwritten notations beneath record what the calendar’s owner did on that day. For instance, on the fifth day, when no activities were prohibited and it was favorable to undertake sacrifices (yi jisi 宜祭祀), the owner held a memorial service for his fourth uncle and discussed some business with one of his elder brothers, who subsequently performed a divination on the matter. Washington, D.C., Library of Congress, V F273.9/1773. By permission of the Library of Congress.

decisions, and the solicitation and adoption of suggestions and advice. Mundane activities regulated by the calendar include bathing and grooming, cutting out clothes, cleaning and decorating a household, establishing a new bed, discarding things, moving things, traveling, breaking ground, digging wells, performing construction and repair (of furniture, roof beams, rooms, buildings, roads, dams,

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canals, and walls, to name a few), hunting, fishing, trapping, planting, cutting wood, and herding animals. The thirty-seven activities designated “useful for people” encompassed virtually all the major personal and mundane matters described above. This category also included a few additional mundane items, such as visiting and receiving relatives and friends, as well as important ritual and administrative acts such as carrying out sacrifices, submitting a memorial to the throne, assuming an official post, and arranging for burials (the last not expressly specified in the imperial list). The almanac category, although listed last, stood midway between the two previously mentioned sets of concerns. It included most of the major categories of activity noted above but omitted those that were obviously the exclusive prerogatives of the emperor. At the same time, it was especially specific about certain personal and mundane affairs. It indicated, for instance, the individual stages of marriage ritual (such as nacai 納彩 and wen­ ming 問名), the treatment of particular afflictions (such as eye diseases), and the use of specific medical remedies (such as acupuncture). It also mentioned a few activities not included in either of the preceding categories, such as constructing, opening, and repairing storehouses and granaries, fermenting alcoholic beverages, smelting metals, and crossing the water by boat or other means. Relatively few activities were designated “inappropriate” in the Qing calendars I have seen. The most common categories to be so designated concerned traveling (chu­xing 出行), moving one’s residence (yizhu 移住), beginning construction (dongtu 動土 “stirring the earth”), planting (zaizhong 栽種), and receiving acupuncture therapy (zhenci 針刺). Particularly striking are the number of days that calendar makers considered inauspicious for travel, as many as 82 in a year of 354 days, for instance, in a calendar for the year 1886.113 The reasons are not entirely clear. Perhaps this reflects the widespread popular belief—often expressed in texts on “nourishing life” (yangsheng 養生)—that travel was unhealthy. But what about the other prohibitions? In this same calendar, 42 days were designated inappropriate for planting; 37 for beginning construction; 35 for being treated with acupuncture; and 33 for moving one’s residence. As a rule, when the evil spirit Month Oppressor dominated a day,

113  T  he statistics come from the 1886 calendar in the East Asiatic library at the University of California, Berkeley. R. Smith, 1988, appendix A, contains an inventory of Chinese calendars held in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the British Library, the Library of Congress, and the Harvard-Yenching Library.

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both traveling and moving one’s residence, and often planting, became inadvisable.114 Despite the stipulated limits on a number of quite common activities, people often found ways of getting around the problem. One was to consult a fortune-teller, whose presumed knowledge of directional influences and other variables enabled him or her (usually him) to give advice on how to avoid or overcome negative spirits at a particular place or time. Thus, for instance, when a man in Zhejiang wanted to begin the construction of waterworks under inauspicious circumstances, a local diviner informed him that the time of his birth, reckoned according to the system of the Eight Signs (Bazi 八字), was in fact auspicious enough to offset the evil star affecting his enterprise. He could thus proceed without risk.115 In another case, a man who had the misfortune of encountering an evil calendar spirit (xiongsha 凶煞) on his wedding day received directional advice from a Classic of Changes specialist that enabled him to overcome the negative power of this malevolent specter.116 Individuals might also consult divining manuals on their own. Certainly there was no shortage of readily available reference works. Wang Weide 王維德 (1669–1749), renowned compiler of the Almanac of Perpetual Peace (Yongning tongshu 永寧通書), also produced an extremely popular mantic work titled Orthodox Divination (Bushi zhengzong 卜筮正宗), first published in 1709 and continually reprinted, which devotes a substantial amount of space to day selection and related matters.117 The Heavenly Mirror of Day Selection (Xuanze tianjing 選擇 天鏡), written by Ren Duanshu 任端書 (1702–1740), holder of a jinshi 進士 degree, and published posthumously in 1748, was another popular reference work that continued to be reprinted. It provided concrete information on how to use cosmic variables such as the stem-and-branch correlations of the Containing Notes system to “control” (zhi 制) and “cultivate” (xiu 修) certain configurations or calendar spirits.118 If, for instance, construction had to be undertaken in an unlucky direction, the person concerned might move temporarily to another location, which, in relation to the place to be repaired or built, would then be auspicious. 114  F or a detailed discussion of the influence of various calendar spirits on daily activities, see Xieji bianfang shu, chap. 11. 115  Yuan Shushan, 1948, 8, p. 6. 116  Ibid., 24, p. 4. 117  For details, see R. Smith, 1993, pp. 74, 118–19. According to the preface to the Bushi zhengzong, many members of the Chinese elite affected disdain for divination, only to use it surreptitiously through the agency of friends or servants. 118  Xuanze tianjing, 3, 17b–18a.



Qing Dynasty Almanacs

Despite periodic efforts by the Chinese state to control calendrical knowledge, privately published almanacs circulated freely during the Qing period and throughout the empire.119 These works were quite possibly the bestselling books in all of China, not least because they were inexpensive. An extremely popular almanac by the renowned eighteenth-century day-selection specialist Hong Chaohe 洪潮和, for instance, reportedly sold for about thirty cash (about one-thirtieth of a silver tael) during the first half of the nineteenth century—equivalent to about 1.8 kilograms of rice—at a time when the cost of a state calendar might be fifteen to thirty times as much (see fig. 9.5).120 The vast majority of almanacs seem to have been produced in South China—especially Guangdong, Fujian, and Jiangsu—and then distributed to the north and west.121 The fifty or more Qing almanacs I have consulted come mainly from the Guangzhou 廣州 area, Ningpo 寧波, and Shanghai 上海. Although little concrete information exists on distribution patterns, certain almanacs are known to have been extremely popular over large areas. For instance, a late Qing gazetteer for Tong’an 同安 county in Fujian indicates that Hong Chaohe’s almanac not only was used widely within South and Central China but also purchased overseas. “Everyone bought it” (wu bu gou zhi 無不購之), states the gazetteer.122 The introductions to many Qing almanacs refer specifically to works such as the Regulating Time Book and the Imperially Approved Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions as sources of calendrical information and authority. A number of almanacs also include prefaces by Qing civil or military officials, designed to indicate a measure of administrative approval and support. Fei Chun 費淳 (ca. 1739–1811), governor of Jiangsu province in the late eighteenth century, was one such official. His elegantly written preface to an almanac titled 119  On problems related to the distribution of both almanacs and forged versions of the state calendar in South China, see Huangchao zhengdian leizuan, 415, 4a–b. See also Hoang, 1904, pp. 2, 4, and 6. 120  See R. Smith, 1992, p. 8. By other accounts, almanacs could cost as little as three to ten cash. See, for instance, Williams, 1899, vol. 1, p. 80. 121  For an excellent study of the Sibao 四堡 publishing network in South China, which produced a great many almanacs and related reference works, see Brokaw, 2007, pp. 450–67. 122  Cited in Yuan Shushan, 1948, 33, p. 22. A version of this work is still popular today, and there is even a website devoted to Hong’s “family operation” (Hong Chaohe zeri wang, http:// www.22281027.com).

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Figure 9.5 Cover page of an almanac for 1815, indicating that it was produced by a member of the distinguished alma­ nac-making lineage of Hong Chaohe from Quanzhou, Fujian. London, Library of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, c.41.k6. By permission of the Library of the School of Oriental and African Studies.

Convenient Reference for Day Selection (Zouji bianlan 諏吉便覽) can be found in editions of the work dating from 1797 to 1865 or later. Fei begins his preface by emphasizing that the theories of day-selection specialists are undeniably “contrary and confusing” ( fenfen buyi 紛紛不一). Nonetheless, he says, decisions regarding auspicious and inauspicious dates and times have to be made, and it is clearly impractical for most people to buy, much less to carry around, a voluminous work like the Imperially Approved Treatise. He goes on to say that during his tenure as provincial treasurer of Yunnan, he was presented with an almanac that one of his subordinates, a yinyang specialist named Yu Rongkuan 俞榮寬, had compiled using the Imperially Approved Treatise as a model. This

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work, Fei remarks, was simple, easy to use, and as clear, in the Confucian cliché, as the back of your hand (liao ru zhichang 了如指掌). It became the Convenient Reference for Day Selection.123 Since most almanacs took imperially authorized sources as their models, they tended to approximate state calendars in the designation of auspicious and inauspicious days.124 There are, however, a number of discrepancies for any given year. For instance, one version of the official Qing calendar for 1857 designates the fourth day of the first month as inappropriate for travel, while the Almanac for the Convenience of the People (Bianmin tongshu) for the same year lists the third, not the fourth, as inauspicious for this purpose. And although both works indicate that the ninth day of the first month is auspicious for sacrifices, only the calendar specifies that it is not a good day for travel. Almanacs and official calendars differed in other ways. In the first place, as already noted, almanacs were cheap and easily attainable. Second, they were never supposed to be designated Regulating Time Calendar or Regulating Time Book.125 Rather, they went by a bewildering variety of names. Most of them were colorful and auspicious, such as the Almanac for All the Good Luck You Could Want (Jixiang ruyi tongshu 吉祥如意通書) and the New Almanac for an Abundance of Blessings (Duofu xin tongshu 多福新通書). Others were more straightforward: Quick Reference for Officials and Merchants (Guanshang kuailan 官商快覽) and Convenient Reference for Daily Use. Some were preceded by the name of an auspicious-sounding place, such as the Hall of Riches and Honor (Fugui Tang 富貴堂), and many contained terms designed to indicate completeness, for instance, the Comprehensive Almanac (Daquan tongshu 大全通書). Almanacs generally had auspicious red covers rather than imperial yellow ones, and some were decorated with Buddhist or Daoist symbols taken from Chinese 123  E  ditions of this almanac that I have seen for the years 1797, 1820, and 1865 contain the same preface, but it is sometimes handwritten and at other times printed. 124  Some almanacs, however, did not have columns for every day of the year. This was true for “perpetual almanacs” (wannian tongshu 萬年通書) and also for certain other genres such as the Jade Box Record Almanac (Yuxia ji tongshu 玉匣記 通書) and Wang Weide’s Almanac of Perpetual Peace (Yongning tongshu). 125  Morgan (1983, p. 371n23) correctly points out that one major difference between Chinese calendars and almanacs is the absence in the former of the spring ox (see below). Yet both of us have found at least a few works titled Shixian shu that contain representations of the ox.

The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China

popular culture.126 They also contained a number of pages of written text in addition to the stark columns, charts, and diagrams of their official counterparts. Although the information on auspicious and inauspicious activities for each month and day of the year was similar to that in state calendars, almanacs were far more likely to include material in day columns that were not expressly stipulated in the Qing Collected Statutes. For instance, some almanacs identified the daily location of “womb spirits” so that pregnant women and members of their households could avoid miscarriages and birth defects by staying away from those parts of the house (such as front gate, pestle, mill, chicken coop, kitchen, stove, bed, storage area, and toilet) where such spirits might be present.127 Many almanacs were illustrated with wood-block prints not found in official state calendars. They also contained a layered geometric chart designated “Important Affairs of the Year” (Liunian shikuan 流年事款), which, by symbolic devices similar to those of the “Diagram of the Position of the Spirits for the Year,” conveyed the same kinds of information.128 Virtually all Qing almanacs from the late eighteenth century onward contained illustrations of, or at least written information about, the spring ox and its “spiritual herdsman” (mangshen 芒神 or shentong 神童), whose rich and evocative symbolism was universal in traditional China (fig. 9.6).129 This symbolism was not supposed to be depicted in official calendars, however. Rather, it found expression in orthodox seasonal rituals.130 Every year, both at the capital and in the provinces, Qing officials “welcomed spring” (yingchun 迎春) in elaborate state-sponsored ceremonies that involved presentation of the ox and its herdsman as effigies. The dynasty’s Collected Statutes, the Imperially Approved Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions, and other official and unofficial sources contain elaborate descriptions of these rituals, together with specific instructions for the manufacture of each effigy.131 126  A  mong the exceptions I have found are those almanacs prefaced by Fei Chun, which have yellow covers, and some unofficial Shixian shu with red covers. For a fine example of Buddhist and Daoist symbolism on the cover of an almanac, see the Riyong jifu tongshu 日用積福通書 (1757) in the British Library. 127  R. Smith, 1992, p. 20. 128  For details and illustrations, see Morgan, 1980, pp. 117, 125, 130, 139, 147, 188–231. 129  Closely related are excerpts from the Earth Mother Classic (Dimu jing 地母經), which offered yearly forecasts about farming, husbandry, diseases, and so on. 130  See Morgan, 1980, pp. 23–24, 92–115. For a vivid, albeit condescending description of this ritual, see Milne, 1857, pp. 168–70. 131  See Da Qing huidian, 77, 11a–b; and Xieji bianfang shu, 12, 5a–11a.

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Figure 9.6 Page from an almanac for 1876. Top: illustration of the “spring ox” and the “spiritual herdsman.” Bottom: discussion of the significance of their respective physical features and color symbolism. R. Smith personal collection.

According to popular belief, the colors of the spring ox and the clothes of the herdsman—as displayed both in official ceremonies and on the pages of local almanacs— indicated agricultural and other prospects for the coming year. By one account, a predominance of white portended floods and rain, red suggested fire and heat, green indicated strong winds and storms, black portended disease, and yellow implied a bountiful harvest. Another similar version invested the color green with the meaning of conflict. Yet another says that if the head of the ox is yellow, then there will be great summer heat; if green, there will be much sickness in the spring; if red, there will be a drought; if black, there will be much rain; and if white, high winds and storms can be expected.132 132  R. Smith, 1993, p. 85; 1992, pp. 9–10.

356 In fact, however, this color symbolism had nothing to do with actual meteorological observations. Rather, it was based arbitrarily on traditional cosmological calculations involving yin and yang, five-agents correlations, and stem-branch considerations. If, for instance, yang governed a certain year, the mouth of the ox would be open; if yin, it would be closed. Taking Wood and its symbolic color green as an example of five-agents correlations, for years marked by the stems jias1 and yis2, the head of the ox would be green; for years marked by the branches yinb3 and maob4, the body would be green; and for years corresponding to Wood (according to the Containing Notes system), the abdomen would be green. The same kinds of calculations for all five agents yielded the color of horns, hooves, neck, and tail as well as the specific features of the herdsman.133 Although this symbolism yielded different interpretations and was of no practical value to farmers, its periodic expression in Qing ritual and its ubiquitous presence in popular almanacs reaffirmed the importance of agriculture in Chinese society and contributed to a shared sense of culture at all levels. As cultural documents, almanacs provide an illuminating inventory of Chinese popular concerns. Relatively few early Qing almanacs are extant, and the ones I have seen tend to be rather straightforward, like calendars, without much cultural embellishment. By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, however, Chinese almanacs begin to display more and more popular elements. For instance, discussions of the life of Confucius and other morality tales, notably the “Twenty-Four Examples of Filial Piety” (Ershisi xiao 二十四孝), are common (fig. 9.7). Other frequently seen illustrations include annotated (and often personalized) pictures of the sun, moon, five planets, and other “stars,” as well as the dominant asterisms of the twenty-eight stellar lodges and their general influence on life situations. One also finds graphic depictions of the twenty-six or more difficult or dangerous “passes” (guan 關) encountered by Chinese children as they grow to adulthood, along with concrete advice on how to avoid harm (fig. 9.8). These hazardous situations, which differ slightly among almanacs, range from relatively common dangers (deep water, burning broth, falling into a well) to more frightening encounters with generals, demons, tigers, snakes, and even the so-called King of Hell (Yanluo Wang 閻羅王).134 133  F or details, see Morgan, 1980, pp. 23–24, 59–113, 247. See also Parker, 1888b, p. 552. 134  For details, see R. Smith, 1992, p. 26. The Daquan tongshu (1819; housed in the London School of Oriental and African Studies) and the Liwen Tang 利文堂 edition of the Zouji tongshu

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Figure 9.7 Page from an almanac for 1876 illustrating one episode from the “Twenty-Four Examples of Filial Piety.” In this depiction of a well-known story, Guo Ju 郭巨 is preparing to kill his son because he is unable to support both the child and his own aging mother. The story ends happily, however, when Guo strikes gold while digging the grave. R. Smith personal collection.

Sometimes moral advice appeared in Buddhist dress. An almanac for the year 1873, for instance, contains stories of karmic retribution in which unfilial daughtersin-law are transformed into lower animals in their next incarnations as punishment for their shameless behavior.135 Another indication of the religious dimension of many late Qing almanacs is the presence of charts listing the birthdays of literally dozen of deities from both the state’s official hierarchy and the pantheon of popular beliefs. Most almanacs also provided lists of anniversary dates for

諏吉通書 (1876; housed in the East Asian collection of the University of Chicago) provide excellent examples of the common features of nineteenth-century Chinese almanacs. See also Lister, 1872–73; Palmer, 1986; and Morgan, 1980. 135  For details, see R. Smith, 1992, pp. 23–24.

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357

Figure 9.8 Illustrations from an almanac for 1848 showing six of the twenty-six dangerous “passes” encountered by Chinese children as they grow to adulthood. The six shown involve the King of Hell, the five evil spirits, hanging from the sky, falling into a well, the four seasons, and encountering Buddhist monks. R. Smith personal collection.

deceased emperors and empresses, the birthdays of positive spirits, and charms for protection against evil spirits. Almanacs provided a great deal of information on matters relating to agriculture, business, health, family life, food, etiquette, travel, and, of course, divination. In this respect they closely resemble encyclopedias for daily use (riyong leishu).136 As an illustration, consider the contents 136  O  n these affinities, see Wu Huifang, 2005, vol. 1, pp. 99–207; vol. 2, pp. 209–344. Note in particular the categories on divination in these encyclopedias discussed in R. Smith, 2015, pp. 24–27.

of a typical edition of the immensely popular Ming-Qing work known as the Encyclopedia of Myriad Treasures (Wanbao quanshu 萬寶全書). Among the thirty-two categories (men 門) in a 1758 edition of this publication, more than a dozen overlap substantially with the content of Qing almanacs for a somewhat later period. These include (1) yangsheng “nourishing life,” (2) minyong “useful for people,” (3) zhongzi 種子 “seeds” (i.e., gestation), (4) xiangfa 相法 “physiognomy,” (5) nongsang 農桑 “farming and sericulture,” (6) shuming 數命 “calculating fate,” (7) yingzao 营造 “construction,” (8) suanfa 算法

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“calculations,” (9) kanyu 堪輿 “siting/geomancy,” (10) qubing 祛病 “dispelling illness,” (11) shiling 時令 “seasonal ordinances,” (12) niuma 牛馬 “oxen and horses,” and (13) jiemeng 解夢 “dream explanation.”137 Medical advice in Qing almanacs ranges from prescriptions for curing colds and counteracting snakebites, to remedies for foot ailments, nosebleeds, and toothaches.138 Some Qing almanacs even have a section titled “Methods for Producing Children” (Zhongzi fangfa 種子方法), quite possibly modeled on a similar section in the Encyclopedia of Myriad Treasures, which has surprisingly explicit information on menstruation, times for (and frequency of) sexual intercourse, preparations for pregnancy, enhancement of a man’s “vital essence” (jing 精), and methods for consolidating pregnancy. These sections, which include directions on how to produce male offspring, also provide recipes for aphrodisiacs, contraceptive formulas, and a prescription for aborting an “illegitimate” fetus.139 An almanac for 1819 counsels men that they must curb their selfish desires, not force themselves on their wives, not have intercourse too frequently, and refrain from sexual activity while drunk if their spouses are to have healthy children.140 Almanacs were often used by specialists in siting/ geomancy, which was such an important feature of traditional Chinese society at all levels.141 According to one astute nineteenth-century Western observer: The chief use of the geomantic compass is to find the line in which, according to the almanac, a grave ought to be made, or a house or temple built. Indeed, … in this most useful of all books it is every year decided between which two points of the compass the lucky line for that year lies and which point is absolutely inauspicious. This circumstance not only entails a postponement of many burials, seeing it is not always possible to find a grave, answering to all the geomantic requirements, in the lucky line of the year; but it regularly compels the owners of houses and temples to postpone repairs or the rebuilding of the same until a year in which the line wherein their properties are situated is declared to be lucky. Many buildings for this reason alone are al137  S ee R. Smith, 2015, pp. 22–33. There are similar categories for nineteenth-century versions of this work. 138  See R. Smith, 1992, p. 22. 139  For details, see ibid., pp. 22–23. 140  Daquan tongshu, “Zhongzi fangfa,” 1a–b (see notes 106, 134 for reference to this almanac). 141  Discussed at length in R. Smith, 1993, pp. 36–37, 42–43, and 131–71.

lowed to fall in ruin for years, and it is no rare thing to see whole streets simultaneously demolished and rebuilt in years auspicious to the direction in which they are placed.142 At the most superficial level, this sort of information could be found in the opening section of each almanac and in simple illustrations such as the “Circular Hall of Burial Days” (Zangri zhoutang 葬日周堂). More-complicated discussions could be found under headings such as “Graves” (Yinzhai 陰宅) and “Buildings for the Living” (Yangzhai 陽宅). A great many mantic charts and techniques found their way into Qing almanacs, several related to portent interpretation. For instance, almanacs often included a section on personal omens that people might encounter at any given time in their daily lives. The most common categories were twitching of the eyes (yantiao 眼跳), ringing in the ears (erming 耳鳴), a burning or itching sensation in the face or ears (mianre 面熱, er’re 耳熱), quivering flesh (rouchan 肉顫), palpitations (xinjing 心驚 “startled heart/ mind”), sneezing (tipen 嚏噴), clothes left behind (yiliu 衣留), the sounds made by a hot pot on the stove ( ­fuming 釜鳴), a fire growing out of control (huoyi 火逸), a dog barking (quanfei 犬吠), and a magpie chirping (qiaosao 鵲喿).143 With all such phenomena, considerations of time, direction, and location were critical to correct interpretation. Thus, almanacs invariably divided omen categories into twelve two-hour periods marked by the twelve branches. A ringing in the left ear at the zib1 hour (11:00 p.m.–1:00 a.m.), for instance, indicated that a loved one was thinking of you, while a ringing in the right ear during the same time period indicated that you would lose money. Ringing in the left ear at the choub2 hour (1:00 a.m.–3:00 a.m.) signified a quarrel, and in the right ear, a lawsuit. By the same token, the chirping of a magpie at the first hour indicated that a relative would arrive from afar, bringing “great good fortune”; at the second hour, it signified great happiness, celebration, and good fortune; and at the yinb3 hour (3:00 a.m.–5:00 a.m.), a small amount of good luck in the midst of litigation. Most of the omens described in popular almanacs were favorable, and the majority dealt with down-to-earth themes of the sort outlined above: visits from friends, relatives, and others (including Buddhist and Daoist clerics), feasting, and the accumulation of wealth. Unfavorable events included injuries, disputes, lawsuits, and the loss of money. As with most other features of traditional Chinese almanacs, the 142  C  ited in ibid., p. 138. 143  Discussed in ibid., p. 233.

The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China

specific content of these omen texts remain remarkably consistent over time and space, not only during the Qing period, but also down to the present.144 From earliest times, dream interpretation has been a prominent feature of Chinese culture.145 In the late imperial era, the most important popular text on the subject was the Duke of Zhou Explanation of Dreams (Zhougong jiemeng 周公解夢).146 The origins of this text are uncertain, but the work plainly draws on a wide variety of sources that include not only ancient classics, histories, and early dreambooks but also more recent vernacular writings. According to the preface to Zhang Fengyi’s 張鳳翼 Examination of Dream Interpretation by Categories (Mengzhan leikao 夢占類考), written in 1585, the Duke of Zhou’s name came to be appropriated by dreambook writers sometime during the Song–Yuan periods. This remark suggests that by Ming times at the latest, the Duke of Zhou Explanation of Dreams had already become an influential work. Several editions of the Duke of Zhou Explanation of Dreams circulated during the Qing period, some in popular almanacs. The most extensive version, boasting a general introduction and several additional explanatory sections, consists of nearly one thousand seven-graphlong dream interpretations. It is called, appropriately enough, the Comprehensive Collection of the “Duke of Zhou Explanation of Dreams” (Zhougong jiemeng quanshu 周公解夢全書). The earliest copy I have seen, which conforms remarkably with later editions of the work, is contained in a fragment of the British Library’s copy of an almanac titled Jade Box Record (Yuxia ji 玉匣記), of around 1700.147 The Comprehensive Collection of the “Duke of Zhou Explanation of Dreams” divides dreams into a number of overlapping categories. These include (1) heavenly phenomena, sixty-four entries; (2) terrestrial phenomena, fifty-five entries; (3) the body, thirty entries; (4) clothing, fifty entries; (5) miscellaneous items (such as knives, swords, banners, bells, and drums), forty entries; (6) administration, twenty-eight entries; (7) buildings, fifty-two entries); (8) domestic structures, fifty-two entries; (9) precious items (gold, silver, pearls, jade, and silk), twenty-eight entries; (10) toiletries, twenty-four entries; (11) household items, fifty-eight entries; (12) transportation vehicles, thirty-two entries; (13) roads, 144  I bid., pp. 233–34. 145  Discussed in ibid., pp. 245–57. 146  A larger, more substantial work on dream interpretation is Mengzhan yizhi 夢占逸旨 (1562); translated in Strassberg, 2008. 147  This work is also known as the Yuxia ji tongshu 通書 (Jade box record almanac); see R. Smith, 1993, pp. 252, 341n188, 341n190.

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bridges, and marketplaces, sixteen entries; (14) married life, twenty-four entries; (15) food and drink, forty entries; (16) matters related to burial, fourteen entries; (17) writing materials and weaponry, forty entries; (18) happy and sad occasions (particularly those involving music or singing), thirty entries; (19) religion (Buddhism, Daoism, monks, priests, nuns, ghosts, and spirits), twenty entries; (20) killing, fighting, wounding, and cursing, thirty-six entries; (21) criminality, twenty-eight entries; (22) fields, orchards, gardens, and agriculture, thirty-two entries; (23) water, fire, lamps, bandits, and rebels, thirty-six entries; (24) filth and cleansing, sixteen entries; (25) dragons, snakes, and wild animals, sixty-eight entries; (26) farm and domestic animals, thirty-two entries; and (27) tortoises, fish, shrimp, and insects, thirty-eight entries.148 The following entries from the section on heavenly phenomena in the Comprehensive Collection of the “Duke of Zhou Explanation of Dreams” illustrate the style of the work: “When (one dreams that) the gate of Heaven opens, an illustrious person will make recommendations and introductions (on the dreamer’s behalf).… When heavenly light shines, illness will be eradicated.… When the skies are clear and rain has dissipated, all worries will disappear.… When the sky brightens, a woman will bear an illustrious son.… When the gate of Heaven turns red, there will be a great beginning.… When one’s face turns upward toward Heaven, there will be great wealth and honor.… When one rides a dragon up to Heaven, great honor will follow.… Ascending to Heaven in search of a wife signifies illustrious sons and daughters.” Not all entries are positive, however. Indeed, about a third have decidedly negative connotations, such as the following entries in the same section: “If Heaven splits open, there will be the sorrow of a divided nation.… If the sun or moon descends from the sky, a parent will die.… If the sun or moon is obscured by a mountain, servants will cheat their master.… If a star descends from heaven, there will be illness and lawsuits.”149 Shorter versions of the Duke of Zhou Explanation of Dreams, such as those included in popular almanacs, were generally referred to as the “Book of Good and Bad Fortune of the [Duke of Zhou] Explanation of Dreams” ([Zhougong] jiemeng jixiong shu 解夢吉凶書). These works might have only a half dozen or so categories and only about a hundred seven-graph interpretations. The Comprehensive Almanac Based on the Seven Regulators (Daquan Qizheng tongshu 大全七政通書) of 1858 provides a typical example (fig. 9.9). It has a total of 118 stanzas divided into sections on heavenly patterns (nineteen entries), earthly configurations (nine entries), spirits (nine entries), the 148  I bid., p. 253. 149  Ibid.

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Figure 9.9 Page from the Comprehensive Almanac Based on the Seven Regulators for 1858 with some of the sevengraph dream interpretations from the Duke of Zhou Explanation of Dreams. The six categories shown are heavenly patterns, earthly configurations, spirits, the body, sorrow and joy, and hitting and cursing. R. Smith personal collection.

body (nineteen entries), sorrow and joy (nine entries), hitting and cursing (nine entries), and miscellaneous (fortyfour entries, most dealing with officialdom, domestic life and structures, plants, and animals). On the whole, both the specific interpretations and the ratio of auspicious to inauspicious dreams in the various examples of the “Book of Good and Bad Fortune” correspond closely with more elaborate versions of the Duke of Zhou Explanation of Dreams. There are only a few minor differences. In the longer version, for instance, the opening of Heaven’s gate refers generally to recommendations and introductions, while the shorter version specifies the acquisition of wealth. Other dreambooks, such as the “Explanation of Dreams” category in various editions of the Encyclopedia of Myriad Treasures, indicate more substantial variations. According to the Duke of Zhou Explanation of Dreams, for instance, to dream of seeing a deer indicates emoluments, while the Encyclopedia of Myriad Treasures identifies the deer with food and

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drink. In the former work, burning incense and making devotions suggest good fortune generally, while the latter work specifies great honor and emoluments. In the former, to dream of beating one’s wife portends a loss of profit, while in the latter, such a dream indicates the loss of one’s strength. Occasionally, interpretations differ significantly. Thus, whereas the Duke of Zhou Explanation of Dreams says that a pregnant wife in a dream signifies adultery, at least one edition of the Encyclopedia of Myriad Treasures maintains that it portends good fortune for the “sagely man.”150 A widespread belief in the close relationship between one’s birth and one’s personal destiny had several important implications in traditional Chinese society. In the first place, the requirements of a cosmological “fit” in everyday life were such that a person regularly needed to know whether his or her horoscope conformed with the requirements stipulated in state calendars and popular almanacs. Although such works provided specific indications of appropriate and inappropriate days for various mundane and ritual activities, not all days were equally auspicious for everyone. In planning important events— especially marriage—one would have to make certain that the Eight Signs marking the time of a person’s birth harmonized with the five agents, constellations, calendar spirits, and other cosmic variables that dominated a particular day, time, location, and direction.151 Even Qing officials were not immune to these considerations. Thus, in trying to decide when to open the bureaucratic offi­ ces at Guangzhou after they had been closed for the New Year’s holiday, Shizeng 師曾, a member of the Imperial Household during the 1860s, had to find a day compatible with his own horoscope.152 Fate calculation based on a child’s time of birth could be an extraordinarily complicated matter, but many almanacs contained devices designed to demystify the process. One of these is a diagram depicting the “Emperors of the Four Seasons” (Siji Huangdi 四季皇帝). The twelve branches are arranged around the head, body, arms, and legs of each figure, corresponding to the twelve time periods of the day (fig. 9.10). The diagram is accompanied by a text composed of fifty-six verses of five graphs each, which explain the significance of the branches. When a child was born, the parents learned what the future held by locating the branch corresponding to the time of birth on the appropriate figure for the season. On the whole, a birth time located on the head, hand, shoulder, belly, or 150  D  iscussed in ibid., pp. 252–54. For significant variations, see, for instance, Wanbao quanshu, 32, pp. 499–512. 151  Discussed in R. Smith, 1993, pp. 185–86. 152  Discussed in ibid., p. 184.

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Figure 9.10

The “Emperors of the Four Seasons” from an almanac for 1830, each figure with the twelve branches distrib­ uted on various parts of the body. R. Smith personal collection.

figure 9.11

The “Circular Hall of Marriage” (upper right) from an almanac for 1890. R. Smith personal collection.

groin was fortunate, while one on the leg or foot was less auspicious. This was particularly true of birth at a time when the branch was located on the leg, which presaged a hard life of toil and deprivation as a youth, although mercifully relieved by blessings late in life. As with most other forms of fate calculation, the verses offered advice. Thus, for instance, neither a male nor a female “born on the emperor’s foot” should remarry if his or her spouse happened to die.153 In the case of marriages, similar devices simplified complex matters. For instance, in selecting the date for a wedding, the parents of the potential bride and groom might consult an almanac that had a chart known as the “Circular Hall of Marriage” (Jiaqu Zhoutang 嫁娶周堂) (fig. 9.11). This commonly available illustration consisted of the diagram of the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji Tu 太極圖) surrounded by eight graphs, read clockwise in the following order: Fu 夫 (Man/Husband), Gu 姑 (Husband’s Mother), Tang 堂 (Main Hall), Weng 翁 (Husband’s

Father), Di 弟 (Younger Brother), Zao 灶 (Stove), Fu 婦 (Woman/Wife), and Chu 廚 (Kitchen). Counting days of the month began with Fu (Man/Husband) on the first day, continuing through all eight graphs and then repeating the cycle to the end of the month. Depending on whether a month had thirty or twenty-nine days, the user proceeded to mark off days, clockwise or counterclockwise. If the date chosen for the marriage corresponded to Di (Younger Brother), Tang (Main Hall), Chu (Kitchen), or Zao (Stove), it was felicitous. If it corresponded to Weng (Husband’s Father) or Gu (Husband’s Mother), one of two situations prevailed. In the event that the father or mother of the bridegroom was still living, this day became inauspicious and was unsuitable for the transfer ceremony, but if one or both of the groom’s parents had already died, then the marriage might take place on that day.154 Yet another mantic device common to many Qing almanacs, and also designed to simplify complex processes,

153  Discussed in ibid., pp. 182–83.

154  Discussed in ibid., p. 186. See also Xieji bianfang shu, 35, 18a–b.

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figure 9.12 Use of the hand for divinatory calculations from an almanac for 1904. Upper left: Li Chunfeng method of counting along the six segments of the three middle fingers. R. Smith personal collection.

was the hand diagram. Annotated illustrations of the hand could be used for all sorts of calculations, from the selection of trigrams and Nine Palaces configurations to a simplified Liuren 六壬 technique for ­determining the proper timing or outcome of a given enterprise, by counting the finger segments between the joints.155 Known by a variety of names, including “time sessions” (shike 時課) and “hitting the time” (dashi

155  F or details on the complexity of Liuren calculations, see Ho Peng-Yoke, 2003, pp. 113–38.

打時), this technique did not require a high degree of lit-

eracy or a third party. In one such divinatory method, associated with the legendary prowess of the Tang savant Li Chunfeng, calculations regarding the month, day, and hour of an event were made on the six main segments of the three middle fingers of the left hand, divided at the middle knuckle (fig. 9.12). Each segment represented a general prognostication, usually elaborated upon in a clockwise cycle as follows: (1) index finger below the knuckle, “great security” (da an 大安); (2) index finger above the knuckle, “patience” (liu lian 留連); (3) middle finger above the knuckle, “prompt joy” (su xi 速喜);

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The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China

(4) ring finger above the knuckle, “red mouth” (chi kou 赤口), signifying quarrels and disappointment; (5) ring finger below the knuckle, “little luck” (xiaoji 小吉); and (6) middle finger below the knuckle, “loss and death” (kong wang 空亡). By adding the numbers of the month, day, and hour of a given occurrence in succession, a person could predict the outcome. If, for instance, a woman fell ill in the first month of the year, on the second day of the month, at the second hour (1:00–3:00 a.m.) of that day and wanted to know what the prognosis might be, she would simply count finger segments representing the month (one), the day (two), and the hour (two), arriving at “little luck,” a somewhat favorable reading.156 A number of almanacs also included pictures of human faces, with indications of whether they portended good or bad fortune. One common indicator was moles (zhi 痣) (fig. 9.13). Depending on where they appeared on a person’s face, they suggested general tendencies, many decidedly negative. Thus, for instance, in addition to illustrations of generally auspicious and inauspicious locations for facial moles (mianzhi 面痣), the almanacs noted specific propensities, including to hinder, hurt, or disobey parents; to argue; or to lose money. Other pictures in almanacs might identify faces as representative of qualities such as noble, base, intelligent, stupid, poor, or rich. The facial stereotypes promoted by such means often had great weight in Chinese society.157 The use of “spiritual sticks” (lingqian 靈籤) has long been a feature of Chinese divination, practiced by commoners and elites alike, so it is not surprising to find that Qing almanacs provide information designed to assist readers in interpreting them.158 Perhaps the best way of capturing the flavor of this information is through a detailed discussion of one representative entry and its subtexts. The following example comes from the Spiritual Sticks of the Military Sage-Emperor Guan (Wusheng Guandi lingqian 武聖關帝靈籤), reprinted in the late Qing Quick Reference for Officials and Merchants. Although this version lacks the color of more recent editions, it is remarkably similar in both substance and style and contains instructions for using coins as well as sticks. The first of its one hundred entries is marked by the doubled stem combination jias1/jias1.

156  D  iscussed in R. Smith, 1993, p.198. 157  See the discussion in ibid., pp. 187–201. The general cultural ideal for men included well-defined eyebrows, refined eyes, a square face, and large ears; for women, a round head and flat forehead, delicate bones, and smooth skin. See ibid., pp. 198–99. 158  Discussed in ibid., pp. 235–44.

Figure 9.13

Illustration from an almanac for 1910 indicating auspicious and inauspicious locations for facial moles on men (upper face) and women (lower face). R. Smith personal collection.

The introductory phrase is “the eighteen scholars ascend to Yingzhou” (shiba xueshi deng Yingzhou 十八學士 登瀛洲), which refers to a group of famous individuals in the Tang dynasty who lived during the reign of Emperor Taizong (r. 626–49). The term “Yingzhou” has the double meaning of a prestigious college with which the eighteen men were associated and one of the legendary Daoist Islands of the Immortals. Four seven-graph lines of verse follow: Walking alone majestically toward the clouds, First class among a thousand officials in the Jade Palace, Heaven bestows upon you wealth, nobility, and glory, Blessings like the Eastern Sea, and longevity like a mountain.

364 The “sagely meaning” (shengyi 聖意) comes next, expounded in eight three-graph statements: “You will attain merit and fame. Your blessings and wealth will be complete. (If you are involved in) litigation, you will obtain a proper settlement (of your case). If sick, you will become well. (If you are a farmer) your mulberries and hemp (i.e., crops) will ripen fully. Your marriage (will be) satisfactory. Pregnancy will yield a son. Travelers will return home.” The next section provides an explanation of the earlier four lines of verse. Reportedly written by the great Song dynasty scholar Su Dongpo 蘇東坡, it reiterates the opening themes in eight elegant three-graph phrases, ending with the judgment: “All you wish for, you will have, and everything you plan will be as you had hoped.” The last section, a commentary attributed to Bi Xian 碧仙 (Azure Immortal), does the same in four five-graph phrases, alluding to literary success, fame, the fulfillment of desires, and “indubitable satisfaction in everything.” At the top of the jias1/jias1 column in the Emperor Guan handbook is the phrase “great good luck” (daji 大吉), one of six possible designations for each of the one hundred spiritual sticks. The others are “extremely good” (shan­ shang 善上), “very good luck” (shangji 上吉), “medium good luck” (zhongji 中吉), a “middling” situation (zhong­ ping 中平), “medium bad” (zhongxia 中下), and “extremely bad” (xiaxia 下下). From a traditional standpoint, only the last two categories represent genuinely bad fortune. A content analysis of the Emperor Guan handbook of 1903 reveals a total of three “great good luck,” eight “extremely good,” eighteen “very good luck,” twenty-seven “medium good luck,” twenty-four “middling,” one “medium bad,” and nineteen “extremely bad.” In other words, only 20 percent of the fortunes are bad, nearly 25 percent represent “average” luck, and more than 50 percent are notably auspicious.159 During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, almanacs continued to exhibit most of the “traditional” features discussed above. But they also increasingly became conduits for information on recent educational, economic, and political changes; modern science and technology; foreign nations and international commerce; and new forms of transportation and communication. Some even included comparative charts of Chinese and Western weights and measures.160 In the early 1900s, this “modern” emphasis seems to have been particularly evident in publications such as the 159  D  iscussed in ibid., pp. 239–40. 160  For useful details on changes in almanacs during the modern era, see R. Smith, 1992, pp. 33–80; and Wang Nan, 1993, pp. 89–128.

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Quick Reference for Officials and Merchants (Guanshang kuailan) and the Convenient Reference for Officials and Merchants (Guanshang bianlan 官商便覽).161 For instance, the former work, with a preface by a military official in Jiangsu surnamed Liang 梁, provides not only the usual wealth of cosmological and divinatory detail but also a map of China; pictures of Chinese political leaders, such as Prince Gong 恭親王 and Prince Qing 慶親王; depictions of Chinese and foreign national and commercial flags; postal and telegraphic information; and lists of recently established Chinese institutions, offices, and titles.162 Such works at once expressed and contributed to an evolving awareness of China’s new international and domestic circumstances (see fig. 9.14). Almanacs, even “modern” ones, could be tolerated as long as they reflected orthodox views and reinforced imperial legitimacy, but if not, the state suppressed them with a vengeance. This was naturally true of calendars produced by contenders for political power, such as the Yongli 永曆 emperor of the southern Ming during the latter half of the seventeenth century or the Taiping rebels of the mid-nineteenth century.163 But it was also true of certain privately printed “heretical” (xie 邪) almanacs such as the early nineteenth-century handbook Comprehensive Almanac for Responding to the Kalpas of the Three Buddhas (San Fo yingjie tongguan tongshu 三佛應劫統觀 通書), which the rebel Lin Qing 林清 of the Eight Trigrams sect used to, in the Jiaqing emperor’s words, “deceive the people” and “violate the authority of Heaven.” After this document was discovered, the emperor ordered all copies destroyed and engaged in a relentless search for the compilers and publishers.164 The leaders of the Christian-inspired Taiping Rebellion (1850–64), for their part, denounced the “superstitious” elements of the Qing calendar, even as they secretly sought out fortune-tellers to serve their cause. The “new calendar” (xinli 新曆) of the Taipings, promulgated at Nanjing in 1853 and preserved in the British Library, utilized the conventional sexagenary system for marking years, months, and days (with only a few modifications), 161  R  . Smith, 1992, pp. 33–39. 162  These and other features may be found in the Guanshang kuailan for 1908 in the Library of Congress. An even greater range and amount of new information is contained in the Yisi nian Yangxue zhai fenlei Guanshang bianlan wubai zhong 已巳年映雪齋分類官商便覽五百種 for 1905 in the British Library. 163  R. Smith, 1988, p. 128. For a brief discussion of problems associated with the southern Ming calendar, see Mote and Twitchett, 1988, pp. 694, 707n62, 723–24. 164  R. Smith, 1992, pp. 9–10.

The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China

figure 9.14

Page from the Quick Reference for Officials and Merchants (Guanshang kuailan) for 1908 with inscription by the intendant of military ­preparedness for the Su Song Tai 蘇松太 circuit sanctioning only “authorized” editions of the work. R. Smith personal collection.

assigned stellar lodges to each month and day, and included the twenty-four seasonal markers of the traditional Chinese calendar, but it contained no references whatsoever to auspicious or inauspicious days. Indeed, the preface indicates that the express purpose of this new document was to eradicate the “heretical doctrines” (xieshuo 邪說) of previous calendars, including the Qing

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dynasty’s Regulating Time Book. The Taipings claimed that the years, months, days, and hours were all determined by God, so how could any of them be particularly lucky or unlucky? Those who dutifully worshipped the Heavenly Father, they reasoned, would enjoy good fortune all the time.165 As has been seen repeatedly, from the standpoint of the Chinese government, surrendering calendrical authority of any sort to nonorthodox elements of society compromised the very foundations of imperial rule. Thus, when the Qianlong emperor’s preface to the Imperially Approved Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions criticized fortune-tellers who “talk of good fortune and bad fortune and of calamities and blessings,” his criticisms were directed toward the political purposes to which occult skills might be put rather than to the cosmological principles that informed such skills.166 To state the point another way, state astrologers, almanac makers, and most private divination specialists (aside from those connected directly with millenarian cults and other clandestine organizations) shared a cosmological outlook that was remarkably uniform and philosophically unexceptionable. In the Qing period, heresy was defined largely in political rather than religious or philosophical terms.167 Of course calendars and almanacs did not have to be heretical to be criticized. The well-known Qing astronomer and mathematician Mei Wending, for instance, argued that the practice of designating specific days of the year as appropriate or inappropriate for certain activities lacked classical calendrical precedent and was at best a cumbersome superfluity. Mei saw no value in the Jianchu system, nor any reason for officials of the Board of Astronomy to concern themselves with benevolent spirits and “evil stars.” He did acknowledge the legitimate use of divination by the ancient sages. Who could deny it? But like the Tang scholar Lü Cai 呂才 (ca. 600–665), whom he cited for additional authority, Mei distinguished classical forms of divination from the misleading and pernicious predictions of more modern soothsayers.168 His critique of lucky and unlucky days, one might add, coincided with the views of Jesuit court astronomers such as Ferdinand Verbiest, who wrote two tracts in Chinese, both 165  166  167  168 

S ee Xie Xingyao, 1934; and Wu Shanzhong, 2005. Xieji bianfang shu, “Xu,” 1a. See R. Smith, 2012a, pp. 103–5. Huangchao zhengdian leizuan, 416, 13a–b; 415, 5a–b. Significantly, the compiler of the Xiangji beiyao tongshu (1721), Wei Jian, made the same basic point, coming at the question from a somewhat different angle. See his preface (Xiangji tongshu, “Xu,” 1b), which denounces magicians and tricksters who depart from “the orthodox way of (day)-selection” (ze zhi zhengdao 擇之正道).

366 published in 1669, refuting prevailing notions of good and bad fortune and assailing specific divining practices such as day-selection. Mei did not bother to cite the Jesuits in making his argument, however, perhaps because he knew that these missionary officials, affiliated with the Board of Astronomy, often engaged in the very practices they decried.169 This much is clear in any case: neither countercultural options nor scholarly criticisms made a dent in the popularity of almanacs or calendars throughout the imperial era. Day selection prevailed everywhere in China, as seen in Qing documents of all sorts, at all levels.170 Works on the practice by intellectuals such as Ren Duanshu were clearly written out of genuine conviction, and, like calendars and almanacs, they suggest the possibility of a comfortable fit between Confucian ethics and popular mantic practices. Ren’s Heavenly Mirror of Day Selection casts divination explicitly in terms of orthodox social values such as filial piety and humaneness, and it assails “stupid people who do not distinguish between right and wrong.” At the same time, the author warns that without a cosmic awareness of proper time and place, earthly disorder will surely ensue.171 As in all previous periods, auspicious days had to be chosen for every socially significant act in Qing China, from issuing declarations of war to placing inscriptions on buildings.172 Westerners in the Chinese service, from Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) to Robert Hart (1835–1911), invariably commented on this pervasive phenomenon.173 So did many other foreign observers. A report by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in China (November 21, 1838), for instance, referred to “the almost universal demand” for calendars and almanacs “among all classes of Chinese,” echoing the views of a host of other informed contemporary witnesses.174 Alfred Lister, writing in the 1870s, remarked: “The great use of an Almanac, it might perhaps be said the only purpose for which Chinese buy it, is to choose lucky days, to divine on what days under-

169  S ee the discussion in Huang Yi-Long, 1991. 170  Memorials and edicts constantly referred to the practice, as did ritual handbooks and encyclopedias for daily use. See notes 11 and 136. 171  See Xuanze tianjing, “Xu,” 1a; and 3, 17a–18a. 172  See the discussions on ritual and divination in R. Smith, 2012a, pp. 99–106, 146–51. Yates (2005) discusses the importance of divination in military affairs. 173  Discussed in R. Smith, 1993, p. 90. 174  Cited in the Chinese Repository, 7.8 (December 1838), p. 399. See also Milne, 1857, p. 135; Lister, 1872–73, p. 239; Parker, 1888a, p. 66; and Morgan, 1980, p. 29.

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takings may be begun, and when they had better be left alone.”175 In the 1880s, A. P. Parker, another student of Chinese calendrics and day selection, wrote of the almanac: “The astrological part is universally believed in, though there seems to be considerable difference in the practice of the details by different persons—some considering it only necessary to be careful about the times and places of carrying out the most important affairs of life, such as marriage, burial, house-building, etc., while others believe it necessary to be careful as to the time and place for the most commonplace details of everyday life, such as opening a shop, entering school, going on a journey, giving an entertainment, sweeping the floor, shaving the head, taking a bath, etc.”176 S. W. Williams, a close observer of Chinese affairs, wrote at about the same time, “No one ventures to be without an almanac, lest he be liable to the greatest misfortunes, and run the imminent hazard of undertaking the important events on black-balled days.”177 And later in the century, W. A. P. Martin, who, as head of the Interpreter’s College (Tongwen Guan 同文館) in Beijing, had extensive contact with Chinese scholars and officials, remarked about the Qing calendar, “No man thinks of beginning a journey, laying a corner-stone, planting a tree, marrying a wife, burying a parent, or any of a thousand functions in public or private life, without consulting this convenient oracle.” Further, he noted, “the late archimandrite Palladius told me that he found this calendar useful, as it enabled him to select an unlucky day for his visits to the Russian legation, four miles distant, when he was sure to find the streets unobstructed by marriages or funerals.”178 In short, calendars, almanacs, and related works had purchase because they expressed cosmological assumptions and/or moral values that were widely shared by elites and commoners alike in late imperial China. That these assumptions and values were communicated by somewhat different media and interpreted in somewhat different ways did not diminish their significance as cultural common denominators in China across space and time. Late Qing almanacs might incorporate new knowledge from the West and Japan, but they continued to promote traditional ethics as well as inherited cosmological concepts. And although radical proposals for calendrical reform began to surface by the end of the dynasty—in part, presumably, as a political weapon against the Manchus—the 175  176  177  178 

L ister, 1872–73, p. 239. Parker, 1888a, p. 65. Williams, 1899, vol. 1, p. 80. Martin, 1896, p. 310.

The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China

last official Qing calendar, for the year 1912, was in every meaningful way a carbon copy not only of its immediate predecessors but of its Ming prototype as well.179 When the Qing dynasty was finally overthrown in 1911– 12, state-sponsored cosmology suffered a mortal blow. But the downfall of the Qing and the destruction of the imperial system had far less to do with the decline of cosmology than with the rise of modern Chinese nationalism following China’s crushing defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95. Put another way, the production of a new state calendar for the Republic of China in 1912, with its vigorous denunciations of the old Qing calendar’s “superstitions” (mixin 迷信), does not warrant the conclusion that the inherited cosmology had already died. In fact, the revolutionary government’s self-conscious repudiation of the inherited cosmology may be viewed precisely as an effort to eradicate a still dangerous potential source of imperial authority.

Concluding Remarks

The fate of Chinese almanacs in postimperial times is beyond the scope of this chapter, but perhaps a few brief words on the topic would be appropriate.180 Immediately after the Republican Revolution of 1911, the new government promulgated a calendar that was devoid of the old cosmology and based on the Gregorian system rather than the lunar one. This publication, bearing a bland gray-green cover, emanated from the Beijing Central Observatory, and like state calendars in China for centuries in the past, it marked, at least symbolically, the legitimacy of the new regime. A statement issued by the Central Observatory in an official calendar for 1913 consciously distanced the new calendar from the Qing dynasty’s Regulating Time Book, emphasizing the need to eliminate all errors and to “seek truth from facts” (shishi qiushi 實事求是). This meant the abandonment of the sexagenary cycle, the twenty-four seasonal markers, and other traditional systems.181 Various provincial authorities, following the lead of the central government, published their own local calendars, designed, like the Beijing prototype, to replace traditional-style almanacs and “destroy superstition” (po mixin 179  O  n late Qing proposals for calendrical reform, see Qing shigao, 46, pp. 1657–73. 180  The following discussion is drawn primarily from R. Smith, 1993, pp. 275–76; and 1992, pp. 33–80. 181  The statement is written on a loose leaf in the Zhonghua min­ guo ernian lishu 中華民國二年曆書 (1913), collected in Lishu sishiqi zhong.

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破迷信).182 But neither the feeble government in Beijing

nor local provincial officials could eradicate centuriesold traditions by fiat. Like the Taiping effort to introduce a calendar devoid of lucky and unlucky days during the 1850s and 1860s, the new Republic’s attempt to introduce a secular calendar met with pronounced resistance. Traditional-style almanacs continued to appear in huge numbers. An examination of nearly a hundred almanacs dating from the early Republic to the present reveals remarkable continuity in form, style, and content with Qing period almanacs. To be sure, most postimperial almanacs provided new information of practical use, from domestic and foreign postal rates to modern maps and even pronunciation guides for English words (transliterated into Chinese characters). They also offered content reflecting recent social changes, such as Western-style fashions and customs. There were even illustrations of “modern” wedding rituals, described at the time as “civilized” or “enlightened” (wenming 文明), recalling the common phrase used in Meiji Japan (1868–1912) to suggest Western-inspired political, social, and economic progress. But the most popular of these publications invariably continued to embrace the old-style cosmology and reflected other long-standing cultural concerns (see fig. 9.15). Virtually every Republican era almanac that I have seen, dating from 1912 to the present (on Taiwan), contains information on lucky and unlucky calendar spirits, divining methods, and auspicious and inauspicious days, as well as the usual array of divination techniques, charms, charts, tables, morality tales, and wood-block illustrations. They also indicate agricultural prospects in time-honored fashion, through the familiar symbolism of the spring ox and spiritual herdsman. Over time, almanac makers added ever more divinatory material designed to assist readers, who were increasingly women, in selecting auspicious times and dates for various activities. They also became bolder in their inclusion of material that would have been far too risky to print in the Qing period—for instance, a revolutionary version of the famous Three Character Classic (Sanzi jing 三字經) that had a decidedly anti-Manchu thrust. The initial lines of this tract read: “At birth, people’s natures are fundamentally good; the Han are close to this, (but) the Manchus are far from it.”183 Republican era almanacs also included material drawn from prophetic works previously seen as

182  T  he British Library has one such calendar, issued by the Hunan provincial government in 1912. See R. Smith, 1988, p. 133. 183  This “Three Character Classic of the Republic” (Minguo gonghe sanzi jing 民國共和三字經) appeared in Chinese almanacs

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figure 9.15 An almanac for 1917 with information on the proper rituals for a “civilized marriage ceremony.” R. Smith personal collection.

dangerous if not seditious, notably Liu Bowen’s 劉伯 溫 (Liu Ji 劉基) (1311–1375) “Flatcake Song” (Shaobing ge 燒餅歌) and a work attributed to Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮 (181–234) titled “The Quick Prediction Method of Zhuge Liang” (Zhuge Kongming maqian ke 諸葛孔明馬前課).184 Despite the persistence of these and many other “traditional” elements, the compilers of Chinese almanacs during the Republican period made a continual effort to update the contents of their books. They also began until at least 1921. See Linshu ge xin lishu 麟書閣新曆書, collected in Lishu sishiqi zhong. 184  These examples, only a few of a great many, are in Lishu sishiqi zhong.

adding advertising. For instance, in the 1910s and 1920s, advertisements for all sorts of products began appearing in almanacs, from Chinese books and Western literature in translation to Chinese toys and facial creams. Significantly, commercialism and a newly emergent Chinese nationalism sometimes joined forces. A vivid example can be found in a 1925 almanac advertisement for Patriot Brand Cigarettes (Aiguo Pai Xiangyan 愛國牌香烟), designed to appeal to “all patriotic gentlemen” (fig. 9.16).185 A number of almanacs were also retitled so as to reflect China’s new national identity. Thus, the late Qing work Convenient Classified Reference for Officials and Merchants 185  See the discussion in R. Smith, 1992, p. 44.

The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China

figure 9.16

An advertisement for Patriot Brand Cigarettes in an almanac for 1925. R. Smith personal collection.

from the Dazzling Snow Study (Yangxue Zhai fenlei guanshang bianlan 映雪齋分類官商便覽) was given the new title Convenient Reference for the Republic of China (Zhonghua minguo bianlan 中華民國便覽). Another manifestation of China’s newly heightened sense of national identity was the appearance of the Chinese national flag on the cover and/or the inside of otherwise “traditional” almanacs. China’s sense of itself as a nation was also reflected in subtler ways, such as depictions of China’s national currency in illustrations of Classic of Changes-style three-coin divination; gone were the old-fashioned round coins with square holes of the imperial era. Always mindful of national and local politics, Chinese almanac makers adjusted to the changing times more or less adroitly. During the warlord era (ca. 1916–27), for instance, a number of almanacs carried pictures of local political and military leaders, presumably as an indication of some measure of support. Other publications were particularly inclusive. One of them, described as a “combined lunisolar almanac for the fifteenth year of the Republic of China (1926),” contains portraits of no less

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than sixty “great men” of the realm, including political notables such as Sun Yat-sen 孫逸仙 (the “founder” of the Republic of China), Li Yuanhong 黎元洪 (the first president), and Duan Qirui 段祺瑞 (perhaps the most powerful man in China from 1916 to 1920), as well as numerous prominent military leaders, such as Yuan Shikai 袁世凱 (the so-called father of the warlords), Zhang Zuolin 張作霖, and Wu Peifu 吳佩孚.186 After reunification of the country in 1927 and an abortive effort by the new Nationalist (Guomindang 國民黨) government in Nanjing to outlaw almanacs, at least four different editions of an almanac for 1930 boasted Sun Yatsen’s portrait and “will” on the front page. This brief document encouraged Sun’s followers to carry on the struggle for “freedom and equality” that he had waged for forty years and charged them with implementing his famous Three Principles of the People (nationalism, democracy, and the people’s livelihood), ideas he first articulated from Japan in 1905.187 It is not clear whether the publishers of these almanacs sought legitimation through association with the recently deceased Sun, who had died five years earlier, or simply wished to demonstrate their loyalty to the new regime in an unmistakable way. In any event, although a few almanac makers compromised on content, most continued to include day-selection charts and other mantic techniques of the past.188 To my knowledge, the only large-scale and sustained effort to revive a government-sponsored traditional Chinese cosmology occurred when the Japanese established the puppet state of Manchuguo in 1931 and installed the last Qing emperor, Puyi 溥儀, as their puppet ruler. From that time onward, the alien regime published an annual state calendar, ostensibly produced by the Central Observatory and based on the old Qing dynasty Regulating Time Book model, with certain elements drawn from popular almanacs. Prefaced by an “edict” from the so-called Kangde 康德 emperor (Puyi), who emphasized the amity between China and Japan and the need for loyalty, filial piety and “respect for the sovereign” (zunjun 尊君) on the part of his subjects, the document was clearly produced in the hope of once again putting the inherited cosmology to work in service to the state. 186  F or an illustration and discussion, see ibid., pp. 47–48. 187  For an illustration and discussion, see ibid., pp. 48–50. 188  For an example of a compiler’s explanation of how and why he compromised his content (abandoning, for instance, the spring-ox diagram but retaining day selection and certain other mantic techniques), see the prefatory remarks to Zhonghua Minguo shijiu nian guomin li tongshu 中華民國十九年國民曆 通書 (1930), in Lishu sishiqi zhong.

370 The introductory remarks to an extant copy of this work for 1939 (the sixth year of the Kangde emperor’s reign) indicate that although the calendar is based primarily on a solar model, it also incorporates material from the traditional lunar calendar. The same page displays the “Diagram of the Position of the Spirits for the Year,” an exact replica of the Qing model, along with detailed descriptions of the spring ox and spiritual herdsman and a depiction of the “Circular Hall of Marriage,” all elements drawn from traditional Chinese almanacs. On subsequent pages there are traditional style day-columns indicating lucky and unlucky activities for virtually every day of the year. Although the Kangde calendar was confined to Manchuria and did not outlast the Japanese occupation, it suggests that, in the minds of the Japanese colonialists, at least, the association between the imperial institution and the traditional cosmology was still strong enough to exploit.189 For several years after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, private publishers continued to print traditional-style almanacs on the Mainland and in the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. One Mainland edition, published in 1953, bears the title of the new regime and contains the usual cosmological and astrological information, as well as political slogans such as “Oppose America and assist Korea” (kang Mei yuan Chao 抗美援朝).190 But this sort of compromise did not sit well with the PRC authorities. At the very outset of their regime, therefore, both at the capital and in the provinces, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sought to use almanacs entirely for propaganda purposes. For instance, the South China Almanac (Hua’nan tongshu 華南通書), issued by a branch office of the People’s Publishing House for the year 1952, illustrates the state’s political priorities (fig. 9.17). This work targeted a regional audience long known for being particularly “superstitious” and was apparently distributed free of charge. The multicolored cover depicts an obviously contented man and woman, holding, respectively, a sheaf of grain and three bolts of new cloth. In the background are two sets of lanterns, one set bearing the inscription “Love the Country” and the other with the words “Flourishing Production.” A large container filled with grain is off to one side. In the foreground, three children play happily, surrounded by ripe fruits and fresh vegetables. On the inside cover is a large photograph of Mao Zedong 189  R. Smith, 1992, pp. 50–51. The calendar is in the collection of the Library of Congress. 190  R. Smith, 1993, p. 276.

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figure 9.17

Cover of a new­style South China Almanac (Hua’nan tongshu) for 1952. R. Smith personal collection.

毛澤東, identified as “Chairman of the Central People’s

Government of the People’s Republic of China.” The almanac is divided into four main sections: (1) politics and society, (2) calendrical matters, (3) agricultural production, and (4) hygiene. Taken together, these writings emphasize China’s uniqueness and superiority and the need to “love the Motherland,” to take pride in the accomplishments of the Chinese Communist Party, to work energetically to develop the country, and to maintain good health. Two pages of the almanac are devoted entirely to “new spring couplets” (新春聯) designed to be displayed on the sides of doorways at the beginning of the new year in order to encourage revolutionary commitment, hard work, unity and social harmony, cooperative labor, education, agricultural and industrial productivity, anti-imperialism, and other patriotic goals. At least a few of the couplets implicitly assail traditional beliefs, such as geomancy. One sixteengraph couplet reads, for instance, Dig wells and open channels without fear of calamities;

The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China

Deep plowing and careful work will yield a bountiful harvest.191 Other “new almanacs” (xin tongshu 新通書) published by the People’s Republic in the 1950s and 1960s but aimed at a national audience addressed the same themes in the same basic way. As part of the state’s deliberate and widespread campaign to discredit old-fashioned “superstitions” and promote a “New China,” these works were devoid of all so-called feudal elements and were instead full of practical knowledge regarding agriculture, hygiene, science, and technology. During the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, from 1966 to 1976, the campaign against traditional beliefs and practices became especially severe, and old-style almanacs disappeared entirely from Chinese households. No one wanted to risk being branded a reactionary. Almanacs of this period are replete with essays criticizing traditional beliefs such as day selection and horoscopes, under headings that read “Emphasize Science and Destroy Superstition” (Jiang kexue po mixin 講科學破迷信).192 Practitioners of the occult arts were publicly humiliated, punished, and sometimes even executed during this period. Following Mao’s death in 1976, however, things began to change. The so-called Open Policy, inaugurated in 1978 and maintained to this day, loosened the government’s grip on many areas of Chinese culture. To be sure, statesponsored almanacs of the 1980s and thereafter continued to promote “socialist spiritual civilization,” patriotism, productivity, practicality, health, and hygiene. And most carried slogans and discussions promoting the so-called Four Modernizations (agriculture, industry, science and technology, and national defense). A typical slogan of the time, written in paired couplets, reads: The Party has a policy of enriching the people; The people have the motivation to love the country.193 But while the PRC government tried to keep the emphasis on pragmatism and productivity in its official publications, the free market catered to a resurgence of traditional ideas and activities. An interesting example is an Almanac for 1988 (Gongyuan yijiubaba nian wuchen lishu 公元一九八八年戊辰曆書), which pays lip service to Mao’s thought and includes in its list of important holidays the founding date of the Chinese Communist 191  F or an extended discussion, see R. Smith, 1992, pp. 52–55. 192  See the illustrated discussion in ibid., pp. 55–57. 193  See the illustrated discussion in ibid.

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Party and the anniversary dates of several famous Party figures but also contains information on Nine Palaces calculations and traditional techniques of day selection.194 During the past two decades, traditional-style almanacs—some imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan and increasing numbers produced domestically—have found their way into China. Their contents include a large amount of “traditional” material of the sort found in Chinese almanacs of the pre-1949 period. At present, Mainland bookstores and especially street bookstalls routinely carry such works, and specific books on day selection, siting/geomancy, astrology, horoscopes, and other mantic techniques can be found in abundance everywhere.195 Meanwhile, almanacs of all sorts continue to be produced by the millions outside China. In the 1980s, a study by the Institute of Ethnology of the Academia Sinica in Taiwan indicated that at least 83 percent of the families on the island had a copy of the traditional almanac, and of the survey respondents, 69 percent believed that the almanac was “very necessary” or “necessary” to the conduct of their affairs.196 The percentages are probably about the same today.197 How do we account for the persistent appeal of these works, even in highly “modernized” Chinese societies on the Mainland, in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and overseas, where science and technology occupy a privileged position? Perhaps part of the answer is that, like Chinese divination generally, almanacs are culturally satisfying documents, filled with familiar folklore, vivid illustrations, time-honored values, and a cosmology that is alive and well in traditional Chinese medicine.198 From a more explicitly psychological standpoint, almanacs, like other Chinese divinatory devices, help clarify the source and 194  For an excellent discussion of Chinese almanacs in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong during the late 1980s and early 1990s, see Wang Nan, 1993, pp. 118–28. 195  For the proliferation of works on divination in contemporary China, see R. Smith, 2012a, pp. 158–65. 196  Cited in the Tiebizi minli 鐵筆子民曆 for 1990 (R. Smith personal collection). 197  Jonathan Yeh claims that more than six million almanacs are sold every year in Taiwan, which had a total population of about twenty-three million people at the time he wrote (ca. 2011), and alludes to the Academia Sinica study in his “Bestseller Almanac Continues to Influence Chinese after Thousands of Years,” accessed April 1, 2011, http://culture.tw/index.php?option=com_ content&task=view&id=2033&Itemid=157/ (site discontinued). 198   For a refreshingly sophisticated evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine, see Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 6.6, pp. 1–36.

372 nature of human difficulties, alleviate doubt, and invest lives with longed-for meaning. They also empower people with a special kind of cosmic knowledge and perhaps endow them with greater self-confidence.199 Sydney Greenblatt conjectures that the continued popularity of traditional-style divination in China “owes much to the syncretistic character of the fortune-teller’s stock of knowledge in-trade.” Compared to more “doctrinaire” systems of knowledge, he asserts, the culture of Chinese fortune-telling is adaptable. “Though the social types and typified values and motives belong to an era that is passing, they still survive when fleshed out with new contents.” Marriage, for instance, is not what it once was, but “the typification of marital behavior in the fortunetelling literature is sufficiently flexible to accommodate changing mores.”200 Traditional-style almanacs give partial support to Greenblatt’s thesis. For instance, they now refer more frequently than in the past to traditionally stigmatized phenomena such as lawsuits (cisong 詞訟), presumably because litigation has become somewhat more acceptable to the Chinese in modern times and environments. Finally, it is possible to see contemporary Chinese almanacs as both a reflection of and an alternative to modernity; that is, while almanac makers in the present continue to embrace the inherited cosmology and even sometimes explicitly promote their publications as an antidote to the unsettling inroads of Western culture, they constantly seek to update their products, as

199  For lengthy discussion of these issues, see R. Smith, 1993, pp. 260–71; see also 1992, pp. 81–84. 200  Greenblatt, 1979, pp. 94–95.

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their counterparts did in the past.201 One can now find in Chinese almanacs information on modern science, politics, and economics, including data on the stock market and even charms designed to protect investors against losses.202 Not surprisingly, some of these works make an effort to reconcile traditional beliefs with modern science. Thus, for instance, the Iron-Pen People’s Almanac (Tiebizi minli 鐵筆子民曆) for 1990 advocates an explicitly “scientific” approach to geomancy (see plate 9), and a Farmer’s Almanac (Nongmin li 農民曆) for the same year cites a Mainland study showing an electromagnetic relationship between human beings and the cosmos. In short, as Stanley Tambiah reminds us in Magic, Science, Religion, and the Scope of Rationality, human beings in all cultures are capable of embracing multiple worldviews, including modern science and a universe of cosmic resonance. In other words, people everywhere have not only the capacity but also the inclination to think in a “mystical” fashion in some contexts and more “rationally” in others.203 Belief in a spiritual link between Heaven, Earth, and Man is no more inherently incompatible with the principles of modern science than is faith in a single transcendent God.

201  In the preface to the Fu lu shou lishu 福祿壽曆書 for 1982 (R. Smith personal collection), the compiler explicitly states that his goal was to restore traditional morals and rectify popular customs, which he believed had been undermined by the spread of “degenerate” Western fashions. 202  Tianxin caishen lishu 天心財神曆書 for 1991 (R. Smith personal collection). 203  Tambiah, 1990, p. 92. On Tambiah’s useful perspective, see R. Smith, 1993, pp. 284–85.

CHAPTER 10

Hemerology in Medieval Europe László Sándor Chardonnens Hemerology, a method of divination that is common to civilizations worldwide, links the outcome of events to the occult nature of the times at which these events occur. Specific units of time, such as seasons, months, days, or hours, were thought to have hidden, intrinsically auspicious or inauspicious qualities that influenced the outcome of actions undertaken and events taking place during these periods. The actions and events could vary from mundane things like making clothes or putting animals out to pasture to potentially life-threatening activities like going on a journey or undergoing a medical treatment such as bloodletting. Whatever the gravity of the action or event, its success or failure would depend on the intrinsic quality of the time at which it happened. In medieval Europe, hemerology was firmly integrated into daily life, since its aims and methods intersected with prevalent medical practices and the study of time for religious observance. A standard medical procedure such as bloodletting, for instance, was not only performed on the basis of medical theories related to the four complexions and humors (the temperaments and bodily fluids) that were thought to determine personality, physique, and character but was also regulated by several hemerological practices that relied on the lunar and solar cycles, the same cycles that were used to keep track of the passage of time in Christian religious observance.1 It is not unexpected, therefore, that a form of divination like hemerology was so successful in medieval Europe, because it fitted into established systems of knowledge. Going back to Latin dies mali “evil days,” via Old French dis mal, English “dismal” testifies to the belief that some days are more dangerous than others.2 In present-day English, the adjective “dismal” expresses misfortune, gloom, or bad luck and is no longer a hemerological term, but medieval English sources still retained the etymological meaning “evil days.” The Wise Book of Philosophy and Astronomy, a fourteenthcentury astrological treatise, for instance, explains: “There are evil days (evyl daies), and there are many of them. In 1  On medieval notions of anatomy and physiology, see Siraisi, 1990, pp. 78–114. See also French, 2003; Getz, 1998; Rubin, 1974; and Voigts and McVaugh, 1984. 2  Oxford English Dictionary Online, s.v. “dismal, n. and adj.,” accessed December 15, 2015, http://www.oed.com.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004349315_012

the calendar it is noted, furthermore, that there are many dismales, that is to say, bad and unlucky days.”3 It is unclear whether the author of The Wise Book consciously distinguished between two distinct forms of hemerology (evyl daies and dismales), but the fact that he was able to talk about the place of evil days in the calendar and their inauspicious quality demonstrates that hemerology was an integral part of his worldview and that of his audience. The more than thirty text witnesses of The Wise Book from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century show that knowledge about evil days must have been widespread, the more so in view of the many hundreds of other texts that deal with the same type of avoidance days described here. Add to this the other hemerological practices distinguished back then, and an image presents itself of a medieval Europe that was acutely aware of the intrinsic qualities of time, an awareness not now commonly attested except for folk beliefs such as the inauspicious quality of Friday the thirteenth. In this chapter, hemerological practices known in medieval Europe are introduced as a counterpoint to the practices transmitted in the daybooks (rishu 日書) and related hemerological texts of early China. Fifth- to fifteenth-century Europe is extensive ground to cover, spanning a millennium of hemerological practices and of religious and secular responses to hemerology that were continually changing. Several thousand surviving texts are scattered across almost as many manuscripts (and printed books from the late fifteenth century onward) and were transmitted in Greek, Latin, and most European vernacular languages and their regional variants. In view of the many languages, the wide range of sources, and the considerable time span, there is no comprehensive study of medieval European divination comparable to the outstanding study of Chinese mantic techniques in Dunhuang 敦煌 manuscripts dating mainly from the ninth and tenth centuries ce.4 This chapter is not a comprehensive analysis but should be read as an introduction to medieval European hemerology, and a selective

3  Griffin, 2013, p. 6. Unless noted, all translations of Latin and medieval vernacular languages in this chapter are mine. 4  Kalinowski, 2003b.

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introduction at that.5 The aim has been not to analyze how hemerological practices in medieval Europe correspond to and differ from practices in the ancient Chinese daybooks but to contextualize the ideological background that enabled the introduction and transmission of hemerology in medieval Europe and to introduce specific medieval European hemerological practices. The chapter consists of four sections. The first section introduces the terminology used in this chapter. The second section discusses the study of time that underlies both Christian religious observance and hemerology. Calendrical science was pursued as a useful discipline that aided religious observance, and its intensive study in learned monastic settings is likely to have facilitated the introduction and spread of hemerology in early medieval Europe. In its earliest stages, the transmission of hemerological practices relied on the spread of literacy and learning that resulted from Mediterranean efforts to convert western Europe to Christianity. This is not to say that hemerology was not potentially at odds with religious views about proper religious observance, and the third section of this chapter sheds light on the tense interplay between authentication and denunciation by casting it as an exchange between superstition, commemoration, and natural philosophy. The fourth section presents a select survey of hemerological practices known in medieval Europe that allows comparison with the practices in the daybook manuscripts discussed in this volume.

Hemerology and Daybooks

In current studies of medieval Europe, the mantic techniques for identifying good times and avoidance times for actions and events, so that people can arrange their activities to optimal effect, are unlikely to be referred to as “hemerology.” English studies, for instance, speak of “perilous days” or “lucky and unlucky days”; French studies of jours périlleux (dangerous days), jours heureux et malheureux (lucky and unlucky days), or jours fastes et néfastes (auspicious and inauspicious days); German studies of verworfene Tage (corrupted days), gefährliche Tage (dangerous days), or Glücks- und Unglückstage (lucky 5  My expertise is in divination from early medieval England, hence the stress on the early medieval period and the many examples from English sources. Parts of this chapter are based on my earlier work, but examples and analyses have been recast in light of their relevance for Chinese daybook studies. See Bremmer and Chardonnens, 2001; and Chardonnens, 2007a–c, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2013.

and unlucky days); and Dutch studies of goede en kwade dagen (good and evil days). Although these modern expressions suggest parity in regard to knowledge of both auspicious and inauspicious days, in medieval Europe the main concern was to know when to avoid actions and events. Indeed, most texts identify inauspicious days only. Auspicious days are almost invariably embedded in a larger system that combines inauspicious and auspicious days. Western scholars of medieval Europe may also focus on individual text categories, such as Egyptian Days, lunaries, mansions of the moon, or perilous days without ever mentioning the word “hemerology.” The reason is not that the knowledge and texts from medieval Europe are unrelated to hemerology in the forms occurring in ancient Egypt, the Near East, or China. Rather, in the formation of modern Western disciplines, the English word “hemerology” (with corresponding words in other European languages) was used first by nineteenth-century Assyriologists in identifying cuneiform calendar-based texts from the second to first millennium bce with content devoted to the inauspicious and auspicious aspects of days. They adopted the modernized spelling of medieval Greek hemerologion and Latin hemerologium, which by the nineteenth century was a littleused word for a record of days (hemero-), or calendar; that is, the word did not denote texts such as the cuneiform treatises to which Assyriologists applied the name “hemerology.” Given the disciplinary divisions in Western scholarship, it is not surprising the medievalists did not use the Assyriologists’ name for a type of cuneiform text.6 Yet the cuneiform hemerologies had a function in ancient Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations comparable to that of texts on lucky and unlucky days and lunaries in medieval Europe. At the present time, we all recognize the importance of comparative cultural studies to our respective disciplines and the need for a shared terminology that facilitates communication. The discovery in 1975 of a pair of thirdcentury bce daybooks (rishu) from Shuihudi 睡虎地 tomb 11, Hubei, which Marc Kalinowski described in 1986 as sources of Chinese hemerology, makes an even more compelling case for extending hemerology to include medieval European hemerology. On the one hand, the study of medieval European hemerology may benefit from comparison with the equally rich textual sources in daybooks and other hemerological texts in recently excavated ancient Chinese manuscripts and in medieval Dunhuang 6  For details and references on the modern use of the term “hemerology,” see the “Hemerology” section in the introduction to this volume.

hemerology in medieval europe

manuscripts. On the other hand, the study of Chinese hemerology is still young, and comparison with medieval Europe may provide useful guidance to scholars of early and medieval China. In this chapter, the term “hemerology” is applied to the knowledge and the texts containing that knowledge in medieval Europe, keeping in mind that it was not part of the contemporaneous vocabulary of hemerological ideas and practices. The characteristics of hemerology in medieval Europe can be situated in two basic frames of reference: first, the viewpoint of Christian religion and, second, the organization of knowledge into artes, or arts and sciences. Christian religion viewed hemerology as superstitious and associated it with two out of three types of superstitions: prognostication, which reveals the future through the observation of omens and significant signs; and divination, which reveals the future through the analysis of data obtained from observation or from the manipulation of selected materials. For hemerology, the distinction is a matter of input: prognostication involves astronomical observation, whereas divination is related to the calendrical science derived from astronomical observation. In common with Chinese daybooks, medieval European hemerology was based predominantly on calendrical science, not on astronomical observation, and hence was a form of divination.7 Further distinctions can be made between the electionary, “a guide for choosing (i.e., ‘electing’) activities according to the most favorable astrological conditions”; the lunary, “a set of prognostications based upon the position of the moon at specific times”; the destinary, “a horoscope; a group of prognostications based upon time of birth, determining destiny (Latin destinaria, ‘fate’ or ‘fortune’)”; and the questionary, which “is only concerned with specific questions … and the means by which they may be answered.”8 Prognostication and divination usually are conflated in modern scholarship because their methods are similar and are used to “resolve doubts” (jueyi 決疑), the standard understanding of divination in ancient Chinese texts, but they are distinct from the third type of superstition, which is magic, the manipulation of the future through rituals involving supernatural means.9 This is not to say that medieval European manuscripts might not contain hemerology 7   On the calendrical basis of daybooks, see chap. 7. See also Kalinowski, 1986. 8  Means, 1992, pp. 370, 376, 386, 395. See also Braswell, 1984. 9  On “resolving doubt,” see p. 336 in chap. 9. For representative studies that discuss a wide range of methods of prognostication, divination, and magic in Western traditions, see Harmening, 1979;

375 alongside magic or magical medicine, which is also true of the Chinese daybooks under discussion. The medieval organization of knowledge into artes, which encompassed hemerology, may be compared to the place of hemerology in the “Shushu” 數術 (Calculations and arts) division in the Book of Han (Han shu 漢書) bibliographic treatise of around 100 ce.10 The artes are a classification of arts and sciences, not in the modern sense of the words “art” and “science,” but in the sense of practices and skills.11 There are three artes: the liberal arts (the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric plus the quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy/natural astrology), the mechanical arts (e.g., cloth making, architecture, agriculture, animal husbandry, warfare, hunting, trade, cookery, metallurgy, alchemy, medicine, geography, navigation), and the magical arts (e.g., natural, demonic, and theurgic magic; incantations; judicial astrology; prognostication; and mantic arts such as hemerology, geomancy, chiromancy, and dream divination). Hemerology is classed with the magical arts, with close ties to the mechanical arts in the form of medicine and calendrical science. Scholars conducting research on Chinese hemerology or daybooks who wish to orient themselves in medieval European hemerological practices are advised not to look for “hemerology” in the titles of modern studies because, as explained, the term has not been used by medievalists. In the current research literature, the subject categories to search include artes, prognostic(s), prognostication, divination, mantic arts, astrology, and magic, as well as specific text categories, such as Egyptian Days Kieckhefer, 1989; Thomas, 1971; and Thorndike, 1923–58. For astrology, see Campion, 2008–9; and Tester, 1987. 10  See the discussion of medieval European artes and Chinese “calculations and arts” in the “Technical Occult and Scientific Literature” section in the introduction to this volume, which also discusses the German term Fachliteratur and its English translation “technical literature.” For a comprehensive overview of Fachliteratur, see Haage and Wegner, 2007. For an anthology of medieval English mechanical and magical arts, see Matheson, 1994. 11  The term “science” is difficult to define historically and culturally, as Harper (1997, p. 223n1) observes. Those who find the organization of practices and skills into artes too inclusive might prefer Mahmoud Manzalaoui’s modern division of “medieval sciences” into (1) “activities that we still regard as experimentally sound, true in mathematical and quantitative terms, and technologically, or, at least, empirically, useful,” (2) “pseudosciences,” which are “self-consistent logical systems based upon a single false axiom” and “not substantiated by experimental fact,” and (3) activities “in which the theoretical basis is occult, and the teaching deliberately kept esoteric” (Manzalaoui, 1974, p. 225). See also Voigts, 1989.

376 or lunaries. This chapter contains references to the most relevant studies as an aid to daybook scholars. The differences and similarities between the ancient Chinese daybooks and medieval European hemerological literature make up another issue that requires clarification. The problem arises mainly from the use of the term “almanac” to translate rishu “daybook” in some Western studies of Chinese daybooks.12 As is shown in this volume, the daybook manuscripts are not arranged in the format of months and days found in contemporaneous examples of excavated calendars; hence it is misleading to call them “almanacs.” A few excavated calendars from ancient China sometimes include a hemerological notation next to a particular day, but hemerology was not combined with the annual calendar until much later, in China’s medieval period.13 There is a similar distinction between hemerologies and almanacs in medieval Europe. Bernard Capp describes a late medieval almanac as “a table of the astronomical and astrological events of the coming year: the movements and conjunctions of the planets and stars in the zodiac, and details of eclipses.… Following the invention of printing, almanacs (supplying astrological data) and prognostications (predictions derived thence) were among the earliest works to be published, at first separately.”14 Louise Hill Curth includes Capp’s description in her fuller statement on almanacs: “Almanacs were cheap, annual publications that contained ‘tables of the astronomical and astrological events of the coming year: the movements and conjunctions of the planets and stars in the zodiac, and details of eclipses.’ However, most early modern editions also disseminated a range of other astrological and non-astrological, useful, interesting, and even entertaining, material.”15 Thus, the earliest European almanacs were primarily annual astronomical tables, and the annual prognostications that made use of these tables were transmitted separately. It would take some time before the first combined almanacs and prognostications were published, but even then, the titles of these books would clarify the difference between almanacs and prognostications, as in Richard Allestree’s A New Almanacke and Prognostication, for this yeare of our Lord God, 1617. Early handwritten almanacs, such as the fourteenth- and fifteenth-century folded almanacs, would sometimes include hemerologies (see plate 10), as would later, printed almanacs from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 12  For examples, see Loewe, 1988; Poo, 1993, pp. 69–70; and Harper, 2007, p. 181. 13  See pp. 6–7 in the introduction to this volume. 14  Capp, 1979, p. 25. See also Bosanquet, 1917; and Kassell, 2011. 15  Hill Curth, 2007, p. 1.

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but these hemerologies were distinct in nature from both the almanac and the prognostication.16 Almanacs and prognostications were annual, after all, whereas the medieval European hemerologies under discussion would remain valid across the years given that they make use of recurring cycles of time. Hemerology, then, was not a standard ingredient of medieval European almanacs but belonged to the range of auxiliary materials sometimes included in almanacs. In sum, in ancient China and medieval Europe, the annual calendar and hemerology were not combined as one text, and reference to the rishu “daybook” as an “almanac” is misleading.

Hemerology and the Study of Time

Hemerology relied heavily on calendrical science for religious observance in early medieval Europe, so this section sketches the intellectual setting that initially provided such a hospitable environment for hemerology. Time, or, more precisely, the study of time, played a key role in religious life in medieval Europe. Books such as De temporum ratione (The reckoning of time) by the English patristic monk and scholar Bede (ca. 673–735) and De temporibus anni (The times of the year) by the English abbot and writer Ælfric of Eynsham (ca. 955–ca. 1010) were written in the knowledge that the passage of time in its various manifestations was instrumental for a proper understanding of what is known as salvation history: of the past as it was related in the Bible and post-biblical historiography, of the present, and of the eternal future promised through the suffering and sacrifice of Christ.17 Making sense of time, then, was elementary to doctrina christiana “Christian doctrine,” a scholarly method of inquiry for religious purposes envisaged by the Church Father Augustine of Hippo (354–430), as explained by Faith Wallis: Doctrina christiana sees Christian erudition as a means to an end: the training of exegetes and preachers—men who could understand the Word of God and convey its message accurately and persuasively. Augustine began with a radical division of knowledge into two categories: useful and useless. Christians did not need to know anything that was not useful to salvation. On the other hand, the Bible was such a rich, complex and mysterious text that its study demanded formidable erudition 16  For the folded almanacs, see pp. 381–83 in this chapter. 17  For Bede’s De temporum ratione, see Jones, 1979; and Wallis, 1999. For Ælfric’s De temporibus anni, see Blake, 2009.

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of a philological, historical and scientific nature. Augustine invited the Christian intellectual to pillage the “useful” knowledge accumulated by the ancients, and rearrange it in forms more pertinent to the Christian project. For instance, he thought it would be very useful if someone could compile a kind of dictionary of biblical science and mathematics, in which every number, creature, and geographical location in the Bible would be defined, explained, and arranged for handy reference. In short, doctrina christiana involved dismantling and rearranging ancient erudition so that it would solve specific problems of biblical interpretation or exposition.18 The rigorous dichotomy between useful and useless forms of knowledge expounded by Augustine in Late Antiquity (the transitional period between Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages) encouraged medieval scholars to evaluate the usefulness of all kinds of disciplines from a religious perspective. One such discipline was the study of time, which was essential in understanding biblical history, the temporal life, and the eternal future. A black-and-white distinction between usefulness and uselessness might seem to invite the outright exclusion of some categories of knowledge because they were deemed useless a priori, but instead it facilitated discussion rather than rejection of many kinds of auxiliary knowledge, including hemerology. In fact, the study of time had a supporting role in establishing correct religious observance, which helped originally pagan hemerological practices flourish in medieval Europe. The main function of the study of time for religious purposes was to establish exactly when important historical events had taken place so as to commemorate these events at the correct times throughout the liturgical year. The liturgical calendar provided Christians with a cyclical framework in which to carry out their religious duties and observances, which were linked to key events celebrated at specific times, such as the feasts of saints and the life and passion of Christ. Christ’s birth, for instance, was celebrated at Christmas, while his resurrection three days after his crucifixion was celebrated at Easter. But whereas Christ’s birth is customarily set at December 25, there is no fixed point in the calendar at which Easter is celebrated. Instead, the celebration of Easter is set annually at a point between two extreme dates in the calendar known as the Easter limits. On the one hand, Christmas and its related feasts, such as the circumcision of Christ eight days after his birth on January 1, are said to be fixed feasts. 18  Wallis, 1999, pp. xxi–xxii.

377 On the other hand, Easter and its related feasts, such as Pentecost fifty days after Easter, are said to be movable feasts because they occur at different times each year. The difference between the two types of feasts is occasioned by the fact that fixed feasts take place at set times in the solar cycle, whereas movable feasts are based on set moments in the lunar cycle. When Easter observance was established in the early Christian Church, it was linked to the Hebrew feast of Passover, which was situated in the temporal framework of the Hebrew lunar calendar and required annual alignment with the solar calendar used by Christians. A year based on lunar cycles, however, is different in length from one based on the solar cycle, and since the Christian liturgical year was mapped onto the solar, Julian (i.e., pre-Gregorian) calendar of 365.25 days, liturgical events in the lunar cycle and their corresponding places in the solar cycle needed to be correlated by means of a superimposed lunisolar cycle. One reason the correlation of lunar and solar cycles in a single lunisolar cycle was so important was that the proper timing of a religious observance determined its efficacy. Some liturgical events that depend on the correct timing of Easter actually precede Easter, such as the fortyday fast in commemoration of Christ’s fasting in the desert, but it was impossible to postpone all pre-Easter events until the correct lunisolar configuration for celebrating Easter presented itself astronomically. Rather, the correct moment for Easter had to be established by calculation well in advance of Easter itself so as to enable the celebration of pre-Easter events. The systematic study of time was imperative to making correct calculations in medieval Christian communities, not time as an astronomical phenomenon but time as a calculable set of parameters. Thus, when Bede in the 720s reiterated the decision reached by the bishops at the First Council of Nicaea (325) that “the Sunday following the full moon which falls on or after the equinox will give the lawful Easter,” he did not suggest that people observe this moment astronomically.19 The lunar cycle and the vernal equinox referred to here were not astronomical realities but calendrical conventions established and manipulated by means of calculation. The vernal equinox, for instance, was originally set at March 25 when the Julian calendar was established in 46 bce, but since the Julian year was minutely longer than the astronomical, solar year it described (hence the Gregorian calendar reform in 1582), the astronomical vernal equinox had drifted to March 21 by the fourth century. As a consequence of time as a construct versus time as an astronomical 19  Bede, De temporum ratione LXII (Jones, 1979, p. 453). Translation follows Wallis, 1999, p. 148.

378 phenomenon, the observance of movable liturgical feasts like Easter became dependent on the models used to correlate the lunar and solar cycles. Being theoretical constructs, lunisolar models were liable to vary across time and place, a case in point being the Easter controversy at the Synod of Whitby (664) recorded in Bede’s Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical history of the English people). With northern English Christians using an older lunisolar cycle of eighty-four years and an equinox set at March 25, and southern English Christians using the newer lunisolar cycle of nineteen years and an equinox set at March 21, it is only logical that Easter would be celebrated at different times in some years, depending on the method of calculation. Legend has it that matters came to a head at the Synod of Whitby under the leadership of the northern king Oswiu (ca. 612–670), who switched from northern to southern English usage so that he would not be celebrating Easter while his southern wife Eanflæd (626–685) was still fasting in preparation for Easter.20 If it is assumed that only one of the two Easter dates is correct, either the king or the queen would have erred by observing Easter at the wrong time. The separation between observing time astronomically and studying time calendrically, and reliance on the latter at the cost of the former, necessitated advanced theoretical models for describing beforehand what could also have been verified by observation on the spot. There were various models for correlating lunar and solar cycles, various ways of tweaking the small but irreconcilable differences between them, and various approaches to describing calendrical time and astronomical time. The scientific method that concerns itself with such temporal models, tweaks, and approaches is called “computus,” which, as Wallis remarks, “is not an observational science, or a physics of time, but a technique of patterning time into repeating cycles according to certain conventions.”21 From an Augustinian perspective, computus developed into a highly useful branch of Christian doctrine, precisely because it helped structure religious observance into the annual cycle of the liturgical calendar. Indeed, works such as Bede’s De temporum ratione and Ælfric’s De temporibus anni were specifically designed to help Christian communities understand the need for 20  Bede, Historia ecclesiastica III.25 (Colgrave and Mynors, 1991, pp. 294–308). 21  Wallis, 1999, p. xx. For more information on medieval computus and chronology, see Wallis’s introduction to Bede’s De temporum ratione and Beckwith, 2001; Borst, 1993; McCluskey, 1998; Mosshammer, 2008; Stevens, 1995; and Warntjes and Cróinín, 2010, 2011.

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the study of time, even if the models that were developed and propagated were not uniform. Presenting a variable but coherent picture of how time was structured, computus elucidated what kinds of lunar and solar cycles could be distinguished, and how they related to each other. For instance, solar years, on the one hand, were usually defined as the 365 days and six hours it took for the sun to return to the same position against the fixed stars as seen from earth (so with the sun orbiting the earth, as it was thought in medieval Europe). Lunar cycles, on the other hand, were measured as the 29 days and twelve hours from new moon to new moon (the synodic month), or as the 27 days and seven hours it took for the moon to return to the same position against the fixed stars (the sidereal month). The lunisolar cycle used to correlate lunar and solar cycles was the interval it took for a lunar month “to begin on the same date as in some previous year.”22 The lunisolar cycles known in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages were 8, 11, 19, 84, or 112 years in length, and of these, the 19- and 84-year cycles were most prominently used in medieval Europe, as the example of the Synod of Whitby illustrates. Computus also concerned itself with other cycles of time that were equally relevant to religious observance, such as the minutes of the hour, the hours of the day, the days of the week, the months of the year, and the cycles of seasons, equinoxes, and solstices, all of which were theoretical models, not astronomical observations.23 The operative word in the preceding discussion of computus is “cycles,” and connected with cycles is the idea of recurrence that identifies temporal patterns from which to extrapolate. One of the aims of patterning time for religious observance is to project familiar, past events into the future on the basis of calculation through recurring, cyclical patterns. To put it another way, the recognition that time runs in cycles enabled computists to establish by calculation how liturgical events in the lunar cycle could be integrated into the solar liturgical calendar before they happen. Yet the skills developed to describe such cycles for religious observance may also be used to divine recurring non-liturgical events that employ the 22  McCluskey, 1998, p. 81. 23  Computus is still used for calculating Easter today. The World Council of Churches has been trying to institute Easter observance on the basis of astronomical observation, but so far without success. See The World Council of Churches, “Towards a Common Date for Easter,” World Council of Churches/ Middle East Council of Churches Consultation, March 10, 1997, accessed December 15, 2015, http://www.oikoumene.org/ en/resources/documents/commissions/faith-and-order/ i-unity-the-church-and-its-mission/towards-a-common-datefor-easter/index.

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same cyclical structures. For instance, the synodic lunar cycle from new moon to new moon, familiar from religious observance, was also used to assign avoidance days and good days for events such as giving birth, bloodletting, dreaming, and falling ill in a type of hemerology called a “lunary.”24 Thus, by means of exactly the same lunar cycle used for calculating Easter, lunaries revealed that letting blood on the first day of the moon was good but was to be avoided on the second day of the moon, because of the intrinsically auspicious and inauspicious qualities of the days of the moon.25 Future Easter celebrations and the consequences of bloodletting, then, were event patterns built on the same recurring lunar time cycle. In short, the recognition that time could be arranged in recurring cycles facilitated its use as a template for modeling the future, which was a useful type of knowledge not just for correct religious observance but also for hemerology. Computus as an auxiliary science for religious observance played a definitive role in processes leading to the firm establishment of hemerology in medieval European conceptualizations of time. By the end of the medieval period, hemerology was a well-documented and widely practiced form of divination, so much so that one can almost consult fifteenth-century prayer books or scientific or medical manuscripts at random and discover hemerological texts on at least some of the leaves. The ubiquity of hemerology in the late Middle Ages would seem to stem from the importance of the study of time in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, when Christianity first took hold in Europe. Christian missionary activity from the fourth century onward brought with it a text-based religion whose proper observance depended on written sources and calendrical science, interpreted and studied by a literate elite. Communities throughout the British Isles and continental western Europe were converted from their native religions to Christianity, and churches and religious foundations, such as monasteries and nunneries, were established in the wake of the missionaries. These religious foundations formed the intellectual backbone of Christianity by training clergy and scholars and encouraging the pursuit of useful knowledge as an important activity, which resulted in sizable monastic libraries. The first hemerological texts were copied in these learned environments in the eighth century, but they came from older, pagan Mediterranean sources that may have traveled with the rolls and books brought by missionaries. Among the earliest forms of hemerology preserved in monastic libraries are lunaries, 24  See the “Lunaries” section in this chapter. 25  Chardonnens, 2007a, p. 443.

379 which relied on the lunar cycle, and Egyptian Days, which relied on the solar cycle. The ninth-century medical compendium St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 751, for instance, contains a number of hemerologies, including bloodletting and birth lunaries (fig. 10.1). Lunaries are attested in older Byzantine Greek sources, and their appearance in a ninth-century manuscript from one of the main monastic centers of continental western Europe is testimony to the almost instantaneous assimilation of non-Christian hemerology into Christian learned culture. The so-called Egyptian Days—avoidance days for bloodletting, medication, and miscellaneous actions— were integrated as quickly into Christian learning, as witness the ninth-century manuscript Oxford, Bodleian Library, Digby 63, which combines computus materials with texts on the Egyptian Days (fig. 10.2).26 Hemerological practices, though based on natural phenomena such as the lunar and solar cycles, were emphatically not meant to be employed on the basis of astronomical observation, but, like religious observance, they made use of the theoretical discipline of computus. In other words, both religious observance and hemerology relied on calendrical science, which is substantiated by the transmission of hemerological texts alongside computistical texts and liturgical calendars in early medieval manuscripts.27 The Bible, computus, the liturgical calendar, and hemerology were all text-based forms of learning, which placed their initial study and dissemination in the hands of a religious, literate elite. This elite at first restricted itself to Latin, irrespective of the local language, and controlled the material transmission of text-based knowledge by controlling literacy. The first translations of computistical and hemerological texts into the vernacular appeared in England in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries, perhaps to cater to monastic audiences who were not yet educated well enough to understand Latin but would have needed to familiarize themselves with computus and other useful skills all the same. The eleventh-century English manuscript London, British Library, Cotton Caligula A. xv, for instance, is a computistical miscellany with a number of hemerological texts, including some in English translation, such as a text on the Egyptian Days (fig. 10.3).28 The increased dependence on writing outside a religious setting from the twelfth century onward encouraged the spread of practical literacy and gave nonclerical professionals, such as diviners, astrologers, and 26  For the edited text, see Chardonnens, 2010, p. 255. 27  See Wallis, 1995. 28  For the edited text, see Chardonnens, 2007a, p. 370. See also Chardonnens, 2013.

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Figure 10.1 Early bloodletting (second column) and birth (third column) lunaries in a medical compendium from Italy or France, ninth century. Note the brevity of the predictions and the attribution of the birth lunary to the Old Testament prophet Daniel (Incipit lunaris sancti Danihelis prophetae). St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 751, p. 428. By permission of the Stiftsbibliothek.

physicians, access to all kinds of text-based knowledge. In the late Middle Ages, hemerological texts were transmitted in staggeringly large numbers across all of Europe, in prayer books and in scientific, medical, and astrological manuscripts that were no longer copied solely in religious foundations but also produced at universities, commercially in copy shops, and at home for private use.29 The 29  On the major changes in book production and the uses and users of text-based knowledge in medieval Europe, see Gillespie

nonclerical transmission of natural philosophy and the artes (including hemerology) and the use of the vernacular became well established throughout late medieval Europe. Hemerological texts have been identified in Celtic (e.g., Irish, Welsh), Germanic (e.g., Dutch, English, German, Icelandic), and Romance languages (e.g., French, and Wakelin, 2011; Gameson, 2012; Griffiths and Pearsall, 1989; Hellinga and Trapp, 1999; Morgan and Thomson, 2008; and Roberts and Robinson, 2010.

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381

Figure 10.2 Early texts on the twenty-four and three Egyptian Days (starting with Incipiunt dies Egipciachi and Sunt alii .iii. dies, respectively) in a computus manuscript from England, ninth century. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Digby 63, folio 36r. By permission of the Bodleian Library.

Italian) in manuscripts that formerly belonged to monastic and secular clergy, university scholars, nonclerical professionals, and laymen.30 A special form of hemerology from the end of the medieval period involves the use of non-textual modes to communicate hemerological information. Non-textual materials were sometimes included in folded almanacs, “a class of small manuscripts that contains calendrical, astrological, and medical elements.”31 The fourteenth-century folded almanac Oxford, Bodleian Library, Rawlinson 30   On the transmission and vernacularization of science and medicine in the late medieval period, see Goyens, de Leemans, and Smets, 2008; Matheson, 1994; Taavitsainen and Pahta, 2004; and Voigts, 1989. 31  Carey, 2003, p. 482. See also Carey, 2004; and Robbins, 1939.

D. 939, for instance, preserves what is described in the catalog of manuscripts as “a long series of enigmatical numerals and signs” but which is in truth a picture lunary in which the actions to be undertaken or avoided on the thirty days of the moon are represented graphically (see plate 10).32 The images and the fact that the numbers are not in the roman or arabic number systems prevalent 32  Macray, 1898, p. 210. See also Friedman, 1995. Another example of a picture lunary is in Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ashmole 8 (fourteenth century, England), depicted in Taavitsainen, 1988, p. 143. A picture Revelatio Esdrae (see p. 391 in this chapter) is in The Schøyen Collection, MS 1581 (ca. 1425, England). See The Schøyen Collection, MS 1581, accessed December 15, 2015, www.schoyencollection.com/calendars-almanacs/medieval/ calendar-lunary-ms-1581.

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Figure 10.3 Translation into English of the twenty-four Egyptian Days, with the list of Egyptian Days presented on the lower half of the page, eleventh century. The oldest translations of hemerologies are from early medieval England. London, British Library, Cotton Caligula A. xv, folio 130v. By permission of the British Library Board.

at the time but in a sort of intuitive cipher indicate that this lunary could be decoded by people who did not have the levels of literacy and numeracy associated with the medieval liberal arts. This does not mean that pictorial resources like folded almanacs were addressed to the illiterate by definition. Hilary Carey argues that “the audience for calendar manuscripts of all types covered a wide social spectrum from professional users, such as university-trained physicians, at the one end, to common people struggling with literacy and numeracy at the other.”33 The visual representation of the dangers of letting blood on the Egyptian Days is another example of 33  Carey, 2003, p. 487.

non-textual hemerology, and is even rarer than the picture hemerologies found in the handful of surviving folded almanacs. The twenty-four Egyptian Days were usually recorded in calendars in the form of written text, but the calendar in the twelfth-century manuscript The Hague, National Library of the Netherlands, MS 76 F 13, displays the Egyptian Days as images of people letting blood, which is to be avoided at all costs on these days (fig. 10.4). Non-textual hemerology is not the norm in late medieval Europe, but it is indicative of the successful adoption of hemerology, from the first occurrences of hemerological texts in eighth-century encyclopedic, medical, and computistical manuscripts to the picture hemerologies in late medieval calendars and folded almanacs. In terms

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Figure 10.4 Calendar page for the month of December in a French manuscript, twelfth century. The two Egyptian Days (December 7 and 22) are indicated in the formulaic verse at the top of the page (Dat duodena choors septem inde decemque decembris) and the two images of people letting blood. The letter D to the left of the images is short for Dies egyptiaci. The Hague, National Library of the Netherlands, MS 76 F 13, folio 13r. By permission of the National Library of the Netherlands.

of quantity, while we do not have many hemerological texts dating to the early medieval period, for the fifteenth century they survive by the hundreds. If computus and book learning had not been so essential to Christian doctrine in the early stages of the conversion, hemerology would not have fallen on such fertile ground despite its non-Christian origins. Hemerological texts were being copied in the early monasteries, and thanks to the intellectual drive to preserve useful knowledge, hemerology emerged outside the walls of monasteries in the twelfth century and fixed itself in the mind-set of medieval Europeans at large.



Divination, Commemoration, and Natural Philosophy

The commonalities between religious observance and hemerology notwithstanding, these two ways of conceptualizing time were different in kind. Computus, which underlies both the liturgical calendar and hemerology, is essentially a value-neutral discipline that inquires into repetitive cycles of time, but a distinction would sometimes be made between permitted religious versus denounced superstitious uses of time. We may no longer be able to fully understand how hemerology might differ

384 from religious observance because both activities would seem to rely on specific moments in time with intrinsic qualities, but even though Christians would preserve hemerology, the practice of hemerology was out of bounds to these same Christians, mainly on the basis of biblical precept. When the apostle Paul wrote the Epistle to the Galatians (the Galatians were an early Christian community in the Near East) around 50 ce, he criticized them for turning away from his teachings after they had been converted by him. He wrote that “now, after that you have known God, or rather are known by God: how turn you again to the weak and needy elements, which you desire to serve again? You observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest perhaps I have laboured in vain among you” (Galatians 4:9–11).34 It is not known what made the Galatians resort to hemerology in his absence, but there is no doubt that Paul berated them for their return to non-Christian practices. Clearly, then, religious observance and hemerology were already at odds in the earliest stages of Christianity. Hemerology as Divination Paul’s criticism became a locus classicus in the writings of Christian authorities in Late Antiquity. The Church Father Ambrose (ca. 340–397), for instance, observes in one of his letters: “But you will agree that it is one thing to observe in a pagan fashion what things should be started at which day of the moon; that the fifth day, for instance, should be avoided and nothing started on that day, and also that various lunar cycles recommend or advise against certain days for doing business, just as many are accustomed to shunning the unlucky or Egyptian Days. It is another thing to direct oneself with a devout mind to observance of this day, of which it is written: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made’ (Psalms 117:24).”35 These comments are situated in a discussion about the observance of Easter, and Ambrose contrasts the necessity of knowing the date of a future Easter with the hemerological practices denounced in the Epistle to the Galatians. Calendrical science, Ambrose maintained, was useful because it facilitated correct religious observance, but when applied to hemerology, it became a useless art that led people astray. Lunaries and Egyptian Days, the types of hemerology that Ambrose advanced, specify the lunar and solar hemerologies hinted at in Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, which 34  Biblical translations are from the Douay-Rheims Bible (The Holy Bible, 1914), which is closest to the Vulgate reading of the Bible known in medieval Europe (Gryson and Weber, 2007). 35  Ambrose, Epistula extra collectionem 13.4 (Zelzer, 1982, pp. 223–24).

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Ambrose had quoted just before these observations. That Ambrose was able to make a distinction between lunar and solar hemerology at all is evidence that both methods were known in Mediterranean Christian communities at the time. The presence of Egyptian Days in a Christian Roman calendar for the year 354, for instance, shows that he was not referring to practices that had no place in late antique southern Europe.36 Writing at around the same time, Augustine was equally dismissive of hemerology: “For who would believe it to be such a great sin to observe days and months and times—as those do who on certain days, in certain months, or in certain years will or will not begin something, because they consider the time favorable or unfavorable in accordance with vain human doctrine—if we could not weigh the magnitude of this evil from the fear of the apostle, who says: ‘I am afraid of you, lest perhaps I have labored in vain among you’?”37 Augustine cites the apostle Paul and refers to hemerology as a great evil springing from “vain (i.e., useless) human doctrine.” He seems to imply, as Ambrose did, that there is a difference between useful religious observance and the useless human attribution of auspicious and inauspicious qualities to time. Thus, when Christians celebrate Christmas or Easter, or refrain from work on one day of the week in acknowledgment of God’s rest on the seventh day of creation, they honor God, but when they act on the intrinsic qualities of time, they err. The difference between religious observance and hemerology was not just a concern in the Mediterranean region in Late Antiquity. When northwestern Europeans were converted, they were introduced to the Bible and the writings of the Church Fathers. These early medieval Christians inherited a distrust of pagan divination, yet they also preserved hemerological texts in large numbers in their monasteries, apparently not bothered by the fact that church authorities tried to suppress hemerology.38 In any case, the views of patristic writers like Ambrose and Augustine influenced those of medieval churchmen, but this did not mean that hemerology was suppressed. The writings of the English abbot Ælfric provide evidence of how hemerology was perceived at the time. In 36  On this calendar, see Mommsen and Henzen, 1863, pp. 334–56, 374; and Salzman, 1990. 37  Augustine, Enchiridion XXI.79 (Evans, 1969, p. 93). 38  On the dynamics of clerical repression of divination and the large number of mantic texts surviving from medieval Europe, many of which were copied by churchmen, see Chardonnens, 2007a, pp. 95–138; Flint, 1993; and Harmening, 1979. For case studies, see Chardonnens, 2011, 2013.

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one of his homilies, Ælfric responds to the customs that people observe when they celebrate the first of January as the start of the year: “Now foolish men practice many divinations on this day, with great error, after heathen custom, against their Christianity, as if they could prolong their life or their health, with which they provoke the almighty creator. Many are also possessed with such great error that they regulate their journeying by the moon and their acts according to days, and will not bleed themselves on Monday, because of the beginning of the week; though Monday is not the first day in the week, but the second. Sunday is the first in creation, in order, and in dignity.”39 Ælfric is outspokenly negative about divination in this homily. He claims that those who practice hemerology transgress against God by committing a grave error. Moreover, these people are foolish, which Ælfric demonstrates by pointing out a logical flaw in their avoidance of bloodletting on Mondays under the mistaken belief that Monday is the start of the week. The three Egyptian Days corroborate the existence of such hemerological practices.40 Here and throughout the homily, the writer emphasizes the foolishness of people who practice hemerology, one of their mistakes being that they ascribe intrinsic qualities to days of the week and another that they attach value to January 1 as a special day. There were several starts of the year in medieval Europe, depending on the origins of the various traditions of measuring time, and January 1 had been taken over from the Roman calendar. For Christians like Ælfric, however, the vernal equinox was the proper start of the year because it was the moment when the sun and the moon were created by God (and hence were in perfect opposition).41 Ælfric meant to say not that it was wrong per se to celebrate January 1 as the start of the year but that it was wrong to ascribe an intrinsically auspicious value to the start of the year, or an inauspicious value to Mondays, for that matter. The preceding examples demonstrate that Christian authorities contrasted religious observance and hemerology, but matters were not always this clear-cut. Paul, Ambrose, Augustine, and Ælfric argued that religious observance honored God, whereas hemerology was vain human doctrine. Ælfric called this vanity “foolishness,” 39  Ælfric, Octabas et circumcisio Domini (Clemoes, 1997, p. 229). 40  See the “Egyptian Days” section in this chapter. 41  Since the heavenly bodies were created on the fourth day in the biblical seven-day creation myth, it would be more precise, as Bede observed, to antedate the proper beginning of the year to the first day of creation, except that time itself was paradoxically created on the fourth day, together with the heavenly bodies (De temporum ratione 6) (Wallis, 1999, pp. 24–28).

385 and reproached practitioners of hemerology for their faulty logic. If the division between religious observance and hemerology is clear, then what about natural philosophy, which records events that at first sight seem to be conspicuously similar to hemerology? A case in point is a miracle narrated in Bede’s Historia ecclesiastica, in which Saint John of Beverley (d. 721) was called upon to heal a nun who fell ill after having been bled: “Then he asked when the girl had been bled and, on hearing that it was on the fourth day of the moon, he exclaimed, ‘You have acted foolishly and ignorantly to bleed her on the fourth day of the moon; I remember how archbishop Theodore of blessed memory used to say that it was very dangerous to bleed a patient when the moon is waxing and the ocean tide flowing. And what can I do for the girl if she is at the point of death?’ ”42 John’s intercession brought the dying nun back to life, but the question of interest is whether the mention of letting blood at the wrong time is a reference to hemerology, which would make Saint John of Beverley a believer in auspicious and inauspicious values for the days of the moon. He might, for instance, have been referring to bloodletting lunaries, which stipulate that bloodletting is to be avoided after early morning on the fourth day of the moon.43 In view of the allusion to the famous scholar and archbishop Theodore of Tarsus (602–690), it is more likely, however, that John’s observation derived from another field of knowledge, that is, natural philosophy. Early medieval scientific and medical sources substantiate the existence of the theory that the moon had an effect on all kinds of natural processes involving fluids, including blood. A waxing moon would increase the flow of fluids, which could have negative consequences for bloodletting, while a waning moon would reduce the flow of fluids. Such a theory from natural philosophy was perceived to be different from ascribing intrinsic qualities to specific times, as hemerology did. In other words, the waxing moon had no intrinsically inauspicious quality, but it exerted a physical influence on the flow of fluids through natural processes. Wallis observed that “medieval thinkers … were careful to distinguish this natural or ‘environmental’ influence from astrological determinism.”44 Donald Harper argued the same for the Warring States period in China, in which there were “important distinctions between magico-religious conceptions of nature and a

42  Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica V.3 (Colgrave and Mynors, 1991, p. 460). Translation follows Colgrave and Mynors, 1991, p. 461. 43  Chardonnens, 2007a, p. 442. 44  Wallis, 1999, p. 306.

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more rationalized account of nature’s operation.”45 The difference between these two sets of distinctions, however, is that medieval European hemerology was distinct from natural philosophy on doctrinal grounds, not on rational grounds: natural philosophy was concomitant with God’s creation of the universe, whereas hemerology was vain human doctrine.46 That this distinction was common knowledge in medieval times is demonstrated by Ælfric, who in his homily contrasts Paul’s denunciation of hemerology in his Epistle to the Galatians to observations derived from natural philosophy: The Christianity of a man who lives with devilish divination is void. He appears Christian, but is a wretched heathen, just as that same apostle (i.e., Paul) says about such a man: “I believe that I labored in vain when I turned you to God. Now you observe days and months with vain divinations.” However, every bodily creature in creation, which the earth brings forth, is, according to nature, fuller and stronger in full moon than when the moon is waning. Therefore, trees also, if they are felled during full moon, are harder and more lasting for building, and especially if they are made sapless. This is no divination, but it is a natural thing through creation.47 Ælfric drew a clear line between divination and natural philosophy by contrasting the putative intrinsic qualities of time and the properties of wood in terms of the correlation between each one and the lunar cycle. Laws of nature, he maintained, resulted directly from God’s creation. Hemerology, however, was diabolical and vain, which is particularly evident in his rendering of Galatians 4:10 (“You observe days, and months, and times, and years”) as “Now you observe days and months with vain divinations,” in which “vain divinations” is a negative judgment of the usefulness of hemerology that is not in the Epistle to the Galatians. Hemerology as Commemoration The contrast between natural philosophy and hemerology, so strongly argued by Ælfric, is further confirmed by normative, doctrinal, and legal attitudes toward divination, though efforts were made to authenticate hemerolo45  Harper, 1997, p. 229. 46  For discussion of the efforts of late medieval astrologers to unite natural philosophy and astrological determinism, see the “Hemerology as Natural Philosophy” section in this chapter. 47  Ælfric, Octabas et circumcisio Domini (Clemoes, 1997, p. 230).

gy from a philosophical perspective. Whereas late antique and early medieval writers did not hesitate to denounce hemerology outright, without giving reasons for considering it vain human doctrine in the first place, influential late medieval scholars tried to steer the criticism away from the vanity of human doctrine by drawing hemerology into the realm of religious observation. This authenticating strategy is best demonstrated by contrasting the opinions of the Church Fathers and writers of canon law to the views of scholars at the universities, which were first founded in Europe in the twelfth century. Rather than denounce hemerology, these scholars tried to integrate it into their worldview through dialectic reasoning, even inventing biblical precepts for hemerological practices like the Egyptian Days. The doctrinal perspective on hemerology is witnessed in Ambrose’s denunciation of the Egyptian Days (referred to above), which is echoed in Augustine’s commentary on Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians: Therefore, let the reader choose which of the two meanings he wishes, as long as he understands that the superstitious observation of times leads to such grave danger to the soul that the apostle remarked on this topic: “I am afraid of you, lest perhaps I have labored in vain among you.” Although these words are read with such renown and authority in churches all over the world, our congregations are still filled with people who accept from astrologers the times for when to do things. So much so that often even those who, as the saying goes, do not know where they are walking do not hesitate to warn us not to initiate any building or work of this kind on days that they call “Egyptian.”48 In the early Middle Ages, these anti-hemerological sentiments were incorporated in biblical commentaries, endorsed at Church synods, and preached to Christian communities. Divination in general and hemerological practices such as the Egyptian Days in particular had to be suppressed because they were looked upon as superstitious, though hemerologies were copied in manuscripts by monks, and higher clergy like abbots and bishops were sometimes known to have owned manuscripts containing large collections of hemerological texts. Throughout the Middle Ages, hemerology was legislated against, for instance, in the Decretum Gratiani (Decree of Gratian), a mid-twelfth-century treatise on canon law (the religious counterpart to secular law). In a section titled “Dies 48  Augustine, Expositio ad Galatas 35.1–3 (Divjak, 1971, p. 103).

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Egiptiaci, et Ianuarii kalendae non sunt observandae” (Egyptian Days and January the first are not to be observed), the Decretum reads: “Do not observe the days that are called ‘Egyptian,’ or January the first.… Indeed, those who place belief in them, by going to diviners’ houses or allowing them into their own houses to ask them questions, let them know that they have violated the Christian faith and the baptism. Pagan and apostate, that is, against God’s wish and hostile to Him, they have gravely incurred the wrath of God in eternity, unless they will be reconciled to God, corrected by ecclesiastical penitence.”49 Along with a host of mantic techniques, hemerology was prohibited by canon law, as the Decretum Gratiani illustrates. It stands to reason that religious legislation strongly rejected hemerology because it had been considered an error since the earliest Christian times. Many church calendars, however, included references to the Egyptian Days and the Dog Days, and this potential problem was not covered by the Decretum but dealt with in the commentaries that developed around the major canon law collections.50 In the late twelfth century, Simon of Bisignano (fl. 1177–79), for instance, addressed the matter in full in his commentary on the Decretum Gratiani: From the words “Do not observe” to “Egyptian Days.” The following argument may be brought against this clause: If it is illegal to observe those days, as Augustine seems to suggest, then why does the church respect the Egyptian Days and why does it have them written in the martyrologies (i.e., liturgical calendars)? The solution: The church has them not so that it may observe them but so that it may disapprove of them.… We find, or rather it shows, at which times and hours the Egyptians were punished by God. They are called “Egyptian Days,” either because they come from Egypt, where this idolatry was invented.… Or it comes from the Egyptians because they were punished in those times. Or from darkness, for Egiptus may be interpreted as “dark,” because he who on those days lets blood in agreement with their erroneous opinion moves toward darkness and failure.51 Simon of Bisignano realized that the problem of hemerology did not lie primarily with diviners and their clients 49   Decretum Gratiani pars 2, causa 26, questio 7, cap. 16 (Richter and Friedberg, 1879–81, vol. 1, pp. 1045–46). 50  See the “Egyptian Days” and “Dog Days” sections in this chapter. 51  Simon of Bisignano, Summa in Decretum causa 26, questio 7, cap. 16 (Aimone, 2014, p. 401).

387 but with the presence of Egyptian Days in the liturgical calendars used by the clergy. He was of course unwilling to claim that churchmen practiced hemerology because it was more strategic ideologically to place diviners outside clerical circles. So instead of denouncing the clergy, his solution was to rationalize the existence of Egyptian Days in the calendar in a manner that is strongly reminiscent of how scholastic writers approached the subject, that is, by using logic and etymology to explain how the Egyptian Days got their name. Simon of Bisignano maintained the opposition between religious observance and hemerology from a legal perspective, but scholastic writers from the learned milieus at European universities tried a more integrative approach from a philosophical angle. The learned setting of the universities established in twelfth-century Europe was conducive to the emergence of scholasticism, a type of advanced study that used dialectic reasoning to resolve contradictions between theology and philosophy. The scholastic author Peter Comestor (d. ca. 1178), for instance, tried to unite religious observance and hemerology in his analysis of the Egyptian Days: “It should be noted that there were more plagues in Egypt than the ten which Exodus enumerates, but they happen not to have been so devastating, and that is why no mention is made of them. Hence, some days are called ‘Egyptian’ because on those days Egypt suffered. We keep only two of them in every month in remembrance, although perhaps there were more. It should not be believed that the Egyptians, experienced though they were in astrology, considered these days as unlucky for starting a task or a journey or bloodletting.”52 In the context of his Historia scholastica (Scholastic history), Peter Comestor wrote commentaries on the historical books of the Bible. This excerpt is situated in his exegesis of the Old Testament narrative of Exodus, in which God punishes the Egyptian pharaoh with a series of plagues for refusing to release the Israelites from captivity. By connecting the Egyptian Days to Exodus, Peter Comestor, like Simon of Bisignano, gave them a biblical origin. In his eyes, these days were not vain doctrine or a pagan form of hemerology, as late antique and early medieval Christian authors opined. The term “Egyptian Days” referred instead to the devastating plagues visited upon the Egyptians. Since the Bible lists only ten plagues against twenty-four Egyptian Days (two per month), these ten plagues were allegedly the most severe.

52  Peter Comestor, Historia libri Exodi 24 (Migne, 1855, cols. 1152–53).

388 Peter Comestor did not intend to denounce a widespread contemporaneous hemerological practice, but then his purpose was not to set doctrinal boundaries and formulate normative rules, as Paul, the Church Fathers, and legislators did. By integrating theology and philosophy, he tried to understand God’s creation from a logical perspective. What Peter Comestor did, in fact, is much subtler than plain denunciation. Rather than say that hemerology is vain human doctrine, he disarmed the hemerological nature of the Egyptian Days by claiming that they were recorded “in remembrance.” The consequence of his analysis is that the Egyptian Days commemorate historical events, and this is precisely what religious observance does, too. To celebrate saints’ days or the birth of Christ or his resurrection, after all, is not an act of divination but of commemoration. Religious observance, in other words, seeks to commemorate key events that occurred in the past, whereas hemerology looks forward to what is still to happen. The past was known to Christians, but they were not allowed to try to discover what might happen in the future, which is why divination was out of bounds. Peter Comestor redefined the Egyptian Days as a commemorative act, thereby drawing a form of hemerology out of the realm of divination and into the domain of religious observance. Contemporary scholastic writers used a similar approach. In the encyclopedic treatise De proprietatibus rerum (The properties of things), Bartholomaeus Anglicus (ca. 1203–1272), for instance, reflects on the Egyptian Days as follows: “Of those days one is Egyptian, the other is not. That day is Egyptian on which God sent some kind of plague over Egypt. Hence, as there are twenty-four Egyptian Days, it is clear that God sent more plagues over the Egyptians than the ten that are more famous than the others. They are placed in the liturgical calendar, not because something should be left undone on those days more than on others, but so that we may keep the miracles of God in remembrance.”53 In the context of a discussion of weekdays and days, Bartholomaeus’s argument is similar to Peter’s in that the Egyptian Days are linked to the plagues, of which there are more than the ten recorded in the Bible. Bartholomaeus, however, is even more explicit about the commemorative nature of the Egyptian Days, which were “placed in the liturgical calendar … so that we may keep the miracles of God in remembrance.” The existence of Egyptian Days in the calendar legitimated rather than undermined their observance, from a

53  Bartholomaeus Anglicus, De proprietatibus rerum IX.20 (Bartholomaeus Anglicus, 1601, p. 451).

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liturgical perspective, because they were not to be used hemerologically. A final example of the scholastic method is from the Speculum maius (The great mirror) of Vincent of Beauvais (ca. 1190–1264). One of the most influential encyclopedias of late medieval Europe, the Speculum maius has a wealth of information on the Egyptian Days: They are called “Egyptian Days,” as some suppose, because on those days God punished Egypt. Although one reads about only ten plagues, many lesser ones are reported. According to others, they are called “Egyptian” because the Egyptians, as experienced astrologers, discovered days that were ill-starred and on which they say it was dangerous to let blood or drink medicine. Others, however, say that this is because it was discovered that they had a good constellation, and therefore they noted that such works should be performed on those days rather than on others. Then there are those who say that the Egyptians shed their blood for demons. Lest the church follow them in their errors, let it refrain from all such things. The church has those days marked in its calendar, not because it believes that something is best started or ended on those days rather than on others, but in order to commemorate them.54 In a chapter devoted to the Egyptian Days and the Dog Days, Vincent’s analysis corresponds to observations made by other scholastics. Some interpretations of the invention of the Egyptian Days and their name have been given above, but there are others that were no less familiar in the late Middle Ages. The unusual, auspicious reading (“they had a good constellation, and therefore they noted that such works should be performed on those days rather than on others”), for instance, is matched by a comment in the liturgical study Rationale divinorum officiorum (Explanation of the divine offices) by William Durand (ca. 1230–1296): “alternatively, maybe they (i.e., the Egyptians) found that those days had good constellations and they therefore wrote them in their calendar so that on those days, rather than on others, certain activities may be undertaken.”55 The reference to an alleged Egyptian custom of blood sacrifice is also attested in the computistical treatise De anni ratione (The reckoning of the year) by Johannes de Sacrobosco (ca. 1195–ca. 1256), who observed 54   Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum Naturale XV.83 (Vincent of Beauvais, 1624, p. 1143). 55  William Durand, Rationale divinorum officiorum VIII.iv.20 (Davril and Thibodeau, 1995–2000, vol. 3, p. 148).

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that some Egyptians “even sacrificed human blood to Pluto (the Greek god of the underworld) on these days.”56 In short, Vincent of Beauvais drew on a variety of interpretations developed by scholastics in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and he did not prefer one interpretation over the other, nor did he denounce the Egyptian Days. Scholastics deliberately avoided the confrontation sought by makers of doctrine and law, such as Ambrose, Augustine, and Gratian. Using philosophy, Vincent and his scholastic contemporaries reconciled hemerology and religious observance by recasting the former as an act of commemoration. Hemerology as Natural Philosophy The main viewpoints so far are that hemerology was either denounced as a superstition or redefined as a commemorative form of religious observance, but there is a third perspective, that of practitioners and authors who had a vested interest in legitimating hemerology. Late medieval physicians as well as practitioners of divination and astrology, who relied on hemerology for some of their procedures, were anxious to justify the role of hemerology. For instance, having explained that bloodletting was to be avoided at all costs at specific hours on the Egyptian Days, an eleventh-century author observed that “a certain doctor investigated this; he bled his horse at such an hour (on an Egyptian Day), and it lay dead immediately.”57 This observation is not present in the Latin source text, but there apparently was a need to validate hemerology by putative medical experiment, thereby proving (for lack of a better word) that it was on a par with scientific disciplines such as natural philosophy, medicine, and computus. Authors of medical, scientific, astrological, and mantic treatises would incorporate a range of ideas drawn from the Bible, normative writings, natural philosophy, and scholastic philosophy in their efforts to demonstrate that hemerology was as much part of God’s creation as, to cite the example of Ælfric’s homily, the durability of wood felled during a full moon. The author of The Wise Book of Philosophy and Astronomy, for instance, advanced a worldview that justified hemerology as a valid natural phenomenon. In a dialogue about free will and predestination, the latter a determinist notion of God’s complete foreknowledge, the author of The Wise Book used hemerology to advance the idea that both good and evil are intrinsic values in God’s creation and that human beings are influenced by both. Astrology and divination pointed 56  Johannes de Sacrobosco, De anni ratione cap. “Quid calendæ, nonæ, et idus” (Johannes de Sacrobosco, 1547, sig. B3v). 57  Chardonnens, 2013, p. 127.

389 out the most likely course a person’s life may take on the basis of intrinsically auspicious or inauspicious qualities, but free will enabled human beings to override any predetermined cause of events, making them responsible for their own actions, even if God, who is said to exist outside of time, might know from the beginning the entire course of every human being’s life.58 From a hemerological perspective of good and evil, it was only a small step to justify astrology, which in turn justified all kinds of philosophical, natural, and medical notions, such as the complexions and the humors, wholesale. The Wise Book accomplished these aims by recording a fictitious dialogue between two astrologers (or philosophers, as the word philosophre has both meanings in medieval English),59 who debated whether humans have free will or are subject to predestination. The first astrologer tried to prove the existence of predestination by “these words that Paul spoke in the Bible: that there are evil days, and there are many of them. In the calendar it is noted, furthermore, that there are many dismales, that is to say, bad and unlucky days. And this is true and may easily be proved by Old Testament astrologers, because when people went to battle at that time, and if they were victorious, then they loved it and thanked God, and worshipped that day. And if they lost the battle, then they made that day dismal in their calendars.”60 The astrologer is advancing a significantly skewed rendering of the views Paul expressed on hemerology in his Epistle to the Galatians. Paul’s words now confirm rather than deny the existence of hemerology, which is further corroborated by the supposedly ancient biblical custom of recording inauspicious days in the calendar. The idea of commemoration, advanced by scholastics, is still present in this excerpt, but it is abused for the purpose of advocating a belief in hemerology that is meant to prove the existence of predestination, whereas the Church was at pains to stress the existence of free will, so that people could freely choose good or evil. The other astrologer objects to this line of reasoning and claims that the whole of creation is intrinsically good and flawless, including “the planets, the constellations, the elements, 58  Free will, predestination, and God’s foreknowledge were debated with great intensity throughout the medieval period, but the most eloquent discussion is in book 5 of Philosophiae consolationis (Consolation of philosophy) by Boethius (ca. 480–524/525). See Bieler, 1957, pp. 88–105. 59   Middle English Dictionary, s.v. “philosophre (n.),” accessed December 15, 2015, http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/med. Middle English meanings of the word vary from “philosopher,” “wise man,” and “moralist” to “alchemist,” “magician,” “diviner,” “prognosticator,” and “interpreter of dreams.” 60  Griffin, 2013, p. 6.

390 the months and the days, man and beast, and everything else.”61 This astrologer proceeds to explain that when God created the universe and the ten orders of angels, the tenth order rebelled against God under the leadership of the archangel Lucifer. God cast these angels from heaven, and they corrupted many things in their fall. Some angels fell all the way into hell, while others clung to the stars, the constellations, the planets, and earth, and these became the stellar, planetary, and elemental spirits that corrupt whatever they govern. Though it would be acceptable to distinguish between divine goodness and demonic evil, religious writings strongly countered the notion that good and evil could become intrinsic qualities of time and matter, but not The Wise Book. Diviners and astrologers, after all, were concerned with legitimating their activities, and one way of doing so was to turn hemerology from a mantic art into natural philosophy. By creating systematic and coherent ways of describing the origins of intrinsic qualities, their manner of functioning in the natural world, and the nature of their connection to human lives, these qualities could be fitted into schemes and systems like those of natural philosophy. In this light, it makes sense that the astrologer in The Wise Book boldly concludes, “that man’s predestination is true is explained by way of astrology, for every living person is made of three things in general, that is to say, of the seven planets, the twelve signs, and the four elements, which give him his fortune and his misfortune, his manners, and his complexion,” thereby arguing in favor of predestination and against free will.62 It is not to be wondered at, then, that the appearance of a planet or a star on the horizon at a specific time had a demonstrable effect on life on earth, because God and the devil instilled good and evil in the whole of creation. Since good and evil are qualities that reside in the heavenly bodies and in the very substances that make up the complexions and the humors, hemerology is subject to the same scientific treatment as computus and medicine. Late antique and medieval Church Fathers, legislators, and scholars alike would have cringed at the occasionally deplorable logic in The Wise Book, but it is more relevant here to realize that these fictitious astrologers added a third perspective on hemerology. Normative sources such as Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, the writings of the Church Fathers, and canon law denounced hemerology as a vain human doctrine. The philosophical writings of the scholastics redefined hemerology as a commemorative act and drew it into the realm of religious observance. 61  Ibid. 62  Ibid., p. 8.

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In scientific, medical, and astrological sources, such as The Wise Book, hemerology was turned into a discipline within natural philosophy that substantiated the intrinsically auspicious and inauspicious qualities of the created universe. It is important to observe here that these three perspectives on hemerology were not mutually exclusive but existed side by side, catering to the needs of different audiences. These perspectives, moreover, were advanced by different groups who all stood to gain from seeing their views win acceptance. The orthodox, Christian view of hemerology as a pagan or vain doctrine is in evidence from the first century ce onward. It never went out of fashion with religious policy makers, who tried to marginalize and suppress hemerology. The twelfth century saw the rise of a more integrative, philosophical approach. Scholars at that time were bent not on denouncing or defending hemerology but on trying to understand the reasons for its existence. One of those reasons, they argued, was that hemerology commemorated historical events in the manner of religious observance. The third voice, finally, is that of late medieval practitioners. In an attempt to secure their own interests, diviners, astrologers, physicians, and other practitioners wrote a master narrative in which hemerology was authenticated by a primordial struggle between good and evil that affected every facet of creation, including the fabric of life itself.

Hemerological Practices

The range of hemerological practices from medieval Europe is extensive. Written forms of hemerology were not native to Europe but originated in various Mediter­ ranean cultures. To varying degrees, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Classical, Hellenistic, and Byzantine Greece, Rome, and Arabic cultures are all thought to have contributed hemerological practices that were disseminated throughout medieval Europe. Evidence from the late antique period bears witness to the existence of hemerology in southern Europe, such as the Egyptian Days in the Roman calendar of 354. Aside from this calendar, however, no hemerological texts are attested in Europe before the introduction of Christianity. In light of the monastic producers of manuscripts containing hemerological texts, and the close connection between computus, religious observance, and hemerology, Christianity was probably the route via which hemerology entered Europe. Many methods had been introduced in the early medieval period, with a smaller number of methods arriving in the late Middle Ages. The first hemerological texts date from the eighth century and were copied in monasteries in what

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is now England, France, Germany, northern Italy, and Switzerland. The hemerological practices that proved most popular throughout the Middle Ages and well into the modern period were already known before the eleventh century. These practices comprise lunar hemerology in the form of lunaries, solar hemerology in the form of the Egyptian Days, and stellar hemerology in the form of the Dog Days. From the eleventh century onward, some new methods of hemerology were introduced, such as zodiacal lunaries, which went back to Arabic and Byzantine Greek sources, and a new form of the Egyptian Days, which may have been invented in England. These late, newly introduced medieval hemerological practices survive in significantly smaller numbers. The late medieval period saw many advances in medicine and divination, particularly in the field of astrology, but these advances rarely resulted in new forms of hemerology. Instead, new developments in astrology and astrological medicine often took on board older, hemerological practices, such as the use of the Egyptian Days in the astrological context of The Wise Book of Philosophy and Astronomy. This section presents a select overview of hemerological practices from medieval Europe, arranged alphabetically, omitting forms of divination that make use of temporal structures but are primarily non-hemerological.63 There are many kinds of mantic techniques, for instance, that predict what will happen in the future based on the time when certain natural phenomena occur, such as sunshine, thunder, or wind.64 These techniques are non-hemerological in the sense that there is nothing to be avoided or initiated at particular times. Rather, the correlation between a natural phenomenon and a point in time will irrevocably lead to a specific result. If it thunders on a Sunday, for instance, kings and bishops will die. This outcome is fixed and cannot be avoided, in contrast to that of certain life-

63  The hemerological practices surveyed here are discussed in detail in Chardonnens, 2007a, except for the mansions of the moon, perilous days, and zodiacal lunaries. Other useful studies of medieval hemerology and divination are Brand and Ellis, 1849–55, vol. 2, pp. 44–51; Epe, 1995; Förster, 1903, 1908a–c, 1910, 1911, 1912a–c, 1916, 1929; Hampson, 1841, vol. 1, pp. 52–388; Harmening, 1979, pp. 117–77; Henel, 1934–35; Meyer, 1884, pp. 205–16; Thorndike, 1923–58, vol. 1, pp. 672–96; and Wallis, 1995. Additional relevant studies of specific hemerological practices are indicated in the footnotes that follow. 64  These are analyzed in Chardonnens, 2007a. See also Cesario, 2012b; Liuzza, 2001, 2004, 2011; Epe, 1995; Förster, 1903, 1908a–c, 1910, 1911, 1912a–c, 1916, 1929; and Henel, 1934–35.

391 threatening activities on an Egyptian Day, which can be avoided so as to preserve life.65 Probably the most widely distributed non-hemerological but temporal form of divination is the Revelatio Esdrae (Revelation of Esdras). Attributed to the biblical prophet Esdras, this mantic technique is best described as a year prognosis that predicts what will happen when the first day of the year falls on a certain weekday.66 If the first day of the year falls on a Sunday, for instance, “winter will be good, spring stormy, summer dry; a good harvest of grapes, sheep multiply, honey will be abundant, and there will be peace.”67 Again, there is nothing to be avoided or initiated on the first day of the year that could possibly alter human affairs, the weather, or the harvest in that year. What makes the Revelatio Esdrae worth mentioning is that it proved hugely popular in both the medieval and the early modern period, which is not the case for all forms of hemerology, as some were discredited in the early modern period due to cultural and religious reforms. Another reason for singling out the Revelatio Esdrae is that it was transmitted in the very same early medieval computistical and liturgical manuscripts that featured hemerological practices, such as lunaries and Egyptians Days. The fact that the earliest copies of the Revelatio Esdrae were produced in the monastic learned setting that also initiated the dissemination of computus and hemerological practices may indicate that the Revelatio Esdrae was yet another way of conceptualizing the passage of time along with computus, religious observance, and hemerology. Yet despite the many links between the wide range of temporal mantic techniques known in medieval Europe and hemerology, this section discusses only those practices that are manifestly hemerological. Auspicious Hours for Bloodletting Bloodletting was a standard medical procedure in Classical Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and Early Modernity, but so many dangers were associated with the practice that most hemerologies list avoidance days for bloodletting rather than good days. The text on the auspicious hours for bloodletting in the manuscript London, British Library, Sloane 475 (ca. 1100), is exceptional for identifying certain hours in each day of the week as the good hours for bloodletting. The text merits inclusion here precisely because of its unusually positive approach and its focus 65  Chardonnens, 2007a, p. 260. 66  See Cesario, 2012a; Chardonnens, 2007a, pp. 491–500; Craig, 1916, pp. xxxii–xxxvii; Hellmann, 1891, 1896; Jansen-Sieben, 1971; and Matter, 1982. 67  Bremmer, 2010, p. 38.

392 on hours of the day as the unit of time rather than the day, both of which are hemerological specificities not often found in other texts. According to the text, bloodletting is permitted on all seven days of the week so long as it is practiced at the correct hours. The assignment of hours is Sunday, the second, sixth, and ninth hours; Monday, the first, fourth, and eleventh hours; Tuesday, the third, seventh, and tenth hours; Wednesday, the fourth, seventh, and tenth hours; Thursday, the third, eighth, and tenth hours; Friday, the fifth and eighth hours; and Saturday, the second and eighth hours. The text does not explain why these particular hours are good but simply introduces them by saying that “these are the hours on which you should let blood.”68 The auspicious hours for bloodletting may presumably grant some kind of immunity to harmful side effects. Texts on the twenty-four Egyptian Days, in contrast, would sometimes list specific hours to be avoided because of their lethality. Dog Days The Dog Days (in Latin, dies caniculares) are avoidance days for medication and bloodletting based on the visibility of the Dog Star.69 The Dog Star is the star Sirius in the constellation Canis Major or, less commonly, the star Procyon in the constellation Canis Minor. The Dog Days are a period that begins with the appearance of the Dog Star on the horizon and ends with its subsequent disappearance. The dates on which the Dog Star appears and disappears vary from place to place depending on the latitude of the observer and across time due to inaccuracies in the calendar, calendar reforms, and the precession of the equinoxes. The length of the period was set according to local custom, ranging from a month to fifty-four days, which seems to suggest that observance of the Dog Days was tied not to astronomical observation but to calendrical science, even though its origins were ultimately based on observation of the heavens. Indeed, knowledge of the Dog Days was most commonly transmitted through liturgical calendars in religious and miscellaneous manuscripts, which would mark the beginning of the Dog Days (dies caniculares incipiunt) and the end (dies caniculares finiunt). The appearance of the Dog Star was sometimes marked separately as the rising of the Dog Star (ortus caniculæ), after the start of the Dog Days. In medieval northwestern Europe, the beginning of the Dog Days usually fell between July 14 and 18, the rising of the Dog Star

68  Chardonnens, 2007a, p. 246. 69  See Gundel, 1907, pp. 33–47; and Gundel, 1927, pp. 146–57.

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between July 17 and 19, and the end of the Dog Days on September 4 or 5. The Dog Star was an inauspicious sign. Its appearance in the Mediterranean region coincided with the height of summer, and the dangerous influences of the hot climate on illness and hygiene were attributed to the Dog Star. Being the brightest star in the sky, the Dog Star’s inauspicious nature was thought to be intensified by the power of the sun. Bloodletting and medication were to be avoided on the Dog Days, which made sense during a period of intense heat in cultures with limited access to hygiene. Incisions from bloodletting, for instance, could more easily become infected and medication was considered hazardous when the severity of an illness was intensified under the influence of the Dog Days. There are many hundreds of medieval manuscripts containing information on the Dog Days. The Dog Days were duly marked in liturgical calendars, which in early medieval manuscripts had both a religious and a medical function, in the sense that bloodletting was regulated by the same time cycles that structured religious life. Early medieval liturgical manuscripts with calendars often include other hemerological bloodletting regulations alongside computistical notes and medical texts. In view of the medical risks on the Dog Days, medical manuscripts are also sources of knowledge of the Dog Days and either integrate these days into longer medical treatises and hygienic and dietary calendars or discuss them separately in recipe collections. Texts on the Dog Days sometimes include a moonbook and may be found together with texts on the Egyptian Days.70 Egyptian Days and Egyptian Hours More famous than any other type of inauspicious day, Egyptian Days are avoidance days for medication, bloodletting of humans and animals, consumption of goose meat, and miscellaneous actions based on the assignment of three, twelve, or twenty-four days per year.71 The twenty-four Egyptian Days are first attested in Rome in the fourth century, the three Egyptian Days in northwestern Europe in the ninth century, and the twelve Egyptian Days in England in the twelfth century (fig. 10.5). All three types are explicitly identified as Egyptian Days, but the name was not explained until the twelfth century, when scholastics speculated on the origins of the Egyptian Days. Texts 70  See the “Moonbooks” section in this chapter. 71  See d’Alauzier, 1970–71; Chardonnens, 2007b, 2008, 2011, 2013; Cuissard, 1886; Keil, 1957; Loiseleur, 1872; Reynaert, 2004; Schmitz, 1877, pp. 307–20; Steele, 1919; Stuart, 1979; and Sudhoff, 1916.

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Figure 10.5 Text and diagram of the twelve winds distinguished in the early medieval period, England, twelfth century. To the left of the diagram is a text on the twelve Egyptian Days, and to the right is a text on the unlucky days followed by a text on the twenty-four Egyptian Days. Oxford, St. John’s College, MS 17, folio 40v. By permission of the President and Fellows of St. John’s College.

dealing with the Egyptian Days from this period sometimes similarly give some background information, for instance, “if darkness is called, with a Greek term, egyptus, then we rightly call the days of death dark” or “because these days are cursed by God.”72 Egyptian Days differ considerably from native Egyptian hemerologies, which assign auspicious and inauspicious qualities to each of the three parts of the day in a thirty-day cycle.73 The three Egyptian Days are three Mondays per year. Minor variations aside, the first Egyptian Day is the 72  Chardonnens, 2007a, pp. 373, 379. 73  See Chabas, 1870; and Dawson, 1926.

Monday after March 25, the second the first Monday of August, and the third the last Monday of December. There is no reason why these three days in particular are inauspicious, except that they might somehow have been connected to the three seasons in the Egyptian agricultural calendar. Bloodletting of humans or animals was thought to be fatal within three to seven (or fifteen) days, medication within fifteen days, and the consumption of goose meat within forty days. Auca, the Latin word for “goose,” was sometimes misspelled aqua (water) in medieval manuscripts, leading to the mistaken assumption that drinking water on the three Egyptian Days was dangerous. Some texts additionally warn that whoever is born on any

394 of these Mondays “will die an evil death,” in contrast to texts on the miraculous birthdays, which often accompanied texts of the three Egyptian Days.74 The three Egyptian Days are attested in different types of manuscripts from the ninth century onward, at first mostly in computistical, liturgical, and medical manuscripts, but later in a wide variety of contexts. Less well known than the twenty-four Egyptians Days, a few hundred texts of the three Egyptian Days survive. The twelve Egyptian Days are divided evenly across the twelve months of the year (see table 10.1). There are only two text witnesses of this type of hemerology, both in scientific manuscripts of the early twelfth century. The manuscripts are closely related, and it is therefore likely that these texts on the twelve Egyptian Days have a common ancestor, possibly produced by the English monk and scholar Byrhtferth (ca. 970–ca. 1020). It is unclear exactly what should be initiated or avoided on these days, since the texts provide little more than a list of dates preceded by the comment “these days must be observed every month, on which the people of the Egyptians were cursed together with Pharaoh” (see fig. 10.5).75 The reference to days “on which the people of the Egyptians were cursed” would suggest that these are a type of Egyptian Day on which bloodletting was to be avoided. The twenty-four Egyptian Days are composed of two days from each calendar month. In view of the many hundreds of text witnesses, there is considerable variation in the dates of the Egyptian Days, but a fairly standard set is attested in many manuscripts (see table 10.1). Despite early modern and modern attempts to formulate rules that explain why these particular days were selected, no rationale has as yet been discovered, and it is likely that the twenty-four Egyptian Days were assigned arbitrarily. A wide range of activities is discouraged on these days. Most texts stress the dangers of medication and bloodletting, and some also discourage initiating anything, planting vineyards, buying or selling grapevines, killing and taming animals, and harvesting crops. The twenty-four Egyptian Days are the most ubiquitous form of hemerology in medieval Europe and appear in all kinds of manuscripts. They are marked in liturgical calendars and in computistical, scientific, medical, mantic, and astrological contexts, but they may also feature in hygienic and dietary calendars. In keeping with the widespread notoriety of the twenty-four Egyptian Days and the large number of texts, there is considerable variation in how the twenty-four Egyptian Days were transmitted. Entries in liturgical calendars read dies 74  Chardonnens, 2007a, p. 344. 75  Ibid., p. 346.

chardonnens Table 10.1 The standard twelve-day and twenty-four-day systems of the Egyptian Days Months

January February March April May June July August September October November December

Egyptian days 12-day system

24-day system

 3  2  7  5  8 or 7  7  5 13  9  2  9 13

 1, 25  4, 26  1, 28 10, 20  3, 25 10, 16 13, 22  1, 30  3, 21  3, 22  5, 28 12, 15, or 7, 22

Note: The sole two text witnesses of the twelve-day system have days 8 or 7 for May. This was probably due to the roman numeral system used throughout the medieval period, which was vulnerable to mistakes when copying similar numerals, such as viii and vii.

egyptiaci (Egyptian Days), dies eger (troublesome days), dies mali (evil days), d e, d m, or simply d against the relevant date, without an explanation of what these words or abbreviations mean (see fig. 10.4). Another way of listing them is to enumerate the dates in calendar notation in texts dealing with the danger of the Egyptian Days, which seems a logical thing to do but is actually quite rare. It is more usual for the twenty-four Egyptian Days to be listed in a cryptic, formulaic fashion either in prose or in verse, with the first date given from the beginning of the month and the second date from the end of the month. The three methods are combined in the following example: Iani prima dies, et septima fine timetur. Periculosum est flebotomari in principio mensis ianuarii die primo, hoc est kl. ianuarii, et ante eius exitum die .viia., hoc est .viiia. kl. februarii.76 The first line presents the dates for January in a formulaic manner in metrical verse: Iani prima dies, et septima fine timetur (in January the first day, and the seventh before its end is feared). In the next lines, the dates are repeated in prose, with the formula spelled out: in principio mensis ianuarii die primo … et ante eius exitum die 76  Chardonnens, 2007a, p. 374.

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.viia. (in the beginning of the month of January the first day … and before its end the seventh). In addition, they are reiterated in Roman calendar notation: hoc est kl. ianuarii (this is the kalends of January) and hoc est .viiia. kl. februarii (this is the eighth kalends of February). These are three ways of saying exactly the same thing: January 1 and 25 are Egyptian Days. The calendar notation is rarely attested, in contrast to the formula in prose and verse.77 The prose formula is usually presented as a list (see figs. 10.2, 10.3), while the verse formula appears as a complete poem of twelve or twenty-four lines (one or two lines per month), or individual verse lines could appear at the top of each month in liturgical calendars. The calendar shown in figure 10.4, for instance, has pictorial representations of people letting blood, the letter d for dies egyptiaci to the left of the images, and the relevant verse line, Dat duodena choors septem inde decemque decembris, at the top of the calendar page. The line is ambiguous, meaning either “the twelfth (duodena) cohort hence gives seventeen (septem … decemque) to December (December 12 and 15)” or “the twelfth cohort hence gives seven (septem) and ten (decemque) to December (December 7 and 22).”78 An even more cryptic method for listing the dates of the twenty-four Egyptian Days is coding them into brief, mnemonic poems. This deliberately hermetic method was first developed by scholastics in the twelfth century, and the poems appeared only infrequently in non-scholastic contexts. One type has twelve pairs of words, and the position of the word pairs corresponds to the position of the months in the year, so the first word pair stands for January, the second for February, and so on. The first letter of the first word in the word pair signifies the first Egyptian Day, and the first letter of the second word the second Egyptian Day. Johannes de Sacrobosco published the following poem (the relevant letters are in bold italics): Armis Gunfe, dei Kalatos, adamare dabatur, Lixa memor, conflans gelidos, linfancia quosdam. Omne limen, Aaron bagis, concordia laudat, Chiiæ linkat, ei coequata, gearcha lifardus.79

77   Many more formulas in prose and verse are presented in Cuissard, 1886; and Steele, 1919. 78  The ambiguity of the verse line for December probably gave rise to the two sets of dates, both of which are attested with great frequency in prose texts, calendars, and mnemonic poems. See also Chardonnens, 2007a, pp. 354–55; 2007b. 79  Johannes de Sacrobosco, De anni ratione cap. “Quid calendæ, nonæ, et idus” (Johannes de Sacrobosco, 1547, sig. B3v).

395 The meaning of the poem is obscure, but the way in which the Egyptian Days are listed is clear. The first letters of the first word pair, “Armis Gunfe,” for instance, are “a” and “g,” and these two letters stand for the first and second Egyptian Days of the month of January. “A” is the first letter of the Latin alphabet and signifies January 1; “g” is the seventh letter of the alphabet and signifies the seventh day from the end of the month, that is, January 25.80 Another type of mnemonic poem consists of twelve words, with the position of the words in the poem corresponding to the position of the months in the year so that the first word stands for January, the second for February, and so on. The first letter of the first syllable of each word signifies the first Egyptian Day, and the first letter of the second syllable the second Egyptian Day. William Durand cited the following poem (the relevant letters are in bold italics): Augurior decies, audito lumine clangor, Linquit olens abies, coluit colus, excute gallum.81 Again, the meaning of the poem is obscure, but the way in which the Egyptian Days are listed is clear. The first letters of the first and second syllables of the word “augurior,” for instance, are “a” and “g,” and these two letters stand for the first and second Egyptian Days of the month of January. “A” is the first letter of the Latin alphabet, and signifies January 1; “g” is the seventh letter of the alphabet and signifies the seventh day from the end of the month, that is, January 25. Like the metrical verses above, these mnemonic poems present the Egyptian Days formulaically: the first day is the result of a process of addition from the beginning of the month; the second day is the result of subtraction from the end of the month. The reason for conceptualizing the twenty-four Egyptian Days in a formulaic manner is not known, but the variety of methods that use the formula is so extensive that it must have been a productive mnemonic strategy, indicating that the 80  Note that the medieval Latin alphabet differs slightly from the modern Western alphabet. The modern letter “j” developed out of an elongated form of the letter “i” and was introduced toward the end of the medieval period, the letters “u” and “v” were not distinguished in writing on the basis of sound but were spelling variants depending on their position in a word, and the letter “w” is a late medieval invention for writings in European languages like English and German, which had a “w” sound that was lacking in Latin. The letter “k,” furthermore, which was borrowed from Greek, should be counted as a “c” in this poem, while the letter “h” should not be counted. 81  William Durand, Rationale divinorum officiorum VIII.iv.20 (Davril and Thibodeau, 1995–2000, vol. 3, p. 148).

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twenty-four Egyptian Days were observed intensively in medieval Europe. The activities to be avoided on the twenty-four Egyptian Days were particularly dangerous during the Egyptian Hours. Calendars identified only the Egyptian Days, but metrical verses would sometimes include references to specific hours that were extremely lethal: “twenty-four days are recorded annually, on which one hour is usually feared by mortals.”82 These verses would pair an hour with every Egyptian Day. The entry for January in the poem titled “Histis mortiferam cognoscite versibus horam” (Know the deadly hours by these verses) reads: die horam fine dies horam Dat prima undenam ianus, pede septima sextam.83 The second line is a metrical verse that reads “January gives the eleventh on the first, the seventh from the foot the sixth.” The first line serves as a gloss that separates the Egyptian Day (dies) from the Egyptian Hour (hora). Upon combining the two lines, the verse for January can be decoded as “January gives the eleventh (hour) on the first (day), the seventh (day) from the foot (i.e., the end) the sixth (hour).”84 Johannes de Sacrobosco’s mnemonic poem also includes the Egyptian Hours. In each word pair, the first letter of the first syllable of each word signifies the Egyptian Day, and the first letter of the second syllable the Egyptian Hour. The word pair for January, “Armis Gunfe,” for instance, can be decoded as the eleventh hour (“m” equals eleven, not counting “h” and “j”) on January 1 (“a”) and the sixth hour (“f”) on January 25 (“g,” i.e., the seventh day before the end). Egyptian Hours are limited to the twenty-four Egyptian Days and are not associated with the three and the twelve Egyptian Days. Journey Hemerology Travel plays a large role in European hemerology—for instance, in the mansions of the moon and zodiacal lunaries—and the topic figures prominently in the astrological and magical literature of medieval Europe. To my knowledge, however, journey hemerology on its own is uncommon, except for topical zodiacal travel lunaries. The following rare text touches upon a matter of interest in medieval natural philosophy, the so-called quaternities, a concept that is comparable to the Chinese five agents (wuxing 五行). In contrast to the system of five agents, 82  Chardonnens, 2007a, p. 379. 83  Ibid., p. 380. 84  For more verse formulas that list the Egyptian Hours alongside the Egyptian Days, see Cuissard, 1886; and Steele, 1919.

Western natural philosophy used interlocking groups of four properties, such as the four seasons, the four cardinal directions, the four elements (fire, earth, air, water), the four stages of life, the four qualities (hot, dry, moist, cold), the four humors (blood, phlegm, choler or yellow bile, melancholy or black bile), and the four complexions (sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, and melancholic).85 Some of the quaternities are famously given shape in the diagram thought to have been composed by Byrhtferth, the possible inventor of the twelve Egyptian Days (see plate 11). That these quaternities were relevant not only in natural philosophy and medicine but also in hemerology is demonstrated by the journey hemerology (called simply iornye in the manuscript source): If you would like to go to the parts of the east, go when the moon is in an airy sign, that is, in the west. If you would like to go to the west, go when the moon is in a fiery sign, that is to say, in the east. If you would like to go to the north, go when the moon is in a dry, south sign. If you would like to go to the south, go when the moon is in a watery, north sign.86 The quaternities are here included as the four directions of travel, the four elements associated with the signs of the zodiac, and the four positions for the moon. The text advises the practitioner to initiate a journey when the moon is in a zodiacal sign with properties that oppose those of the direction of travel, presumably to ward off any inauspicious qualities of the cardinal directions. For travel to the east, one would have to wait for the moon to be in an airy, west sign that countered the fiery east. The airy west was countered by a fiery, east sign, the watery north by a dry, south sign, and the dry south by a watery, north sign. The system of four triplicities (four groups of three zodiacal signs) elucidates the properties of the signs: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are hot and dry (fire), east, and masculine; Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn are cold and dry (earth), south, and feminine; Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are hot and moist (air), west, and masculine; and Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces are cold and moist (water), north, and feminine. Exploiting the properties of these four groups of three signs and observing the opposition between the signs and the direction of travel would enable one to travel safely. 85  For observations on the system of five agents in light of European hermetic traditions, see Kalinowski, 1991, p. 47. 86  Means, 1993, p. 204.

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Had the writer of the text known of apotropaic methods for safe travel, he might have advised the use of a ritual similar to that based on the “five conquests” (wusheng 五勝) in the second Zhoujiatai 周家臺 tomb 30 daybookrelated manuscript for “when (you) are in a hurry to travel and are not able to wait for a good day” (ZJTB.21). Based on the direction of travel, the method entails “overcoming” (yue 越) the agent associated with the direction by using the agent that conquers it in the five-agents conquest cycle: when traveling east, conquer east-Wood with Metal (which conquers Wood); when traveling south, conquer south-Fire with Water (which conquers Fire); and so forth. The related method in the Kongjiapo 孔家坡 tomb 8 daybook (KJP.12) instructs the traveler to carry materials that instantiate the conquering agent, such as a piece of iron when traveling east (Metal conquers Wood) and a vessel of water when traveling south (Water conquers Fire).87 The subject of medieval magic (and its intimate relation to Christianity) is beyond the scope of this chapter, but it should be noted that there is little evidence from medieval Europe of apotropaic rituals for warding off the inauspicious consequences of violating hemerological proscriptions. That said, the putative existence of free will ensured that predetermined inauspicious outcomes could be negated somehow, and medieval Christianity also allowed for divine intervention and the miraculous as escape routes. Lunaries Lunaries list avoidance days and good days for miscellaneous actions based on the lunar cycle. They make use of the synodic lunar cycle of twenty-nine days and twelve hours from new moon to new moon and should not be confused with related lunar hemerological practices such as the mansions of the moon and zodiacal lunaries.88 Lunaries are first attested in western European manuscripts in the eighth century and are thought to have been introduced through Byzantine Greek exemplars. There are two types of lunaries: topical lunaries and general lunaries. Topical lunaries list auspicious and in­ auspicious outcomes of specific actions and events. One 87  For the ZJTB.21 and KJP.12 methods, see pp. 117–18 in chap. 3 and p. 169 in chap. 4. 88  Chardonnens (2007a, pp. 397–98) defines four main categories of lunar prognostic genres: lunary, zodiacal lunary, mansions of the moon, and moonbook. See also Braekman, 1977; Braswell, 1978; Chardonnens, forthcoming; Craig, 1916, pp. xxxviii–xlii; DiTommaso, 2005, pp. 259–79, 402–46; 2006, 2008, 2010; Förster, 1925–26, 1944; Mercati, 1932; Means, 1993; Svenberg, 1936, 1939, 1963; Taavitsainen, 1987, 1988; Weißer, 1976, 1981, 1982; and Wistrand, 1942.

kind of topical lunary, known in German as a Tagwähllunar (day-selection lunary, or agenda lunary), discusses the outcome of miscellaneous activities such as trade, education of children, travel, marriage, agriculture, animal husbandry, and moving house. Other topical lunaries are restricted to a single type of event, such as the birth of a child, bloodletting, dreaming, and illness. General lunaries include the kinds of topical lunaries described above, plus information on lost items and fugitives. There are many hundreds of lunary texts in existence, but some kinds are more popular than others. Topical lunaries for dreams and illness and general lunaries have been transmitted in larger numbers than topical lunaries for birth and bloodletting. Agenda lunaries are rarest, perhaps because they lack the focus of the other topical lunaries and the comprehensiveness of general lunaries. More common than general lunaries in the early medieval period, topical lunaries tended to be distributed according to their subject matter, with illness and bloodletting lunaries present in the liturgical and computistical manuscripts that also include texts on the Egyptian Days; bloodletting lunaries close to liturgical calendars, which were likely to refer to the Dog Days and Egyptian Days; and agenda, birth, and dream lunaries in nontechnical manuscripts. No such thematic distribution took place in late medieval manuscripts, and any kind of lunary could appear in any type of manuscript, with a marked preference for general lunaries over topical lunaries. Topical lunaries are concise texts that provide little more than lists of predictions linked to the thirty days of the moon. The thirty days of the moon are listed as Luna .i. to Luna .xxx. (moon 1–30), or Luna 1 to Luna 30 in some late medieval manuscripts, after arabic numerals had been introduced alongside the more usual roman numerals (fig. 10.6). A typical bloodletting lunary, for instance, would just present a list of days of the moon together with the outcomes for bloodletting. The bloodletting lunary prefixed to a liturgical calendar in the eleventh-century manuscript London, British Library, Arundel 60, arranges the days and outcomes in a table with ruled columns (fig. 10.7). The entries for the first three and last three days read: “Moon 1: All day is good. Moon 2: It is not good. Moon 3: It is good from the third hour.… Moon 28: It is bad. Moon 29: It is good. Moon 30: It is not good.”89 All other types of topical lunaries, except for agenda lunaries, are similarly concise (see fig. 10.1). Agenda lunaries give predictions of miscellaneous activities and take up more room, as in the following example: “On the first day of the moon, go to the king and ask 89  Chardonnens, 2007a, p. 443.

398

Figure 10.6

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Dream lunary (second half of second column) in a German manuscript, fifteenth century. The use of the newer arabic instead of roman numerals (e.g., 29 and 30 instead of xxix and xxx in the penultimate line) is unusual for hemerologies even toward the end of the medieval period, despite the introduction of arabic numerals in tenth-century Europe. Erlangen, Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg, MS 673, folio 86v. By permission of the Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg.

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399

Figure 10.7 Bloodletting lunary in an English manuscript, eleventh century. The layout in the form of a table enables quick and effective retrieval of the appropriate prediction. London, British Library, Arundel 60, folio 1r. By permission of the British Library Board.

him what you want; he will give it to you. Go to him on the third hour of the day, or when you know that the sea will be full.”90 Birth lunaries, which give short predictions of the life and character of a newborn child, are as brief as bloodletting lunaries: “Moon 1: Whoever is born will be healthy. Moon 2: He will be average. Moon 3: He will be unhealthy.”91 Dream lunaries, which predict whether dreams come true, are equally concise: “Moon 1: Whatever you see will turn to joy. Moons 2 and 3: They will have an effect.”92 Illness lunaries predict someone’s chances of recovery upon falling ill: “Moon 1: He who falls ill will recover with difficulty. Moon 2: He will rise immediately. Moon

3: He will not recover.”93 The contents of topical lunaries are structured as brief sequential statements rather than running prose and could be presented as lists. Early medieval bloodletting lunaries, in particular, were sometimes laid out as tables, complete with frames (see fig. 10.7), in keeping with their prominent position on the first page of carefully designed liturgical manuscripts, immediately preceding the calendar. Topical lunaries laid out in tables would permit quick and accurate retrieval of information, in contrast to texts presented as running prose (for instance, compare the prose form in fig. 10.6 with the table in fig. 10.7).94 Topical lunaries could be arranged

90  Ibid., p. 424. 91  Ibid., p. 435. 92  Ibid., p. 454.

93  Ibid., p. 465. 94  For a study of the layout of early medieval mantic texts, see Chardonnens, 2016.

400 effectively side by side, allowing consultation either on one topic (in columns) or on one specific day of the moon (in rows), a design that sometimes occurred in manuscripts from the ninth to the twelfth century (see fig. 10.1). General lunaries are more comprehensive than topical lunaries. The first day of the moon might read, for instance, “Moon 1 is useful for doing all things. A newborn boy will be illustrious, shrewd, wise, learned, endangered by water. If he escapes, he will live long. A newborn girl will be unblemished, chaste, kind, radiant, pleasing to men, justly discriminating. In later life she will be bedridden for a long time. She will have a birth mark by her mouth or eyebrow. Whoever falls ill will languish for a long time. Whatever one dreams will be turned to joy; it means nothing bad, but rarely good. It is good all day to let blood.”95 This entry for the first day of the moon demonstrates that general lunaries incorporate the categories of topical lunaries, that is, the miscellaneous actions and events of the agenda lunary together with information on birth, illness, dreaming, and bloodletting. General lunaries are thought to have resulted from the process of compiling and expanding topical lunaries with the addition of new kinds of information. Whereas topical birth lunaries are concise and do not distinguish gender, for instance, the birth section of general lunaries differentiates according to gender and is more extensive, addressing life and character, major events and dangers, and the location of birthmarks. Another feature of general lunaries is the inclusion of information on lost items and fugitives. The general lunary quoted above, for instance, advises that items lost on the fifth day of the moon “will be found with difficulty” and people who run away on the fourth day of the moon “will be found immediately.”96 That said, the comprehensiveness of general lunaries is in evidence mainly at the beginning of the texts, with the length of the entries for the days of the moon dwindling progressively toward the thirtieth day of the moon, as the text in a fourteenth-century German manuscript demonstrates (fig. 10.8). Both topical and general lunaries employed authenticating strategies designed to counter religious denunciation. One such strategy is to attribute them to Daniel, a Jewish biblical prophet who is reported in the Old Testament to have been carried off to Babylon around 600 bce to be educated as a court adviser (see fig. 10.1). Daniel was known for interpreting signs, such as the dreams of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, and his

95  Chardonnens, 2007a, p. 405. 96  Ibid., p. 406.

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putative authorship of lunaries must have deflected religious disapproval. Another authenticating strategy is the addition of verses from the Old Testament book of Psalms. For instance, one dream lunary matches the sequence of the Psalms to the days, beginning from “Moon 1: Whatever you see will be turned to joy. ‘Beatus vir qui non abiit’ (Blessed is the man who hath not walked).”97 Verse 1 of Psalm 1 begins “Blessed is the man who hath not walked.” The second day of the moon in this dream lunary quotes the opening of verse 2 of Psalm 2, and so on through the subsequent days of the moon. A third strategy is to associate each day of the moon with a biblical figure, starting with the first people in creation—Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel—for days one through four. These three methods are likely to have been developed in response to normative attempts to denounce lunar hemerology. Mansions of the Moon The mansions of the moon are avoidance days and good days for miscellaneous actions based on the lunar cycle.98 This hemerological practice makes use of the sidereal lunar cycle of twenty-seven days and seven hours in which the moon returns to the same position against the fixed stars. The mansions, or houses, are the celestial markers—similar to the Chinese twenty-eight stellar lodges (xiu 宿)— that divide heaven into twenty-eight unequal parts, each mansion having a fixed star as a reference point. In hybrid forms of lunar hemerology, the mansions of the moon are converted to positions in the synodic lunar cycle used for lunaries, which leads to texts with twenty-nine or thirty predictions. The mansions of the moon are not measured against the twelve signs of the zodiac, as in zodiacal lunaries, but it was nonetheless convenient to express the position of the moon as being in a specific zodiacal sign. The celestial circle of 360 degrees was used for fixed stars and signs of the zodiac alike and was divided into twelve equal parts of 30 degrees each for the signs of the zodiac, providing a convenient system of reference. Thus, the first mansion of the moon might be said to last “from the beginning to the thirteenth degree of Aries,” the second “from the thirteenth degree to the twenty-eighth degree of Aries,” the third “from the twenty-eighth degree of Aries to the ninth degree of Taurus,” and so on.99 Like zodiacal lunaries, the prognostic genre of the mansions of the moon relied on medical, scientific,

97  Ibid., p. 454. 98  See the studies mentioned in note 88. See also Weinstock, 1949; and Yampolsky, 1950. 99  Means, 1993, p. 105.

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Figure 10.8

401

General lunary in a German manuscript, fourteenth century. The predictions for the days of the Moon (Luna …) get progressively shorter toward the end of the text. The left-hand page has predictions for days 8–14, and the right-hand page for days 15–30. Erlangen, Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg, MS 674, folios 17v–18r. By permission of the Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg.

philosophical, and astrological notions that were not yet in evidence in lunaries based on the synodic lunar cycle, which had been introduced into Europe in the eighth century. In describing the relationship between the mansions of the moon and their effects, Laurel Means observes as follows: Each lunar mansion is endowed with particular prime and principal qualities. These qualities mutate the air, which mutation in turn produces changes in other elements. For instance, when the moon passes through a mansion characterized by the quality moist (humidus), its own essential moist quality is augmented, producing rain or high tides. The precise nature of the movement of the moon also determines a judgment: it may be progressive (moving with the signs against the movement of the

firmament), rising (in its auge or elevation, and hence in its most influential movement), or falling (occasus and in its most harmful movement).100 The modus operandi of the mansions of the moon, then, is far more complex than that of lunaries. Lunaries assign intrinsic values to individual days of the moon, whereas the mansions of the moon assign intrinsic values to the combination of the moon and the associated stars, just as zodiacal lunaries evaluate the combination of the moon and the signs of the zodiac.101 100  Ibid., pp. 61–62. 101  For more information on the medical, scientific, philosophical, and astrological notions underlying late medieval luni-stellar hemerology, see the “Journey Hemerology” and “Zodiacal Lunaries” sections in this chapter.

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The mansions of the moon are similar to general lunaries and general zodiacal lunaries in that they designate avoidance days and good days for miscellaneous actions. To my knowledge, there are no topical mansions of the moon. The mansions of the moon advise on the usual actions, such as medication, agriculture, animal husbandry, travel, marriage, lost items and fugitives, imprisonment, and apparel and personal hygiene. The following passage concerns the moon in the first mansion: When the moon is in this mansion, it is good to take medication, put animals out to pasture, initiate a journey, except in the second hour of the day. Do not marry as long as the moon is in this mansion, or in the sign of Aries. Do not take a servant, because he will be a rogue, disobedient, or a fugitive. Buy domestic animals. Ride or make your journey by water if you will, because you will have a good voyage. Do not acquaint yourself with new people, because it will not last. He that is captured will be sorely imprisoned. Make weapons. Plant trees. Cut your hair and your nails. Make clothes and wear them. But whatever you do, make sure that the moon is free from unfortunate aspects with evil planets.102 These activities are much more varied than those addressed in general lunaries, but the range is similar to that of zodiacal lunaries. This makes sense because many of these activities are based on the astrological notions that underlie both the mansions of the moon and zodiacal lunaries but were not applied to lunaries, such as the properties and interactions of the stars and the planets. The mansions of the moon were introduced into western Europe in the late medieval period along with other forms of luni-stellar hemerology, such as zodiacal lunaries. References to the mansions of the moon in late medieval literature show that this type of hemerology was widely known in late medieval Europe, though the number of extant text witnesses is smaller than that of lunaries and zodiacal lunaries. Miraculous Birthdays Miraculous birthdays are good days for being born based on the assignment of three days per year. There are several types of birth prognostics, but not all are hemerological; however, the miraculous birthdays are manifestly hemerological because the three days in question have intrinsically auspicious qualities. Other birth prognostics predict 102  Means, 1993, p. 105.

the gender of an unborn child, or the life and character of a child based on the time of birth.103 Texts on the miraculous birthdays are extremely concise and to the point: “It is declared that there are three days and nights in every year on which no women are born, and the body of a man who is born on these days will never decay, but it will be preserved until Judgment Day. They are the last day of December and the first two days of January.”104 Men born on the three miraculous birthdays will lead the same lives as other people, but the quality of the three days is such that their bodies are immune to decay after death. For Christians, the advantages would be obvious. Since everyone was thought to be corporeally resurrected on Judgment Day, having an intact body would be beneficial. Aside from a rare variant that identifies March 27, August 13, and January 30 as miraculous birthdays, the three days are in sequence and are liminal moments in time, bridging the transition from one year to the next. This may be the reason why these days specifically are miraculous: est mirabile misterium (it is a miraculous mystery), in the words of one of the texts.105 Around a hundred texts on the miraculous days might survive, but due to their brevity—they take up no more than a few lines in manuscripts that may have hundreds of leaves— they often go unnoticed. Because the three miraculous birthdays correspond numerically to the three Egyptian Days, they may often be found clustered with the three Egyptian Days. Moonbooks Moonbooks list avoidance days and good days for medication and bloodletting based on the lunar cycle. They should not be confused with lunaries or other lunar hemerological practices.106 Moonbooks are transmitted along with texts on the Dog Days and the twenty-four Egyptian Days and are unattested on their own. The number of surviving moonbooks is small. Like Dog Days and Egyptian Days, moonbooks regulate medical procedures, but in contrast to these solar hemerologies, moonbooks also assign auspicious days, and they make use of the synodic lunar cycle: “At which time a vein is to be opened. The fourth moon is good, and the fourteenth, and the twenty-fourth. On the fifth moon, the tenth, the fifteenth, the twentieth, the twenty-fifth, or the thirtieth, it is very

103  These birth prognostics are discussed in Chardonnens, 2007a, pp. 223–44. 104  Ibid., p. 234. 105  Ibid. 106  Ibid., pp. 397–98.

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dangerous to accept a potion or to let blood according to the sayings of doctors of old.”107 The text demonstrates that medication and bloodletting are good on any day of the moon with a four in it but are to be avoided on any day of the moon with a five or multiples of five in it. Being lunar and assigning auspicious days, moonbooks are complementary to Dog Days and Egyptian Days, which make use of the stellar and solar cycles, but clashes must have been unavoidable, for instance, when a good lunar day for bloodletting fell within the Dog Days or on an Egyptian Day. The same applies to the use of bloodletting lunaries alongside texts on the Dog Days and Egyptian Days. There is no record of how such clashes were resolved, and it is not known whether lunar hemerology was preferred over solar hemerology or auspicious qualities over inauspicious qualities. Bloodletting was regulated by lunar cycles through both hemerology and natural philosophy, but the solar-based twenty-four Egyptian Days were the most popular method of regulating bloodletting. Perilous Days Perilous days are avoidance days for miscellaneous actions based on the solar cycle.108 This type of solar hemerology attributes inauspicious outcomes to a varying number of days per year, ranging from as few as thirty to as many as forty-four, distributed across the months arbitrarily (from one to seven days per month). Some studies distinguish between the forty-four days and the approximately thirty days as two separate perilous-days traditions, the latter of which are sometimes called Pariser Tage (Parisian Days) in German research. Ironically, French studies call these same days Jours égyptiens allemands (German Egyptian Days). Despite the somewhat unstable number of days and the possibility of more than one text tradition, the perilous days all serve to warn against inauspicious outcomes related to a long list of occurrences, including falling ill, being wounded, getting married, giving birth, traveling, trading, planting, and initiating something new. Uniquely, the texts explicitly state that none of these situations or actions will end well: those who fall ill will not recover, those who travel will not come back, and marriage will lead to the departure of the spouse or to unhappiness, and so forth.109 The range of actions to be avoided is more extensive than that of the Egyptian Days, and there is a manifestly nonmedical side to the perilous days. Another 107  Ibid., p. 284. 108  See Cuissard, 1886, pp. 19–20, 73–75; Hirsh, 1975, 1997; Keil, 1957, pp. 39–45; Meyer, 1866, pp. 47–51; 1883, pp. 93–95; Reynaert, 2004; and Södergård, 1954. 109  Meyer, 1866, p. 49.

403 distinction between these two types of solar hemerologies is that texts on the Egyptian Days merely tell the practitioner to avoid certain activities, whereas texts on the perilous days explain precisely what will happen if the advice is not heeded. Both perilous days and Egyptian Days were sometimes integrated into hygienic and dietary calendars.110 The perilous days are first attested in the thirteenth century and survive in large numbers, mostly in European vernacular languages. Unlucky Days Unlucky days are avoidance days for initiating something new based on the lunar cycle. There are two unlucky days per month, and “whatever is begun on these days will never be finished” (see fig. 10.5).111 There are as many unlucky days as Egyptian Days, and it has been argued that the unlucky days were modeled on the twenty-four Egyptian Days. The unlucky days are, however, distributed in a synodic lunar cycle, so they fall on different calendar dates annually. The days are as follows: the third and fourth day of the moon in January, the fifth and seventh in February, the sixth and seventh in March, the fifth and eighth in April, the eighth and ninth in May, the fifth and twenty-seventh in June, the third and thirteenth in July, the eighth and thirteenth in August, the fifth and ninth in September, the fifth and fifteenth in October, the seventh and ninth in November, and the third and thirteenth in December. In contrast to the twenty-four Egyptian Days, the unlucky days are distributed much more unevenly across the month, with a preference for the first half of the lunar cycle, and with the two days of the moon per month closer together than the two Egyptian Days per month. Texts on the unlucky days are first attested in the eleventh century and survive in small numbers, mostly in European vernacular languages. Zodiacal Lunaries Zodiacal lunaries list avoidance days and good days for miscellaneous actions based on the lunar cycle.112 They make use of the sidereal lunar cycle of twenty-seven days and seven hours in which the moon returns to the same position against the fixed stars. For convenience, 110  See Mooney, 1994; and Stuart, 1979. 111  Chardonnens, 2007a, p. 488. A rare variant of the unlucky days records thirty days of the moon, with six months having three unlucky days instead of two. These unlucky days, which bear some resemblance to the perilous days, are avoidance days for miscellaneous actions (see Meyer, 1866, p. 50). 112  See the studies mentioned in note 88. See also Mooney, 1984; and Taavitsainen, 1994.

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the moon is thought to spend about two and a half days in each of the twelve signs of the zodiac that divide the celestial circle of 360 degrees into twelve equal parts of 30 degrees: Aries (the first sign, visible at the vernal equinox), Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.113 Zodiacal lunaries, therefore, are divided into twelve sections, one for each zodiacal sign the moon passes through. Like the rationale behind the mansions of the moon, the theory behind zodiacal lunaries is far more complex than that of lunaries. Lunaries assign intrinsic values to individual days of the moon, whereas zodiacal lunaries assign intrinsic values to the combination of the moon and signs of the zodiac. Irma Taavitsainen describes the distinctive characteristics of zodiacal lunaries as follows: The signs had standard descriptions in medieval astrology. They were divided into movable, common, and stable; feminine and masculine; cold and hot. The four elements were attributed to them, and by correspondences the system encompassed everything. These qualities were enforced when the moon entered the sign in question. Movable signs were good for things that one could accomplish soon, i.e., that could be completed when the moon was in the same sign, or for things that were classified as “movable.” Thus the time was appropriate for trading, setting on a journey, sowing seeds, courting women, and so on, but one was advised not to undertake anything that should remain stable and last long, such as matrimony, building, or planting trees. They belonged to stableness and should be done when the moon was in a stable sign. Some conclusions were even more straightforward: the signs of earth were appropriate for farm work, and the influence of the watery signs was augmented by the moon, so that the time was then appropriate for building watermills and digging wells. Although the moon increased the moist effect, it was not opposed to contrary signs. The signs of fire were good for all work that had something to do with this element, such as melting metals, making bells and guns, and building furnaces. Several predictions in zodiacal lunaries derive directly from the above descriptions, but for a more profound knowledge one had to master the implications of the planets, some of which were derived from classical mythology. The 113  Astronomically, the signs of the zodiac divide heaven into twelve unequal parts (like the twenty-eight mansions of the moon), but with zodiacal lunaries, each sign is thought to occupy an equal stretch of 30 degrees.

planets attributed to Aries were Mars and the sun; thus the time was favorable for the beginning of war and for approaching people of high rank. The medical sections also have an explicit scientific basis. The body was divided into twelve parts, each of which was ruled by a zodiacal sign. The basic assumption was that the moon had a negative influence on the part of the body in whose sign it was. Thus people were advised to abstain from phlebotomy, medical treatment, or operating on that particular part. The order was from head to foot, as in medieval treatises of medicine in general.114 Zodiacal lunaries, then, were much more comprehensive than lunaries, because they brought together a range of concepts that intersected in intricate ways: astrological theory about the properties of signs of the zodiac and the planets, medical theory about the complexions and the humors, and ideas from natural philosophy.115 Along with a system of correspondences between the universe (macrocosm) and the human body and mind (microcosm), these theories and ideas were linked to the moon’s passage through the zodiac, constructing a more sophisticated hemerological method than that of lunaries. Zodiacal lunaries vary in complexity. Texts that focus on single actions are comparable to topical lunaries. Medical applications, particularly with regard to bloodletting, feature in both topical lunaries and topical zodiacal lunaries. From a zodiacal perspective, bloodletting was to be avoided in that part of the body governed by the zodiacal sign that the moon was in. Such medical zodiacal lunaries were sometimes accompanied by a so-called zodiac man, an image of the distribution of the signs of the zodiac across the human body, from Aries in the head to Pisces in the feet, as in the fifteenth-century folded almanac London, British Library, Sloane 2250 (fig. 10.9). The action of travel is not singled out in topical lunaries but is in evidence in topical zodiacal lunaries toward the end of the medieval period: “And if you find the moon in Aries, you will fulfil your journey soon and in good order. If it is in Taurus, you will suffer harm.”116 Another action not included in topical lunaries is the outcome of an imprisonment: “Whoever is imprisoned when the moon is in Aries will easily get out. The moon being in Taurus, it will

114  Taavitsainen, 1994, pp. 289–90. 115  For more information on the concept of the quaternities underlying medieval natural philosophy, see the “Journey Hemerology” section in this chapter. 116  Means, 1993, p. 201.

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Figure 10.9

Zodiac man in an English folded almanac, fifteenth century. The twelve signs of the zodiac were thought to rule various parts of the body, from Aries in the head to Pisces in the feet. Medical procedures such as bloodletting were to be avoided in the part of the body ruled by the sign that the moon was in at the time. London, British Library, Sloane 2250, folio 12r. By permission of the British Library Board.

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406 be long before he is released.”117 The reason information on travel and imprisonment was not included in topical lunaries is unclear, but the heavy involvement of zodiacal lunaries with judicial astrology, in which such issues did play a large role, may explain why topical zodiacal lunaries differ from topical lunaries. The number of topical zodiacal lunaries is, however, negligible in comparison to general zodiacal lunaries, which address miscellaneous actions. Some general zodiacal lunaries were so brief and simple that practitioners would not have to be familiar with the underlying theories in order to make sense of them, but others are so extensive that they rely on knowledge from various hemerological and mantic traditions. An extensive zodiacal lunary from late medieval England devotes a whole page to each zodiacal sign. With the moon in Leo, a “fferme and stabyll” (firm and stable) sign, the time is suitable for long-term undertakings, for instance.118 The text starts to list the actions to be avoided at this time, indicated by the word “bad” in the margin. Internal medicine and treatment of the heart and stomach are dangerous, green clothing is dangerous to make and wear, long journeys are dangerous, plotting against one’s enemies is to be avoided, and anything that needs to end soon should not be initiated at this point. The text then proceeds to list a range of auspicious activities, indicated by the word “good” in the margin. It is good to engage in actions that are suitable to the stable (i.e., long-term) nature of Leo, such as marriage, making foundations for castles, accepting a great office, or undertaking anything that is unlikely to change soon. It is a good time to speak with kings and princes, to cast metal for bells and guns, to do things that are related to fire (in keeping with the fiery element of Leo, which is a hot and dry sign), and to buy green clothing. After this part, the text seems to fall back on traditional lunary topics: the lives and characters of male and female children, the recovery of lost items and fugitives, and the auspicious outcome of an illness. The text concludes with a kind of weather prognostic: if it thunders in Leo, there will be strife between the king and his subjects, a good but small harvest, many people will experience illness of the eyes, and a great prince will die, “as astrologans provythe” (as astrologers declare).119 This general zodiacal lunary, in short, brings together ideas from at least three different hemerological and mantic practices. The beginning is like most zodiacal lunaries, but the middle part resembles a general lunary, while the ending seems a combination of 117  Ibid., p. 209. 118  Ibid., p. 228. 119  Ibid., p. 230.

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a thunder prognostic and a Revelatio Esdrae. The newer tradition of general zodiacal lunaries is, therefore, more synthetic than the older tradition of general lunaries. Zodiacal lunaries not only incorporated knowledge from medical science, natural philosophy, and astrology but also adapted information from various other mantic techniques, some non-hemerological. Zodiacal lunaries, both topical and general, were introduced in the twelfth century. They survive in smaller numbers than lunaries, perhaps because lunaries had been in circulation in western Europe for about three centuries by then. The late introduction of zodiacal lunaries meant that this form of hemerology could not derive optimum benefit from the hospitable reception lunaries had enjoyed in the learned monastic milieus of early medieval Europe. That said, zodiacal lunaries were in great demand by all kinds of professionals, such as diviners, astrologers, and physicians, and were popular until well into the seventeenth century. Conclusion Surviving in great variety in several thousand manuscripts, hemerology figured prominently among the many forms of divination known in medieval Europe. The study and use of hemerology fitted in with other practices that were essential to daily life, such as medicine and religious observance, but in contrast to these practices, hemerology offered a measure of certainty. The attribution of intrinsically auspicious or inauspicious qualities to units of time enabled medieval people to exert control over their lives by arranging their actions in such a way as to minimize risk in the immediate future, a segment of time that mattered immensely but was not part of the eternal future promised by Christianity. The introduction of hemerology in early medieval Europe coincided with efforts to consolidate skills that were greatly valued by Christians, such as calendrical science. The importance of calendrical science for correct religious observance, and the consequent value placed on the study of time, facilitated the transmission of hemerology in the scientific manuscripts that were being produced in monasteries all over western Europe. Even so, hemerology and the dominant belief system in much of Europe did not coexist in harmony. On grounds less clear to us than to medieval people, a distinction was made between the study of time for commemorative purposes and for superstitious motives. The latter employed the intrinsic qualities of time, not to remind people of important past events, but to attempt to foresee the future. Hemerology, therefore, did not sit well with the religious

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leaders who outlined church doctrine because it was not commemorative, nor was it part of medieval natural philosophy. This does not mean, however, that hemerology was widely condemned, as seen in the responses to hemerological practices by scholastic writers of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Unlike Church Fathers and legislators, these scholars were not out to discredit hemerology. Rather, they tried to grasp why it existed in the first place, and in doing so, they inadvertently drew specific forms of hemerology such as the Egyptian Days into the realm of Christian commemorative observance. Yet another approach to hemerology was that of the physicians, diviners, and astrologers who stood to gain from acceptance of hemerology as a valid part of natural philosophy.

407 The author of The Wise Book of Philosophy and Astronomy, for instance, explained that intrinsically auspicious or inauspicious values are natural to all parts of creation. If the heavenly bodies that mark the passage of time have an intrinsic value, then time itself may reasonably be expected to be auspicious or inauspicious as well. Hemerology, in short, was regarded alternatively as a form of superstition, an act of commemoration, or a kind of natural philosophy. Whatever the agendas of the various groups in medieval society who denounced, studied, or practiced hemerology, however, the large number of surviving text witnesses and the great variety of hemerological practices suggest that hemerology fulfilled an urgent need in the lives of medieval Europeans.

CHAPTER 11

Babylonian Hemerologies and Menologies Alasdair Livingstone The hemerologies and menologies form distinct categories within the vast corpus of Sumerian and Babylonian scholastic texts that have come down to us in the form of cuneiform tablets. This chapter is an overview of both categories. The hemerologies, available in my Hemerologies of Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars, are presented in excerpt form, and the menologies, which comprise a much smaller number of texts, are presented in full, given that some of the material is unpublished and most of the rest is available only in editions and translations that are long out of date.1 Typologically, the distinguishing feature of the hemerologies is that they go through the days of each month, declaring them to be either favorable or unfavorable in general or more often advising or forbidding certain activities on a particular day and possibly warning of the consequences of ignoring this advice. The menologies form a small but distinct group of texts and follow a pattern broadly comparable to Hesiod’s Works and Days, though with much heavier cultic content. For each month, information is given relating to astronomical, religious, social, and other themes such as the expected appearance of a particular migratory bird. References to the term “hemerology” in this chapter reflect the greater prominence of the hemerologies among the texts available to us but may be considered to include the menologies as well. All the editions and translations of Babylonian texts are my own.

Research Background

To begin, this section offers some general explanation of the material as it is confronted by modern scholarship, as well as the intellectual context of these texts in ancient times.2 Beyond the generation of scribes who wrote the last cuneiform tablets shortly after the birth of Christ, knowledge of the Sumerian and Babylonian languages and the cuneiform script disappeared and remained lost until the epic chain of decipherments of the Victorian era. During the century and a half since the decipherments, the material available has increased exponentially as a result of both controlled and increasingly scientific exca1  For the edited hemerologies, including many unpublished texts, and an entirely new classification, see Livingstone, 2013. 2  For an account of these matters, see Oppenheim, 1977, pp. 228–87. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004349315_013

vations across Western Asia conducted by museums and other academic organizations and the activities of illicit excavators who have flooded the international art markets with tablets and other objects over many decades. The context of research on cuneiform tablets may be summarized in one word: chaos. The modern scholar who determines to produce a text edition of a genre of these texts must first assemble the corpus of relevant material. This process may be described in two words: muddle through. Ignoring the intractable problem of private collections of cuneiform tablets that may or may not have been cataloged or published by scholars or made public in some other way, such as photographs in catalogs of auction houses, the difficulties are considerable, even at this early stage before the real work has begun. The scholar will need to comb through the series of cuneiform texts that have been published in autograph copies by museums that hold collections of cuneiform tablets, as well as the considerable range of academic journals specializing in Assyriology that regularly publish individual tablets or groups of tablets. Apart from published material, it will also be necessary to search out unpublished material in the collections of these museums, whose catalogs, when they exist, are not easy to use. Then there are the archaeologists. Every summer, several dozen archaeological excavations are carried out in countries that were once the lands where the civilizations that wrote in cuneiform existed, many of which lead to the annual discovery of new written material. So the would-be editor of cuneiform texts is also threatened by the possibility that the corpus will increase. This happened most recently with hemerologies as a result of salvage excavations at Emar, presentday Tell Meskene.3 Once the corpus has been established, the scholar must edit any unpublished text. He or she may also find that published editions of some texts are indifferent in quality and that new editions are needed to bring them up to date in terms of modern standards of philology. The major lexical tool for Assyrian and Babylonian, the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, a project that spanned more than half a century, was completed only in 2010. There have been constant advances in our understanding of the language itself: the Babylonian perfect tense was not recognized until the 3  See Margueron, 1993–97; and Rutz, 2013.

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Map 11.1 Major discovery sites for Sumerian and Babylonian textual materials.

1950s. Sumerian grammar and lexicon are both subjects of ongoing research. Further, it is often necessary to collate a published copy or edition of a tablet against the original tablet by performing an autopsy in a museum. By means of all these processes, the scholar may eventually arrive at an edition of the text in which the cuneiform manuscript is represented by photographs or an autograph copy, transliteration of the text into the Latin script according to a conventional method, and translation and commentary. This lengthy and tortuous process is Assyriology. These difficulties explain why many important Sumerian and Babylonian texts remain without usable editions, and this has, until recently, been the case with the hemerologies. Textual Context The hemerologies constitute one of a large number of text genres that represent different aspects of the religious beliefs and occult practices of the Babylonians.4 Written in the Babylonian language, and rarely in bilingual format with a Sumerian translation, they belong to a tradition that can be traced back to the Old Babylonian period in the early second millennium bce. A process of canonization occurred in the Kassite period in the later part of the 4  For an overview, see Reiner, 1991.

same millennium (see table 11.1), which resulted in the creation and emergence of textual material arranged in sequences of numbered tablets. The Babylonian scholastic literature, including the hemerologies, is found in this form in libraries in both Assyria and Babylonia in the first millennium bce. In Assyria, most of the library material clusters around 700 bce, the most important libraries being the capital city libraries of Aššur, Kalhu, and Nineveh and the provincial scribal school library at Huzirina, present-day Sultantepe (map 11.1). Of these, by far the most important library was that assembled by the Neo-Assyrian king Aššurbanipal (668–631 bce) at Nineveh and represented today by some twenty-two thousand tablets and fragments now in the British Museum. The importance of these tablets lies in the fact that Aššurbanipal was determined to have every facet of the ancient Mesopotamian culture represented in his library, including literature, mythology, texts pertaining to divination, law, mathematics, science, and much else, including the category of broadly religious texts to which the hemerologies belong.5 The canonization achieved by the Kassite scholars facilitates the work of the modern scholar-editor 5  For an argument that this interest in all types of literary and scholastic text can be associated with Aššurbanipal’s claims to literacy, see Livingstone, 2007a.

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Table 11.1 Chronology of Sumerian and Babylonian literature

Historical overview

Literature

Jemdet Nasr Period (ca. 3100–2900 bce) Early Dynastic Period (ca. 2900– 2334 bce) Old Akkadian Period (2334– 2113 bce) Ur III Period (2112–2004 bce) Old Babylonian Period (2003– 1595 bce)

Invention of writing and earliest cuneiform tablets.

Middle Babylonian Period (ca. 1595–1000 bce)

Neo-Assyrian Empire (ca. 900– 612 bce)

Neo-Babylonian Empire (625–539 bce) Persian Period (538–331 bce) Achaemenid dynasty (550–330 bce) Hellenistic Period (330–164 bce) Seleucid dynasty (305–164 bce) Parthian Period (ca. 160 bce –224 ce)

ca. 2800 bce: Gilgameš, king of Uruk 2334–2279 bce: Sargon of Akkad

1792–1750 bce: Hammurabi, king of Babylon

ca. 1595–1158 bce: Kassite dynasty in Babylonia ca. 1300 bce: Hattuša, Emar and Ugarit 668–631 bce: Aššurbanipal, king of Assyria

604–562 bce: Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon 331 bce: Battle of Gaugamela

330–323 bce: Alexander the Great, king of Babylon

because the numbered tablets for each series begin and end with the same line. The library tablets from the first millennium bce also frequently include colophons. These supply the incipit, or first line, of the next tablet in the series if it is not the last one, as well as other information, such as the name, patrimony, and ancestry of the scribe, and sometimes the date by regnal year.6 Cultic and Magical Background and Context The canon of literature and the scholastic texts that emerged in the Kassite period provide much of the context 6  See Hunger, 1968.

Earliest Sumerian literature and historical documents. Akkadian as language of empire; Akkadian royal inscriptions. Sumerian revival. Decline of Sumerian as a spoken language; scribal schools; abundant literature in Akkadian and Sumerian, and beginnings of the hemerological and menological traditions. Redaction of cuneiform literature and the earliest hemerologies around 1400 bce; formation of a fixed canon including the hemerologies. Scholarly libraries at Aššur and Kalhu and scribalschool library at Huzirina, all with rich holdings of hemerological texts; Aššurbanipal’s library project at Nineveh. Late Babylonian libraries with hemerological material. Babylonian substantially replaced by Aramaic as the spoken language.

Last cuneiform tablets.

in which the hemerologies existed. The immediate environment is supplied by a group of some thirty ritual and incantation series containing a miscellany of prayers, incantations, and ritual actions, often specified in considerable detail.7 The typical length of these texts is seven or eight tablets—these are tablets as defined by the Kassite scribes in their process of canonization—each with about 120 lines, although some are longer or shorter. Each had 7  An overview is provided by Sallaberger (2006–8). For comprehensive presentation of Assyrian ritual, see Menzel 1981a, 1981b; however, Babylonian ritual has been neglected, so one still has recourse to the text edition by Thureau-Dangin (1921).

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a specific purpose. For instance, “Entering the Palace” is a form of psychiatric therapy that boosts a man’s confidence if he is going to be in contact with the king or other palace authority. In “Marduk’s Address,” the god Marduk does just that, verbally taking on demons that might molest a human being. The series “Lamaštu Demoness” is designed to protect women and babies, who were believed to be particularly in danger from her. “Burning” (Šurpu) and “Incineration” (Maqlû) magically purified by fire but also released evil by means of such magical acts as untying a knot or peeling an onion. There were also rituals for the gods, and one of the best known is the New Year’s ritual that took place over several days, at least in Babylon in the Late Babylonian period. A new statue of a deity had to be conceptually brought to life, and this could be accomplished through the “Opening of the Mouth” ceremony. These matters remained important even after death, and there was a widespread cult for the shades of the ancestors, which included offerings of food and beer during that dangerous time at the end of the month when the moon was waning. They typically were buried under the houses they had lived in and were sometimes supplied with beer through tubes in the floor at the end of each month. All these texts not only provided the background of occult practices against which the hemerologies existed but also contributed material to the hemerologies, though not usually by direct citation. Religious Context The hemerologies burgeoned from the broad background of Mesopotamian religion, which involved the belief in a large and varied pantheon of gods associated with or even responsible for the successful functioning of the world that the Mesopotamians lived in and observed around them, in both its natural and its human aspects.8 The ­origins of this pantheon are lost in prehistory, but a number of distinctive features are known. Each of the most important deities, both male and female, was associated with one of the major cities where his or her principal cult center was located. This center was represented by a temple and sometimes also a temple tower. The temples were populated by a series of other deities whose roles very much paralleled those found in the court of a king. Many temples had great wealth and owned lands, which 8  The account of almost all facets of Babylonian religion given in three large volumes by Jastrow (1905, 1912) is now outdated in many respects but has not been replaced by any other comprehensive account. At best one can refer to Oppenheim, 1977, pp. 171–287, in which the opening section is discouragingly titled “Why a ‘Mesopotamian Religion’ Should Not Be Written.”

meant that they required vast numbers of staff in addition to the priests. Staffs were arranged hierarchically, with the chief administrators at the top with the priests and the slaves at the bottom. Mesopotamians believed that the world as they conceived of it would not function properly unless the gods were served and treated in the appropriate manner. The temple staff performed this function, which included prayer, gifts of objects of exquisite materials, and offerings of food.9 This background of religion and magic informs the hemerologies.10 In regard to personal religion, a Mesopotamian could initiate a process of supplication intended to bring about a desired outcome. This could include prayer and gifts directed to the statue or symbol of a particular deity in that deity’s shrine. Things could also go horribly wrong, and there were established procedures for remedying such a situation, some of which are contained in the hemerologies. A Mesopotamian would also have a personal god and a personal goddess.11

The Babylonian Cultic Calendar

The hemerologies were structured around a year made up of twelve ideal months, each of thirty days. Some hemerologies contain observances associated with the cultic calendar, which had two independent cycles, the annual solar cycle and a monthly lunar cycle that revolved within it. These two cycles were kept in step by means of a process of intercalation.12 The principal annual cultic events were the New Year’s festival, which usually took place over several days in the first month of the year; the sacred marriage in the third month; weeping for the dying vegetation god Dumuzi in the fourth month; rites of purification for the love and war goddess Ištar in the sixth month; and mourning for the ancestors in the tenth month. Other non-hemerological texts detail the specific activities connected to the observances, but the hemerologies contain allusions. The monthly cultic calendar involves festivals on most days of the month. At present, the earliest known cultic calendar is the “Cultic Calendar of TukultiNinurta I” from the late thirteenth century bce. During the first millennium bce, there was local variation but remarkably little change to the Babylonian monthly cultic calendar, which had the following pattern:

9  Livingstone, 1997a. 10  Livingstone, 1997b, 1999b. 11  Livingstone, 2013, pp. 258–60. 12  Cohen, 1993.

412 ud.1.kám šá d en.líl 1st day: of Enlil (city god of Nippur and head of the pantheon). ud.2.kám šá diš8-tár.meš 2nd day: of the goddesses. ud.3.kám nu-bat-tu šá damar.utu 3rd day: evening festival of Marduk (city god of Babylon). ud.4.kám e-še-šu šá dna-bi-um 4th day: sacred occasion of Nabû (son of Marduk and god of the scribal craft). ud.5.kám šá den.é.kur 5th day: of Bēl-ekurri (Lord of the Ekur, Enlil’s temple in Nippur). ud.6.kám šá diškur 6th day: of Adad (storm god). ud.7.kám nu-bat-tu šá damar.utu 7th day: evening festival of Marduk. ud.8.kám e-še-šu šá dna-bi-um 8th day: sacred occasion of Nabû. ud.9.kám šá dgu-la 9th day: of Gula (city goddess of Isin and goddess of medicine). ud.10.kám šá dpap.sukkal 10th day: of Papsukkal (messenger god of various deities). ud.11.kám ša-lam ma-zal-te šá dzar-pa-ni-tu4 11th day: greeting of the dais of Zarpanītu (spouse of Marduk). ud.12.kám na-da-an ninda šá dgu.la 12th day: bread donation of Gula. ud.13.kám šá d30 13th day: of Sîn (city god of Ur and moon god). ud.14.kám šá den.líl 14th day: of Enlil. ud.15.kám šá dnin.é.an.na 15th day: of Nineanna (Lady of Eanna, the “house of heaven” in Uruk). ud.16.kám nu-bat-tu šá damar.utu 16th day: evening festival of Marduk. ud.17.kám šá dnà 17th day: of Nabû. ud.18.kám šá d utu 18th day: of Šamaš (city god of Sippar and Larsa and sun god). ud.19.kám eb-bu-ú šá dgu.la 19th day: the wrath of Gula. ud.20.kám šá dutu 20th day: of Šamaš. ud.21.kám e-peš níg-šid šá d30 u šá dutu 21st day: accountancy of Sîn and Šamaš.

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ud.22.kám á-ki-tu šá dnin-é-kal-lim 22nd day: festival of Bēlet-ekalli (Lady of the Palace). ud.23.kám qu8-qa-nu šá den.líl 23rd day: guqqanû-festival of Enlil. ud.24.kám šu-du-ud 7 giš.ge6 šá dnin.maḫ 24th day: pulling out of the seven awnings of Ninmaḫ (Great Lady, mother goddess). ud.25.kám ša-da-ḫu šá dištar tin.tirki 25th day: procession of Ištar of Babylon (goddess of that city and of love and war). ud.26.kám na-du-u sig4 šá dnin.maḫ 26th day: placing of the (birthing) brick for Ninmaḫ (the birthing brick is a brick structure such as a woman might use in labor). ud.27.kám me-lul-tu šá dnergal 27th day: cultic games of Nergal (city god of Cutha and god of the underworld). ud.28.kám bu-bu-lu4 šá d30 28th day: new moon of Sîn. ud.29.kám šá d30 29th day: of Sîn. ud.30.kám šá da-nim 30th day: of Anu (city god of Uruk and heaven god).13

The Hemerologies

As indicated, a preoccupation with the favorability (or lack of it) of each day of the ideal year of twelve thirty-day months is central to the thought of all Babylonian hemerological texts. Within the framework of this calendar, hemerologies give guidance on almost all aspects of life by way of proscriptions or prohibitions. All the environments in which a Babylonian might find himself are represented: the house, the street, the marketplace, the fields, the steppe, and the river or with animals, both domestic and wild.14 The hemerologies also consider the various types and levels of authority that a Babylonian would come into contact with, such as the king, grandee, or boss. I classify the hemerologies in six series, assigning modern descriptive titles to five: the “Babylonian Almanac,” the “Offering Bread Hemerology,” the “Prostration Hemerology,” the “Hemerology for Nazimaruttaš,” the “Eclipse Hemerology,” and the hemerology with the ancient title Inbu bēl arḫi (Fruit, Lord of the Month). Additional hemerological materials are lists of lucky days, 13  Livingstone, 2013, pp. 249–57. The transliteration mostly follows the text of the “Cultic Calendar of Tukulti-Ninurta I,” with occasional reliance on other text witnesses. 14  For agriculture in hemerologies see Livingstone, 1999a.

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the bilingual hemerology for the first seven days of the seventh month, and texts on the therapeutic release of animals, a practice mentioned both in the hemerologies and in a genre of ritual texts. The lists of lucky days are well represented but are spun off from the “Babylonian Almanac” and are not included in this presentation of the hemerologies. I also exclude the bilingual hemerology for the first seven days of the seventh month, which is represented by only one broken exemplar. For the six main series and the therapeutic release of animals, this section provides selections in transliteration and translation along with explanations. “Babylonian Almanac” The “Babylonian Almanac”15 is attested chronologically from the middle of the second millennium bce down to the second half of the first millennium bce. It is the most widespread hemerology, with exemplars found in all the major cities of Mesopotamia and in Syria and Anatolia.16 The vocabulary of the “Babylonian Almanac” comprises a closed system with a total of 115 attested expressions, varying permutations of which are distributed over the ideal year of 360 days. The almanac addresses the following general subjects (each subject encompasses, on average, eight specific topics, examples of which are in parentheses): farming (taking over a field, animal birth), family and household affairs (anger among brothers, slave vanishes, silver missing), food (eating dates, being hungry, sometimes a consequence of marriage on the wrong day), health (feeling good, losing your libido), danger on journeys (crossing a river, being attacked by a lion), professional and business life (doing business, having a good name), politics at home and abroad (entering the palace, capturing a city), enemies (quick draw of a weapon, discord), law (injustice, initiating a case), sorrow (weeping, depression, beating the breast), deities and protective spirits (the god of the house is well disposed, the anger of a god is released), pieces of luck (finding something lost, a wish comes true), heavenly bodies (darkness of the sun), and miscellaneous (fire breaking out, a good sign, etc.). It is evident that most activities in the daily life of a Babylonian have been distilled into the almanac by its unknown compilers and arranged according to the ideal calendar with the added concept of auspiciousness attached to them. Moreover, this information has been arranged in an accessible manner; the whole text can be fitted onto a medium-size tablet with six thirty-line columns on either 15  Livingstone, 2013, pp. 5–82. 16  For hemerologies in Syria and Anatolia, see Livingstone, 2007b.

side (as evidenced by a number of text witnesses). One feature of the almanac is the calendrically correct placement of certain events and festivals in the text along with the hemerological statements for specific days. This approach played on human credulity: some of the text made sense, so people gave the rest the benefit of the doubt. The following examples present entries for three days and show the textual variants among the text witnesses of the “Babylonian Almanac.” Month II, day 6 Var1: dam tuku He should take a wife. Var2: dam.tuku šá.bi dùg.ga He should take a wife: he will be happy. Var3, Var4, Var5, Var6, Var7: dam.tuku libir.ra He should take a wife: he will grow old. Var8: še nu.sum ésag i-pe-ru-ur He should not disburse grain or the granary will disperse.17 The identical text occurs in five text witnesses, one is slightly different but with the same gist, one is an abbreviated version, and one is completely different in content. Month III, day 3 Var1: búr dingir ana lú Release: a god will be there for the man. Var2: še pu-šu-ur dingir lú.ra ù.ma du8.a Release grain: a god will make a goal attainable for the man. Var3: [še] búr.ra dingir lú.ra ana ḫul-šu du8.a Release [grain]: a god will release evil for the man.18 The object of the imperative verb “release” in the first variant is no doubt “grain,” as it is in variants in which the word is preserved. The variants have in common the idea of a god, possibly the man’s personal god, being there for the man and doing something for him. Month IV, day 3 Var1: mušen dab bar He should release a captive bird. Var2: še búr ma-gir Release grain: it is favorable. Var3: gu7 kar-ṣi 17  Livingstone, 2013, p. 17; for identification of the “Babylonian Almanac” text witnesses in this and the following examples, see ibid., pp. 9–11. 18  Ibid., p. 23.

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Backbiting. Var4: mušen dab.ba ḫé.en.bar.ra ù.ma du8.a He should release a captive bird: a goal will be attainable. Var5: mušen dab uš-še-er ḫul-šu ip-pa-ṭar-šu Release a captive bird: evil will be released for him.19 Three of the variants agree on releasing a bird, and two are different. Releasing captive birds and occasionally frogs was a form of therapy that boosted a man’s selfconfidence, and incantations and elaborate rituals dictate the correct way of doing it. The release was sometimes coupled with retail therapy, such as acquiring new clothes and getting a new hairdo.20 When considering the textual variants in all text witnesses of the “Babylonian Almanac,” we find that the minor variations most often express the same underlying message and advice, which suggests that a nonwritten tradition was textualized in varying ways in the manuscript texts that have come down to us. Perhaps material of this kind was elaborated over time by the unknown compilers, who attached specific expressions to the 360 days, albeit in slightly differing forms. The result was the “Babylonian Almanac,” which, despite the divergent aspects of its textual history, is manifestly one text.21 “Offering Bread Hemerology” The “Offering Bread Hemerology” is much less well attested than the “Babylonian Almanac,” but it is the longest, most varied in content, and most complex of the hemerologies.22 A core feature of the “Offering Bread Hemerology” is the information concerning the deities to whom a man should make a ritual offering of bread and on which days to do so. In the following example, text witnesses A and B are both seventh-century bce tablets from the city of Aššur, but the antiquity of the hemerology is demonstrated by fourteenth-century bce text witnesses from the Hittite capital Hattusha and the Syrian coastal city of Ugarit. Allowing for the time it took to disseminate the text from Babylonia, one could posit a composition date not later than the sixteenth century bce. The following transliteration and translation are for the first three days of the first month, Nisan. 19  Ibid., p. 27. 20  For further discussion of the significance of releasing animals and retail therapy, see “The Therapeutic Release of Animals” section in this chapter. 21  For further discussion of the textual formation of the “Babylonian Almanac,” see Livingstone, 2013, p. 8. 22  Ibid., pp. 103–59.

obverse col. i 1 A [Iiti]bára.zag.gar ud.1.kám šá d+en.líl (1) In the month of Nisan, on the 1st day, that of Enlil: 2 A [ud].ḫul.gál gi[g] na-qu-tu (2) An evil [day]. Anxiety for a sick man. 3 A ⸢lú⸣a.zu ana gig šu-su nu tùm (3) A physician should not reach out his hand to a sick man; 4 A dumu lúḫal dug4.ga nu gar (4) an extispicy priest should not draw up a report. 5 A ana dù áš nu na-ṭu (5) Unsuitable for the fulfillment of a wish. 6 A lugal ù idim 7 A e-⸢em⸣ dug4.ga dù še (6–7) King and official, whatever he says, are well disposed. 8 A ku6 ù ga.rašsar nu gu7 B ga.rašs]ar nu g[u7] 9 A níg.gig igi kimin túg-su dadag B k]imin túg-su dadag 10 A šà.bi dùg-áb kimin šuk-su B dùg]-áb kimin šuk-su 11 A ana dbe u dnin.líl B ] dbe u dnin.líl 12 A dutu u dnusku gar ma-ḫir dutu u dnusku gar ma-ḫir B (8–12) He should eat neither fish nor leek, or he will experience misfortune. Ditto. He should clean his garment: he will be happy. Ditto. He should place his offering bread for Enlil and Ninlil, for Šamaš and Nusku, and it will be acceptable. 13 A na.bi a-šá-re-du-tú du-ak B na.bi a-šá-re-du-tú du-ak (13) That man will attain the highest rank; 14 A dumu.níta dan-nu tuk B [du]mu dan-nu tuk (14) he will have a strong heir. 15 A Iud.2.kám šá d⸢iš8-tár.meš⸣ I⸢ud⸣.2.kám šá diš -tár.meš B 8 (15) The 2nd day, that of the goddesses: 16 A sila nu ⸢è⸣ [ B sila nu è ⟨ana⟩ di-ni7 u lúḫal 17 A [ B [nu] du nu še (16–17) He should not go out into the street; he should attend neither court decision nor divination. Unfavorable. 18 A [ B ⸢ku6 ga⸣.rašsar nu gu7 ge6 igi igi

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(18) He should eat neither fish nor leek, or he will experience darkness of demeanor. 19 A [ B (omits) (19) […] 20 A na.bi ⸢dùg-áb⸣ B [túg-su da]dag šà.bi dùg-áb (20) A: That man will be content. B: He should cle[an his garment]: he will be happy. 21 A I ud.3.kám nu-bat-tú šá dmes B nu-b]at-tú šá dmes (21) The 3rd day, that of the evening ceremony of Marduk: 22 A ⸢kimin⸣ dug4-su nu ⸢igi⸣ B -s]u nu igi (22) Ditto. His word will not be acceptable. 23 A [ga].⸢rašsar⸣ nu gu7 g[e6 igi igi] B ] gu7 ge6 igi igi (23) He should not eat leek, or he will experience darkness of demeanor. 24 A kimin dam tuk-ši na.bi B ] ⸢na.bi⸣ (24) Ditto. He should take a wife. That man 25 A ú-IGI.IGI-ma šà.bi dùg-áb B ú-IGI.IGI-ma [šà].bi dùg-áb (25) will grow old (?) and will be happy. 26 A [ki]min dam-su ana é-šú lu-še-ri-ib B [kimi]n dam(tablet: nin)-su ana é-šú lu-še-ri-ib (26) Ditto. He should let his wife enter his house: 27 A ⸢na⸣.bi ú-šal-bar-ma B ⸢na⸣.bi ú-šal-bar-ma (27) that man will grow old 28 A ⸢šà⸣.bi dùg-áb é-su si.sá B [šà].bi dùg-áb é-su si.sá (28) and will be happy. His household will be in order, 29 A ù šuk-su ana d3[0] B ⸢ù⸣ šuk-su ana d30 (29) and he should place his offering bread for Sîn 30 A u dutu gar-ma ma-ḫir B u dutu gar-ma ma-ḫir (30) and Šamaš, and it will be acceptable.23 23   Ibid., pp. 107–8; for identification of the “Offering Bread Hemerology” text witnesses, see p. 107. This and all subsequent examples from the hemerologies in this chapter modify the standard transliteration style by omitting the horizontal lines that indicate ruled lines of demarcation on the surface of the original tablets and placing the translation beneath the corresponding line or lines of text.

These entries well illustrate the collage-like nature of this hemerology. For each day, the first line introduces the day using the format of the Babylonian monthly cultic calendar. The juxtaposition of the physician and the extispicy priest in the entry for the first day is by no means unique to this day but recurs in the first month on the seventh, ninth, fourteenth, seventeenth, nineteenth, twenty-first, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, and thirtieth days. Extispicy—­observing the exta (internal organs) of a slaughtered lamb or goat—was a common means of divination in the second millennium and the most common means in the first millennium bce. The physician and extispicy priest were linked by their contact with blood in their respective professions. In light of the Fruit, Lord of the Month hemerology, in which the same juxtaposition of physician and priest recurs every month on the first, seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-eighth days (with only a few occurrences on the nineteenth day), we may speculate that these seven-day intervals marking the phases of the moon were associated with the blood of a woman’s menstrual cycle. In the “Offering Bread Hemerology,” the significance of additional occurrences on odd-numbered days in the first month—ninth, seventeenth, nineteenth, twenty-ninth—is not known. Also on the first day there is an apparent contradiction between the unsuitability of the day for the fulfillment of a wish and the statement that whatever a man says will meet with the complete agreement of the king or his officials. Such contradictions are characteristic of the irregularities and periodic lapses from the expected that are typical of the Babylonian hemerologies. Interdictions against eating food that causes a man’s breath to be offensive to a deity or deities are recorded for the first, second, and third days: fish and leek for the first and second days, and leek for the third day. In this connection, it is worth noting that according to the Babylonian Talmud, a rabbi with bad breath was not allowed to serve in the temple. The third day includes another common element of the Babylonian hemerologies, favorable and unfavorable days for marriage, expressed as the man allowing a woman to enter his house. “Prostration Hemerology” The unifying feature of the “Prostration Hemerology” is the specification of days on which a man should genuflect before a certain deity or deities.24 The hemerology also has a distinctive folkloristic flavor, including aspects of country life. The following examples give entries from the first (Nisan), second (Ayyar), eighth (Araḫsamna), and 24  Ibid., pp. 161–75.

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ninth (Kislim) months. Text witnesses B and C are school tablets from the provincial town of Sultantepe. 1 B [I ina iti]bára ud.4.kám ana d[ (1) [In] the month of Nisan on the 4th day [he should prostrate himself to] the god [… 2 B [I] ud.5.kám ana d[ (2) On the 5th day [he should prostrate himself] to the god [… 3 B I ud.13.kám ana dutu liš-ke[n (3) On the 13th day he should prostrate himself to Šamaš. [… 4 B I ud.20.kám ana d30 liš-ken [ (4) On the 20th the day he should prostrate himself to Sîn. [… 5 B I ina ⸢iti⸣gu4 ud.[x].kám ana d[en].ki ­liš-ken [ C ] x [x] ku6 C ] MUK téš-ma-a US x [ (5) In the month Ayyar on the [xth] day he should prostrate himself to Ea…. 6 B I ud.6.kám ana d30 liš-ken [ C [ud.x].kám ana 30 liš-ken ki.sè.ga ina é-šú lik-[ru-ub (6) On the 6th day he should prostrate himself to Sîn. He should dedicate a funerary offering in his house.25 Like C, text witness D is a school tablet from the library at Sultantepe. The other text witnesses are professionally written tablets from the Aššurbanipal libraries. 29

C [I ina i]tiapin ud.3.kám ana dingir.meš níg. ba lik-ru-[ub I ina itiapin ud.3.kám ana 30 níg.ba lik-ru D  ub ana d15 garza l[iš-lim]/ li-pit šuII-šú si.sá I ina itiapin ud.3.kám ana 30níg.ba lik-ru F  ub ana d15 garza l[iš-lim] / li-pit šu-šú si.sá (29) In the month of Araḫsamnu on the 3rd day he should dedicate an offering to the gods. 30 C [ud.2]8.kám ⟨ana⟩ 30 uskarux ana 20 aš.me guškin [lik-ru-ub I ud.26.kám ana 30 uskaru ana 20 aš.me D  x guškin lik-ru-u[b] I ud.26.kám [ E I ud.28.kám ana 30 uskaru ana 20 aš.me F  x guškin lik-ru-ub

25  Ibid., p. 162; for identification of the “Prostration Hemerology” text witnesses in this and the following example, see p. 161.

31 C ] ṭe-em dingir u [lugal D máš da-ri tuk-ši ṭe-em dingir u lugal gar x E ] ṭe-em [ F máš da-ri tuk ṭe-em dingir u lu[gal (30–31) On the 28th (var. 26th) day he should dedicate a crescent to Sîn and a sun disk to Šamaš: He will have lasting divination. The mood of god and king [… 32 C ud.19.kám ina še-ri ana dba-ú [ I ud.29.kám ina še-rì ana dba-ú ina an.bar D  7 ana dingir.maḫ I ud.29.kám [ E I ud.19.kám ina še-rì ana dba-ú ina an.bar F  7 ana dingir.maḫ 33 C ina kin.sig! ana dim ina tam!-ḫ[a-(a)-ti D  ina kin.sig!? ana dim ina tam-ḫa-a-ti ana d15 lik-ru-ub amaš-šú dagal-iš E ] ina tam-ḫa-[ F  ina kin.sig ana dim ina tam-ḫa-a-ti ana d15 lik-ru-ub amaš-šú dagal-iš (32–33) On the 19th (var. 29th) day he should pray in the morning to Ba’u, at midday to Bēlet-ilī, in the evening to Adad, at nightfall to Ištar: his herds will increase. 34 C ud.20.kám ana 20 u dnin.ur[ta I ud.20.kám ana dutu u dnin.urta níg.ba D  lik-ru-ub ina qini(KIN)-šú ú-lab-bar še u kù.babbar tuk-ši F ⸢I ud.20.kám⸣ ana dutu u dnin.urta níg.ba lik-ru-ub ina qini(KIN)-šu ú-lab-bar še u kù.babbar tuk-ši (34) On the 20th day he should dedicate an offering to Sîn and Ninurta: he will grow old among his kin. He will have barley and silver. 35 B ⸢I ina itigan ud.1.kám x x⸣ [ [I]itigan ud.1.kám [ C I ina itigan ud.1.kám ana igi e-reb bu-lì ana D  igi bu-lì a.meš bal-qí I ina itigan ud.1.kám ina igi e-reb bu-lì ana F  igi bu-lì a.meš bal-qí 36 C ] ⸢lú⸣gub.ba x [ d D ana gìr liš-ken lúgub.ba liš-ši-iq F ⸢ana dgìr liš-ken⸣ lúgub.ba liš-⸢ši-iq⸣ 37 D iš-di-iḫ-ḫu gar-šú igi.bar dingir igi-mar F ⸢iš-di⸣-iḫ-ḫu gar-šú igi.bar dingir i[gi-mar (35–37) In the month of Kislim on the 1st day he should libate water in front of the herds when the herds return. He should prostrate himself to Šakkan and kiss an ecstatic: he will have profit and the eye of the god.

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38 B I ud.6.kám ina qu-ul-ti [ I ud.6.kám ina qul-ti ge ana dereš.ki.gal D  6 a.meš bal-qí I ud.6.kám ina qul-ti ge ana dereš.ki.gal E  6 a.meš [ F [I ud.6.kám⸣ ina qul-ti ge6 ana dereš.ki.gal a.meš [ 39 D munus.šu.gi liš-ši-iq kiš-pu nu te.meš-šú sag.pa.rim du8-su E munus.šu.gi liš-ši-iq kiš-pu nu te.meš -šú sag.pa.rim ⸢du8-su⸣ F [munus].šu.gi liš-ši-iq kiš-pu nu te.meš-šú sag.pa.[rim (38–39) On the 6th day at dead of night [he should libate] water to Ereškigal and kiss an old woman: sorcery will not approach him. Worry.26 The general tone of the “Prostration Hemerology” bespeaks ordinary life and the countryside, but valuable gifts such as the crescent (presumably of silver) presented to Sîn and the sun disk (i.e., gold crown) offered to Šamaš on the twenty-eighth (var. twenty-sixth) day of Araḫsamnu can only mean that wealthy people were also envisaged as users of the hemerology, a contention that is reinforced by the implication that the user might meet the king. Entries for the nineteenth (var. twenty-ninth) day of Araḫsamnu and the first day of Kislim concern a pastoralist and his herds. Folk magic is at the fore in the entries for the first and sixth days of Kislim. Kissing an ecstatic or an old woman, both potential practitioners of black magic, demonstrates that the man has no fear of them. The sixth day’s entry further specifies that the action of kissing an old woman should take place at dead of night in conjunction with a libation to Ereškigal, queen of the underworld. “Hemerology for Nazimaruttaš” Nazimaruttaš was king of Babylonia for some thirty years around the turn of the thirteenth century bce and is not otherwise known for his interest in literature. Cuneiform text sources indicate an awareness in ancient Babylonia that Babylonian literature and the body of knowledge associated with it underwent a formative editing process through most of the second millennium bce. In view of the fact that scribes in the later part of that millennium traced their ancestors in the lineages of scribal families reaching back as far as the chancellery of Hammurabi in the eighteenth century bce, this awareness is not surprising. Similarly, Late Babylonian scribes looked back to ancestors in the Kassite period. In addition to this historical 26  Ibid., pp. 164–65.

417 awareness of their literature, there was a mystique attached to the seminal role of the seven sages and their seven cities coupled with the notion that all knowledge was revealed to mankind by Oannes, a mythical being who emerged from the sea at the dawn of time. The hemerological knowledge in the “Hemerology for Nazimaruttaš” is attributed to the seven sages, recorded in copies of manuscripts from their seven cities, as described in the example that follows. Note also the reference to scholars choosing hemerological knowledge on a variety of topics for Nazimaruttaš, indicating a wider clientele for the hemerological knowledge contained in the “Hemerology for Nazimaruttaš.”27 Text witness A is a seventh-century bce tablet from the city of Aššur. obverse col. iv 25 A ud.meš dùg.ga.meš ka 7 u[m-ma-a-n]i (25) Favorable days, according to the seven sages. 26 A gaba.ri ud.kib.nunki nibruki (26) Copies from Sippar, Nippur, 27 A ká.dingir.raki ud.unugki (27) Babylon, Larsa, 28 A šeš.unugki unugki u eri-du10ki (28) Ur, Uruk and Eridu. 29 A um-ma-a-ni ú-na-as-si-ḫu-ma 30 A ú-na-as-si-qu-ma 31 A ana Ina-zi-múru-⸢taš⸣ 32 A lugal šú sum-nu 33 A ana ṣu-bu bu-tú-qe-e reverse col. i 1 A za-re-e šèr-re-e 2 A ša-ba-áš ka-re-e 3 A ù mim-ma ṣe-bu-ut dùg.ga (obverse, col. iv, 29–reverse, col. i, 3) The scholars excerpted and chose for Nazimaruttaš, king of the universe, the favorable days for avoiding losses, begetting children, collecting taxes from the barley piles ready for storage, and any endeavor.28 The second example of the “Hemerology for Nazi­ maruttaš” comes from the seventh month, Tašrīt. The name Tašrīt is derived from the verb šurrû “to begin,” which raises the question of why the seventh month of the year should have such a name. There is evidence of 27  Ibid., pp. 177–92. 28   Ibid., p.  179; for identification of the “Hemerology for Nazimaruttaš” text witnesses in this and the following example, see p. 178.

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a Babylonian calendar used in the earlier second millennium bce that began the year in autumn and was supplanted before long by the well-known and widespread calendar that commenced in spring. Given the magic of the number seven, the entries for the first seven days of the seventh month, Tašrīt, may be presumed to have special significance. The fact that the New Year’s festival had previously been celebrated in the seventh month, quite possibly during the first seven days, may account for the frequent references to disease and demons in the entries for these days in the “Hemerology for Nazimaruttaš.” In the following transliteration and translation of the first through fourth days, text witness B is from the city of Aššur, C from a library at Kalhu associated with the temple of the god Nabû, and D from the Aššurbanipal libraries at Nineveh. They all date to the seventh century bce. 8 A I ina iti du6 ud.1.kám a-šam-šu-tu4 B ud.1.ká]m ima-šam-šu-ta C ud.1.kám ima-šam-šu-ta I ina iti du ud.1.kám a-šam-šu-u D 6 9 A ina edin la ú-šam-ḫar B ina edin la ú-ma-ḫar C i-na edin la ú-ma-ḫar D ina edin la ú-[ ] 10 A ḫal-lu-le-e i-ḫar-šu B ḫal-lu-la-a i-ḫar-šú C ḫal-lu-li-ia i-ḫar-šu 11 A sumsar nu gu7 gír.tab sìg-su B [ús]umsar nu gu7 gír.tab sìg-su úsumsar la gu gír.tab sìg-su C 7 12 A sum.sikilsar nu gu7 B [ú]sum.sikil nu gu7 úsum.sikil la gu C 7 D sum.sikilsar nu gu7 13 A ṣu-rub šà tuk-ši B ṣu-rub šà-bi gál-šú C ṣu-ru-ub šà-be gál-šu D ṣu-ru-pa šà-bi ⸢gál⸣-[ 14 A ár-rab gišùr nu gu7 B ár-rab ùr nu gu7 C ár-ra-ab ùr la gu7 15 A níg.gig d+en.líl níg.gig igi-mar B níg.gig dnin.líl ma-ru-uš-ta igi-mar C níg.gig dnin.líl ma-ru-uš-ta igi-mar (8–15) In Tašrit on the 1st day he should not confront a sandstorm on the steppe or the ḫallulû-demoness will “espouse” him. He should not eat onion or a scorpion will sting him. He should not eat garlic or he will have heartburn. He should not eat dormouse: it is a taboo to Ninlil and he will experience illness.

16 A ud.2.kám sum.sikilsar nu gu7 B ud.2.kám úsum.sikil nu gu7 C ud.2.kám úsumsar nu gu7 D ud.2.kám sum.sikilsar nu gu7 17 A ina qi-ni-šú ug7 ba.ug7 B ina qi-ni-šú ug7 ug7 C ina qi-ni-šú ug7 ug7 D ina qi-ni-šú ug7 ba.[ug7 18 A bi-iš-ra saḫ-lé-e nu gu7 B bi-iš-ra zag.ḫi.li C bi-iš-ra zag.ḫi.li nu gu7 19 A du14 gál-šú B du14 gál-šú C du14 gál-šú 20 A uzu.ka.šeg6 nu gu7 B uzu.šeg6.ka nu gu7 C uzu.šeg6.ka nu gu7 D uzu.ka.šeg6 nu gu7 21 A saḫar.šub.ba.a i-lab-biš B saḫar.šub.ba.a i-la-bi-iš C saḫar.šub.ba.a i-la-bi-iš D saḫar.šub.ba.a i-lab-biš [ 22 A [uzu] gu4 uzu máš uzu šaḫ B uzu gu4 uzu gi-zu uzu šaḫ C uzu gu4 uzu máš.zu uzu šaḫ 23 A nu gu7 sag.ki.dab.ba gál-šú B nu gu7 sag.ki.dab.ba gál-šú C nu gu7 sag.ki.dab.ba gál-šu D ] sag.ki.dab.ba gál -šú 24 A ana pú la ú-šar lem-nu lá-šú B ana pú nu ú-ša-ar lem-nu lá-šú C ana pú nu ú-ša-ar lem-nu lá-šú D ana pú la ú-šar [ 25 A a-na ùr nu e11 B ana ùr nu e11 (du6.{ud}.du) C ana ùr nu e11 (du6.{ud}.du) 26 A kiš-ki-li-li i-ḫar-šu B kiš-ki-li-li i-ḫar-šú C kiš-ki-li-li i-ḫar-šu (16–26) On the 2nd day he should not eat garlic or there will be a fatality among his kin. He should not eat bisru-leek or cress or there will be an affray for him. He should not go down to a well or evil will seize him. He should not go up on a roof or the kiškallilidemoness will “espouse” him. 27 A ud.3.kám ku6.meš nu gu7 tuš-šu B ud.3.kám ku6 nu gu7 tuš-šú C ud.3.kám ku6 nu gu7 tuš-šú D ud.3.kám ku6.meš nu gu7 tuš-šú 28 A ugu-šú šub-ut B ugu-šú šub-ut

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C ugu-šú šub-ut D ug[u29 A a.šà anše gur.gur nu gub-az B a.šà anše gur.gur nu gub C a.šà anše gur.gur nu gub 30 A sa.gal gig B sa.gal gig-uṣ C sa.gal gig-uṣ 31 A a.šà še.giš.ì a.meš nu nag-qí B a.šà še.giš.ì a.meš nu nag C a.šà še.giš.ì a.meš nu nag D [a.š]à še.giš.ì a.meš nu nag 32 A ku-ru-si-su gál-šú B kur-si-su dab-su C kur-si-su dab-su 33 A ana munus nu te munus.bi téš.bi tùm-šú B ana munus nu te-ḫi munus ši-i téš.bi tùm C ana munus nu te-ḫi munus ši-i téš.bi tùm (27–33) On the 3rd day he should not eat fish or malicious talk will fall upon him. He should not stand where a donkey has rolled or he will become ill with muscle disease. He should not water a sesame field or the kursissu-rodent will be there for him. He should not approach a woman or that woman will take away his manhood. 34 A ud.4.kám íd nu e-bir ḫi.li-šú šub-su B ud.4.kám íd nu e-bir ku-zu-ub-šú šub-ut C ud.4.kám íd nu e-bir ku-zu-ub-šú šub-ut 35 A  uzu mušen nu gu7 mušen dab-tu4 lu-maš-šèr B  uzu mušen nu gu7 mušen dab-tu4 lu-maš-šèr C  uzu mušen nu gu7 mušen dab-tu4 lu-maš-šèr 36 A ana a-du-re-e la du-ak B ana a-du-re-e nu du C ana a-du-re-e nu du D ] a-du-re-e [ 37 A la ge-ru-ú i-ger-ri-šú B ge-rú-ú i-ger-ri-šú C ge-ru-ú i-ger-ri-šú 38 A zú.lum.ma nu gu7 zú.meš-šú i-nu-šá B zú.lum.ma nu gu7 zú.meš-šú i-nu-uš-šá C zú.lum.ma nu gu7 zú.meš-šú i-nu-uš-šá 39 A sumsar nu gu7 gír.tab sìg-su úsumsar nu gu gír.tab sìg-su B 7 úsumsar nu gu gír.tab sìg-su C 7 D sumsar nu gu7 g[ír.tab 40 A sum.sikilsar nu gu7 B ⸢ú⸣sum.sikil nu gu7 úsum.sikil nu gu C 7

41 A ṣu-ru-up lìb-bi tuk-ši B ṣu-ru-up lìb-bi gál-ši C ṣu-ru-up lìb-bi gál-ši (34–41) On the 4th day he should not cross a river or he will lose his sex appeal. He should not eat fowl; let him release a captive bird. He should not go out to a hamlet or an opponent will quarrel with him. He should not eat dates or his teeth will fall out. He should not eat onions or a scorpion will sting him. He should not eat garlic or he will have heartburn.29 The entries for the fifth through seventh days continue in the same vein. The sicknesses mentioned include eczema, ruṭibtu-disease, qablītu-disease, and miqtu-disease. The earlier association with the new year, which left a gaping hole at the beginning of the seventh month that was occupied by the various sicknesses and malignant forces described in the entries, is doubtless the reason for the detailed account. These entries provide the fullest and most exhaustive account of the interdictions also found in other hemerologies. “Eclipse Hemerology” The “Eclipse Hemerology,” for an unspecified Babylonian king, is known only from one tablet from the Late Babylonian period in the later first millennium bce but may have had earlier antecedents.30 For each month, the hemerology details the actions to be undertaken if a lunar eclipse occurs on the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth days (the three days before full moon). At the beginning of the text, the first month, Nisan, refers explicitly to the king. obverse I ina itibára lu ud.12.kám lu ud.13.kám lu ud.14. 1  kám 2 an.ge6 d30 gar-un ḫul šu-a-tu lugal nu dim4 3 u4-um an.ge6 d30 šak-nu-um túg síg.ḫé.me.da 4 ká ta-lál níg.na ú.kur.kur ina 15 ká ana da-nu-um ta-šá-kán 5 kaš šur.ra bal-qí ul tuš-ken níg.na šim.li ina gùb ká 6 ana den.líl ta-šak-kán gurun bal-qí ul tuš-ken 7 lugal ta an.ge6 ut-tam-me-ru ana imdiš uš-ken múd sim.mu!.mušen! 8 ki ì.giš šur.man ḫi.ḫi giš.ná tag ḫul du8-ár (1–8) If in the month of Nisan on the 12th, 13th, or 14th day there is an eclipse of the moon, that evil will 29  Ibid., pp. 181–84. 30  Ibid., pp. 195–98.

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not touch the king. On the day that the eclipse of the moon occurs, you hang a garment of crimson wool on the gate. You place a censer of atā’išu-plant to the right of the gate for An. You libate pressed beer. You do not prostrate yourself. You place a censer of cedar to the left of the gate for Enlil. After the eclipse has become light he prostrates himself to the south. You mix swallow’s blood with cypress oil and smear it on the bed. The evil will be released.31 The “Eclipse Hemerology” is a royal hemerology, and its primary purpose is to protect the Babylonian king from any evil that might be portended by an eclipse. However, it includes ideas and actions that are similar to the “Offering Bread Hemerology” and “Prostration Hemerology” and shares their folkloristic features. The following example for the months Tammuz and Ab contains, in addition to the reference to prostration, the instruction to “kiss the face of an old woman,” just as in the “Prostration Hemerology.” I ina itišu kimin-ma 2 u -me ina é me-sir tuš ni14  4 qu-ú me-iḫ-ri 15  li-šam-ḫir ina gam-li li-ta-líl-ma ⸢kéš⸣ zú.lum. ma šu.sar 16  li-pa-šir ina gú íd ina ḫabrud múd ḫi gišgeštin nag! d30 ana munus-sig5 igi.bar-su (14–16) If in the month of Tammuz on the 12th, 13th, or 14th day there is an eclipse of the moon, he should spend two days in the Ritual Enclosure. He should make his offering as before. He will be purified by means of the wand and let him take apart a rope of date palm fibres. He should mix blood into a hole at the bank of the river. He should drink wine. Sîn will look upon him with beneficence. I ina itine kimin-ma ina ku-tal gišig li-na-al a 17  pú tu5 18 tug gadasar mu4.mu4 ina a-šar pu-uz-ri a-mat liš-ken 19 níg.ba liš-rik igi munusšu.gi li-si-iq 20 mu tuk-ši : gaba.ri nu tuk-ši (17–20) If in the month of Ab on the 12th, 13th, or 14th day there is an eclipse of the moon, let him sleep behind a door. He should bathe himself. He should wear a garment of flax. He should prostate himself at a secret place. He should give a present. He should kiss the face of an old woman. He will have repute: he will have no rival.32

31  Ibid., p. 195. 32  Ibid., p. 196.

Fruit, Lord of the Month Fruit, Lord of the Month is a royal hemerology known only from the series of tablets from the royal libraries of Aššurbanipal in Nineveh, with no mutually duplicating tablets.33 The title Inbu bēl arḫi is recorded on the reverse of two tablets in colophons that also specify the tablets’ number in the series (see plate 12). Here is the first colophon: K 4231 reverse col. ii colophon dub.8.kám gurun en ar-ḫi Eighth Tablet of Inbu bēl arḫi. kur Ian.šár-dù-a 20 šú 20 kur aš Palace of Aššurbanipal, king of the world, king of Assyria.34 The find spot in the libraries of the Assyrian king Aššurbanipal is happenstance. In fact, the vast majority of literary and scholastic texts that we know from those libraries are Babylonian in language and culture. The cult described in Fruit, Lord of the Month is Babylonian, and there are other good reasons for believing that the text is Babylonian in origin. Many sections of the hemerology parallel the “Offering Bread Hemerology,” with the difference that Fruit, Lord of the Month is narrower in scope and repetitious. The curious name is explained by a line in a Sumerian hymn to the moon god Sîn: “Fruit that grows of itself, high up, a shape fitting to behold, becoming satiated with its appeal.” The line likens the lunar crescent waxing in the sky to a piece of fruit growing on a tree. The following example is from Simān (third month), twenty-eighth day. Restorations are well established by close parallels in the same text (fig. 11.1). K 4068+ reverse col. i 25 [I ud.2]8.kám šá dé-a ud.ná.àm šá du+g[ur ud še] 26 [ud.ḫ]ul.gál sipa un.meš gal.meš uzu šá ina peen-ti b[a-áš-lu] 27 [ninda tù]m-ri ul gu7 túg pag-ri-šú ul kúr-[ár] 28 [eb]-bu-ti ul mu4.mu4 ni-qu-u ul bal-[qí] 29 [lugal] gišgigir ul u5 šal-ṭiš ul i-ta-[me] 33  Ibid., pp. 199–248. 34  Ibid., p. 217; and for the colophon identifying the tablet as the “twelfth tablet of Inbu bēl arḫi,” see p. 227.

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30 [a-šar] pu-uz-ri lúḫal inim ul [gar-an] 31 [a.z]u ana gig šu-su ul ub-bal ana dù áš la na-ṭu 32 [luga]l nidba-šú ana dé-a dingir.maḫ ú-kan 33 ⸢ni-qé⸣-e bal-qí ši-gu-u nu gù-⸢si⸣ (25–33) The 28th day, that of Ea, the new moon of Nerg[al: A favorable day. An ev]il day. The shepherd of the numerous people will eat no meat that has been gr[illed] on charcoal, no [bread] that has been baked on [em]bers. He does not chan[ge] his clothes; he does not put on [cl]ean ones. He does not ma[ke] an offering. [The king] does not ride a chariot, does not spe[ak] in command. In the secret [place] an extispicy priest does not [draw up] a report; [a physic]ian does not reach out his hand to a sick man. Unsuitable for the fulfilment of a wish. [The kin]g should set his bread offering for Ea and Bēlet-ilī. He makes an offering. He does not utter a lamentation.35 The entry is for a day at the dangerous end of the month when the moon is about to disappear and includes the interdictions on the activities of the extispicy priest and physician also found in the “Offering Bread Hemerology.” The twenty-eighth day of the cultic calendar is usually associated with Sîn, but there are examples with Ea. Nergal is present as Sîn is about to disappear into the underworld and be invisible from the earth. Fruit, Lord of the Month is notable for the absence of anything negative in comparison with parallel passages in the “Offering Bread Hemerology,” such as the mention of rebellion or discord, no doubt in order to avoid offending the king. The nature of the interdictions in the entry for the twenty-eighth day is also different from interdictions in the other hemerologies. For instance, the food prohibitions do not concern eating food that would cause offensive breath. The grilled meat and bread that the king avoids could be associated with strength, rude health, and manliness. Similarly, the actions to be avoided, speaking in command and riding a chariot, are not only manly but royal actions. On this dangerous day, the king is keeping a low profile. Each tablet of Fruit, Lord of the Month has an excerpt from the menology Iqqur īpuš (He knocked down, he built), providing a link with the menologies. However, whereas in Iqqur īpuš the standard introductory formula is “if in the month of (name of month) a man,” the corresponding phrase in Fruit, Lord of the Month was consistently changed to “if in the month of (name of month) a king.” Similarly, a “house” becomes a “palace” and so on. 35  Ibid., p. 210.

Figure 11.1

Cuneiform clay tablet with Fruit, Lord of the Month hemerology for the month of Simān, K 4068 reverse. British Museum, London. © the Trustees of the British Museum.

The following example, again from the month of Simān, illustrates how the menology is adapted to the royal context of Fruit, Lord of the Month. K 4068+ reverse col. ii I ina ⸢itisig lugal⸣ bára gibil-eš é.gal.bi [ 1 4 (1) If in the month of Siman a king renovates a throne dais, his palace […]. 2 I ina itisig4 lugal garza an u ki é.gal.bi [ (2) If in the month of Siman a king (carries out) the rites of heaven and underworld, his palace […]. 3 ⸢I ina⸣ itisig4 lugal šuk-su ana dingir-šú gar lugal.bi [ (3) If in the month of Siman a king places his offering bread for his personal god, that king […]. 4 ⸢I ina⸣ itisig4 lugal ši-gu-u is-si lugal.bi [ (4) If in the month of Siman a king utters a lamentation, that king […]. 5 ⸢I ina⸣ itisig4 ud.20.kám lugal ninda ana dutu gar lugal b[i

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(5) If in the month of Siman on the 20th day a king places a bread for Šamaš, that king […]. 6 [I] ina itisig4 lugal lu muḫ-ra lu bára x [ 7 lu bára šá 3 za-mu-šú lu im.dù.a dù-uš š[à.bi (6–7) [If] in the month of Siman a king builds either a street chapel or a throne dais … […] or a triangular throne dais or a mud brick wall, [his] hea[rt will be …]. 8 [I] ina itisig4 lugal lu suk-ku lu muḫ-ru lu [ 9 ⸢lu⸣ é dingir gibil-eš lugal.bi ⸢á⸣.tuk tuk (8–9) [If] in the month of Siman a king renovates either a shrine or a street chapel or […] or a temple, that king will have profit. 10 [I] ina itisig4 lugal e-qu ana diškur gar-u[n dingir]-šú še-šú (10) [If] in the month of Siman a king se[ts] in place an equ-cultic object for Adad, his personal god will favor him. 11 [I] ina itisig4 lugal ninda sum-in lugal ⸢mu-šú⸣ sig5 gál (11) [If] in the month of Siman a king gives bread, that king will have a good reputation. 12 [I] ina itisig4 lugal dam tuk šà.bi dùg.ga (12) [If] in the month of Siman a king takes a wife, he will be happy. 13 [I] ina itisig4 lugal dam-su ana ⸢é⸣.[gal]-šú ku4 šà-šú dùg (13) [If] in the month of Siman a king lets his wife enter his pal[ace], he will be happy.36 The Therapeutic Release of Animals The ritual release of animals is one topic that is often mentioned in the hemerologies but is not exclusive to them. Because of the importance of the practice in the hemerologies, the following example from an independent group of texts in which the ritual release of animals occurs with other themes is included here.37 The restorations are assured by text parallels. K 2438+ // I ina iti.bára u[d.1.kám … šá d]en.líl ud še 1 (1) In the month of Nisan. [The first day is the day of] Enlil, a favorable day. 2 lú.šu.i-su [līpuš (…) li-te-l]il! li-te-bib (2) [He] should get a new hairdo, wash and purify himself. 3 ì.giš šim.gig [… d]adag mu4.mu4

36  Ibid., p. 211. 37  See Livingstone, 2000; 2013, pp. 267–69.

(3) [He should rub himself] with fine oil and perfume, clothe himself with a clean garment. 4 kuš.e.sír gada liš-[kun …] x ta-ra-sa-an (4) He should put on linen sandals. You shall soak […] 5 ú.in.nu.uš i[na šà kaš ì+giš šub-d]i šéš-su 6 na4.za.gìn ina túg.síg-[šú tara-kás ana] ⸢é⸣ lú.mušen.dù gin-ma 7 2 tu.mušen.meš 1 nita [1 munus tašam] a-na é-ka gin-ak 8 kisal! (tablet: ùr) é a-šar anše.kur.[ra gub-zu kù.g]ur? sar a.kù sud (5–8) You should put soap-plant into [beer and oil]. You should anoint him. He should [bind] a lapis lazuli stone to the seam [of his garment]. You go [to the] house of the bird-catcher and [you buy] two doves, male and [female]. You return to your house. The courtyard of the house, where the horses [stand], you fumigate, you sprinkle with pure water. 9 gi.duḫ gin-an […] zíd.a.tir dub-ak (9) You set up a portable altar. […] You sprinkle fine flour on it. 10 ninda.ì.dé.a làl […] x gar-an (10) You provide date-cakes, honey [and butter]. 11 2 dug la.ḫa.an.sar ša i-[x x x] ⸢1⸣-en kaš.sag dirima gin-an (11) Two porous vessels: … [… one you …], one you fill with first-class beer, and set up. 12 gíd.meš šá x […] gíd-ad 3 zíd.dub.dub.bu šub. šub-di (12) You close the curtains which/of […] and pour out three heaps of flour. 13 x x x […]-ma ina ugu gi.duḫ gar-an (13) […] and lay on the portable altar. 14 […] dug4.ga tu.mušen.meš kešda-ši-na ta-pa-ṭar (14) […] you say. You release the fetters of the (two) doves. 15 […  ina igi dutu] ta-dan-ši-na-ti (15) [… Before Šamaš] you make a decision for them. 16 [dutu di.kud an-e u] ki-tì at-ta-ma (16) [(You say,) “Šamaš], you are [the judge of heaven and] earth, 17 [kišib.lá dan-na-t]a šá dingir lugal idim u nun šup-ṭi-ra (17) [the mighty fist] of god, king, prince or boss ­unclench for me!” 18 [nita ana dutu].⸢è⸣ munus ana dutu.šú.a tu-šap-ra-aš (18) You let [the male dove] fly [to the east], the ­female dove to the west.38 38  Livingstone, 2000, pp. 377–79; 2013, p. 268.

Babylonian Hemerologies And Menologies

Therapeutic practices in the text are manifold and not limited to the release of animals, in this case, a pair of doves. Purification is a usual procedure before the carrying out of rituals in general, but the hairdo, fine oil, clean garment, and linen sandals are specific to this type of ritual. These actions and activities are designed to boost a man’s confidence by a process that could be described as retail therapy, just as people today might try to lift their spirits by getting their hair done and acquiring some personal accoutrements. The exact purpose of the soap plant soaked in beer and oil is not specified, but this concoction is often used in Babylonian rituals. Binding the lapis lazuli stone to the seam of the garment has a more complex role than that of simply being an amulet. The Babylonians had a science of gemstones and their magical properties, as well as a science of the properties of chains of gemstones in which the stones had to be placed in a certain order. These sciences had a historical dimension, since certain gemstone combinations were believed to have been worn by renowned historical figures such as the Old Akkadian king Narām-Sîn and Hammurabi of Babylon. In one incantation, lapis lazuli speaks, saying, “I am lapis lazuli and I crush mountains” (na4za-gín a-na-ku-ma kur-ú [a]-ḫe-eppe). Lapis lazuli was also the stone of Marduk and Enlil, major deities in the pantheon, and Babylonians would have believed that binding the stone to the hem of a garment would transfer magical power to the man who wore it. The purchase of the birds (use of the second rather than first person presumably indicates that the priest is being addressed) has parallels in other texts, and carrying out rituals in the duly purified and prepared courtyard of a house is also a not uncommon practice. Release of the doves is preceded by a standard ritual using a portable altar and three symbolic heaps of flour. The original meaning of the heaps of flour, a common element in rituals, was probably lost in the mists of time. However, the Babylonian scholars provided an explanation in a text that lists various stones, substances, and cult appurtenances and equates them with named deities. There, the three heaps of flour are the triad of major deities—Anu, Enlil, and Ea.39

The Menologies

Apart from Iqqur īpuš, three other menologies— “Cult Menology 1,” “Cult Menology 2,” and “Bilingual Menology”—loosely answering to Hesiod’s Works and Days, are not consistent in style or content. “Cult Menology 2” (K 3753) was unpublished, and the other two can be 39  Livingstone, 1986, pp. 176–77.

423 found only in antiquated publications; hence, full editions of all three are given in this chapter along with translations. The names “Cult Menology 1” and “Cult Menology 2” are used here for the first time and may need to be altered if further menological material comes to light.40 “Cult Menology 1”: Babylon “Cult Menology 1” is a Babylonian menology. It has become known to scholarship somewhat cryptically as SBH VIII and was first published in 1896 by George Reisner in his monumental Sumerisch-babylonische Hymnen nach Thontafeln Griechischer Zeit, in which it mistakenly bears the museum tablet signature number VAT 663 instead of the correct VAT 662.41 It was originally a six-column tablet, but only parts of columns ii and iii of the obverse and part of column v of the reverse survive. The transliteration given here is based primarily on my study and autopsy of the original tablet in Berlin. The content describes cultic events in Babylon in the months Ayyar (II), Tammuz (IV), Tašrīt (VII), Kislim (IX), and perhaps others, the names of which are lost in lacunae. In addition to cultic content, the menology includes other material that would not be found in a routine cultic calendar with instructions for monthly and daily rites. Note also that the content is not hymnic, despite Reisner’s inclusion of it among “Sumerian and Babylonian hymns.” For the month Ayyar (begins at obverse col. ii, 11), the focus is on the shrine Eḫuršaba, here the seat of Nanaya in the Marduk temple in Babylon. The principal event is the marriage ceremony of two deities, Nabû and Nanaya. The section for the month Tammuz (begins at obverse col. iii, 11) refers to the binding of the divine shepherd king Tammuz and “rites of sorrow.” The reference to Tašrīt consists of a single line (reverse col. v, 27’). The longer section for the month Kislim (begins at reverse col. v, 28’) refers to the binding of Enmešarra and lamentation instigated for him by Gula. The text introduces cultic activities that involve Ṣilluš-ṭāb and another deity, Erua’s hairdressers, and Gazbaba and Kirizalsurra, Nanaya’s hairdressers. This is an example of deities having court staff personnel. The temple referred to in column ii, 22, Emeurur, is a temple of Nanaya in Babylon, the name of which means “house that gathers the me,” that is, the divine standards or principles of civilization.

40  For an earlier general account of the menologies, see Livingstone, 1993–97. 41  Reisner, 1896, p. 145.

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SBH VIII = VAT 662 obverse col. ii 1 [lugal dingir.meš šá] an-⸢e⸣ u ki-tì ni-bit-su zak-rat 2 [x x x x x] x meš te-lil-tu4 uš-te-šer ana en! en.en 3 [x x x x x t]e-di-iq be-lu-ti-šú in-na-an-di-iq i-naáš-⟨ši⟩ me-lam-mu 4 [x x x x x] x uš-te-šer ana qé-reb é.siskurx.ra 5 [x x x x x] a-ši-ib ki-tì u ša-ma-ʾe 6 [x] ṭa-a-tú! u [igi.sá].e uš-te-ner-ru-bu ma-ḫar-šú-nu 7 [ina] ud.11.kám ina qé-reb é.siskurx i-te-né-eppu-šu i-sin-nu 8 x [x] x ⸢áš⸣-šú d+nà dnun.bar.še.gùn.nu i-ḫi-iš ana ḫa-da-áš-šu-tu 9 x x x x ina é az da-ni7 ir-mu-ú ana lugal-ú-tu 10 x [x] dingir.meš d[ù.a.b]i-[šú]-nu ta maḫ-ri-šú uš-taḫ-ma-ṭu ma-ḫar dingir.meš dù.a.bi   11 I gu4 iti dnin.gír.su énsi d+en.líl qu-ra-du 12 iti gu4.meš uš-te-šir up!-ta-at-ta-a ba-ma-a-tú 13 ud.2.kám tar-ba-ṣi u4-mu šá-ḫa-ṭu dutu qura-du d+nà šá ḫa-da-áš-šu-tú in-na-an-di-iq te-di-iq 14  da-nu-tú 15 ta qé-reb é.zi.da ina šat mu-ši uš-ta-pa-a na-an-na-ri-iš 16 ki-ma d30 ina ni-ip-ḫi-šú ú-nam-mar ek-let 17  ina qé-reb é.ḫur.šà.ba uš-te-šer i-šad-di-ḫu nam-riš 18  i-ru-um-ma ana ma-ḫar dnin-ka-li šit-ku-nu ana ḫa-d[a-áš-šú-tu] 19  ina qé-reb é.ḫur.šà.ba gim u4-mu i-šak-kan na-mir-[tú] 20  ina ma-a-a-al-tu4 mu-ši ṭa-a-bi it-ta-na-a-a-lu šit-t[a dùg.ga] 21 ud.6.kám ana qé-reb giškiri6 uš-te-ṣam-ma ú-kallam x [(x)] 22 ud.7.kám ana é.me.ur.ur uš-te-šer ana é.an.na el-[li] 23  ana giškiri6uṣ-ṣa ana! giškiri6 da-ni7 i-ru-um-ma uš-šá-b[u! (x)] 24  áš-šú lugal-ut da-ni7 il-qu-ú ú-gam-mi-ri p[ar-ṣi-šú] 25 én lúmaš.maš : ḫi-im-šá-at gišgišimmar aga da-ni i-te-ed-[di-iq] 7 26 ud.17.kám ta qé-reb é.ḫur.šà.ba dna-na-a i-ḫ[i-iš (x)]

27 [ana] giškiri6 ḫur-sa-an-nu uš-te-šir x x [x x] 28 [x] d+en.líl [t]a [ni]bruki pil-lu-de-e-šú [x x x x] 29 [x] x x [x] x x x a ana é.zag.gan RA [x x x x] 30 ] RI a-ši-ib [ 31 ] uš-te-ṣi-am-ma [ col. iii I nu [ 1 2 ud.2.[kám 3 d+nà u dn[a-na-a 4 ina áII kur I x[ 5 áš-šú den.líl u d[ 6 ta ud.15.kám e[n 7 šá dbe-let dingir.meš u? [ 8 šá dšu!.zi.an.na x [ 9 ana tab-rat un.meš sig4 x [ 10 áš-šú ki-ni in ⸢ki⸣ [   11 itišu iti múlkak.s[i.sá 12 iti ki-mi-tu4 d[dumu.zi 13 šá dbe-let dingir.meš x[ 14 ri-kis si-pit-t[i 15 šá damar.utu ú-du-[ 16 i-ki-mu pil-⸢lu⸣-[de-e 17 ina bára.sipa[ki 18 [xxx] x [ reverse col. iv 1 x[ 2 ud [ 3 ina ud.8.[kám 4 iš-ta-[ 5 ina é.sag.[gíl 6 dingir.meš x x x [ 7 ina te-lil-tú lú [ 8 ta tag-mur-tú x [ 9 a-di taq-ti-t[u4 10 d15.meš ma-ḫa-z[u 11 áš-šú dna-na-a RA [ 12 d15.meš ši-si-t[u4 13 ina é.gištukul geštugII.m[aḫ 14 ina é.ḫur.šà.ba ina ⸢é⸣[. col. v 1’ [x (x)] x x x ŠÚ ⸢AB⸣ x [ 2’ [x (x)] dí-gì-gì ip-pal-su x [ 3’ [x (x)] da-nun-na-ki gi-mir-[šú-nu 4’ [(x)] x dí-gì-gì u da-nun-na-ki [ 5’ [x (x)] x x x ú-tir-ri [ 6’ [x x] x [x x].meš damar.utu iḫ-du-šu-ma 7’ [x (x)] ⸢ana e⸣-peš be-lu-tu dingir.meš šá [ 8’ ud.3.kám ⸢te⸣-di-iq be-lu-tu [

Babylonian Hemerologies And Menologies

9’ ud.4.kám ma-ḫar dama[r.utu 10’ gir-re-e-tú dí-gì-gì [ 11’ [x (x)] ŠUK UD u dnin-lí[l 12’ [i]q-mu-ú ina i-šá-a-tú [ 13’ [x x x x t]a ki [ 14’ [x] x x ḫa-a-tú i-te-[ 15’ [x x] ta ma-ḫar dutu x [ 16’ ⸢dgaz⸣-ba-ba u dkiri4-zal-[sur-ra 17’ [(x)] x x níg.gig dun.gal.ni[bruki 18’ ⸢ni⸣-ki-is kap-pi ana ma-ḫar da-ni[m 19’ ud.16.kám te-di-iq be-lu-tu in-[na-an-di-iq 20’ dli9-si4 ez-zi te-di-iq be-lu-tu [ 21’ ud.17.kám ana ma-ḫar dnà u[š-te-šir 22’ gir-re-e-tú dí-gì-gì u da-nun-na-ki i-[ 23’ [šá] dpap-sukkal a-šib ina é.ḫur.sag.kalam.ma šá ma-ḫ[ar 24’ šá dí-gì-gì u da-nun-na-ki I MES [ 25’ i-qam-mu-ú ina i-šá-a-tú uš-ta-x [x x] x x [ 26’ gim šá itigu4-im-ma gišeren.na x x [in-na-aq-q] u-ú 27’  ina itidu6 ina a-ṣe-e múlkak.s[i.sá x x x] Ú siskurx. meš ká.gal.meš 28’ [ina] itigan ud.28.kám ina a-[ṣe-e (x x) múl⸢kak. si⸣.sá 29’ [x x].meš é dx MA LA [x x x x x x] x ⸢é.da.di.ḫé⸣. gál 30’ [x x] x é.kur.meš gi-[mir x x x x] x x ⸢é.da⸣.di.ḫé. gál 31’ [x x] TI lugal x [x x x x x x] x x x x ana ga-an-ṣir 32’ LA A ana kur 33’ ] x i-ba-ab-ba-lu ḫi-ṣib-šú 34’  ] x ina ṣi-riḫ-ti-šú i-par-ra-⸢as⸣ UL ME KUR 35’  ] ana d+en-me-šár-ra i-šak-kan bi-ki-tu4 36’ ] DA ⸢i⸣-ri-šú ṭa-bu-tu4 37’  ] A NU nu-up-pu-šu ḫi-ṣib kur. kur.meš 38’  ] šil-lat ma-⸢tú⸣ iš-lu-lu ina kur 39’ ] DA iš-taḫ-ma-ṭu an-nu-ú lú 40’ ] x U é.zi.da uš-taḫ-ma-ṭu i-rešú ṭa-bu-tu 41’ ] x x x iš-ta-kan bi-ki-tu4 42’  áš-šú de]n-me-šár-ra ik-ka-mu-ú dme.me iš-kun bi-ki-tu 4 43’  ] x AN ni-ip-ri a-a-bi im-ru-šu-ú še-tap-pat-tú 44’  ] dge6-uš-dùg u dka.di ṣipx-rat dšar-rat deru -ú-a 4

425 45’  ] DA dgaz-ba-ba u dkiri4-zalsur-ra ṣipx-rat dna-na-a 46’  i]t-ti-iq i-te-erasure-et-ti-iq i-ba-a‌ʾ su-la-a 47’  i-ša]d-di-ḫu i-šaḫ-ḫa-ṭu i-te-nir-rubu [é.kur].meš obverse col. ii 1 [King of the gods] of heaven and underworld is his name invoked! 2 [.….]. the purification, he makes his way to the Lord of Lords. 3 [.….] He is clad in his garment of Lordship, he bears terrifying splendor. 4 […]. He makes his way to (the chapel) Esiskur. 5 [.….] who dwell in the underworld and in heaven. 6 [.] They continuously bring presents and gifts before him. 7 [On] the 11th day they regularly celebrated a festival in Esiskur. 8 […] For the sake of Nabû, Nunbaršegunû hurries to the wedding. 9 [… because] Anu took took up residence for kingship in the temple .. 10 .. The gods, all of them, are [..] regularly brought from his presence to the presence of all the gods. 11 Ayyar: the month of Ningirsu, the farmer of Enlil, the hero. 12 The month in which the oxen are spanned, the fields prepared. 13 The second day: the cattle pen. The day of the jumping of Šamaš, the hero. 14 For the holy wedding Nabû will be clad with the garment of the attributes of Anu. 15 During the night he beams out from the inner cellar of Ezida like the moon. 16 Like the moon at its arising he lights up the darkness. 17 He marches to Eḫurþšaba, moves radiantly in procession. 18 He appears before Ninkali (i.e., Ningal, the Great Lady); she is attired for the holy wedding. 19 He spreads light like the day in Eḫuršaba. 20 They lie night after night in the nuptial bed in pleasant sleep. 21 On the sixth day he is brought out to the garden and makes a cultic demonstration [..].

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22 On the seventh day he goes in procession to Eme’urur, to holy Eanna. 23 He comes out to the garden, she goes into the garden of Anu, and they sit [together]. 24 Because he has taken on the kingship of Anu he has completed its rites. 25 Incantation of the exorcist. He decks his head with the date palm frond, the tiara of Anu. 26 On the 17th Nanaya is in a hurry inside the Ehuršaba [..]. 27 She goes up to the mountain garden .. […] 28 [..] Enlil from Nippur, his rites […] 29 [.] .. [.] … to a Ezagganra [ 30 ] resident [ 31 ] is brought out [ col. iii 1 .[ 2 On the 22nd day [ 3 Nabû and N[anaya 4 in … [ 5 Because Enlil and . [ 6 From the 15th day until [ 7 of Bēlit-ilī . [ 8 of Šuzianna [ 9 For the wonderment of the population, the brick . [ 10 because the just(?) .. [   11 The month of Tammuz, the month of the star Kaksisa [ 12 The month of the binding of [Dumuzi 13 of Bēlit-ilī . [ 14 Rites of sorrow . [ 15 When Marduk . . [ 16 They have plundered the cult.[ 17 In Borsippa . [ 18 […] . [ reverse col. iv (not translated due to the fragmentary condition of the text) col. v 1’ .….. [ 2’ The Igigi gods observed . [ 3’ The Anunnaki gods, all of them [ 4’ The Igigi and Anunnaki [ 5’ … he gave back [ 6’ .[..] Marduk, they rejoiced over him and [ 7’ To exercise lordship over the gods, who [ 8’ On the third day, the garment of lordship [

9’ On the fourth day, in the presence of Marduk [ 10’ The ways of the Igigi [   11’ …. Ninlil [ 12’ They burnt in fire [ 13’ […] .. [ 14’ [.] .. [ 15’ [..] from the presence of Šamaš . [ 16’ Gazbaba and Kirizalsurra [ 17’ … a taboo of Šarrat-Nippuri [ 18’ The cutting of the wing in front of An[u 19’ On the 16th day he is clad in the garment of lordship [ 20’ Furious Lisi, a garment of lordship [ 21’ On the 17th day he appears before Nabû [ 22’ The ways of the Igigi and Anunnaki . [ 23’ Of Papsukkal, who dwells in Eḫursagkalama . [ 24’ Of the Igigi and Anunnaki [ 25’ They burn and fire … [ 26’ As in the months of Ayyar, cedar .. [..] .. blessings . [.] 27’ In the months of Tašrit, at the rising of the Kaksisa star, sacrifices to [ 28’ In the month of Kislim, on the 28th day, at the rising of [..] The Kaksisa star. 29’ [.]…… [..] .. Edadiḫegal star. 30’ [..] . the temple [..] .. Edadiḫegal 31’ […] . the king .. [.……. to the underworld 32’ ] .. to the la .] nd 33’ ] they will bring his produce 34’ ] in his anger he will decide … 35’ ] They set up a lament for Enmešarra. 36’ ] sweet incense offerings 37’ ] relaxed, the produce of the lands 38’ ] They carried away the booty of the land from the land. 39’ ] They are brought [to him] regularly; this is the man. 40’ ] . The sweet incense offerings are brought in good time to [Esagila] and Ezida. 41’ ] she has set up a lament. 42’ because] Enmešarra was bound, Gula set up a lament. 43’ ] .. the offspring of the enemy, his … 44’  ] Ṣilluš-ṭāb and Ištarān(?), the female hairdressers of queen Erua. 45’ of Ezi]da, Gazbaba and Kirizalsurra, the female hairdressers of Nanaya. 46’ ] he crosses, he crosses again and again, he goes along the street.

Babylonian Hemerologies And Menologies

47’ ] they stride in, . . , They go again and again into the temple . [. .] “Cult Menology 2”: Uruk “Cult Menology 2” places aspects of the cult of Ištar in her home city of Uruk in a wider astronomical and mythological context. The menology takes as its basis the routine ritual for the goddess Inanna in her temple complex in her city of Uruk during the month of Elūl (sixth month), liberally adding to it information of a mostly mythological but also astronomical bent. Both here and in the “Bilingual Menology,” there are allusions to Inanna and bathing in this month that also occur in royal inscriptions and other texts. This cannot be dissociated from the fact that the nominal root of the month name, aleph-lam-lam, is the same root that builds the verb elēlu “purify.” Whether or not the month name comes from this root, tradition evidently associated them with each other, which contributed to the ritual mythology. References in the text to Anu, chief god of the pantheon in general as well as Uruk’s and Inanna’s father, being clad on the third day of the month are part of the day-by-day temple ritual, which has been referred to as the care and feeding of the gods. The Edumununna (House of the Son of the Prince) was a temple of the moon god Sîn at Uruk; Ningal (Great Lady) is his wife. The rest of the text is either self-explanatory or broken. K 3753 obverse col. i itikin d+innin.na itikin ši-pir dištar 1 2 ⸢šá⸣ dbe-let-dingir.meš ina díd.lú.ru.gú ub-ba-ab zu-mur-šú 3 iti muléllag d+en-líl-bàn-da dé-a be-lu ta-ši-mi-it 4 šá dutu ina mulab.sín uš-ta-pa-a a-mar-šú dgu .ud ina qaq-qar mulab.sín ú-šar-ši-du é 5  4 ni-ṣir-ti-šú 6  ù mulugamušen mul diškur ik-šu-du ḫar-ra-an dutu 7 ud.3.kám da-ni7 u diškur te-di-iq in-na-an-di-quʾu nu-um-⸢mu⸣-ru zi-mu-šú-nu 8  ina dingir.meš gal.meš a-mat-su-nu ra-ba-at ul in-né-an-nu-ú qí-bit-su-nu 9 [it]i a-bi iti ú-lu-lu šá diš-tar be-let kur.kur 10 [x] x denšada u dnin.gal è.meš-nim-ma i-šad-diiḫ su-qa unugki 11 [da-ni]m d+en.líl u dé-a i-šak-kan ta-ši-il-tu4 12 [x x x] é.[du]mu.nun.na it-ti d30 u dnin.gal iššak-kan ši-tul-tu4 13 [dmu-ùḫ]-ra u dkù-sù é.meš-nim-ma it-ti-iq rebit unugki

427 14 [x x x] x a-na d30 u dnin.gal i-nam-din ur-ti 15 [x x it]-ti šuk-lu-lu-ul-tu4 a-na da-nim u dinnin uš-te-eš-še-ru šu.luḫ.ḫa 16 [x x x] šá ṣa-lam dlàma diš-tar it-ti mul da-nim 17 [x x x] x.meš uš-ta-pa-a kur-ḫi-šú 18 [x x da-ni]m lugal lugal-ú-ut an-e šub-tu4 el-let ir-mi-ma 19 [x x x x] x iš-šak-kan ḫa-da-šu-tù 20 ] muš-ta-mu 21 ] x te-lil-tu4 22 ]xxx col. ii 1 iti x [ 2 ud.5.ká[m 3 ina pa-ni x [ 4 dmi-šar-r[i 5 ina sila.límmu.ba KI IM ŠÀ x x [ 6 ze-er a-sak-ku u tam-t[ì 7 i-šá-at a-na k[i 8 ud. 12.kám a-na siskurx gaba.ri šá IK [ 9 ù diškur mug-da-áš-ri [ 10 ina pa-ni dimin.bi qar-ra-du la šá-[na-an 11 ta é dbe-let-dingir.meš diš-ḫ[a-ra 12 ud.18.kám ki-ma kur-ḫa [ 13 da-ni7 a-na za-ma-né-e [ 14 ta pa-ni da-nim x [ 15 ina pa-ni dutu i-[ 16 ta e11-šú-nu [ 17 dgiš.bar x [ 18 ina pa-ni [ 19 ud.20.[kám 20 it-t[i   21 [+ x mu.didli   22 x [ reverse col. i 1 x[ 2 ud.10[+ x 3 ud.22.k[ám 4 da-ni7 [ 5 ud.26.kám x [ 6 ta ud.27.k[ám 7 ki-is-pi [ 8 a-na E TI? x [ 9 ud.29.kám IŠ [   10 29 mu.didli [ 11 iti a-da-ri iti x [

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12 ki-ma šá dutu ina qaq-qar mu[l 13 u didim ina dur mul[ 14 muláš.gán x x x [ 15 [x] x [ col. ii 1 ]xx[ 2 ] un-nin-ni x [ 3 ] ú-šá-ak-la-lu-ú par-ṣi [ 4 ].meš li-kin DA x [   5 ] x šá itiše al.ti[l]   6 [da-nim den.lí]l u dé-a dingir.meš gal.meš obverse col. i 1 Elul. Month of the mission of Ištar, 2 when the lady of the gods purified her body in Idlurugu. 3 Month of the Kidney Star and Enlilbanda and Ea, the lords of wisdom, 4 (and) when the sun (Šamaš) becomes visible in Virgo, 5 (and) when Mercury makes firm its highest position in the region of Virgo, 6 and Uga, the star of Adad, reaches the path of the sun (Šamaš). 7 On the third day Anu and Adad are clad, so that their luminescence gleams. 8 Among the great gods their word is the greatest; their command cannot be altered. 9 The month Abu, the month Ulul, the month of Ištar the lady of the lands. 10 [.] . Nusku and Ningal are brought out; they will stride about in the streets of Uruk. 11 Anu, Enlil, and Ea will establish jubilation. 12 [In] Edumununna a consultation with Sîn and Ningal will be held. 13 Muḫra and Kusu will go out and cross the square of Uruk. 14 […] . He will give an order for Sîn and Ningal. 15 [..] in unity; they will keep in order the washing of the hands for Anu and Ištar. 16 […] the constellation Lamma, the protective deity, Ištar with the star of Anu. 17 […] . will beam at its rising. 18 [.. An]u, the king, with the kingship over the heavens occupied the pure abode, and 19 [….] the status of bridegroom is established .. 20 ] lovers

21 ] . purification 22 ] … col. ii 1 Month . [ 2 On the 5th day [ 3 In front of . [ 4 Mišarru [ 5 At the crossing … [ 6 Progeny of Asakku and Tiamat [ 7 Fire for [ 8 On the 12th day, the prayer … [ 9 And mighty Adad [ 10 In the presence of Sibitti, the hero without rival [ 11 Out of the temple of Bēlit-ilī Išh[ara 12 On the 18th day, like the rising of [ 13 Anu, to the enemies [ 14 From before Anu [ 15 In front of Šamaš. [ 16 From their [ 17 Girra [ 18 In front of [ 19 The 20th day [ 20 With [   21 [ + x years   22 . [ reverse col. i 1 .[ 2 Day 10 [ + x 3 The 22nd day [ 4 Anu [ 5 The 26th day [ 6 From the 27th day [ 7 funerary offerings [ 8 To … [ 9 The 29th day . [   10 Twenty-nine years [ 11 The month of Addar, the month of . [ 12 Like the sun in the area of the star [ 13 And Ea in the “band” of the star [ 14 The Pleiades … [ 15 . . [ col. ii 1 ]..[ 2 ] prayer [ 3 ] They make the rites complete [

Babylonian Hemerologies And Menologies

4   5   6

] … [ ] the month Addar. Completed. [ [Anu,] Enlil, and Ea, the great gods.

“Bilingual Menology” The “Bilingual Menology” exists in parallel Sumerian and Akkadian versions. Attempts to determine which version has primacy have been inconclusive, and it is possible that both were written by a scribe with equal facility in the two languages. The text witnesses are as follows:

a = VAT 9416 (KAV 218) b = VAT 17081 (VS 24 120) C = Sm 755 + 1352 + 1651 + 1715 + 1988 D = 81–2-4, 424 N = K 2920 + 3604 + 8876 + 9527 + 12117 + 12136 + 122242 + 15582 + 18407 + 81–7-27, 208 (N1) (+) 80–7-19, 100 (N2)

Text witness b is from Babylon and is written in middle Babylonian script, which firmly anchors composition of the text in mid-second-millennium bce Babylonia.42 Based on its script and currently accepted models for the formation of the Babylonian canon of literature, the b manuscript indicates a probable date of around 1300 bce for the composition of the “Bilingual Menology.” Text witness a is a Neo-Assyrian tablet in Neo-Assyrian script excavated in the library with archive located in the southwest courtyard of the Aššur temple in the city of Aššur. Text witnesses C, D, and N are also in Neo-Assyrian script and are from the Aššurbanipal libraries in Nineveh. Though short, this menology is packed with information. Text witness b contains glosses that are not included in the transliteration, which distinguishes the “Sumerian version” from the “Babylonian version.” The translation is based on the Babylonian version. Parenthetical comments below each month in the translations are mine. The first month of the year corresponds to our April or May. The Sumerian transliteration is as follows: I a [I itibára] mulaš-gán bára-an-na ⸢bára⸣ íl-la bára gar-ra b [itibár]a-zag-gar - - -? [ C ] mulaš-gán [ iti N1 - bára-zag-gar - - 42  See Livingstone, 2013, pp. 272–74.

429 a gar-ra-an sig5-ga an-na d+en-líl-lá-ke4 [it]i dnanna(ŠEŠ.KI) N1 - - - a dumu-sag d+en-líl-lá-ke4 b - - - - - - D - - - - - - N1 - - - - - - II I itigu mul-mul dimin-bi dingir-gal-gal-e-ne ki a  4 pad-du C ] - - - - [ N1 -itigu4-si-sá a gu4 si-sá-e-ne ki-duru5 gal TAG 4.TAG 4 gišapin dur-dur-ru-ke4 b s]i-sá - - gál - C ] - - gál - - [ N1 ] - - gá[l a iti dnin-gìr-su ur-sag énsi gal d+en-líl-lá-ke4 b - - [ ] - - - - [ C ] dnin-gír-su [ ] - - - - - [ D éns]i - - - - - N1 - - [ ] - - III I itisig mulgù-an-na aga(tablet: ÍL!) an-na-ke a  4 4 mul-bi N1 - itisig4.ga a gibilx(KA×NE) ba-an-sá iti ù-šub lugal-ke4 lugal ù-šub sig4-ke4 b ] - a kur-kur é-ne-ne mu-un-dù-a iti kúl-la kalamma-ke4 b - - - ra é x x x a ne - dkulla - - D it]i - - - N1 - [ ] mu-un-gibil-eš-àm [ ] - - IV I itišu mulsipa-zi-an-na dnin-šubur sukkal-maḫ a  an-na itišu-numun-na N1 -  d a  innin-bi-id-da-ke4 iti numun dub-bu-ni numun nim-ta-è-dè b num]un dib-bé a kíd-kíd iti dnin-ru-ru-gú sipa ddumu-zi ba-dib-dib-ba b - - - - - ba-an-[ D ]-⸢dib⸣-ba N1 ] - V I [itine mulkak-si-sá] dnin-urta-ra [ki-izi … ] a  x-re-dè x b ] x-dè

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a  [x x x x] da-nun-na-ke4-ne dgibilx(KA×NE) am-ta e11-dè ki b lá - - - - ke-e-ne [ N1 iti dbil4-ga]-meš u4.8.kám d a  utu-ra TUM4.TUM4-mu-dè guruš géšpu lirumma iti N1 l]irum-[ma a dbil4-ga-mès ká-ne-ne u4.9.kám b dbi]l4-mèš u4.9.kám guruš kal-ga x [ N1 ká-ne]-ne a a-da-mìn b ] x a-da-mìn de-è-ne x [ VI I itikin mulban dinnin elam-maki-ke a  4 amadinnin-e-ne b ] x N1  ] - - dinnin-ke4-e-ne a díd-lú-ru-gú sikil-e-dè mu-bi in-dadag b - - - - [ N1 - - - - - sik[il-e]-da-a-ni-šè im-mi-in-dadag VII I itidu mulMU.BU.kéš-da den-líl-le PA.ŠU.NIRa  6 ne-ne a  kù-kù mu nam-LÚ×Ux.LU umun in-dadag ne-sag mu kù-ga a kur-kur-ra da-nun-na-ke4-ne-e-ne mu-un-na⟨ak⟩ ká-abzu-ta-è N1 ]-kur-ra da-nun-na an-da-gál-le-eš a ki-sè-ga lugal-ddu6-kù-ga d+en-ki dnin-ki iti pa4-bíl-ga N1 - [ ] a d+en-líl-lá-ke4 VIII a I itiapin gišal-lá-bi gišapin-na [edin-na] a-da-mìn N1 ] - - - a-da-mìn-di-e-ne a di5-di5-dè! a-ki-tu ur-gar-ra iti diškur gú-gal an-ki-a N1 - - - - - - - IX a I itiga[n ḫé-gál ḫé-nun] MUL x [ur-sag kal-g]a N1 AŠ.D]U ururugal(AB×GAL)-l[a-ta ba-ra]-è ur -ur a   4 4 [dingir ma]š-tab-ba N1 GÌR.UNU.GAL kalam-ma-ta ba-ra-è a iti ur-sag ⟨d⟩gìr šá!-AŠ.DU X I itiab eze[n-maḫ] ⸢an-na⸣-ke iti ní-g[al dinnina  4 ke4] ab-ba N1 n]e - - - - - - - - - - a  u[ru x (x)] x [x x] di-šu[m ká]-ne-ne [dutu] šu-bar-r[a-k]e4

a ná-ki [x x] iti til-bi-šè in-x [x (x)] XI I itizíz mulÁ.MUŠEN dza-b[a -ba ] ú-ḫi-a téš-bi a  4 4 eden-na N1 - - - [ a m[ú-a] iti šà-ḫúl!-la d+en-l[íl-lá-ke4] itiSU.GA[N] N1 ] x - - - - a zagÁ.MUŠEN x […] XII a [I itiše … N1 -itiše-kin-kud [ ed]in-na ki-a a-gàr gal-gal-la N1 dnin-gír-su-ke4 urudušu-kin ki nu-TAG4.TAG4 The Babylonian transliteration is as follows: I itibára i-ku-ú šu-bat da-ni lugal in-na-ášši a   7 lugal N1 ina - - - - - [ ] - a  gar-an šur-ru-ú sig5 ša da-ni7 ù d+en.líl iti d+en.zu N1 iš-šak-kan [ a dumu reš-ti-i ša d+en.líl D - - - - šá - - N1 reš-t]u-u - - - II itigu ṣa-ap-pu dimin.bi dingir.meš gal.meš a  4 pe-tu-ú N1 ina - a  er-ṣe-ti gu4.meš ul-te-eš-še-rù ru-ṭu-ub-tu up-ta-ta N1 - - [ul-te-eš]-še-ru ba-ma-a-tu4 up-t[a-at-ta] giš a  apin.meš ir-ra-aḫ-ḫa-ṣu ITI dnin-gìr-su qarra-di GIR? dmi[n qar-ra-d]i D  a iš-šá-ak-ki gal-i ša d+en.líl D [éns]i - - šá - - N1 [én]si - - šá - - III itisig iṣ le-e a-gi da-ni [mu]l.bi dbil-gi ša-nin a  4 7 iti BIL ? N1 ina - a  na-al-ba-an lugal lugal na-al-ba-na i-la-bi-in kur.meš N1 ku[r a é.meš-ši-na ep-pu-šú iti kúl-la ša ma-a-tì d]kulla šá ma-a-ti (incorrect in D  BPO) N1 x x x MEŠ i[ti dku]l-li šá ma-a-ti IV itišu ši-ta-ad-da-lu dpap-sukkal sukkal ṣi-i-ru a  ša da-ni7

Babylonian Hemerologies And Menologies

N1 [ina] - a  u deš4.dar iti numun šá-pa-ku numun-ni ḫar-pi šu-ṣi-i a ši-si-it dnin-ru-ru-gú iti sipa ddumu.zi ik-ka-mu-ú N1 -] - - V itine šu-ku-du dnin.urta ki.ne.meš ut-tap-pa-ḫa a  di-pa-ru a a-na da-nun-na-ke4 in-na-áš-ši dbil-gi iš-tu an-e a  ur-ra-dam-ma it-ti dutu i-ša-na-an iti dgiš-gínmaš a  tu-šu-ʾu-ú u4-mi eṭ-lu-tu ina ká.meš-šú-nu úma-áš N1  ] x sag um eṭ-lu-tu4 ina ká-šú-nu ina úm[aš] u a ú-ba-ri ul-te-ṣu-ú N1 a-ba-ri uš-te-eṣ-ṣu-ú VI itikin ši-pir deš .dar e-la-ma-ti eš .dar.meš a  4 4 ina díd N1 [ina -] - - - dinanna.meš ina díd.lú.ru.gú a ú-tál-la-la šat-tu-su ú-tab-ba-ba N1 [ ]-x-ši-na - - - VII itidu ni-i-ru d+en.líl šu-ba-a-tu ú-tál-la-la nia  6 šu u a  ru-bu-ú ú-tab-ba-bu ni-iq šat-ti el-lu ša kur. meš-tim N1 ni-q]u-ú el-lu šá - a  a-na da-nun-na-ke4 in-na-qi ba-ab ap-si-i ip-pat-te N1 ana - - - - [ - - a]q?-qi [ a  ki-is-pu [a-n]a lugal-du6-k[ù-g]a d+en.ki u dn[in.k]i N1 ] da-nun-na-ki ik-kas-sip a [(x)] iti a-bi a-bi [d+en.líl] N1 - [ ] -? - šá d+en.líl VIII a itiapin pa-ṭàr gišapin gišal-la ù gišapin a-na edin N1      g]išal u - a  ul-te-ṣu-ú a-ki-it e-re-ši iš-ša-ka-an iti diškur gú-gal N1 uš-te-eṣ-ṣu-u - - - - a an-e ù ki-tim N1 - - u - IX itigan ḫé-gál-lu u nu-uḫ-šu uk-ta-ma-ru ur.sag a  dan-nu N1 ] uk-ta-mar a du+gur iš-tu er-ṣe-ti i-la-a ka-šu-u[š dingir].meš a ki-lal-la-an

431 a iti ur.sag [gít-m]a-li du+gur N1 - qar-ra-du - - - - - - šá ana kur uṣ-ṣa-a X itiab ⟨i⟩-sin-nu ṣi-ru šá [da-ni ] i[ti] nam-ri-ri šá a  7 diš-tar a ši-bu-ut uru ana ukkin N1 up-ta]ḫ-ḫa-ru ana pu-uḫ-ri-šú-nu a  uṣ-ṣ[u-ú] di-šum ká.meš-šú-nu i-x [x] dutu šu-ba-ru-ta N1 [u]ṣ-ṣu-ni i-sin-nu ṣi-ru šá da-ni7 iti nam-ri-ir-ri a u na-i-[la] ša er-ṣe-ti i-ša-ak-[ka-an] iti.bi a-di a na-ag-ma-ri-[šú] lu-up-pu-[ut?] XI itizíz mulá.[mušen x x] šam-mu! [ ] it[i a  ḫu-ud N1 ina - - iti ḫur-ba-ši bi-bil a šà-bi ša den.líl] [ N1 - - šá den.líl.lá.ke4 XII itiše x [x x x x] maš-ka-na-[at e]din i-m[a-ala  la] ina N1  ina itiše-um in-ni-iṣ-ṣi-id maš-ka-na-a-tu4 edin i-ma-al-la-a a  ú-ga-ri rab-bu-[ti] nig-gal-lu ul e-se-[et] iti ḫu-ud šà-bi N1 u-ga-ru gal.meš šá dnin-gír-su ni-gál-lu ul i-sit a ša d+en.[líl] iti dé-a I Nisan. Pegasus: the abode of Anu. The king is lifted up; the king is put in place. A good beginning of Anu and Enlil. The month of Enlil, the eldest son of Sîn. (As can be inferred from other texts, including those for the royal New Year ritual at Babylon, the raising and putting in place of the king refer to a rite in which he was temporarily removed from the throne and, after appropriate prayers, was reinstated by the great gods.) II Ayyar. Pleiades: Sebetti, the great gods. Opening up of the earth. The oxen march on. The damp earth will be opened. The plows will be splashed. The month of Ningirsu, the hero, the great farmer of Enlil. (The placement of plowing in this month does not agree with the agricultural reality of the mid-second millennium bce or later, when plowing took place in months XI and XII. Rather, it etymologizes on the Sumerian name of the month itigu4-si-sá, which means month “when the oxen come forth” and harks back to a late third-millennium bce calendar, long before various calendrical alterations had come into being.)

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III Siman. Hyades: the crown of Anu. That constellation rivals Girra. Month of the brick mold of the king. The king places the brick in the mold. The lands build their houses. Month of Kulla of the lands. (This corresponds to a time of year when there was a hiatus in other activities, primarily agriculture, and it was a season for building and rebuilding.) IV Tammuz. Orion: Papsukkal, the lofty vizier of Anu and Ištar. The month of scattering the grain, bringing out the early seed. The crying of Ninrurugu. The month Dumuzi is bound. (Rites enacting and demonstrating how the shepherd god Dumuzi was captured by demons and dragged off to the underworld are known to have been carried out.) V Ab. Sirius: Ninurta. The braziers are lighted. A torch is raised for the Anunnaki. Girra comes down from heaven and rivals Šamaš. Month of Gilgamesh. The ninth day is the day that the young men are made to go out of the city gate for strength and wrestling. (Rites in this month that involve an image of a wrestler are attested.) VI Elūl. Bow Star: the mission of Ištar of Elam. The goddess is purified in the river, they are cleansed annually. (For the association of the month Elūl with purification, see the “ ‘Cult Menology 2’: Uruk” section in this chapter.) VII Tašrit. Yoke Star: Enlil. The habitations are purified, the people and the prince purify themselves. The annual pure offering of the lands is made to the Anunnaki. The gate of Apsû is opened. A funerary offering is made to Lugaldukuga, Enki, and Ninki. The month of Enlil’s grandfather. (The purification may be connected to the sacred nature of this month.) VIII Araḫsamnu. The loosening of the plow: the hoe and seed plow are brought out to the field. A plowing festival will be established. Month of Iškur, the canal inspector of heaven and earth. (This accords better with agricultural reality in the later periods in ancient Mesopotamia.) IX Kislim. Abundance and plenty are in store. The mighty hero Nergal will rise up from the underworld.

The weapon of both gods. Month of the perfect hero, Nergal. (This was a month of beer making, and the allusion to “abundance and plenty” may be to this.) X Ṭebet. The august festival of Anu. Month of the aweinspiring luminosity of Ištar. The elders of the city are gathered for the assembly. They go out for the assembly. Išum guards (?) their gates. Šamaš establishes freedom of service and rest for the earth. That month in its entirety is ominous (?). (This is also etymologizing. The Sumerian month name itiab-ba-è may be understood as “the elders come out.” However, this was not necessarily its original meaning.) XI Šabat. Eagle Star. Plants of the field. Month of joy of the heart of Enlil. (This is possibly an allusion to market gardening.) XII Addar…. The granaries of the land are full. On the great arable lands of Ningirsu the sickle is not out of place. It is of Enlil, the month of Ea. (This is etymologizing, since the month name includes the elements še, “barley,” and ku5, “cut.”)

Use of the Hemerologies

Textual sources from both Assyria and Babylonia, especially from the first millennium bce, show that hemerologies were a functioning element in the palace organizations that administered those two lands. The sources include the correspondence of members of the large cohort of scholars that the Neo-Assyrian kings kept at their palace courts at Nineveh. Their letters, several hundred in number, are all addressed from a scholar or scholars to the king and are related to every aspect of the king’s life and activities, from ruling the empire to personal matters such as ailing royal babies. Despite the one-way nature of the correspondence, the modern student gets a sense of dialogue because the scholars frequently write “as for what the king, my lord, said (or wrote)” and follow this with an exact quotation of his words. It was in their correspondence with the king that the scholars drew upon the traditional scholastic literature, of which they were the custodians, in order to explain it and apply it to matters that were on the king’s mind. Among the various ritual, magical, and other texts, the hemerologies are quoted more than a hundred times. It is impossible not to suppose that hemerological material of this kind played an actual role in the running of the empire.

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Whereas the vast majority of the literary and scholastic texts at Nineveh were recovered in the remains of the royal libraries, which were shattered when the Babylonian and Median armies sacked Nineveh in 612 bce, at Aššur the texts were found in rooms inside the houses of the scribes and scholars, situated on the periphery of the acropolis where the temples and palaces were located. Thanks to the careful excavations at Aššur carried out by Walther Andrae and the meticulous recording of the data, we are able to speculate on the private archives and libraries of the scribes and scholars.43 This material is dated to the Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian periods, and the houses were inhabited mostly by multigenerational families of scribes who worked for the temple and palace establishments and whose profession was passed on from father to son. Their libraries resemble the private libraries of modern scholars in that the texts exhibit a certain disarray along with gaps in coverage, but more importantly they represent the needs and interests of the scribe or scholar who possessed them. My investigation of the material leads to several observations about the place of the hemerologies in the scholastic literature. It is evident that lamentation priests tended to have tablets with prayers and lamentations, and that diviners also had the texts they needed, sometimes with a specialty in a particular area such as lecanomancy or extispicy, but in addition to texts relevant to their specialties, many of the professionals had one or more of the hemerologies. There is no indication that “hemerologist” existed as a separate profession, but it is evident that most professionals had an interest in the hemerological texts and probably drew on hemerology in their work and daily lives.44 The royal inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian kings, which regularly proclaim that the commencement of a military campaign or other important action took place “in a favorable month, on an agreeable day” or similar wording, is another source attesting to the practical use of hemerology. An interesting example of royal humor occurs in one of Esarhaddon’s reports on his military action, composed in the form of a letter to the god Aššur: “While I was victoriously going about in that district, on the twenty-first of Kislim, an unfavorable day, an offspring of the Asakku demons, in the dead of night they sprayed naphtha on the siege wall that I had erected and set it on fire. On the command of Marduk, the king of the gods, the north wind blew and the pleasant breath of the god turned the tongue of the fire against Uppume. It did not touch the siege wall […] but burned his wall, turning it to ashes.”

Uppume is the district referred to in the first sentence. The unfavorable aspect of the twenty-first day might be due to its being three times seven. However, four of the five text witnesses in the “Babylonian Almanac” for this day state that the twenty-first day is favorable, and none finds it unfavorable. In his account, Esarhaddon portrays himself as knowledgeable of hemerology, in contrast to the ignorance of the enemy, with the result that the enemy’s attempt to destroy Esarhaddon’s siege wall destroyed Uppume’s wall instead. Further evidence of the observance of hemerology can be found in Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian dedicatory and building inscriptions.

43  Pedersén, 1985, 1986. 44  A fuller account of this research is in Livingstone, 2007b.

45  The research presented here was published first in Livingstone, 1993–97, and most recently in Livingstone, 2013, pp. 275–78.



Retrospect: A Scientific Experiment in Hemerology

The hemerologies provide a rich and colorful vignette of life as it was lived in ancient Iraq several thousand years ago. They show the Mesopotamians in different situations, public and private, and reveal their fears, hopes, and aspirations. For the Mesopotamians themselves, the hemerologies were part of their daily lives. In this section, I propose a hemerological experiment based on non-hemerological texts, texts from daily life that relate both substantively and calendrically to the hemerologies and menologies.45 The existence from the later eighth century bce and the Sargonid period of significant corpora of dated extispicy reports and legal documents of near-archival status from the three Assyrian capital cities allows the dates they contain to be presented graphically and compared with the patterns of activity in these two areas that emerge from the hemerologies. This research, collecting calendrical data from documents that pertain to the daily lives of ancient Assyrians, is Assyriological, but it is Assyriology of a new kind, and I am writing here not as an academic Assyriologist but as a scientist reporting the results of a practical experiment. The data are presented in figures that chart the frequency of extispicy and legal transactions by the days of the ideal month and by month. My objective is not to compare the data to the information in the hemerologies but rather to step back and evaluate it statistically, somewhat like a modern-day hemerologist in the Babylonian tradition. In doing this, I am mindful of my own experience of working for four years in a Middle Eastern country that uses a lunar calendar. One was aware of the connection between the phases of the moon and the dates and events that governed one’s daily life, especially since many activities took place at night, when it

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Figure 11.2

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Bar graph showing frequency of extispicy reports plotted by day in the ideal thirty-day month. Based on 73 reports.

was cooler. Unlike in northern climes, the almost constant clearness of the night sky made one much more aware of celestial activity. The waning of the moon at the end of the month was a sign that payday was around the corner. After compiling the data sets for extispicy and legal transactions, I consulted two experts on statistics, one a mathematician and the other a practical archaeologist who dealt with large quantities of sherds and found it necessary to use models based on statistics in order to obtain a clear picture of his results. Both assured me that the quantity of material I had compiled was sufficient to produce valid statistics, as presented in the figures that follow. Extispicy The extispicy data set presented in figure 11.2 derives from dated oracular inquiries (extispicy reports) from the Sargonid period during the reigns of Esarhaddon (680– 669 bce) and Aššurbanipal (668–627 bce). The reports are dated by day and month, and it is assumed here that only the day, and not the month, was significant for the timing of this activity. The archives that contain this information constitute a coherent source of material from the later seventh century bce. What is immediately striking in figure 11.2 is the complete lack of extispicy on the seventh, fourteenth, and twenty-first days of the month, precisely those days on which the practice is forbidden in Fruit, Lord of the Month and other hemerologies. Also notable is how, according to these data, extispicy dwindles and then terminates completely after the twenty-sixth day. The end of the month, as the moon waned and the night sky darkened, was deemed unlucky and a time when monsters and evil spirits were at their most malevolent. The inferences to be drawn from the peaks on the fourth, eleventh, and twenty-second days

is unclear, but in the same way that the multiples of seven were unfavorable, the tenth and twentieth days were generally favorable. Legal Activity Figures 11.3–11.5 show legal transactions in each of the three Neo-Assyrian capital cities of Nineveh, Aššur, and Kalhu, and figure 11.6 provides a consolidated chart of the data for the three cities together. It is assumed that the identity of the individual month was not significant for the choice of day. The activities recorded are not litigation but sales and purchases by the wealthy citizens of the three cities, mainly of real estate and human resources (slaves), if one may misuse a modern term. It must be emphasized that these documents are replete with legal argot and language describing the dire pains and penalties that will be visited on either party, vendor or purchaser, if he or she fails to comply with what has been agreed upon. These citizens had the leisure to organize their lives according to hemerological perceptions, if they so wished. The data are collected from a wider chronological span than is used for the extispicy reports, from the reign of Tiglath-pileser III (744–727) to Esarhaddon, but they still form a coherent data set. In figure 11.3, the predictable peaks for Nineveh are the first day, very frequently a favorable day, the tenth day, and the twentieth day. The latter day was the monthly festival day of Šamaš, who was not only the sun god but also the god of justice. The multiples of seven are not studiously avoided (it is the surgeon, exorcist, and practitioner of extispicy whose work is barred on those days). The results for Aššur in figure 11.4 are similar. In figure 11.5, the pattern for Kalhu varies somewhat. While the first and twentieth days are popular for this sort of legal activity, there is an even greater, and inexplicable, peak on

Babylonian Hemerologies And Menologies

Figure 11.3

Bar graph showing frequency of legal transactions at Nineveh plotted by day in the ideal thirty-day month. Based on 260 legal documents.

Figure 11.4

Bar graph showing frequency of legal transactions at Aššur plotted by day in the ideal thirty-day month. Based on 180 legal documents.

Figure 11.5

Bar graph showing frequency of legal transactions at Kalhu plotted by day in the ideal thirty-day month. Based on 85 legal documents.

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Figure 11.6

Bar graph showing frequency of legal transactions at Aššur, Nineveh, and Kalhu plotted by day in the ideal thirty-day month. Based on 525 legal documents.

Figure 11.7

Line graph showing frequency of legal transactions plotted by month. Based on 525 legal documents.

the thirteenth day. Finally, figure 11.6 strongly indicates that the good citizens of Assyria, no matter where they resided, preferred to conduct their legal activities on the first and twentieth days, the latter being the Šamaš festival day. Figure 11.7 shows the annual pattern of legal activity, displaying the number of legal documents produced in each month. Legal activity rises as the harvest progresses from the eleventh month onward. There was more financial activity at this time of year, and people were not spending money but rather disbursing barley. The rise peaks toward the second month, Ayyār, a favorable month, and then there is a dip toward the third month. The other striking feature in figure 11.7 is the sharp dip in the month of Tašrīt, the unfavorable seventh month, with its dangerous first seven days and the harmful demons that caused maladies. The data sets presented in the figures are clearly relevant to the hemerologies, but it is difficult to correlate

them directly and to determine the extent to which hemerology influenced the choice of days and months. It is simplest to do so for extispicy. Figure 11.2 shows clearly that the days forbidden in the hemerologies were indeed avoided. The question is whether the days were avoided by the extispicy priests because of the written proscriptions in the hemerologies, or whether the hemerologies simply reflect a widespread custom. It seems most likely to me that there were long-held and ancient customs by which the extispicy priest and surgeon did not engage in their respective activities on particular days, that these days and the prohibitions associated with them were included in the hemerologies, and that the hemerologies were both proscriptive for and descriptive of society. The data set for legal activity is more complicated but is susceptible to similar interpretation.

Appendixes

∵

Appendix A

Survey of Excavated Daybooks, Daybook-Related Manuscripts, and Other Hemerological Material Appendix A provides information in brief for the excavated hemerological material discussed in chapter 2 (pp. 66–81) and follows the sequence of the account given there. For the six daybooks and seven daybook-related manuscripts that are fully published, the information includes the acronym used in this volume and the reference edition for the reconstructed manuscripts. Dates for manuscripts found in tombs represent burial dates.

Tomb occupant: Xi 喜, a local official Reconstructed manuscripts: SHDA, 166 slips and slip fragments; SHDB, 259 slips and slip fragments (the title Rishu 日書 appears on the verso of slip 259). Other manuscripts in the tomb: A chronology of events from 306 to 217 bce; legal and administrative texts. Reference edition: Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian. Other sources: Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu; Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1.

A.1

Published Daybook Manuscripts



Kongjiapo Daybook (142 bce)



Jiudian Daybook (ca. 300 bce)



Fangmatan Daybooks (after 239 bce)

A.2

Published Daybook-Related Manuscripts



Yueshan Manuscripts (ca. 221–207 bce)



Zhoujiatai Manuscripts (ca. 209 bce)

Acronym: JD Site: Jiudian 九店 tomb 56, Jiangling 江陵, Hubei. Excavated 1981–89. Tomb occupant: Man of low rank Reconstructed manuscript: 88 slips and slip fragments. Other manuscript in the tomb: Twelve slip fragments with text related to measurements involving grain, perhaps arithmetic. Reference edition: Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance [shisi zhong]. Other sources: Jiangling Jiudian Dong Zhou mu; Jiudian Chu jian.

Acronyms: FMTA, FMTB Site: Fangmatan 放馬灘 tomb 1, Tianshui 天水, Gansu. Excavated 1986. Tomb occupant: Perhaps a local official Reconstructed manuscripts: FMTA, 73 slips and slip fragments; FMTB, 388 slips and slip fragments. Other manuscripts and documents in the tomb: An account of resurrection (included in FMTB in the reconstructed manuscript); seven maps drawn on four tablets; one tablet with Liubo Board (Boju 博局) design on one side and a tiger attached to a tree on the other side. Reference edition: Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi. Other sources: Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian; Qin jiandu heji, vol. 4.



Shuihudi Daybooks (ca. 217 bce)

Acronyms: SHDA, SHDB Site: Shuihudi 睡虎地 tomb 11, Yunmeng 雲夢, Hubei. Excavated 1975–76.

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Acronym: KJP Site: Kongjiapo 孔家坡 tomb 8, Suizhou 隨州, Hubei. Excavated 2000. Tomb occupant: Bi 辟, a local official Reconstructed manuscript: 478 slips and slip fragments (the title Rishu [2] 日書 [2] appears on the verso of slip 236). Other manuscripts and documents in the tomb: Calendar for the year corresponding to 142 bce; burial document of the type currently referred to as gaodi shu 告地書 “document of declaration to the earth.” Reference edition: Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu.

Acronym: YS Site: Yueshan 嶽山 tomb 36, Jingzhou 荊州, Hubei. Excavated 1986. Tomb occupant: Perhaps a local official Reconstructed manuscripts: Two tablets, numbered 43 and 44. Reference edition: Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3. Other source: Kaogu xuebao 2000.4, pp. 537–63.

Acronyms: ZJTA, ZJTB Site: Zhoujiatai 周家臺 tomb 30, Jingzhou, Hubei. Excavated 1992–93. Tomb occupant: Perhaps a local official Reconstructed manuscripts: ZJTA, 178 slips and slip fragments; ZJTB, 73 slips and slip fragments.

440

appendix a

Other manuscripts in the tomb: Event calendar for the year corresponding to 213 bce; calendar for years corresponding to 211–10 bce; calendar for the year corresponding to 209 bce. Reference edition: Guanju Qin Han mu jiandu. Other source: Qin jiandu heji, vol. 3.



Chinese University of Hong Kong Slips (presumed to date to the Western Han period)

Acronym: HK Site: Looted, no provenance. Acquired by the Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum in 1994. Reconstructed manuscript: The 109 slips were looted from one or more tombs and cannot be treated as a single manuscript. Other looted Han manuscripts acquired: Administrative records; inventory of burial goods; magical and ritual texts. Reference edition: Xianggang Zhongwen daxue wenwuguan cang jiandu.



Duling Manuscript (ca. 49 bce)

Acronym: DL Site: Duling 杜陵 tomb 5 (2001XRGM5), Xi’an 西安, Shaanxi. Excavated 2001. Tomb occupant: Perhaps an official at the court of Emperor Xuan (r. 73–49 bce) Reconstructed manuscript: One tablet. Reference edition: Zhang Mingqia and Wang Yulong, 2002.



Yinwan Manuscripts (ca. 10 bce)

Acronym: YW Site: Yinwan 尹灣 tomb 6, Lianyungang 連雲港, Jiangsu. Excavated 1993. Tomb occupant: Shi Rao 師饒, a local official Reconstructed manuscripts: 27 slips; one tablet. Other manuscripts and documents in the tomb: One event calendar for the year corresponding to 11 bce; two calendars for years corresponding to 12 and 10 bce; administrative texts; one verse in fu 賦 style; greeting tablets; inventory of burial goods. Reference edition: Yinwan Han mu jiandu.



Wuwei Manuscripts (after 9 CE)

Acronym: WW Site: Mozuizi 磨咀子 tomb 6, Wuwei 武威, Gansu. Excavated 1959. Tomb occupant: Perhaps a local teacher Reconstructed manuscripts: 13 slip fragments from several manuscripts related to hemerology. Other manuscripts in the tomb: Three manuscripts containing chapters from the Yili 儀禮. Reference edition: Wuwei Han jian.

A.3

Published Hemerological Slips, Slip Fragments, and Tablets Discovered at Han Sites in the Northwest



Dunhuang Han Slips



Juyan Han Slips

A.4

Unpublished or Partially Published Hemerological Material



Shanghai Museum Chu Slips (presumed to date to ca. 300 bce)

Hemerological fragments among the slips and tablets found at sites in Dunhuang 敦煌 and surrounding areas in Gansu since the early twentieth century. Sources: Dunhuang Han jian; Shulehe liuyu chutu Han jian; Yingguo guojia tushuguan cang Sitanyin suoshou weikan hanwen jiandu.

Hemerological fragments among the slips and tablets found since the 1930s at sites around the Edsen-gol River, reaching from Inner Mongolia into Gansu. The earliest finds were published as the Juyan 居延 Han slips. Later discoveries include sites at Ejina 額濟納 and Jianshui Jinguan 肩水金關. Sources: Juyan Han jian jiayi bian; Juyan Han jian shiwen hejiao; Juyan xinjian—Jiaqu houguan; Ejina Han jian; Jianshui Jinguan Han jian; Liu Zhaorui, 1997; Liu Lexian, 2006a.

Site: Looted, no provenance. Acquired by the Shanghai Museum in 1994. Manuscript: Unpublished hemerological text. Other looted manuscripts acquired: Yi 易 manuscript; literary, historical, and intellectual texts. Reference: Li Ling, 2004a, p. 405.



Wangjiatai Manuscript (Qin period, second half of third century bce)

Site: Wangjiatai 王家臺 tomb 15, Jingzhou, Hubei. Excavated 1993. Tomb occupant: A person of low rank, perhaps a local official Manuscript: Hemerological manuscript, with transcription of several passages published. Other manuscripts in the tomb: Administrative texts; milfoilhexagram divination text; omen text. References: Wenwu 1995.1; Wang Mingqin, 2004.



Peking University Qin Manuscripts (presumed to date to ca. 214 bce)

Site: Looted, no provenance. Acquired by Peking University in 2010.

Survey of Excavated Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts Manuscripts: Unpublished hemerological texts occur in two of the manuscripts together with other content. Other looted manuscripts and documents acquired: Adminis­ trative texts; event calendars; arithmetic texts; accounting records; an account of resurrection; magical and ritual texts; medical recipes; literary texts. References: Wenwu 2012.6; Chen Kanli, 2012.

441

Other manuscripts in the tomb: Legal and administrative manuscripts; historical texts; arithmetic text; ten calendars for the years corresponding to 170–157 bce. Reference: Jiang Han kaogu 2008.4, pp. 31–37.



Yintai Manuscripts (early Western Han)



Zhoujiazhai Manuscript (ca. 134 bce)

Site: Zhangjiashan tomb 127, Jingzhou, Hubei. Excavated 1985–86. Tomb occupant: Insufficient evidence Manuscripts: Two unpublished hemerological manuscripts. References: Wenwu 1992.9; Chen Yuejun, 1988; Teng Rensheng, 2009.

Site: Zhoujiazhai 周家寨 tomb 8, Suizhou, Hubei. Excavated 2014. Tomb occupant: A man whose name may be Lu 路 Manuscript: Unpublished hemerological manuscript on 566 slips and slip fragments, reported to be closely related to KJP. Other document in the tomb: A gaodi shu “document of declaration to the earth.” References: 2014 Zhongguo zhongyao kaogu faxian; 2014 niandu quanguo shida kaogu xin faxian zhongping hui.





Peking University Han Manuscripts (presumed to date between mid-second and mid-first century bce)



Zhangjiashan Tomb 249 Manuscript ( first half of second century bce)

Site: Zhangjiashan 張家山 tomb 249, Jingzhou, Hubei. Excavated 1983–84. Tomb occupant: Insufficient evidence Manuscript: Unpublished hemerological manuscript. Other manuscript in the tomb: Calendar. References: Wenwu 1985.1, pp. 1–8; Wenwu 1985.1, pp. 9–15; Peng Hao, 1993; Teng Rensheng, 2009.



Zhangjiashan Tomb 127 Manuscripts (early second century bce)

Shuanggudui Manuscript (165 bce)

Site: Shuanggudui 雙古堆 tomb 1, Fuyang 阜陽, Anhui. Excavated 1977. Tomb occupant: Xiahou Zao 夏侯灶, Lord of Ruyin 汝陰侯 Manuscript: Unpublished hemerological manuscript. Other manuscripts in the tomb: Fragments of the Shi 詩 and Yi; fragments of the Cang Jie pian 倉頡篇; technical occult and scientific texts. References: Wenwu 1978.8; Hu Pingsheng, 1998.



Huxishan Manuscripts (162 bce)

Site: Huxishan 虎溪山 tomb 1, Yuanling 沅陵, Hunan. Excavated 1999. Tomb occupant: Wu Yang 吳陽, Lord of Yuanling 沅陵侯 Manuscripts: One or more hemerological manuscripts, with transcription of several passages published. Other manuscripts in the tomb: Administrative texts; culinaryrecipe manuscript. References: Wenwu 2003.1; Guo Weimin, 2004.



Shuihudi Han Manuscript (after 157 bce)

Site: Shuihudi tomb 77, Yunmeng, Hubei. Excavated 2006. Manuscript: Unpublished hemerological slip fragments.

Site: Unspecified tombs among nine Han tombs containing manuscripts in a cemetery of Qin and Han tombs at Yintai 印臺, Jingzhou, Hubei. Excavated 2002–4. Manuscripts: Hemerological texts from one or more manuscripts, with transcription of several passages published. Other manuscripts and documents in the tombs: Legal and administrative texts; calendars; inventories of burial goods; one or more gaodi shu “documents of declaration to the earth.” References: Zheng Zhonghua, 2009; Liu Lexian, 2009.

Site: Looted, no provenance. Acquired by Peking University in 2009. Manuscripts: Three hemerological manuscripts, unpublished, with the titles Rishu 日書 (composed of approximately 350 slips, based on 695 slips and slip fragments), Riyue 日約 (composed of approximately 120 slips, based on 183 slips and slip fragments), and Riji 日忌 (composed of approximately 200 slips, based on 414 slips and slip fragments). Other looted manuscripts acquired: Laozi 老子 manuscript; Cang Jie pian manuscript; literary, historical, and intellectual texts; technical occult and scientific texts; medical-recipe manuscripts. References: Wenwu 2011.6; Li Ling, 2011a.



Bajiaolang Manuscript (55 bce)

Site: Bajiaolang 八角廊 tomb 40, Dingzhou 定州, Hebei. Excavated 1973. Tomb occupant: Liu Xiu 劉修, King Huai of Zhongshan 中山 懷王

Manuscript: Unpublished, unspecified number of slips with hemerological content.

442

appendix a

Other manuscripts in the tomb: Fragments of Lunyu 論語; fragments of Wenzi 文子; record of activities for the year corresponding to 56 bce. References: Wenwu 1981.8, pp. 1–10; Wenwu 1981.8, pp. 11–13.



Shuiquanzi Manuscript (late Western Han)



Xuanquan Manuscripts (ca. 100 bce–100 CE)

Site: Shuiquanzi 水泉子 tomb 5, Yongchang 永昌, Gansu. Excavated 2008. Tomb occupant: Insufficient evidence Manuscript: Hemerological manuscript, with transcription of several passages published. Other manuscript in tomb: Cang Jie pian manuscript References: Zhang Cunliang and Wu Hong, 2009; Liu Lexian, 2012a.

Site: Han settlement site at Xuanquan 懸泉, Dunhuang region, Gansu. Excavated 1990–92. Manuscripts: Unspecified number of slips with hemerological content, with transcription of several passages published. Other manuscripts and documents: Mostly administrative records. References: Wenwu 2000.5; Dunhuang Xuanquan Han jian shicui, pp. 176–84.

A.5

Other Published Texts Related to Hemerology



Zidanku Silk Manuscripts (ca. 300 bce)

Site: Looted in 1942, provenance confirmed to be Zidanku 子彈庫 tomb 365, Changsha 長沙, Hunan. Tomb occupant: The man pictured in the silk painting found in the tomb

Manuscripts: Three silk-sheet manuscripts related to hemerology (see chap. 6 in this volume). Sources: Li Ling, 1985, 2017.



Yinqueshan Manuscripts (second half of second century bce)

Site: Yinqueshan 銀雀山 tomb 1, Linyi 臨沂, Shandong. Excavated 1972. Tomb occupant: A man whose surname is Sima 司馬 Manuscripts: Hemerological content is primarily in three groups of slips assigned the titles Sanshi shi 三十時, Tiandi bafang wuxing kezhu wuyin zhi ju 天地八方五行客主五音 之居, and Zhanshu 占書. Other manuscripts in the tomb: Military and political texts; technical occult and scientific texts. Source: Yinqueshan Han jian zhujian, vol. 2.



Mawangdui Manuscripts (168 bce)

Site: Mawangdui 馬王堆 tomb 3, Changsha, Hunan. Excavated 1973. Tomb occupant: A man whose surname is Li 利, a noble family of Changsha Manuscripts: Hemerological content primarily in silk-sheet manuscripts assigned the titles Xingde A 刑德甲篇, Xingde B 刑德乙篇, Xingde C 刑德丙篇, Yinyang wuxing A 陰陽五行甲 篇, Yinyang wuxing B 陰陽五行乙篇, Chuxing zhan 出行占, Muren zhan 木人占, and Taiyi zhutu 太乙祝圖. Other manuscripts in the tomb: Two copies of the Laozi in two separate manuscripts; Yi manuscript; historical and intellectual texts; technical occult and scientific texts. Sources: Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng; Chen Songchang, 2001; Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 85–96; Wenwu 2000.7; Wang Shujin, 2013.

Appendix B

Summary of Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts Appendix B summarizes the contents of and arrangement of text in the manuscripts. With the exception of the Chinese University of Hong Kong slips (HK), the manuscripts were found in tombs that were archaeologically excavated, and most are composed of multiple slips of bamboo or wood. At the time of excavation, the binding cords had disintegrated, and the slips may have become mixed with the slips of other manuscripts in the tomb. The assignment of slips to a specific manuscript and the determination of their sequence in the manuscript are modern reconstructions based on several factors, including the position of the slips when found in the tomb, their physical appearance, their state of preservation, and their content. The degree to which the reconstructed manuscript corresponds to the original at the time it was put in the tomb varies according to the circumstances of each manuscript. The numbered coding system identifies units of related content, or “sections,” in a manuscript based on an original heading or other details. The code “SHDA.1” refers to the first section of the first Shuihudi daybook, which has the heading “Chu” 除 (the content is Jianchu 建除 hemerology) and occupies two registers on slips 1r1–13r1 and 2r2–13r2. One section may be no longer than the text on one slip, and related content may occur in several sections in different places in a given manuscript. The numbered sequence applied to the reconstructed manuscripts is based on the order in which sections occur on the manuscript surface starting from the right side and moving by stages toward the left. If, for instance, the first section on the right side occupies the upper part of the surface with one or more sections in lower registers beneath it, the vertically arranged sections are numbered in sequence before continuing with the next section or group of sections to the left. Sections are numbered for practical purposes and for facilitating crossreferences among manuscripts. The numbering does not reflect the order in which texts were copied on the surface of the manuscripts—sections in lower registers may have been added at different times by different copyists who filled blank spaces in the manuscripts they received—nor does it indicate how users read their manuscripts. When the numbered section is not indented, the section is located at the top of the manuscript, written either on whole slips or on slips divided into registers. An indented numbered section occurs on a lower register or registers. Registers are given in superscript numbers attached to the slip numbers. Original section headings are included. For the Shuihudi and Kongjiapo daybooks (SHDA, SHDB, KJP), a heading is given in bold here when it is written in the space above the top binding cord in the manuscript, which is normally blank. The designa© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004349315_015

tion “untitled” means either that there is no heading for the section in the original manuscript or that the heading is missing due to damage to the manuscript. Most sections concern hemerologies and predictions involving specific times and time designations (the sexagenary day is most common), as well as other factors such as direction. These factors follow the initial identification of the section content and are enclosed in parentheses. Section parallels allow for comparison between manuscripts with a focus on hemerological systems. Parallel relationships are identified mainly on the basis of text parallels (nearly identical or similar). Similar topics involving different hemerological systems are not included. This summary is based on the reference editions for the manuscripts identified in sections A.1 and A.2 of appendix A.

Daybooks

Jiudian Daybook (JD)

1. Untitled (table, 131–241; text, 132–242): Chu system of Jianchu (Establish-Remove) hemerology. Parallels: SHDA.1, SHDB.1. 2. Untitled (25–36): Chu system of Jianchu (Establish-Remove) hemerology. Parallels: SHDA.1, SHDB.1. 3. Untitled (table, 371–401; text, 41–42): Hemerology related to the ten stems arranged in three groups (ji 吉 “auspicious,” bu ji 不吉 “inauspicious,” cheng ri 成日 “achievement days”) according to the four seasons (season, month, sexagenary day). 4. Untitled (372–402): Miscellaneous hemerology (sexagenary day). Topics: engaging in major activities, planting trees, caring for sacrificial animals. 5. Untitled (43–44): Incantation addressed to Wuyi 武夷, the spirit who controls people killed by weapons. 6. Untitled (45–59, 116): Prediction based on the location, shape, and inner arrangement of the house compound. Parallel: SHDA.58. 7. Untitled (60–76): Hemerology based on the twelve branches and related to direction, time of day, bringing people or things into the home, and illness (sexagenary day, time period of the day, direction). Parallel: SHDB.65. 8. Untitled (77): Record of the position of Sui 歲 (Year) for the twelve months of the calendar year (Chu month names, direction). Parallel: SHDA.16. 9. Untitled (78): Record of the twelve monthly lodges corresponding to the first day (shuo 朔) of each month (Chu month names, stellar loin the eight directions (month, directiondge).

444

appendix b

10. Untitled (79–80): Slip fragments; meaning uncertain (stem, stellar lodge). 11. Untitled (81–87): Record of months and days of the month related to initiating travel and returning home (wangwang guisi 往亡歸死) (Chu month names, month numerical day-count). Parallels: SHDA.42, SHDA.69, SHDB.60, SHDB.61, KJP.25. 12. Untitled (88–93): Hemerology related to moving (xi 徙) in the eight directions according to the seasons (season, Chu month names, direction). 13. Untitled (94–95): Good days and avoidance days for making clothes (sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDA.8. 14. Untitled (96–99): Record of a three-period cycle of growth (sheng 生) and decay (wang 亡) of yin and yang (branch, yinyang).



First Fangmatan Daybook (FMTA)

1. Untitled (table, 11–41, 5–12; text, 13–15, 161–211, 212, 182, 202): Jianchu (Establish-Remove) hemerology. Parallels: FMTB.1, SHDA.3, KJP.1. 2. Untitled (12–42): Hemerology related to burial and illness based on Nan 男 (Man) and Nü 女 (Woman) days (sexagenary day). Parallels: FMTB.19, SHDA.11, SHDB.31, SHDB.32. 3. Untitled (162–172, 192): Prediction related to the gender of an unborn child based on the time of day (time period of the day). Parallel: FMTB.40. 4. Untitled (22–23, 241–251, 26–28, 291, 292, 252): Prediction related to robbers and stolen items based on the ten stems (sexagenary day, direction). Parallels: FMTB.9, SHDB.82. 5. Untitled (242): Hemerology related to earthworks (sexagenary day). Parallel: FMTB.45. 6. Untitled (30shang+32xia, 31, 32shang+30xia, 33–41): Predic­ tion related to robbers and stolen items based on the twelve branches and the twelve cyclical animals (sexagenary day, cyclical animal, direction). Parallels: FMTB.12, SHDA.61, KJP.73. 7. “Yu xuyu xing ri” 禹須臾行日 (421–721): Hemerology related to traveling based on the day of the month and the time of day (month numerical day-count, direction, time period of the day). Parallels: FMTB.4, KJP.28. 8. “Yu xuyu suoyi jianren ri” 禹須臾所以見人日 (422– 532): Hemerology related to seeing a person based on the twelve branches and the time of day (sexagenary day, time period of the day). Parallels: FMTB.5, KJP. 31, HK.24. 9. Untitled (542–652): Hemerology related to seeing the local official based on the twelve branches and the time of day (sexagenary day, time period of the day). Parallels: FMTB.6, SHDA.52, ZJTA.8, HK.26. 10. “Yu xuyu xing bude zeri” 禹須臾行不得擇日 (662– 672): Travel departure method with magical ritual and incantation. Parallels: FMTB.48, SHDA.70, SHDB.30.

11. “Yi xinyi liangri” 衣新衣良日 (692): Good days for wearing new clothes (sexagenary day). Parallel: FMTB.16. 12. “Caiyi liangri” 材衣良日 (702): Good days for making clothes (sexagenary day). Parallel: FMTB.16. 13. Untitled (712): Good days for sealing rat holes (month, sexagenary day). 14. “Quanji” 犬忌 (722): Avoidance days for dogs, with method for preventing dogs from inhabiting a place (sexagenary day). Parallel: FMTB.50. 15. Untitled (731): Avoidance day for fields; meaning uncertain. 16. Untitled (732): Good days for sealing rat holes, eradicating rats, and cleaning granaries (month, sexagenary day). Parallel: FMTB.15.



Second Fangmatan Daybook (FMTB)

1. Untitled (table, 11–81, 9+131, 101–121; text, 141–171, 191, 181, 211, 201, 221, 241): Jianchu (Establish-Remove) hemerology. Parallels: FMTA.1, SHDA.3, KJP.1. 2. Untitled (12–82, 9+132, 102–122, 142, 162–172, 192, 182, 212, 202, 222, 152, 163–173, 193, 183, 213, 203, 223, 243, 233, 242, 91xia3): Prediction related to the orientation of the gate of a house compound (direction). The section is similar to SHDA.39, which has the heading “Zhi shimen” 置室門. Parallels: SHDA.39, KJP.61. 3. Untitled (173, 183, 213, 233): Avoidance days for building gates based on the twelve branches, binoms, and directions (sexagenary day, direction). 4. Untitled (54+251, 261–301, 40shang1, 311–381, 42shang+391, 40xia1, 411, 42xia1, 431–531): Hemerology related to traveling based on the day of the month and the time of day (month, month numerical day-count, direction, time period of the day). The section is similar to FMTA.7, which has the heading “Yu xuyu xing ri” 禹須臾行日. Parallels: FMTA.7, KJP.28. 5. “Yu xuyu suoyi jianren ri” 禹須臾所以見人日 (3732, 54+252, 26–302, 40shang2, 31–342): Hemerology related to seeing a person based on the twelve branches and the time of day (sexagenary day, time period of the day). Parallels: FMTA.8, KJP.31, HK.24. 6. Untitled (35–382, 42shang+392, 40xia2, 412, 42xia2, 432–462): Hemerology related to seeing the local official based on the twelve branches and the time of day (sexagenary day, time period of the day). The section is similar to SHDA.52, which has the heading “Li” 吏. Parallels: FMTA.9, SHDA.52, ZJTA.8, HK.26. 7. Untitled (472): Record of days related to seeing an important person; meaning uncertain (sexagenary day). 8. Untitled (482–532): Hemerology related to constructing, using, and offering sacrifice to gates (sexagenary day, stellar lodge, direction). 9. Untitled (551–641): Prediction related to robbers and stolen items based on the ten stems (sexagenary day, direction). The

Summary of Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related MSS section is similar to SHDB.82, which has the heading “Dao” 盜. Parallels: FMTA.4, SHDB.82. 10. Untitled (552): Record of the position of stellar lodge Heart5 in the morning of a specific day (month, sexagenary day, stellar lodge, time period of the day). 11. Untitled (562–642, 563–583): Record of day-night proportions for the twelve months of the calendar year. Parallels: FMTB.18, SHDA.16, SHDA.60, SHDB.2. 12. Untitled (66–72, 731–771): Prediction related to robbers and stolen items based on the twelve branches and the twelve cyclical animals (sexagenary day, cyclical animal, direction). The section is similar to SHDA.61, which has the heading “Daozhe” 盜者. Parallels: FMTA.6, SHDA.61, KJP.73. 13. Untitled (732–772): Record of the three-unions (sanhe 三合) pattern of the four seasonal agents and possibly their generation cycle. Parallels: KJP.11, KJP.20. 14. Untitled (781–821): Hemerology related to traveling based on the time of day and the sixty binoms arranged in five groups and correlated with the numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, and 9 (sexagenary day, time period of the day, numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, 9). The section is similar to SHDA.44 and 67, which have the heading “Yu xuyu” 禹須臾. Parallels: SHDA.44, SHDA.67, HK.5. 15. Untitled (651): Recipe related to sealing rat holes and cleaning granaries (month). Parallel: FMTA.16. 16. Untitled (3621, 3721, 831): Good days for making clothes and wearing new clothes; avoidance days for making caps and swords as well as riding chariots (month, month numerical daycount, sexagenary day). Parallels: FMTA.11, FMTA.12. 17. Untitled (841–861, 87–89): Hemerology related to burial and marriage based on Mu 牡 (Male) and Pin 牝 (Female) days, as well as Male and Female months (month, sexagenary day). Parallels: FMTB.25, SHDA.55, KJP.33, KJP.34. 18. Untitled (782–822, 652, 3622, 3722, 832–862): Record of positions of Xian 臽 (Pit) days with day-night proportions for the twelve months of the calendar year (month, sexagenary day). Parallels: FMTB.11, SHDA.16, SHDA.46, SHDA.60, SHDB.2. 19. Untitled (91shang+93zhong+92): Hemerology related to burial and illness based on Man days and Woman days (sexagenary day). The section is similar to SHDA.11, which has the heading “Zangri” 葬日. Parallels: FMTA.2, SHDA.11, SHDB.31, SHDB.32. 20. Untitled (941): Miscellaneous hemerology based on months and the ten stems (month, sexagenary day). Topics: building enclosure walls, making roofs, demolishing, performing rituals, gathering people. 21. Untitled (951–1031): Miscellaneous hemerology based on Di 帝 (Di/Emperor) hemerology (season, sexagenary day). Topics: construction works, killing animals, marriage, rites, trade. Parallel: SHDA.31. 22. Untitled (1041–1061): Prediction related to traveling based on the behavior of horses and rats; meaning uncertain.

445

23. Untitled (108shang+1071, 108xia1, 1091–1111): Prediction related to death based on days corresponding to the five notes (wuyin 五音). 24. Untitled (1121): Prediction related to death based on Jianchu (Establish-Remove) hemerology. 25. Untitled (1131–1141): Record of auspicious stems and branches known as Gang 岡 (Hard) days, Yang 陽 days, and Male days for men and Rou 柔 (Soft) days, Yin 陰 days, and Female days for women (sexagenary day). Parallels: FMTB.17, SHDA.55, KJP.33, KJP.34. 26. Untitled (952–992): Miscellaneous hemerology based on the ten stems and directions (sexagenary day, direction). Topics: travel and earthworks. 27. Untitled (1002): Avoidance month for felling trees (month). 28. Untitled (1012–1032, 942, 953–1023): Hemerology related to traveling based on the twelve branches and directions (sexagenary day, direction). Parallel: SHDA.45. 29. “Yuanxing xiong” 遠行兇 (108xia2, 1092, 1033, 1042– 1072, 1083–1093, 1102–1142): Inauspicious days for traveling far away based on months, stems, and binoms (month, sexagenary day). 30. Untitled (1151–1201, 1221, 1211): Hemerology related to housing, construction, and demolition based on binoms (sexagenary day). 31. Untitled (1152–1202): Prediction related to death based on Guxu 孤虛 (Orphan-Empty) hemerology (sexagenary day, direction). 32. Untitled (1222, 1212): Record of a speech by an unknown speaker with prediction based on the behavior of rats. 33. Untitled (3171, 1231–1251, 312, 314–316, 318–320, 303shang+304, 3172, 1232–1262): Miscellaneous hemerology (season, month, sexagenary day, direction). Topics: traveling, moving, entering a house, taking office. Parallels: SHDA.13, SHDA.42, KJP.23, HK.7. 34. Untitled (127–128, 309): Miscellaneous hemerology based on Fanzhi 反支 (Reverse Branch) hemerology (sexagenary day). Topics: officials, legal matters, seeing people, music and dancing, killing animals, lost items, wearing cap and belt, marriage, bringing in servants, and fields. Parallels: SHDA.85, KJP.17. 35. Untitled (1291–1311): Miscellaneous hemerology (season, sexagenary day). Topics: earthworks, construction, officials, marriage. 36. Untitled (1292–1312): Hemerology related to felling big trees (season, month, direction, sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDB.15, KJP.2. 37. Untitled (1331, 1321, 1351, 1341, 136, 137): Hemerology related to earthworks, building enclosure walls, demolition, and digging wells based on the twelve branches (sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDA.79.

446 38. Untitled (1332, 1322, 1352, 1342): Hemerology related to opening gates and sacrificing to them; avoidance days for doors (sexagenary day, stellar lodge). 39. Untitled (138–141, 301–302, 363, 306): Hemerology related to earthworks and building and demolishing enclosure walls (season, month, month numerical day-count, sexagenary day, fiveagents day). 40. Untitled (142–143): Prediction related to the gender of a child according to the time of day of birth (time period of the day). Parallel: FMTA.3. 41. Untitled (1531, 1521, 1511, 1501, 1481, 1491, 1471, 1461, 1451): Good days and avoidance days for people, sheep, swine, chickens, wells, and clothing (sexagenary day). 42. “Wudu zhi fang” 毋毒之方 (1441): Recipe against poisoning. 43. Untitled (diagram 1532–1502, 1482–1492, 1472–1442): Diagram composed of the sixty binoms, possibly related to rain prediction. Similar diagram is called “Zhanyu” 占雨 in YW.4. Parallel: YW.4. 44. Untitled (166, 162shang+93shang, 313, 154, 158–161, 155, 157, 156): Hemerology based on rainfall at different times of the year, mainly during the first month (month, month numerical daycount, stellar lodge, sexagenary day, direction). Parallel: KJP.49. 45. Untitled (3081): Hemerology related to earthworks (sexagenary day). Parallel: FMTA.5. 46. Untitled (3472, 3082): Xingde 刑德 (Punishment-Virtue) system (year count, five agents). 47. “Wuzhong ji” 五種忌 (164): Avoidance days for planting and harvesting the five grain plants (sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDA.5. 48. “Yu xuyu xing bude zeri” 禹須臾行不得擇日 (165): Travel departure method with magical ritual and incantation. Parallels: FMTA.10, SHDA.70, SHDB.30. 49. Untitled (305): Avoidance days for going into the mountains to collect wood and cut trees (month, sexagenary day). 50. Quanji 犬忌 (307): Avoidance days for dogs, with method for preventing dogs from inhabiting a place (sexagenary day). Parallel: FMTA.14. 51. Untitled (346): Hemerology related to warfare based on thunder and the ten stems (sexagenary day). 52. Untitled (339, 323, 330): Three slips with similar content; meaning uncertain. 53. Untitled (1941–2001): Record of the five notes with correlated numbers, stems, branches, directions, time periods of the day, colors, measuring devices, agents. 54. Untitled (2011–2051): Record of the five notes with correlated binoms according to the Nayin 納音 (Containing Notes) system. 55. Untitled (1942–2052): Record of the “great numbers” (dashu 大數) of the twelve pitch standards (shier lü 十二 律) with their generation cycle.

appendix b 56. Untitled (1801–1911): Record of the ten stems with correlated numbers and agents. 57. Untitled (1802–1912): Record of the ten branches with correlated numbers and agents. 58. Untitled (diagram 1823–1903): “Day Court” (Riting 日廷) diagram with the twelve branches and a numerical series of eight terms surrounding it. 59. Untitled (1794–1914): Record of time periods of the day with correlated numbers, notes, and agents. Parallel: FMTB.60. 60. Untitled (1795–1905): Record of time periods of the day with correlated numbers. Parallel: FMTB.59. 61. Untitled (1796–1896): Record of the generation cycle of the twelve pitch standards. 62. Untitled (1797–1907): Record of the twelve pitch standards with their harmonic numbers and correlated toponyms. 63. Untitled (333, 193): Divination by the twelve pitch standards with a record of the generation of the pitch standards by the method of subtracting or adding the third part (sanfen sunyi fa 三分損益法). 64. Untitled (1671, 1741, 168+3741, 1731, 1691, 1761–1751, 170+3251, 3611, 1711, 1771, 1721, 1781, 1672, 1742, 168+3742, 1732, 1692, 1762–1752, 170+3252, 3612, 1712, 1772, 1722, 1782): Record of the twenty-eight stellar lodges with their equatorial extensions (lodge widths). 65. Untitled (1673, 1743, 168+3743, 1733, 1693, 1763–1753, 170+3253, 3613, 1713, 1773, 1723): Calculation method using numbers related to stems, branches, time of the day, stellar lodges, and notes; based on the generation cycle of the twelve pitch standards. 66. Untitled (zhi6, 327xia): Divination method with prediction based on the ten stems, the twelve branches, and the twentyeight stellar lodges. 67. Untitled (293): Divination by the twelve pitch standards using a casting (tou 投) method to find out the gender of an unborn child. 68. Untitled (344, 324): Divination method with prediction related to husband and wife based on numbers associated with the ten stems, the twelve branches, and the twenty-eight stellar lodges. 69. Untitled (345, 348): Divination related to illness based on casting to find out numbers associated with day stems, day branches, and the time of day. 70. “Zhanji” 占疾 (338, 335shang, 335xia, 358shang, 364xia): Divination related to illness based on casting to find out numbers associated with day stems, day branches, and the time of day. 71. “Zhan bingzhe” 占病者 (355, 343): Divination related to illness based on numbers associated with day stems, day branches, and the time of day.

447

Summary of Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related MSS 72. “Zhanbing suichu” 占病祟除 (350, 192): Divination related to identifying and eliminating the malevolent spirits causing ailments; based on the same numerical series of eight terms as in the “Day Court” diagram (FMTB.58). 73. “Zhandao” 占盜 (342, 326): Divination related to robbers based on casting to find out numbers associated with the eight directions in the “Day Court” diagram above (FMTB.58). 74. “Zhandao” 占盜 (322): Divination related to robbers and lost items based on casting to find out the branch component of the day when the item was lost. 75. “Zhan wanghuo” 占亡貨 (90, 331, 299): Divination related to lost goods based on numbers associated with day stems, day branches, and the time of day. 76. “Zhan wangren” 占亡人 (287): Divination related to missing persons based on numbers associated with the five notes and the twelve pitch standards. 77. “Ri zheng shengzhe” 日爭勝者 (349, 340): Prediction based on discordance and conquest relationships between numbers and the stems and branches. 78. Untitled (285–284): Record of the transmission by Heaven to Gaoyao 皋陶 of the divinatory uses of the five notes and the twelve pitch standards. 79. Untitled (353–352, 354, 375, 289shang, 303zhong+289xia, 370): Record of the five notes and their correlations, to be used for divinatory purposes. 80. “Huangzhong” 黃鐘 (206–207, 209–213, 214shang+223, 215–216, 240shang, 218–222, 224–232, 2331–2371, 208, 238–239, 217, 240xia, 360xia): Divination by the twelve pitch standards based on the time of day when the casting procedure took place (morning, afternoon, night). A cyclical animal is associated with each of the thirty-six possibilities generated by the system and a series of predictions is based on the animals’ physical characteristics. 81. Untitled (2332–2372): Record of the quality of the sound produced by the five notes. 82. “Can” 參 (244, 252xia, 259+245, 246, 258xia, 247shang, 248–250, 310, 251, 252shang, 253–254, 294, 255, 328, 356, 300, 336): Prediction based on the twelve pitch standards arranged in twelve groups of three (called gua 卦 “trigrams”) according to the three-unions (sanhe) pattern of the twelve branches. 83. Untitled (260–262, 267, 264, 278, 266, 269–268, 265, 270– 272, 280, 274–275, 273, 277–276, 279, 311, 281, 263): Record of the twelve pitch standards with associated mantic verses, each verse beginning with the word zhen 貞 (divining) followed by the predictions (direction). Topics: illness, marriage, service to the lord, sacrifices, traveling, receiving land and houses, trade, moving, seeing people, being arrested, trials. 84. Untitled (257, 258shang+371, 256): Record of the twelve pitch standards with predictions related to asking for an audience, undertaking an action, marriage, illness, and being arrested.

85. “Tou Huangzhong zhi shou” 投黃鐘之首 (243, 288): Divination by the twelve pitch- standards based on casting applied to day stems, day branches, and the time of day; resulting predictions are related to service to the lord, market trade, misconduct, poisoning, and speech. 86. “Tou Huangzhong” 投黃鐘 (242): Divination by the twelve pitch standards based on casting applied to day stems, day branches, and the time of day; resulting predictions are related to illness, market trade, service to the lord, and being arrested. 87. Untitled (241): Divination by the twelve pitch standards based on casting applied to day stems, day branches, and the time of day; resulting predictions are related to seeing people. 88. Untitled (286): Predictions related to death based on the twelve pitch standards and the time of day. 89. Untitled (359, 283): Divination by the twelve pitch standards with instructions related to the casting of their “great numbers” and harmonic numbers according to the time of day. 90. Untitled (321): Divination by the twelve pitch standards with a method for finding their correlated numbers using the ten stems, the twelve branches, and the twenty-eight stellar lodges. 91. Untitled (360shang+162xia, 297): Prediction related to illness, trials, travel, market trade, and anxiety; the system is based on male and female qualities of unspecified elements and on the time of day. 92. “Zhongshu zhonglü” 中數中律 (365+292, 364shang+358xia): Prediction based on the concordance or discordance between numbers and pitch standards. 93. Untitled (zhi1–zhi5, zhi7): A resurrection account of a person named Dan 丹 in a record dated to the eighth year of King Zheng of Qin (238 bce) (became the First Emperor of Qin in 221 bce).



First Shuihudi Daybook (SHDA)

Recto 1. “Chu” 除 (table, 1r1–13r1; text, 2r2–13r2): Chu system of Jianchu (Establish-Remove) hemerology. Parallels: JD.1, JD.2, SHDB.1. 2. Untitled (1r2): Record of avoidance days (season, month, sexagenary day). 3. “Qin chu” 秦除 (table, 14r¹–25r¹; text, 14r²–25r²): Qin system of Jianchu (Establish-Remove) hemerology. Parallels: FMTA.1, FMTB.1, KJP.1. 4. “He liangri” 禾良日 (17r3): Good days for grain plants (sexagenary day). 5. “He jiri” 禾忌日 (18r3–23r3): Avoidance days for grain plants (sexagenary day). Parallel: FMTB.47. 6. “Qun liangri” 囷良日 (24r3–25r3): Good days for building granaries (sexagenary day). 7. “Jichen” 稷辰 (table 26r1–31r1; text 32r–46r): Congchen 叢辰 (Collected Branches) hemerology. Parallels: SHDB.12, KJP.4.

448 8. “Yi” 衣 (26r2): Hemerology related to clothing (month, sexagenary day). Parallel: JD.13. 9. Untitled (27r2): Hemerology related to playing music (xingyue 興樂) and shamanistic activities (wu 巫) (lunar phase day, sexagenary day). 10. “Shu xianghu” 鼠襄戶 (28r2–29r2): Hemerology based on rats seen at the doorway (month numerical day-count). 11. “Zangri” 葬日 (30r2–31r2): Hemerology related to burial day based on Man days and Woman days (sexagenary day). Parallels: FMTA.2, FMTB.19, SHDB.31, SHDB.32. 12. “Xuange” 玄戈 (47r1–58r1): Xuange (Dark Dagger-Ax) hemerology based on the twelve monthly lodges and the stellar lodge day-count which are correlated with the positions of Zhaoyao 招搖 (Far-Flight) and Xuange (Dark Dagger-Ax) for the twelve months of the year (month, monthly lodge, stellar lodge, sexagenary day). Parallel: HK.10. 13. Untitled (diagram, 47r2–57r2; text, 47r3–53r3): Miscellaneous hemerology based on “split-up” (li 離) days and utilizing the “Root Mountain” (Genshan 艮山) diagram. Topics: marriage, traveling, bringing people and animals into the home, departing from the home. Parallels: FMTB.33, KJP.23, HK.7. 14. Untitled (54r3–60r3): Hemerology related to departing from the home and bringing outside people into the home (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDB.42, SHDB.50. 15. Untitled (59r1–60r1, 61r–63r): Hemerology related to moving (xi) in the eight directions (month, direction). 16. “Sui” 歲 (text, 64r1–67r1; table, 64r2–4–67r2–4): Record of the position of Sui (Year) for the twelve months of the calendar year; table of Chu and Qin months with day-night proportions (direction). Parallels: JD.8, FMTB.11, FMTB.18, SHDA.60, SHDB.2. 17. “Xing” 星 (68r1–95r1): General hemerology based on the twenty-eight stellar lodges (month, stellar lodge). Parallels: SHDB.24, KJP.5. 18. “Bing” 病 (68r2–77r2): Prediction related to illness according to the ten stems (sexagenary day, direction, color). Parallel: SHDB.66. 19. “Ci fumu liangri” 祠父母良日 (78r2): Good days for offering sacrifice to father and mother (sexagenary day). 20. “Ci xing liangri” 祠行良日 (79r2): Good days for sacrificing to the road spirit (sexagenary day). 21. “Ren liangri” 人良日 (80r2–81r2): Good days and avoidance days for men and women and for bringing people in and out (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDB.23, YS.7. 22. “Ma liangri” 馬良日 (82r2–83r2): Good days and avoidance days for horses (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDB.16, YS.9. 23. “Niu liangri” 牛良日 (84r2–85r2): Good days and avoidance days for cattle (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDB.17, YS.8.

appendix b 24. “Yang liangri” 羊良日 (86r2–87r2): Good days and avoidance days for sheep (sexagenary day, season). Parallels: SHDB.18, YS.10. 25. “Zhu liangri” 豬良日 (88r2–89r2): Good days and avoidance days for pigs (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDB.19, YS.12. 26. “Shi liangri” 市良日 (89r2): Good days for markets (sexagenary day). 27. “Quan liangri” 犬良日 (90r2–91r2): Good days and avoidance days for dogs (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDB.20, YS.11. 28. “Ji liangri” 雞良日 (92r2): Good days and avoidance days for chickens (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDB.21, YS.13. 29. “Jinqian liangri” 金錢良日 (93r2): Good days and avoidance days for trade (sexagenary day). Parallel: KJP.3. 30. “Can liang” 蠶良 (94r2): Good days for silkworms (sexagenary day). 31. “Di” 啻 (table 96r1–99r1; text 100r, 101r1): Di 帝 (Di/Emperor) hemerology with avoidance days related to buildings, killing animals, marriage, prayer rites, and trade (season, sexagenary day, direction). Parallels: FMTB.21, HK.13. 32. Untitled (96r2–99r2): Seasonal avoidance related to erecting buildings (season, month, direction). Parallels: SHDA.79, KJP.59. 33. Untitled (95r2, 96r3–98r3): Record of months and days for building an enclosure wall according to the orientation of the gate of the house compound (direction, month, sexagenary day, color). 34. “Shiji” 室忌 (102r1–103r1): Hemerology related to buildings (season, month, month numerical day-count, sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.54, SHDB.33, SHDB.34. 35. “Tuji” 土忌 (104r1–105r1, 106r, 107r1–109r1): Miscellaneous hemerology (season, month, month numerical day-count, sexagenary day). Topics: earthworks, construction, planting trees, killing pigs. Parallel: KJP.43. 36. “Zuoshi” 作事 (110r1): Favorable orientation for earthworks (month, direction). 37. “Huiqi” 毀棄 (111r1–113r1): Hemerology related to earthworks and demolition (month, sexagenary day, direction). Parallel: SHDB.41. 38. Untitled (101r2–105r2, 107r2–113r2): Miscellaneous hemerology based on the twelve branches (sexagenary day). Topics: turtle and milfoil divination, sacrifice, prayer, bathing, burial, cleaning entryways, digging wells, wearing cap and sword for the first time, cutting wood, bringing outside people, animals, and goods into the home. 39. “Zhi shimen” 置室門 (diagram, 114r1–126r1; text, 114r2–126r2, 114r3–123r3): Prediction with diagram related to the orientation of the gate of a house compound (direction, time period of the day). Parallels: FMTB.2, KJP.61.

Summary of Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related MSS 40. Untitled (124r3–126r3): Miscellaneous hemerology (sexagenary day). Topics: planting trees, making beds, burning refuse. 41. “Xing” 行 (127r–130r): Miscellaneous hemerology based on Lin 臨 (Inspection) days associated with Red Emperor 赤帝 (month, decade of the month, sexagenary day). Topics: traveling, music and singing, gathering animals, sexual relations between husband and wife, general activities. Parallels: SHDB.51, KJP.13, HK11. 42. “Guixing” 歸行 (131r–133r): Hemerology related to initiating travel and returning home (season, month, month numerical day-count, sexagenary day, direction, four gates). Parallels: FMTB.33, SHDA.69, SHDB.60, SHDB.61, KJP.25. 43. “Daoshi” 到室 (134r1): Hemerology related to traveling (month, sexagenary day). 44. “Yu xuyu” 禹須臾 (135r, 134r2): Hemerology related to traveling based on the time of day and the ten stems arranged in five groups and correlated with the numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, and 9 (sexagenary day, time period of the day, numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, 9). Parallels: FMTB.14, SHDA.67, HK.5. 45. Untitled (136r1–3–139r1–3): Hemerology related to traveling based on the twelve branches and directions (time period of the day, direction, sexagenary day). Parallel: FMTB.28. 46. Untitled (136r4–8–139r4–8): Miscellaneous hemerology based on Jiao 敫 (Engage) days and Xian (Pit) days (season, month, sexagenary day). Topics: marriage, travel, hunting and fishing, calling on others, blaming others, arresting robbers, offering sacrifices, killing animals. Parallels: FMTB.18, SHDB.28. 47. “Shengzi” 生子 (140r1–6–149r1–6): Prediction related to a child’s day of birth according to the sixty binoms (sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDB.80. 48. “Renzi” 人字 (diagram, 150r1–154r1; text, 150r2–154r2, 151r3– 152r3, 150r3): Prediction with diagram related to a child’s day of birth based on the location of the twelve branches at different parts of the body (season, sexagenary day). Parallel: KJP.74. 49. Untitled (153r3–154r3): Hemerology related to making demands on people (sexagenary day). 50. “Quqi” 取妻 (155r–156r2): Hemerology related to taking a wife (season, sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.55, KJP.32. 51. “Zuo nüzi” 作女子 (156r1): Hemerology related to activities involving women (month numerical day-count). 52. “Li” 吏 (table, 157r1–5–166r1–5): Hemerology related to seeing the local official based on the twelve branches and the time of day (sexagenary day, time period of the day). Parallels: FMTA.9, FMTB.6, ZJTA.8, HK.26. 53. “Ruguan liangri” 入官良日 (157r6–166r6): Hemerology related to taking office (sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDB.79. Verso 54. Untitled (1v): Miscellaneous hemerology based on season, month, and the ten stems (season, month, sexagenary day).

449

Topics: marriage, roof construction, travel, general activities. Parallels: SHDA.34, SHDB.33, SHDB.34. 55. Untitled (2v1–9v1, 10v–12v, 2v2–7v2): Hemerology related to marriage and burials (season, month, sexagenary day, stellar lodge). Parallels: FMTB.17, FMTB.25, SHDA.50, KJP.32, KJP.33, KJP.34, HK.4. 56. Untitled (8v2–9v2): Hemerology related to marriage (month numerical day-count). 57. “Meng” 夢 (13v–14v1): Magical ritual with incantation against nightmares (direction). Parallel: SHDB.68. 58. Untitled (15v1–23v1, 14v2–5–23v2–5, 14v6–20v6): Prediction based on the location, shape, and inner arrangement of the house compound (direction, time period of the day). Parallel: JD.6. 59. “Jie” 詰 (24v1–2–68v1–2, 24v3–59v3): Record of manifestations of spirits, demons, and marvels occurring to people in daily life, with magical remedies (sexagenary day, direction, color, time period of the day, lunar phase day). 60. Untitled (60v3–68v3, 60v4–62v4): Record of day-night proportions for the twelve months of the calendar year. Parallels: FMTB.11, FMTB.18, SHDA.16, SHDB.2. 61. “Daozhe” 盜者 (69v–82v): Prediction related to robbers based on the twelve branches, the twelve cyclical animals, and the ten stems (sexagenary day, cyclical animal, direction, color, time period of the day). Parallels: FMTA.6, FMTB.12, KJP.73. 62. Untitled (83v1–96v1): Prediction related to misfortune resulting from a death based on the twelve branches (sexagenary day). Parallel: KJP.63. 63. Untitled (diagram, 83v2–90v2; text, 91v2): Diagram known from KJP.64 as “Sishi Tu” 死失圖 (“Death CorpseGhost” diagram). Parallels: SHDB.77, KJP.64. 64. Untitled (83v3–91v3, 92v2): Record of the conquest sequence of the five agents and correlated directions. Parallels: SHDB.26, KJP.12, ZJTB.21. 65. Untitled (83v4–91v4, 92v3, 93v2–94v2): Record of days corresponding to the position of stellar lodge Heart5 for the twelve months of the calendar year (month, month numerical day-count, stellar lodge). Parallels: SHDB.27, KJP.41. 66. Untitled (95v2–99v2): Hemerology related to traveling (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.78, SHDB.8. 67. “Yu xuyu” 禹須臾 (97v1–99v1, 100v–101v): Hemerology related to traveling based on the time of day and the sixty binoms arranged in five groups and correlated with the numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, and 9 (sexagenary day, time period of the day, numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, 9). Parallels: FMTB.14, SHDA.44, HK.5. 68. Untitled (102v–106v): Hemerology related to killing during the four seasons based on the ten stems (season, month, sexagenary day). 69. Untitled (107v–110v): Hemerology related to initiating travel and returning home (chuwang guisi 出往歸死) based

450 on months, days of the month, and sexagenary days (month, month numerical day-count, sexagenary day). Parallels: JD.11, SHDA.42, SHDB.60, SHDB.61, KJP.25. 70. Untitled (111v–112v): Travel departure method with magical ritual and incantation. Parallels: SHDB.30, FMTA.10, FMTB.48. 71. “Yi liangri” 衣良日 (113v–114v): Hemerology related to making clothes (month, sexagenary day, month numerical daycount). Parallel: SHDA.73. 72. “Yiji” 衣忌 (115v–118v): Hemerology related to making clothes (month, sexagenary day, month numerical day-count, direction). Parallel: SHDA.73. 73. “Yi” 衣 (119v–122v): Hemerology related to making clothes with two subheadings that are the same as the headings of SHDA.71–72 (month, sexagenary day, month numerical daycount, direction). Parallels: SHDA.71, SHDA.72. 74. “Ma” 馬 (122v, 123v): The graph 馬 is written above the top binding cord on slip 122v, with text from SHDA.73 below the binding cord; slip 123v is blank. There is no text to go with the SHDA.74 heading. The omission of the text here may be connected to the horse ritual in SHDA.87. 75. Untitled (124v): Record of Ci 刺 (Stab) days and Hui 毀 (Destroy) days (month, month numerical day-count). Parallel: SHDB.9. 76. Untitled (125v): Avoidance days for sacrificing to Shixian 史先 (First Scribe) (sexagenary day, lunar phase day). Parallel: SHDB.11. 77. Untitled (126v): Avoidance days and directions for moving (sexagenary day, direction). 78. Untitled (127v–128v): Miscellaneous hemerology (sexagenary day). Topics: bringing people and servants into the home, entering or leaving a home, traveling, traveling by boat. Parallels: SHDA.66, SHDB.8. 79. “Tuji” 土忌 (129v–142v): Hemerology related to earthworks, construction, and demolition (season, month, month numerical day-count, sexagenary day, direction). Parallels: FMTB.37, SHDA.32, SHDB.72, KJP.59. 80. “Men” 門 (143v–144v): Miscellaneous hemerology (season, month, month numerical day-count, sexagenary day). Topics: killing, being an overseer, building or demolishing gates, doorways, enclosure walls, and roofs. 81. Untitled (145v–146v): Hemerology based on the day qualifier Tianli 天李 (Heaven Enforcer) and related to entering a house or an official building (month, sexagenary day). 82. Untitled (147v–148v): Hemerology related to marriage and constructing enclosure walls (month, sexagenary day). 83. Untitled (149v–150v): Record of the death anniversary of four agrarian spirits; avoidance days for initiating cultivation of fields and earthworks (sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDB.4. 84. Untitled (151v–152v): Avoidance days for the five grain plants (sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDB.10.

appendix b 85. “Fanzhi” 反枳 (153v–154v1): Fanzhi (Reverse Branch) hemerology. Parallels: FMTB.34, KJP.17. 86. Untitled (154v2–155v): Miscellaneous hemerology (sexagenary day, lunar phase day). Topics: installing doorways, demolishing enclosure walls and removing roofs, sending outside people away from the home, entering the home, constructing granaries and storerooms, singing and crying. 87. “Ma” 馬 (156v–160v): Propitiatory ritual with incantation for horses (sexagenary day, direction).



Second Shuihudi daybook (SHDB)

1. Untitled (table, 1–13; text, 14–17, 181–251): Chu system of Jianchu (Establish-Remove) hemerology. Parallels: JD.1, JD.2, SHDA.1. 2. Untitled (182–292): Record of day-night proportions for the twelve months of the calendar year. Parallels: FMTB.11, FMTB.18, SHDA.16, SHDA.60. 3. “Xu” 徐 (table 261–371; text 381–461): Jianchu (EstablishRemove) hemerology. 4. Untitled (302): Avoidance days for initiating cultivation of fields (sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDA.83. 5. Untitled (312–402): Hemerology related to sacrificing to the five domestic spirits (sexagenary day). 6. Untitled (412): Avoidance days for demolishing enclosure walls (sexagenary day, stellar lodge). 7. Untitled (422): Avoidance days for bringing outside people into the home (sexagenary day). 8. Untitled (432–442): Hemerology related to traveling (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.66, SHDA.78. 9. Untitled (452–462): Record of Ci (Stab) days and Hui (Destroy) days (month, month numerical day-count). Parallel: SHDA.75. 10. Untitled (462–512): Hemerology related to the five grain plants (sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDA.84. 11. Untitled (522): Avoidance days for sacrificing to Shixian (First Scribe) (sexagenary day, lunar phase day). Parallel: SHDA.76. 12. “Qin” 秦 (table 471–521; text 53–63): Congchen (Collected Branches) hemerology. Parallels: SHDA.7, KJP.4. 13. “Wugu liangri” 五穀良日 (64): Good days and avoidance days for grain plants (sexagenary day). 14. “Wugu longri” 五穀龍日 (65): Avoidance days for grain plants (sexagenary day). 15. “Muri” 木日 (66–67): Good days and avoidance days for trees; avoidance days for felling trees (sexagenary day). Parallels: FMTB.36, KJP.2, YS.3. 16. “Mari” 馬日 (68–69): Good days and avoidance days for horses (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.22, YS.9. 17. “Niuri” 牛日 (70–71): Good days and avoidance days for cattle (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.23, YS.8.

Summary of Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related MSS 18. “Yang ri” 羊日 (72): Good days and avoidance days for sheep (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.24, YS.10. 19. “Zhuri” 豬日 (73A+751):1 Good days and avoidance days for pigs (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.25, YS.12. 20. “Quanri” 犬日 (741): Good days and avoidance days for dogs (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.27, YS.11. 21. “Jiri” 雞日 (761): Good days and avoidance days for chickens (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.28, YS.13. 22. “Jian” 見 (77+791): Avoidance days for great sacrifices (season, month, sexagenary day). 23. “Ren” 人 (78–73B): Good days and avoidance days for people (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.21, YS.7. 24. “Guan” 官 (801–1071): General hemerology based on the twenty-eight stellar lodges (month, stellar lodge).2 Parallels: SHDA.17, KJP.5. 25. Untitled (742, 73A+752, 762): Prediction related to the direction faced by mother or child at birth (direction). Parallel: ZJTA.7. 26. Untitled (792–832, 852, 872): Record of the conquest sequence of the five agents and their correlations with the ten stems and twelve branches according to the threeunions (sanhe) pattern. Parallels: SHDA.64, KJP.12, ZJTA.10, ZJTB.21. 27. Untitled (952–1062): Record of days corresponding to the position of stellar lodge Heart5 for the twelve months of the calendar year (month, month numerical day-count, stellar lodge). Parallels: SHDA.65, KJP.41. 28. Untitled (882–942, 953–993): Record of Xian (Pit) days for the twelve months (month, sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDA.46. 29. “Tianyan” 天閻 (883–943, 954–994, 1003–1013): Record of positions of the day qualifier Tianyan (Heaven Gate) for the twelve months (month, month numerical daycount, stellar lodge). 30. Untitled (1023–1073): Travel departure method with magical ritual and incantation. Parallels: FMTA.10, FMTB.48, SHDA.70. 31. “Renri” 人日 (108): Hemerology related to illness and burial day based on Man days and Woman days (sexagenary day). Parallels: FMTA.2, FMTB.19, SHDA.11, SHDB.32.

1  For SHDB.19, 20, 22, 23, and 25, the reconstruction and sequence of broken slips follow Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, pp. 527–29, 534 (with explanation on p. 528n3). 2  The fragments of slip 88 include the top piece with text from SHDB.24 but with some graphs missing; several fragments from the midsection, the content of which is related to moving and is unrelated to SHDB.24; and the bottom piece with text from SHDB.28. The content related to moving was probably miscopied on the slip and is not treated as part of either SHDB.24 or SHDB.28, nor does it constitute a separate section of the daybook.

451

32. “Nanzi ri” 男子日 (109): Record of Man days and Woman days based on the twelve branches. Parallels: FMTA.2, FMTB.19, SHDA.11, SHDB.31. 33. “Shiji” 室忌 (110): Hemerology related to constructing buildings (season, month, sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.34, SHDA.54, SHDB.34. 34. “Gaiwu” 蓋屋 (111–112): Hemerology related to constructing roofs (season, sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.34, SHDA.54, SHDB.33. 35. “Gaiji” 蓋忌 (113): Avoidance days related to constructing roofs (sexagenary day). 36. “Yuanqiang ri” 垣牆日 (114): Fragment of hemerology related to enclosure walls, with three legible graphs remaining after title; meaning uncertain (sexagenary day). 37. “Chushi” 除室 (115): Avoidance days for cleaning buildings (sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDB.38. 38. “Chushi” 除室 (116): Repetition of SHDB.37. Parallel: SHDB.37. 39. Untitled (117–118): Miscellaneous hemerology (month, lunar phase day). Topics: marriage, construction, domestic animals. 40. Untitled (119): Hemerology related to illness and military action, based on wind and rain (sexagenary day). 41. Untitled (120): Hemerology related to engaging in sacrificial activities (month, sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDA.37. 42. Untitled (121): Hemerology related to bringing outside people into the home (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.14, SHDB.50. 43. Untitled (122): Hemerology related to speaking with others and recovering a debt (sexagenary day). 44. Untitled (123–124): Hemerology related to bringing outside people and servants into the home (sexagenary day). 45. Untitled (125): Miscellaneous hemerology (sexagenary day). Topics: marriage, wearing cap and belt, sacrifice, construction, and earthworks. 46. Untitled (126): Avoidance days for turtle and milfoil divination (sexagenary day). 47. Untitled (127–128): Hemerology related to cutting down trees in the house compound (sexagenary day). 48. “Zhi” 製 (129): Hemerology related to making and wearing clothes (sexagenary day). 49. “Chuguan” 初冠 (130): Good days for wearing a cap for the first time and for making carriages (month, sexagenary day). 50. “Ji renshi” 寄人室 (131): Hemerology related to bringing outside people into the home (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.14, SHDB.42. 51. Untitled (132–137): Miscellaneous hemerology based on Lin (Inspection) days associated with Red Emperor (month, decade of the month, sexagenary day). Topics: traveling, music and singing, gathering animals, sexual relations between husband and wife, general activities. Parallels: SHDA.41, KJP.13, HK.11. 52. “Xingri” 行日 (138–139): Fragment of hemerology related to traveling, with one legible graph remaining after the title on

452 slip 138 and eight legible graphs on slip 139; meaning uncertain (sexagenary day). 53. “Xingzhe” 行者 (140): Avoidance days for arriving home after a distant journey (sexagenary day). 54. “Ruguan” 入官 (141): Avoidance day for arriving home after being away on government service for a long time (sexagenary day). 55. “Xingji” 行忌 (142): Avoidance days for traveling, based on direction (sexagenary day, direction). 56. “Xingci” 行祠 (143–144): Good days and avoidance days for sacrificing to the road spirit named Changxing 常行 (Constant Path) when traveling (sexagenary day). 57. “Xing xingci” 行行祠 (145–146): Ritual with incantation for sacrificing to the road spirit Changxing (Constant Path) when traveling. 58. “[1] ci” [1] 祠 (147): Avoidance days for sacrificing to the spirits Renfu 人伏 (Hidden Person) and Daopang 道旁 (Wayside) (sexagenary day). 59. “Ci” 祠 (148): Good days for sacrificing to parents, the house spirit, and the doorway spirit (sexagenary day). 60. “Wangri” 亡日 (149–150): Hemerology related to days in the month when a person runs away (wangwang 往亡) (month, month numerical day-count). Parallels: JD.11, SHDA.42, SHDA.69, SHDB.61, KJP.25. 61. “Wangzhe” 亡者 (151–152): Repetition of SHDB.60. Parallels: JD.11, SHDA.42, SHDA.69, SHDB.60, KJP.25. 62. “Jianren” 見人 (153–154): Good days for seeing a person (month, sexagenary day). Parallel: KJP.30. 63. Untitled (155): Fragment of a hemerology related to offering sacrifice, getting married, and engaging in important activities; probably misplaced in the reconstructed sequence of slips in SHDB. 64. Untitled (156): Record of the twelve time periods of the day corresponding to the twelve branches. 65. Untitled (157–180): Hemerology based on the twelve branches and related to direction, the time of day, bringing people or things into the home, and illness (sexagenary day, time period of the day, direction, color). Parallel: JD.7. 66. “Youji” 有疾 (181–187): Prediction related to illness according to the ten stems (sexagenary day, direction, color, five-agents day). Parallel: SHDA.18. 67. “Bing” 病 (1881): Avoidance days for inquiring about illness (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDB.71, KJP.65. 68. “Meng” 夢 (1891–1931, 194, 1951): Dream divination according to the ten stems (sexagenary day, color, agents) and magical ritual with incantation against nightmares (direction). Parallel: SHDA.57. 69. Untitled (1882–1902): Hemerology related to building a pigsty/outhouse (sexagenary day). Parallel: KJP.53. 70. Untitled (1912): Miscellaneous hemerology related to prohibited activities on chenb5 days (sexagenary day).

appendix b Topics: crying, digging graves, turtle and milfoil divination, building roofs. 71. Untitled (1922–1932): Avoidance days for inquiring about people and about illness (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDB.67, KJP.65. 72. Untitled (1952–1962): Avoidance days for demolishing enclosure walls (month numerical day-count). Parallel: SHDA.79. 73. “Chuanhu ji” 穿戶忌 (1961): Avoidance days for making doorways (sexagenary day). 74. “Jiazi [1]” 家子 [1] (197–200): Hemerology related to marriage based on the eight directions (month, direction). Parallels: KJP.9, HK.6. 75. “Buke quqi” 不可取妻 (201): Fragment with three legible graphs remaining after the title and giving a prohibition related to marriage; meaning uncertain. 76. Untitled (202–205, 2061–2231): Prediction related to the season and day of death (season, sexagenary day, direction). 77. Untitled (diagram, 2062–2182): Diagram known from KJP.64 as “Sishi Tu” (“Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram).3 Parallels: SHDA.63, KJP.64. 78. Untitled (2241–2371): Incomplete record of the sexagenary binoms listed in groups according to the branch component. The text of SHDB.79, written below SHDB.78 on the same slips, confirms the reconstructed sequence of slips. The organization of SHDB.78 is unclear in two respects: first, the reason for writing the names of five time periods of the day on slip 2331 preceded and followed by the list of binoms on slips 2241–2311 and 2341– 2371 (one branch per slip); and second, the missing content in slip 2321 (due to the top of slip 232 being lost), which is unlikely to be more sexagenary binoms because all twelve branches are accounted for on slips 2241–2311 and 2341–2371. 79. “Ruguan” 入官 (heading, 2242; text, 2243, 2252–2372): Miscellaneous hemerology (season, month, sexagenary day). Topics: taking office, seeing a person, government activities. Parallel: SHDA.53. 80. “Sheng” 生 (238–248): Prediction related to a child’s day of birth according to the sixty binoms (sexagenary day, direction). Parallel: SHDA.47. 81. “Shihuo” 失火 (249–252): Prediction related to the occurrence of fires according to stems and branches (sexagenary day, season). 82. “Dao” 盜 (253–259): Prediction related to robbers and stolen items according to the ten stems (sexagenary day, direction). Parallels: FMTA.4, FMTB.9. 83. “Rishu” 日書 (259v): Manuscript title, written on the upper part of slip 259v. 3  On the lack of evidence to support identification of the graphs shiluo 視羅 written on SHDB, slip 2232, as the name of the diagram, see Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1, p. 560n1.

Summary of Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related MSS



Kongjiapo Daybook (KJP)

1. “Jianchu” 建除 (table, 11–121; text, 13–24): Jianchu (EstablishRemove) system. Parallels: FMTA.1, FMTB.1, SHDA.3. 2. “Famu ri” 伐木日 (12–62): Avoidance days for felling trees (sexagenary day). Parallels: FMTB.36, SHDB.15. 3. “Jinqian liangri” 金錢良日 (72–122): Good days and avoidance days for trade (sexagenary day, month numerical day-count, stellar lodge). Parallel: SHDA.29. 4. “[2]” [2] (table, 25, 261, 27–30; text, 31–45, 262, 46–48):4 Congchen (Collected Branches) hemerology. Parallels: SHDA.7, SHDB.12. 5. Untitled (49–65, 661, 67–76): General hemerology based on the twenty-eight stellar lodges (month, stellar lodge). Parallels: SHDA.17, SHDB.24. 6. Untitled (77, 662): Slip fragments; meaning uncertain. 7. Untitled (table 78–89): Record of the Northern Dipper’s orientation in its daily rotation for the twelve months of the calendar year (month, time period of the day, twelve branches). 8. Untitled (text 90; table 911–961, 912–962): Record of the correlated movement in space of Xing 刑 (Punishment) and De 德 (Virtue) for the twelve months of the calendar year. 9. “Xishi” 徙時 (97–100): Hemerology related to moving (xi) in the eight directions (month, direction). Parallels: SHDB.74, HK.6. 10. “[2]” [2] (101–102):5 Miscellaneous hemerology based on the day qualifier Baxing 八星 (Eight Stars) (season, direction). Topics: marriage, moving, opening a gate. 11. “[1] sheng” [1] 生 (1031–2–1041–2): Record of the three-unions (sanhe) pattern of the five agents excluding earth. Parallels: FMTB.13, KJP.20. 12. “Wusheng” 五勝 (105–107): Magical recipe based on the use of the five-agents conquest sequence to ensure safe travel in the four directions. Parallels: SHDA.64, SHDB.26, ZJTB.21. 13. Untitled (108–110): Miscellaneous hemerology based on Lin (Inspection) days associated with Emperor (month, decade of the month, sexagenary day). Topics: traveling, music and singing, gathering people and animals, general activities, giving birth to a child. Parallels: SHDA.41, SHDB.51, HK11. 14. “Shi” 時 (1111–1221): Hemerology related to moving in the eight directions according to the monthly shifts of day qualifiers Dashi 大時 (Great Period) and Xiaoshi 小時 (Small Period) (month, branch, direction). 15. “Xi” 徙 (1112–1152): Record of the periodic movement of day qualifiers Xianchi 咸池 (Broad Pool), Dashi (Great Period), and Xiaoshi (Small Period), followed by a prohibi4  The piece at the top of slip 25 is lost. Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 131, indicates one missing graph for the title above the top binding cord of the slip, but there is enough space for two graphs. 5  On slip 101, the two graphs of the section title above the top binding cord are illegible.

453

tion against activity in general on Chong 衝 (Clash) days (season, month, direction, sexagenary day). 16. Untitled (table, 1162–1222; text, 1163–1193): Hemerology related to marriage according to Guxu (Orphan-Empty) hemerology (sexagenary day, direction). 17. “Fanzhi” 反支 (table, 1232–1342; text, 1351–1371): Fanzhi (Reverse Branch) hemerology. Parallels: FMTB.34, SHDA.85. 18. “Riting” 日廷 (diagram, 1241–1341): “Riting” (Day Court) diagram with the twelve branches and day qualifiers (unattested and significance unknown) (twelve branches). 19. “Douji” 斗擊 (diagram, 1233–1263, 1304, 1343, 1352–1372; text, 1293–1323): “Day Court” diagram with the twelve months and the twelve branches arranged according to the Doujian (Dipper Establishment) method; a short text inserted next to it (slips 1293–1313) specifies how to make predictions based on the orientation of the Northern Dipper (months, branches). 20. Untitled (diagram, 1213–1223, 1234–1254, 1305, 1333, 1344, 1353– 1373): “Day Court” diagram showing the three-unions (sanhe) pattern of the twelve branches (stems, branches, agents). Parallels: FMTB.13, KJP.11. 21. Untitled (1411–1451): Hemerology related to initiating travel and returning home (season, sexagenary day). 22. Untitled (1461–1501): Hemerology related to traveling and returning home, including names of deities and legendary characters (sexagenary day, month numerical day-count, direction). 23. Untitled (diagram 1392–1492; text 1393–1453): Miscellaneous hemerology based on “split-up” (li) days and utilizing the “Genshan” (Root Mountain) diagram. Topics: marriage, traveling, departing from home, bringing people, animals, and goods into the home. Parallels: FMTB.33, SHDA.13, HK.7. 24. “Qiongri” 窮日 (1511): Hemerology related to traveling based on Qiong (Exhaust) days (month numerical day-count). 25. “Wangri” 亡日 (1521, 153): Hemerology related to finding people who escaped (month, month numerical day-count). Parallels: JD.11, SHDA.42, SHDA.69, SHDB.60, SHDB.61. 26. Untitled (1463–1493, 1502–1522): Hemerology related to returning from a journey (sexagenary day). 27. Untitled (154–155, 1561–2): Hemerology related to finding people who escaped (sexagenary day, time period of the day). 28. Untitled (1591–1631, 1623, 1641–1671): Hemerology related to traveling based on the day of the month and the time of day (month numerical day-count, direction, time period of the day). Parallels: FMTA.7, FMTB.4. 29. Untitled (1681–1711): Slip fragments; slip 1681 is related to Xian (Pit) days (month, sexagenary day). 30. Untitled (1572–1582): Hemerology related to seeing a person (month, sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDB.62. 31. “Yu xuyu suoyi jianren ri” 禹須臾所以見人日 (1592– 1712): Hemerology related to seeing a person based on

454

appendix b

the twelve branches and the time of day (sexagenary day, time period of the day). Parallels: FMTA.8, FMTB.5, HK.24. 32. “Jianü” 嫁女 (172–174, 1751–2–1781–2, 179–181, 1821–1831): Hemerology related to marriage (season, month, month numerical day-count, sexagenary day, stellar lodge). Parallels: SHDA.50, SHDA.55. 33. “Pinmu yue” 牝牡月 (1841–1851): Record of Male months and Female months. Parallels: FMTB.17, FMTB.25, SHDA.55. 34. Untitled (1861–1871): Hemerology related to death and burial based on Male days and Female days. Parallels: FMTB.17, FMTB.25, SHDA.55. 35. Untitled (1881, 189, 1901): Slip fragments related to burial; meaning uncertain. 36. Untitled (1822–1882, 1902): Miscellaneous hemerology based on days bearing the same branch component (sexagenary day). Topics: sacrifices, agriculture, construction, illness, food, bringing servants and goods into the home, tailoring clothes. 37. Untitled (191–193): Hemerology related to killing (animals) and bringing servants and people into and out of the house compound (sexagenary day). 38. Untitled (194–195): Hemerology related to tailoring clothes and making caps (month, month numerical day-count, sexagenary day). 39. “Ruguan” 入官 (196–200): Hemerology related to taking office and being an overseer (month, month numerical day-count, sexagenary day). 40. Untitled (text, 2011; diagram, 2012): Diagram related to taking office (month numerical day-count). 41. Untitled (can40+202–203+can6+237):6 Record of stellar lodge Heart5 and correlated days for the twelve months of the calendar year (month, month numerical day-count, stellar lodge). Parallels: SHDA.65, SHDB.27. 42. “Siji ri” 四季日 (204): Avoidance days for activity in general based on Fei 廢 (Fail) days (season). 43. “Tugong” 土功 (diagram 1 with text, 2051–2171; diagram 2 with text, 2052–2172; diagram 3 with text, 2053–2173): Hemerology related to earthworks, construction, and digging wells, with a set of three diagrams arranged vertically and labeled “Tugong” (Earthworks) (season, month, direction, sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDA.35. 44. Untitled (218–220): Record of monthly positions of day qualifiers Sikong 司空 (Minister of Works) and Dajiao 大徼 (Great Engage) (month, branch). 45. Untitled (221): Prediction related to digging ditches, digging wells, and demolition; meaning uncertain. 46. Untitled (222–225): Hemerology related to earthworks (sexagenary day).

47. Untitled (2261): Slip fragment with two sexagenary days, possibly related to avoidance days for chickens (sexagenary day). 48. “Shi” 豕 (2271–2281): Good days and avoidance days for pigs (sexagenary day, month). 49. Untitled (2262–2282): Record of a ritual for preventing loss of chickens (sexagenary day, direction). 50. “Qun” 囷 (229): Good days and avoidance days for granaries (sexagenary day). 51. “Jing” 井 (230): Good days and avoidance days for wells (sexagenary day). 52. Untitled (231): Good days and avoidance days; meaning uncertain (sexagenary day). 53. “Pinghun” 屏圂 (232): Good days and avoidance days for a pigsty/outhouse (sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDB.69. 54. “Runei” 入內 (233–235): Hemerology related to bringing someone into the inner part of the home (sexagenary day, direction). 55. “[2]” [2] (2361–2):7 Hemerology related to offering sacrifice and butchering animals based on days associated with the day qualifier Tianci 天刺 (Heaven Stab) (month, lunar phase day, month numerical day-count, sexagenary day). 56. “Shari” 殺日 (238–239): Hemerology related to butchering cows, dogs, chickens, and pigs (sexagenary day, month numerical day-count). 57. Untitled (240–241): Hemerology related to earthworks, in part associated with Huangdi 黃帝 (Yellow Emperor) (month, month numerical day-count, lunar phase day, sexagenary day, stellar lodge). 58. Untitled (242–245): Hemerology related to building houses and enclosure walls (season, sexagenary day, decade of the month, direction). 59. “Gaiwu zhushi” 蓋屋築室 (246–268): Hemerology related to roofing and building a house, moving into a new home, and earthworks (season, month, sexagenary day, direction, stellar lodge). Parallels: SHDA.32, SHDA.79. 60. “Yuanri” 垣日 (269–274): Hemerology related to construction and demolition of enclosure walls and to earthworks (season, month, sexagenary day, month numerical day-count, direction, lunar phase day). 61. Untitled (diagram, 2751–2871; text, 2752–2852, 2881–2981): Prediction with diagram related to the orientation of the gate of a house compound (direction). Parallels: FMTB.2, SHDA.39. 62. Untitled (2862–2942, 2962–2982): Hemerology related to constructing, using, and sacrificing to gates (season, month, sexagenary day, stellar lodge, direction).

6  Reconstruction of the slip sequence is based on Li Tianhong and Luo Yunbing, forthcoming.

7  On slip 236, the two graphs of the section title above the top binding cord are illegible.

Summary of Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related MSS 63. Untitled (3001–3061, 307–311): Prediction related to misfortune resulting from a death, based on the twelve branches (sexagenary day, direction). Parallel: SHDA.62. 64. “Si Shi tu” 死失圖 (diagram, 3002–3062; text, 3003– 3013): The “Si Shi tu” (“Death Corpse-Ghost” diagram) is inscribed with the twelve months and the twelve branches; text below the diagram explains how to operate the system (month, sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.63, SHDB.77. 65. Untitled (3053–3063): Miscellaneous hemerology based on Bao 報 (Reciprocal) days. Topics: consoling people, visiting the sick, delivering congratulations (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDB.67, SHDB.71. 66. Untitled (312–323, 299): Record of the location of the Corpse-Ghost based on the month and day when death occurred and use of the diagram in KJP.64 (month, sexagenary day, direction). 67. Untitled (324–344): Prediction related to misfortune resulting from a death, based on the location of the deceased’s Corpse-Ghost on any day and at any time of day (sexagenary day, time period of the day, direction). 68. Untitled (3451–3511): Prediction related to illness based on the ten stems and the five agents (sexagenary day, agents, colors). 69. “Maniu wangzhe” 馬牛亡者 (3452–3482, 3502–3512, 3453–3483, 3503): Hemerology related to locating an escaped horse or cow based on the twelve branches (sexagenary day, time period of the day, direction). 70. Untitled (3521–3591, 360–364): Prediction related to illness based on the twelve branches (sexagenary day, time period of the day, color). 71. Untitled (diagram, 3522–3592; text, 3523–3563, 3583– 3593): Prediction related to people under arrest and official promotion based on the “Heaven Jail” (Tianlao 天牢) diagram (sexagenary day). 72. Untitled (365–366): Record of correlations between time periods of the day and the ten stems. 73. “Daori” 盜日 (367–378): Prediction related to robbers based on the twelve branches and the twelve cyclical animals (sexagenary day, cyclical animal). Parallels: FMTA.6, FMTB.12, SHDA.61. 74. Untitled (diagram, 3791–3881): Prediction with diagram related to a child’s day of birth based on the location of the twelve branches at different parts of the body. The slips are badly damaged, but the diagram can be reconstructed by comparison with SHDA.48 (season, sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDA.48. 75. Untitled (3792–3912): Prediction related to a child’s day of birth based on the twelve branches and the ten stems (sexagenary day, month, month numerical day-count).

455

76. Untitled (392–396): Miscellaneous hemerology based on the twelve branches (sexagenary day). Topics: earthworks, constructing doors and windows, traveling, offering sacrifice, harvesting, digging a well, holding a funeral, engaging in trade, killing chickens, calculating, seeing an official, going into the mountains to cut trees, working jade, wearing a cap, getting married, moving to a new residence. 77. “Xueji” 血忌 (397): Hemerology related to causing bleeding and wounding (season, month, stellar lodge, sexagenary day). 78. “[1] jia” [1] 稼 (398): Hemerology related to grain crops based on the ten stems and the arrival of rain in the first month (month, sexagenary day). 79. “Zhan” 占 (399–426): Hemerology based on observed weather conditions, applied primarily to agriculture and military affairs (wind, rain, clouds, temperature, color, direction, duration, season, month, month numerical day-count, decade of the month, sexagenary day, time period of the day). Parallel: FMTB.44. 80. Untitled (4271–4371, 438): Miscellaneous hemerology based on the Shetige 攝提格 year-count and New Year’s Day (month, sexagenary day, season). Topics: military affairs, harvest, illness. 81. Untitled (4352–4372): Record of spatial correlations of the Five Emperors (direction, color). 82. Untitled (4272–4342, 4353–4363): Miscellaneous hemerology based on the stem attached to the first day of the month, possibly New Year’s Day as in KJP.80 (month, sexagenary day, color). Topics: grain crops, weather, military affairs, illness. 83. Untitled (4391–4411, 442–443, 4392–4412, 4441–4–4451–4, 446): Hemerology applied primarily to agriculture and weather based on stems and branches attached to the first day of the month (month, sexagenary day). 84. Untitled (447–451): Hemerology based on the observation of wind, rain, and fog to predict grain prices (di 糴) (month, month numerical day-count, time period of the day, direction). 85. “Shizhong” 始種 (452–457): Hemerology related to planting various crops and the method for storing seeds at harvest time that will be used for planting the following year (month, month numerical day-count, stellar lodge, sexagenary day). 86. “Sui” 歲 (458–478): A cosmological account based on the five agents and the calendar, including a passage on monthly ordinances with predictions based primarily on the twelve branches and meteorological observations (season, month, direction, wind, temperature, rain, agents, color, notes, branches). 87. “Rishu” [2] 日書 [2] (236v): Possibly the manuscript title.

456

appendix b



Daybook-Related Manuscripts



Yueshan Tablets (YS)

Tablet no. 43 Recto 1. Untitled (43r, col. 11): Good days and avoidance days for water (sexagenary day). 2. Untitled (43r, col. 21): Good days and avoidance days for earth (sexagenary day). 3. Untitled (43r, col. 31): Good days and avoidance days for wood (sexagenary day). Parallel: SHDB.15. 4. Untitled (43r, col. 41): Good days and avoidance days for fire (sexagenary day). 5. Untitled (43r, col. 51): Good days and avoidance days for jade (sexagenary day). 6. Untitled (43r, col. 6): Good days and avoidance days for metal (sexagenary day). 7. Untitled (43r, col. 7): Good days and avoidance days for people (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.21, SHDB.23. 8. Untitled (43r, col. 8): Good days and avoidance days for cattle (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.23, SHDB.17. 9. Untitled (43r, col. 9): Good days and avoidance days for horses (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.22, SHDB.16. 10. Untitled (43r, col. 12): Good days and avoidance days for sheep (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.24, SHDB.18. 11. Untitled (43r, col. 22): Good days and avoidance days for dogs (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.27, SHDB.20. 12. Untitled (43r, col. 32): Good days and avoidance days for pigs (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.25, SHDB.19. 13. Untitled (43r, col. 42): Good days and avoidance days for chickens (sexagenary day). Parallels: SHDA.28, SHDB.21. 14. Untitled (43r, col. 52): Good days for sacrificing to domestic animals (sexagenary day). Verso 15. Untitled (43v, col. 11–51): Avoidance days for butchering domestic animals (sexagenary day). 16. Untitled (43v, col. 6): Prediction for markets based on Ci (Stab) days (month, month numerical day-count, lunar phase day, sexagenary day). 17. Untitled (43v, col. 7, 81, 12–32): Good days and avoidance days for sacrificing to various deities, ancestors, and domestic spirits (sexagenary day). 18. Untitled (43v, col. 42–52, 82): Good days and avoidance days for making clothes, avoidance days for the five items of dress (cap, hairpin, belt, robe, shoes) (month, sexagenary day). Tablet no. 44 Recto 19. Untitled (44r, col. 1–7): Miscellaneous hemerology (month, sexagenary day). Topics: inquiring about illness, giving birth to a child, officials entering a house or returning home.

Verso 20. Untitled (44v, col. 1): Record of correlations between branches and various crops (sexagenary day). 21. Untitled (44v, col. 2): Graphs illegible.



First Zhoujiatai Manuscript (ZJTA)

1. Untitled (1311–1541, 1312–1342): Record of correlations between the twelve months and the twenty-eight stellar lodges (month, stellar lodge). 2. Untitled (1352–1362): Record of branches and stems listed according to their counterclockwise sequence in the diagram in ZJTA.3 (stem, branch). 3. Untitled (diagram, 156–181): Diagram composed of two concentric circles with a “Day Court” diagram at the center. The “Day Court” diagram is marked with the branches and stems; the ring surrounding it is divided into twenty-eight segments with the names of the stellar lodges, twenty-eight time periods of the day, and four of the five agents; the four cardinal directions corresponding to the four agents are written outside the ring. 4. Untitled (187–242): Prediction based on the position of the Dipper relative to the twenty-eight stellar lodges (doucheng 斗乘). Separate predictions for each stellar lodge apply to the twenty-eight time periods of the day, which are correlated with the lodges in ZJTA.3 (Northern Dipper, stellar lodge, color). Topics: guests, judicial matters, contracts, robbers and runaway people, illness, travel, arrivals, trade, color, military action. 5. “Qiudou shu” 求斗朮 (243–244): Record of the method for calculating the position of the Dipper relative to the stellar lodges and time periods of the day during the twelve months of the calendar year as represented in the diagram in ZJTA.3 (Northern Dipper, month, stellar lodge, time period of the day, direction). 6. “Rong Liri” 戎磿日 (diagram, 1313; text, 1323–1363, 1372– 1442): Miscellaneous hemerology using the “Rong Liri” (Rong Calendar) diagram for counting numerical days in each month starting from the first day (month, month numerical day-count). Topics: traveling, arresting runaway people, initiating important affairs, planning, marriage. Parallel: ZJTA.12. 7. “Chanzi ri” 產子日 (1452–1482, 1512). Prediction based on the direction in which mother or child is facing at birth (direction). Parallel: SHDB.25. 8. Untitled (table, 245–257): Hemerology related to seeing the local official based on the twelve branches and the time of day (sexagenary day, time period of the day). Parallels: FMTA.9, FMTB.6, SHDA.52, HK.26. 9. Untitled (258): Slip fragment with three legible graphs (stems); meaning uncertain. 10. Untitled (259): Record of the correlation between the ten stems and the five agents. Parallel: SHDB.26.

457

Summary of Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related MSS 11. Untitled (260): Slip fragment mentioning use of the Guxu (Orphan-Empty) system when searching for robbers; a full account of the Guxu system is given in ZJTB.20. 12. Untitled (diagram, 261; text, 262–265): Hemerology related to seeing people and to warfare that uses a diagram for counting numerical days in each month starting from the first day (month, month numerical day-count). Parallel: ZJTA.6. 13. Untitled (diagram, 266–293, 296, 2972–3022, 303–308; text, 2971–3021, 2973–3023): Miscellaneous hemerology based on a diagram composed of five “Day Court” diagrams on which the sexagenary cycle is arranged in five groups of twelve binoms known as the wuzi 五子 “five zib1.” Text on slips 2971–3021 refers to a year corresponding to 211 bce when De (Virtue) is correlated with Metal and there are two spirits who govern the year, followed by correlations between De and the other four agents in subsequent years with their associated spirits. Text on slips 2973–3023 gives predictions for the five zib1 days. Topics: warfare, illness, weather.



Second Zhoujiatai Manuscript (ZJTB)

1. Untitled (309–310): Drug recipe for treating changbi 腸辟, an intestinal illness. 2. Untitled (311): Drug recipe for treating wenbing 溫病 “warm illness.” 3. Untitled (312): Drug recipe to xiaqi 下氣 “make qi descend.” 4. Untitled (313): Drug recipe for treating danbing 單病 “exhaustion illness” (month). 5. Untitled (314): Drug recipe to changfa 長髮 “lengthen hair.” 6. “Qu heizi fang” 去黑子方 (315–318): Drug recipe to qu heizi “remove dark spots (from the skin).” 7. Untitled (319–320): Drug recipe, possibly another recipe for removing dark spots (direction). 8. Untitled (321–322): Drug recipe for treating hengchui 恆炊 “continuous panting.” 9. Untitled (323): Drug recipe for treating jia 瘕 “internal conglomerations.” 10. “Zhi weibing” 治痿病 (324–325): Drug recipe for treating wei 痿 “impotence.” 11. “Yiyu fang” 已齲方 (326–328): Ritual with incantation for treating yu 齲 “dental decay” (direction). 12. “Yiyu fang” 已齲方 (329–331): Ritual with incantation for treating dental decay (direction). 13. “Yiyu fang” 已齲方 (332–334): Ritual with incantation for treating dental decay. 14. Untitled (335–337): Ritual with incantation for treating bingxin 病心 “heart illness” (direction). 15. Untitled (338–339): Ritual with incantation for treating yong 癰 “abscess” (direction). 16. Untitled (340–344): Ritual with incantation related to breast-feeding.

17. “Maxin” 馬心 (345–346): Ritual with incantation for treating horse skittishness. 18. Untitled (347–353): Ritual with incantation for a good harvest in the coming year, addressed to Xiannong 先農 (First Tiller) (La 臘 day, direction). 19. Untitled (354): Method of treating seeds before sowing to prevent grain-head malformation. 20. Untitled (355–362): Guxu (Orphan-Empty) hemerology related to lost horses and cattle (sexagenary day, direction). 21. Untitled (363): Magical recipe based on the use of the fiveagents conquest sequence to ensure safe travel in the four directions (agents, direction). Parallels: SHDA.64, SHDB.26, KJP.12. 22. Untitled (364): Record with place-names and month and sexagenary-day dates. The reason for its inclusion in the manuscript is uncertain (month, sexagenary day, time period of the day). 23. Untitled (365–366): Fragment of text with astrological references and a month and sexagenary-day date; meaning uncertain due to missing slips before slip 365 and possibly between slips 365 and 366 (month, sexagenary day). 24. Untitled (367): Fragment of text with time periods of the day and associated mantic terms; meaning uncertain (time period of the day). 25. Untitled (368–370): Ritual with incantation for yucan 浴蠶 “washing silkworm eggs.” 26. Untitled (371): Hemerology related to preventing rats from burrowing (sexagenary day). 27. “Yishu fang” 已鼠方 (372): Drug recipe for exterminating rats. 28. Untitled (373): Recipe for fattening cattle. 29. Untitled (374–375): Fragment of drug recipe text; meaning uncertain. 30. Untitled (376): Ritual with incantation for treating nue 瘧 “malaria” (direction). 31. Untitled (377–378): Fragment of drug recipe for treating nüzi sao 女子瘙 “itch in women.” 32. Untitled (379): Fragment of text; meaning uncertain. 33. Untitled (380): Fragment of text; meaning uncertain. 34. Untitled (381): Fragment of text; meaning uncertain.



Chinese University of Hong Kong Slips (HK)

1. Untitled (11–16): Hemerological fragments related to travel (sexagenary day, direction). 2. Untitled (17–20): Miscellaneous hemerology related to Xian (Pit) days (month, sexagenary day, agents). Slip 17, bottom register, records a precise date, stating that the person named Ze 則 was born in the third year of Emperor Hui (192 bce), eleventh month, day xinsi18, at night. Topics: traveling, trade, marriage, runaway people, water management, seeing people, scholars.

458 3. Untitled (21–24): Hemerological fragments related to stolen or lost items (time period of the day, direction). 4. Untitled (25–31): Hemerological fragments related primarily to marriage (month, sexagenary day). Slip 27, bottom register, records a partially illegible date concerning the person named Si 思 (similar to HK.2, slip 17). Parallel: SHDA.55. 5. Untitled (32): Hemerological fragment related to travel, including the system based on the ten stems arranged in five groups and correlated with the time of day and numbers (sexagenary day, time period of the day, number 9, agents, direction). Parallels: FMTB.14, SHDA.44, SHDA.67. 6. Untitled (33): Hemerological fragment based on the eight directions (direction). Parallels: SHDB.74, KJP.9. 7. Untitled (34): Reference to the “Genshan” (Root Mountain) diagram in the lower register of slip 34; content of the upper register unclear (direction). Parallels: FMTB.33, SHDA.13, KJP.23. 8. Untitled (35–42): Miscellaneous magical or ritual actions to be undertaken in response to events (direction). 9. Untitled (43–56): Congchen (Collected Branches) hemerology (sexagenary day); identification based on text parallels between SHDA.7 and slips 43, 44, and 51. Parallel: SHDA.7. 10. Untitled (57): Hemerology based on the position of Xuange (Dark Dagger-Ax) in the lower register; content of the upper register unclear (sexagenary day, stellar lodge, constellation). Parallel: SHDA.12. 11. Untitled (58–59): Hemerological fragments related to travel; identification based on text parallels with SHDA.41, SHDB.51, and KJP.13. Parallels: SHDA.41, SHDB.51, KJP.13. 12. Untitled (60): Hemerological fragment based on the four Jiao (Engage) days (sexagenary day, stellar lodge). 13. Untitled (61–63): Hemerological fragments based on stellar lodges, Si Fei 四廢 (Four Fails) days, Piao 剽 (Hit) days, and Xuange (Dark Dagger-Ax) (sexagenary day, month, stellar lodge). Parallels: FMTB.21, SHDA.31. 14. Untitled (64–66): Record of correlation between the ten stems and the five agents (stems, agents, color). 15. Untitled (67–70): Prediction related to illness (month numerical day-count, sexagenary day, time period of the day, color). 16. Untitled (71): Hemerological fragment related to roofing (sexagenary day). 17. Untitled (72): Hemerological fragment based on the day qualifier Bakui 八魁 (Eight Heads). 18. Untitled (73): Hemerological fragment related to causing bleeding and wounding (stellar lodge). Parallel: KJP.77. 19. Untitled (74): Hemerological fragment related to sacrificial offerings based on stellar lodges (stellar lodge). 20. Untitled (75): Hemerological fragment with mention of Bao (Reciprocal) days (month, sexagenary day). 21. Untitled (76–77): Fragment from a calendar giving the number of days (twenty-nine or thirty) and the day-night proportions for the months.

appendix b 22. Untitled (78–83): Hemerology related to childbirth (month, month numerical day-count, sexagenary day). Parallel: KJP.75. 23. Untitled (851–841): Record of the day qualifier Jiexian 解銜 (Unbind-and-Hold). 24. Untitled (87, 861, 852–842): Hemerology related to seeing a person based on the twelve branches and the time of day (time period of the day, sexagenary day). The text on slips 86–84 is written upside down relative to the text of HK.23 and HK.25 in the registers above and below HK.24 on the same slips. Slip 87 is a fragment of HK.24, and as published, the text is right side up, but based on the other slips, it should be upside down. Parallels: FMTA.8, FMTB.5, KJP.31. 25. Untitled (862, 853–843): Incomplete record of the first three decades of the sexagenary cycle, possibly related to Guxu (Orphan-Empty) hemerology. 26. Untitled (table 88–93): Hemerological fragment related to seeing the local official based on the twelve branches and the time of day (sexagenary day, time period of the day). Parallels: FMTA.9, FMTB.6, SHDA.52, ZJTA.8. 27. Untitled (94): Hemerological fragment related to seeing different categories of people (sexagenary day). 28. Untitled (95–119): Record of the sexagenary cycle with six, equally spaced binoms per slip. Order of binoms read down each slip goes backward through the sexagenary sequence.



Duling Tablet (DL)



Yinwan Hemerological Slips and Tablet (YW)

1. “Shitian liangri” 始田良日 (col. 1): Good days and avoidance days for initiating work in the fields (sexagenary day). 2. “He liangri” 禾良日 (col. 2): Good days and avoidance days for grain plants (sexagenary day). 3. “Su [liang] ri” 粟 [良]日 (col. 3): Good days and avoidance days for millet (sexagenary day). 4. “Dou liangri” 豆良日 (col. 4): Good days and avoidance days for beans (sexagenary day). 5. “Ma liangri” 麻良日 (col. 5): Good days and avoidance days for hemp (sexagenary day). 6. “Mai liangri” 麥良日 (col. 6): Good days and avoidance days for barley (sexagenary day). 7. “Dao liangri” 稻良日 (col. 7): Good days and avoidance days for rice (sexagenary day). 8. Untitled (col. 8): Hemerological fragment (month, month numerical day-count, sexagenary day); meaning uncertain.

Slips 1. “Xingde xingshi” 刑德行時 (table 77–82; text 83–89): Miscellaneous hemerology based on the ten stems arranged in pairs and correlated with five time periods of the day and five day qualifiers (Duan 端, Ling 令, Fa 罰, Xing 刑, De 德) (sexagenary day, time period of the day). Topics: asking for an audience, seeing a person, being arrested, traveling, illness, childbirth, runaway people or stolen items.

459

Summary of Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related MSS 2. “Xingdao jixiong” 行道吉凶 (table 91–108; text 109–113): Hemerology related to initiating travel based on the sixty binoms, the four gates, and yin and yang numbers (sexagenary day, yinyang, direction). Tablet no. D9 3. “Yong Shengui zhi fa” 用神龜之法 (YWD9, text 9r1, diagram 9r2): Hemerology related to robbers and stolen items based on the “Shengui” (Divine Turtle) diagram (sexagenary day, direction). 4. “Zhanyu” 占雨 (YWD9, 9r3): Prediction related to rain based on use of the “Rain Prediction” (Zhanyu) diagram, on which the sixty binoms are written (sexagenary day). Parallel: FMTB.43. 5. Untitled (YWD9, 9v1–6): Miscellaneous hemerology based on the “Liubo Board” (Boju 博局) diagram, on which the sixty binoms are written (sexagenary day). Topics: marriage, traveling, being arrested, illness, runaway people or stolen item.



Wuwei Hemerological Slips (WW)

1. Untitled (1r–1v): On the recto, avoidance days for purchasing mats with a reference to the day qualifier Hekui 河魁 (River Head) (sexagenary day). On the verso, record of grain payment involving “the disciples of the literary erudition (office)” (zhu wenxue dizi 諸文學弟子) and dated to the Heping 河平 reign period (28–25 bce). 2. Untitled (2–4): Miscellaneous hemerology based on the ten stems (sexagenary day). Topics: housing, bringing in goods, clothing, crossing the sea, archery. 3. Untitled (5–7): Miscellaneous hemerology based on the twelve branches (sexagenary day). Topics: roofing, funerals, construction, medicine, clothing, marriage, inviting people, domestic animals. 4. Untitled (8–9): Hemerological fragments, possibly of a table. 5. Untitled (10–13): Hemerological fragments; meaning uncertain.

Appendix C

Description of Select Hemerologies and Classificatory Systems in Daybooks Appendix C is a guide to six hemerologies and four classificatory systems used in daybooks that are not otherwise described in this volume. Important hemerologies or systems not presented here—Guxu 孤虛 (Orphan-Empty) hemerology, “Yu’s splitup days” (Yu liri 禹離日) and the “Root Mountain” (Genshan 根山) diagram, Lin 臨 (Inspection) day hemerology, Shi/Chi 失/䰡 (Corpse-Ghost) hemerology, the Doujian 斗建 (Dipper Establishment) system, and the stellar-lodge system—are described in one or more chapters in this volume.1

Hemerologies

Collected Branches (Congchen 叢辰) Hemerology

Congchen hemerology is listed second after Jianchu 建除 (Establish-Remove) hemerology in the account of the occasion when Emperor Wu ordered seven groups of divination experts to determine whether a certain day was favorable for marriage in Chu Shaosun’s 褚少孫 (ca. 104–ca. 30 bce) additions to the Records of the Scribe (Shiji 史記), chapter 127.2 A book with “Congchen” in its title in the bibliographic treatise of the Book of Han (Han shu 漢書) is further evidence that Congchen hemerology was well known in the Western Han period, but nothing more is known about it in transmitted sources.3 Rao Zongyi was the first scholar to identify “Congchen” 叢辰 with the SHDA.7 section heading “Jichen” 稷辰, and the same hemerology is included in SHDB.12 with the section heading “Qin” 秦, indicating that the maker of the second Shuihudi daybook associated the Congchen hemerology with Qin traditions. Current arguments treat ji 稷 as a copyist error for zong 稯, a homophone of cong 叢 that also means “collected.”4 The section heading in KJP.4 is illegible. Here, “Congchen” is used as the standard name for the hemerology. The names of the eight day qualifiers in Congchen hemerology resemble some of the names of the twelve day qualifiers of the Chu-style Jianchu hemerology first attested in JD.2. Two names are identical—Yin 陰 and Jie 結 (Bind)—and the remaining six names are similar (table C.1). However, the simi1  See, mainly, pp. 160–91 in chap. 4. 2  Shiji, 127, p. 3222; see Liu Lexian, 2007. 3  Han shu, 30, p. 1768. 4  Rao Zongyi, 1993, pp. 412–13. For a summary of Rao’s argument, which treats ji 稷 and cong 叢 as synonyms, as well as the current homophone arguments (proven by other examples of the same copyist error in excavated manuscripts), see Qin jiandu heji, vol. 1.1, p. 368n1. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004349315_016

larities between the Congchen hemerology and the Chu-style Jianchu hemerology in JD.2 do not go beyond the names. In the Congchen system, the eight day qualifiers shift their positions every two months, and the connection of each day qualifier to the twelve branches does not fit in any obvious correlative pattern (table C.2).5 In contrast, the Chu-style Jianchu hemerology in JD.2 follows the cycle of monthly movement along the sequence of branches that is the rule for all known examples of Jianchu hemerology in excavated manuscripts and transmitted sources. This is also the case with the Jianchu hemerology in JD.1, which uses a set of day qualifiers that more closely resembles the Jianchu system associated with Qin traditions in the Shuihudi daybooks.6 The Jianchu systems of JD.1 and JD.2 are combined in the presentation of Jianchu hemerology in SHDA.1, which has the section heading “Chu” 除 (Remove), and SHDB.1. Despite similarities between the day-qualifier names in JD.2 and in the SHDA.7 Congchen system (as well as in SHDB.12 and KJP.4), such similarities are not sufficient grounds for identifying JD.2 as a Chu-style Congchen system, as some scholars have done.7



Dark Dagger-Ax (Xuange 玄戈) Hemerology

SHDA.12 is the only full account in daybooks of Xuange (Dark Dagger-Ax) hemerology.8 It follows the section on Congchen (Collected Branches) hemerology (SHDA.7) in the upper register of the first Shuihudi daybook manuscript. The section heading “Xuange” 玄戈 (Dark Dagger-Ax) is written at the top of the first slip above the top binding cord. The text has two parts. The first part, a stellar-lodge hemerology, is organized by months beginning with the tenth month below the section heading on the first slip and ending with the ninth month on the twelfth and final slip of the section. The stellar lodges associated with each month are classified 5  Four of the eight day qualifiers are connected to two branches, resulting in a twelve-branch cycle within each two-month group following the sequence Bloom, Correct Yang, Perilous Yang, Engage, Harm, Yin, Raze, Yin, Harm, Perilous Yang, Correct Yang, Bind. See Wang Zijin, 2001; and Liu Lexian, 2010, pp. 219–21. 6  For full information, see the “Establish-Remove Hemerology” section in this appendix. 7  See Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, pp. 304, 308; and Li Ling, 2006b, p. 320. 8  S HDA.12, slips 47r1–58r1; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, pp. 187–89. For a detailed study of this section, see Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 73–86. Hemerological fragments excavated at the Western Han cemetery at Yintai 印臺, Hubei, also refer to Xuange hemerology; see Liu Lexian, 2009.

461

Description of Select Hemerologies and Classificatory Systems Table C.1 Names of the eight Congchen day qualifiers in SHDA.7, SHDB.12, and KJP.4 with possible correspondences in JD.2

Bloom Correct Yang Perilous Yang Engage Harm Yin Raze Bind

SHDA.7

SHDB.12

KJP.4

JD.2

Xiu 秀 Zhengyang 正陽 Weiyang 危陽 Jiao 敫 Hai 害 Yin 陰 Che 徹 Jie 結

Sui 禾 Zhengyang 正陽 Weiyang 危陽 Jiao 敫 Hai 害 Yin 陰 Che 徹 Jie 結

Xiu 秀 Zhengyang 正陽 Weiyang 危陽 Jiao 徼 Jie 介 Yin 陰 Che 勶 Jie 結

Sui 禾 Yang 陽 Waiyang 外陽 Jiao 交 Waihai 外害 Yin 陰 Da 達 Jie 結

Note: Graphs in the table are regularized using standard modern forms. In JD.2, Sui 禾, the original graph cai 采 is judged to be a copyist error (Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, p. 313n64).

Table c.2 Positions of the eight Congchen day qualifiers for the twelve months of the calendar year in SHDA.7, SHDB.12, and KJP.4 Months

I, II

III, IV

V, VI

VII, VIII

IX, X

XI, XII

Bloom Correct Yang

zib1 choub2, xub11 yinb3, youb10 maob4 chenb5, shenb9 sib6, weib8 wub7 haib12

yinb3 maob4, zib1 chenb5, haib12 sib6 wub7, xub11 weib8, youb10 shenb9 choub2

chenb5 sib6, yinb3 wub7, choub2 weib8 shenb9, zib1 youb10, haib12 xub11 maob4

wub7 weib8, chenb5 shenb9, maob4 youb10 xub11, yinb3 haib12, choub2 zib1 sib6

shenb9 youb10, wub7 xub11, sib6 haib12 zib1, chenb5 choub2, maob4 yinb3 weib8

xub11 haib12, shenb9 zib1, weib8 choub2 yinb3, wub7 maob4, sib6 chenb5 youb10

Perilous Yang Engage Harm Yin Raze Bind

according to whether they are “greatly inauspicious” (daxiong 大凶), “fatal” (zhisi 致死), “greatly auspicious” (daji 大吉), or “slightly auspicious” (shaoji 少吉). The pattern behind this fourfold classification becomes clear when the twenty-eight stellar lodges are transferred to the positions they occupy in the four seasonal quarters on the periphery of the “Day Court” (Riting 日廷) diagram.9 The second part is recorded at the bottom of each slip beneath the stellar-lodge hemerology for the months and concerns Xuange and Zhaoyao 招搖 (Far-Flight). For each month of the year, the text assigns one stellar lodge to Xuange and one of the twelve branches to Zhaoyao as the basis for predicting the favorable or unfavorable aspect of days associated with them. 9  For details, see pp. 166–68 and table 4.16 in chap. 4.

According to post-Han textual sources, Zhaoyao and Xuange are stars (usually identified as γ Bootis and λ Bootis) that are linked to each other and aligned with the three stars of the handle of the Northern Dipper (Ursa Major).10 In SHDA.12, they are day qualifiers moving monthly from one position to the next. During the three winter months, Xuange is located among the stellar lodges in the eastern quarter of the “Day Court” diagram, while Zhaoyao moves along the three branches associated with the southern quarter of the “Day Court” diagram, and so forth for the rest of the year (see table C.3). In spring, Xuange is in the south and Zhaoyao in the east; in summer, Xuange is in the west 10  Sun and Kistemaker, 1997, p. 148. The name Xuange is not mentioned in the astrological treatises of the Shiji and Han shu. On the post-Han evidence, see Narike Testurō, 2011, pp. 69–70.

462

appendix c

Table C.3 Monthly movements of Xuange and Zhaoyao in opposite directions among the twenty-eight stellar lodges and the twelve branches as recorded in SHDA.12 Months, seasons, quarters

Xuange position

Zhaoyao position

X-haib12 XI-zib1 XII-choub2

winter N

Tail6 Heart5 Chamber4

E ↓

weib8 wub7 sib6

S ↓

I-yinb3 II-maob4 III-chenb5

spring E

Wing27 Spread26 Star25

S ↓

chenb5 maob4 yinb3

E ↓

IV-sib6 V-wub7 VI-weib8

summer S

Beak20 Net19 Mane18

VII-shenb9 VIII-youb10 IX-xub11

autumn W

House13 Roof12 Barrens11

and Zhaoyao in the north; in autumn, Xuange is in the north and Zhaoyao in the west. Their movements run in opposite directions: Xuange moves leftward (clockwise) following the course of the seasons (east, south, west, north); Zhaoyao moves rightward (counterclockwise) (south, east, north, west).11 Qing hemerological compendia still include the independent monthly cycle of Zhaoyao in relation to the twelve branches, which is identical to SHDA.12.12 The only other descriptions for the Xuange cycle and the combined Xuange and Zhaoyao cycles occur in the Mawangdui technical occult manuscripts. In Yinyang wuxing A 陰陽五行甲篇 (Yinyang and five agents A), Xuange is included in a list of fourteen day qualifiers, and the text has the same correlations between branches and stellar lodges as in SHDA.12 as well as a concluding statement about Xuange days to the effect that “if used for offering sacrifices, someone will die” (yi ji huo si zhi 以祭或死之).13 The combined 11  On the leftward or rightward movement of various day qualifiers in daybook hemerologies, see pp. 174–76 in chap. 4. The monthly shifts of Xuange and Zhaoyao from one seasonal quarter to the next is related to the twenty-eight stellar lodge hemerology recorded on the upper part of the slips; see Liu Lexian, 1994, p. 83. 12  See, for instance, Xieji bianfang shu, 4, 50a–51b. 13   Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, pp. 77– 80. The Mawangdui manuscripts include several references to Zhaoyao alone; see Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, p. 126 (Yinyang wuxing B 陰陽五行乙篇); and vol. 5, p. 59 (Xingde C 刑德丙篇).

W ↓ N ↓

choub2 zib1 haib12 xub11 youb10 shenb9

N ↓ W ↓

Xuange and Zhaoyao cycles are described in Yinyang wuxing B 陰陽五行乙篇 (Yinyang and five agents B).14 In contrast to SHDA.12, the text indicates the movement of each day qualifier in terms of both the twenty-eight stellar lodges and the twelve branches. The stellar lodges attached to Xuange are the same as those in SHDA.12, with the exception of Wing27 and Horn1, which might be copyist errors for Mane18 and House13 (table C.4).15 However, the sequence of stellar lodges representing the monthly position of Zhaoyao does not follow an identifiable pattern. Both Xuange and Zhaoyao move clockwise through the twelve branches (west, north, east, south) but at different paces: Zhaoyao remains for three months in one seasonal quarter before moving to the next, while Xuange moves monthly and passes through each quarter three times during the year.16 The text concludes with a list of proscribed activities for the days associated with Xuange and Zhaoyao that are typical of daybooks, including offering sacrifices, traveling, performing official duties, and getting married. A final fragmentary statement indicates that Xuange and Zhaoyao days are favorable for warfare and trapping animals. The link between Xuange hemerology in SHDA.12 and Yinyang wuxing B is clear, but the relationship between the two 14   Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, pp. 132–33. 15  See ibid., vol. 5, p. 132n2. 16  For other day qualifiers whose monthly shifts follow the same arrangement of the twelve branches according to the threeunions pattern, see tables. 4.19 and 4.21 in chap. 4.

463

Description of Select Hemerologies and Classificatory Systems Table c.4 Combined movements of Xuange and Zhaoyao in Yinyang wuxing B Months, seasons, quarters

Xuange position

Zhaoyao position

I-yinb3 II-maob4 III-chenb5

spring E

[1] Spread26 Star25

shenb9 haib12 yinb3

W N E

Straddler15 [1] [1]

shenb9 youb10 xub11

W W W

IV-sib6 V-wu b7 VI-weib8

summer S

Beak20 Net19 Wing27a

sib6 youb10 zib1

S W N

Horn1 Roof12 Barrens11

haib12 zib1 choub2

N N N

VII-shenb9 VIII-youb10 IX-xub11

autumn W

Horn1a Roof12 Barrens11

maob4 wu b7 xub11

E S W

Tail6 Heart5 [1]

yinb3 maob4 chenb5

E E E

X-haib12 XI-zib1 XII-choub2

winter N

[1] Heart5 Chamber4

choub2 chenb5 weib8

N E S

[1] Gullet2 Star25

sib6 wu b7 weib8

S S S

a May be a copyist error by comparison with SHDA.12 (see Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, p. 132n2).

texts is less obvious. The Yinyang wuxing B text is the more detailed account of the hemerology, but SHDA.12 is not necessarily an abbreviated version borrowed from more technical hemerological works and adapted to daybooks. The form of hemerological knowledge that circulated in technical occult literature and in daybooks needs to be examined in terms of the value of the knowledge for users and the production of manuscripts suited to particular needs. The interconnectedness between the sources of that knowledge involves more than considerations of which is simpler and which is more complex.



Di/Emperor (Di 帝) Hemerology

FMTB.21 and SHDA.31 are parallel records of Di/Emperor hemerology.17 In addition to textual similarity, both sections are placed in the upper register of their respective manuscripts, and SHDA.31 has the section heading “Di.” Moreover, the text on each manuscript is arranged in the same fashion on six slips, the first four containing the seasonal details of the system (one slip each for spring, summer, autumn, and winter) and the final two containing the prohibited activities. Di/Emperor hemerology is an integrated system of avoidance days based on the stem and branch positions of four day qualifiers, which change by season: Wei Shi 為室 (Make Home), Biao 杓 or Piao 剽 (Hit), 17   Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, pp. 133–34; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, pp. 195–96. Fragments related to Di/Emperor hemerology are also found in the Hong Kong slips (HK.13); Xianggang Zhongwen daxue wenwuguan cang jiandu, pp. 34–35.

Sha 殺 (Kill), and Si Fei 四廢 (Four Fails).18 The system is illustrated at the beginning of FMTB.21: 啻以春三月為室亥杓卯殺辰四灋庚辛

Di/Emperor in the three months of spring Makes Home on haib12, Hits on maob4, Kills on chenb5, and the Four Fails are on gengs7 and xins8.19 The seasonal sequence of day qualifiers is related to the arrangement of stems and branches on the “Day Court” diagram representing the months and seasons.20 As recorded in FMTB.21, for each season, Make Home is on the branch attached to the first month of the preceding season: haib12 (first winter month) in spring, yinb3 (first spring month) in summer, sib6 (first summer month) in autumn, and shenb9 (first autumn month) in winter.21 Hit and Kill are on the branches that correspond to the second and third months of each season in regular sequence. The Four Fails are on the pair of stems that is the opposite of the season: gengs7 and xins8 (autumn stems) in spring, rens9 and guis10 (winter stems) in summer, jias1 and yis2 (spring stems) in autumn, and bings3 and dings4 (summer stems) in winter (table C.5).

18  For Hit, FMTB.21 has Biao and SHDA.31 has Piao. 19   F MTB.21, slip 951; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 133. 20  On the “Day Court” diagram, see pp. 162–64 in chap. 4. 21   S HDA.31 has shenb9 for spring and chenb5 for winter, which does not present a pattern.

464

appendix c

Table c.5 Seasonal positions of the four day qualifiers in Di/Emperor hemerology according to FMTB.21 and SHDA.31

Table c.6 Qin-style Jianchu day qualifiers in the Huainanzi, FMTA.1, SHDA.3, and KJP.1

Days

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

Huainanzi

Make Home Hit Kill Four Fails

haib12 maob4 chenb5 gengs7, xins8

yinb3 wub7 weib8 rens9, guis10

sib6 youb10 xub11 jias1, yis2

shenb9 zib1 choub2 bings3, dings4

Jian 建 Chu 除 Man 滿 Ping 平 Ding 定 Zhi 執 Po 破 Wei 危 Cheng 成 Shou 收 Kai 開 Bi 閉

When listing prohibited activities at the end of FMTB.21, Make Home and Four Fails days deal exclusively with construction work, whereas Kill days concern activities such as killing animals, getting married, performing rites, and engaging in trade. Neither FMTB.21 nor SHDA.31 refer to Hit day prohibitions. With the exception of Make Home, components of Di/ Emperor hemerology occur elsewhere in daybooks and in transmitted texts, either as single day qualifiers or as part of other hemerologies. However, Di/Emperor hemerology as an integrated system is not attested in post-Han literature.22



Establish-Remove ( Jianchu 建除) Hemerology

Jianchu hemerology has a prominent role in daybooks. It is recorded in all six manuscripts of the daybook text type and in many of the published daybook-related manuscripts. Jianchu sections in daybooks generally are composed of two parts. The first part consists of a list or a table showing the correlations between the twelve Jianchu day qualifiers and the days and months of the calendar year; the second part details the prescriptions and predictions associated with each day qualifier.23 The names of the twelve day qualifiers vary among the six manuscripts, and scholars usually distinguish between names associated with a Chu system or a Qin system.24 The Qin names became standard in the Han period and are recorded in the Master of Huainan (Huainanzi 淮南子). Since that time, Jianchu hemerology has been transmitted unchanged through the centuries to the present day, still occurring in the popular 22  See Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 126–32; and Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, pp. 133–34. 23   See the list of Jianchu sections in daybooks on p. 139 in chap. 4. The prescriptions and predictions are discussed on pp. 139–42 in chap. 4. 24  Another set of Jianchu day qualifiers that differs from the socalled Chu and Qin systems occurs in SHDB.3. Two more sets recorded on Qin calendars for the years 216 and 214 bce among the bamboo-slip documents acquired by Peking University suggest the likelihood of multiple sets of Jianchu day qualifiers; see Chen Kaili, 2012, pp. 90–91.

Establish Remove Plenty Level Settle Seize Crush Peril Achieve Receive Open Shut

FMTA.1

SHDA.3

KJP.1

Jian 建 Chu 除 Ying 盈 Ping 平 Ding 定 Zhi 摯 Po 彼 Wei 危 Cheng 成 Shou 收 Kai 開 Bi 閉

Jian 建 Chu 除 Ying 盈 Ping 平 Ding 定 Zhi 摯 Po 柀 Wei 危 Cheng 成 Shou 收 Kai 開 Bi 閉

Jian 建 Chu 除 Ying 盈 Ping 平 Ding 定 Zhi 執 Po 破 Wei 危 Cheng 成 Shou 收 Kai 開 Bi 閉

almanacs published in East Asian countries with a Chinese cultural background (table C.6).25 Evidence of the Chu-style names occurs in JD.1, JD.2, SHDA.1, and SHDB.1.26 JD.1 and JD.2 each have a distinct set of names, and their features are preserved in SHDA.1, which incorporates the JD.1 set, and SHDB.1, which incorporates the JD.2 set. The JD.1-SHDA.1 set is similar to the Qin-style Jianchu names, and three are identical: Jian 建 (Establish), Ping 平 (Level), and Cheng 成 (Achieve). The JD.2-SHDB.2 set has no counterpart in the Qin-style names, but there is a noticeable similarity to the eight day qualifiers in Congchen (Collected Branches) hemerology (table C.7).27 The Qin system, which later became the traditional Jianchu system, is based on correlations between the twelve branches and the twelve months of the calendar year using the Dipper Establishment (Doujian) method. This method tracks the monthly orientation of the Northern Dipper’s handle when observed at dusk throughout the year.28 From the first month when the Dipper’s handle points to yinb3 (east-northeast), the 25   Huainanzi, 3, p. 117 (“Tianwen xun” 天文訓). In the Huainanzi list, the third day qualifier, Ying 盈 (Plenty), is changed to the synonymous Man 滿 in order to avoid using the personal name of Emperor Jing (Liu Ying) (r. 194–188 bce). The change remained in effect in later times. For a detailed presentation of the Jianchu system in the Qing dynasty, see Xieji bianfang shu, 4, 3a–8a. 26   Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, pp. 304–14; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, pp. 180–81, 231–32. 27   See the “Collected Branches Hemerology” section in this appendix. 28  On the Dipper Establishment method, see pp. 163–64 in chap. 4.

465

Description of Select Hemerologies and Classificatory Systems Table c.7 Comparison of Qin-style Jianchu names with the two sets of Chu-style names in JD.1 and JD.2

Table c.8 Positions of Jian (Establish) days for the twelve months in Qin-style and Chu-style Jianchu hemerology

Qin names

Establish Remove Plenty Level Settle Seize Crush Peril Achieve Receive Open Shut

建 除 盈 平 定 執 破 危 成 收 開 閉

JD.1

JD.2

Months

Qin Establish days

Chu Establish days

建 竷

交 [害]a 陰 達 外陽 外害 陰b 絕 光c

I-yinb3 II-maob4 III-chenb5 IV-sib6 V-wu b7 VI-weib8 VII-shenb9 VIII-youb10 IX-xub11 X-hai b12 XI-zib1 XII-choub2

yinb3 maob4 chenb5 sib6 wub7 weib8 shenb9 youb10 xub11 haib12 zib1 choub2

chenb5 sib6 wub7 weib8 shenb9 youb10 xub11 haib12 zib1 choub2 yinb3 maob4

坪 寍 工 坐 盍 城 復 菀

禾

d

結 陽

Note: English translation of Qin names facilitates comparison of day-qualifier categories. Graphs in the table are regularized using standard modern forms. a This graph is restored based on SHDA.1. b SHDA.1 has 外陰. c Transcription of the graph is conjectural based on SHDA.1. d The original graph 采 is judged to be a copyist error for 禾 (Chudi chutu Zhanguo jiance, p. 313n64).

correlation between months and branches follows a cycle ending with the twelfth month and choub2 (north-northeast). Because yinb3 is associated with the first month, there is a correlation between the first day with yinb3 in its sexagenary binom and the first Jianchu day qualifier, Jian (Establish), which determines the correlations between all twelve day qualifiers and the sexagenary days for the first month. The same principle is applied to each month; that is, the first maob4 day in the second month is the Jian day for the month (when the Dipper’s handle points to maob4) and so forth. Depending on when in the month the first Jian day occurs, any single month has two or three Jian days with the other day qualifiers following in succession. The Chu system is similar, but the matching of branches to day qualifiers is shifted by two branches relative to the Qin system. Thus, Jian (Establish) in JD.1-SHDA.1 and Jiao 交 (Intersect) in JD.2-SHDB.1 are correlated with yinb3 days in the eleventh month (zib1), not in the first month (when the day qualifiers are correlated with chenb5 days). The reason for the two-branch gap has not been adequately explained (table C.8). It might be due to an unknown factor in the organization of the Chu calendar, or it might simply represent a different way of keying the Jianchu system to the seasonal cycle. In later tradition, the monthly shifting of Jian (Establish) days from one branch to the next is keyed to months as deter-

mined by the twenty-four seasonal markers (jieqi 節氣) of the solar year. The evidence of Eastern Han calendars, which use the full set of seasonal markers in their notations, indicates that the change probably occurred in the first century CE.29 During the Western Han, based on calendars discovered to date, it appears that the method of keying Jian (Establish) days in Jianchu hemerology continued to use the lunar months (see, for instance, the Qingshuigou 清水溝 calendar for the year 69 bce).30 In the daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, even though the months may be connected to the solar year using the system of the twelve “monthly lodges” (yuexiu 月宿), there is no evidence that Jianchu hemerology utilized the seasonal markers in determining Jian (Establish) days.31



Punishment-Virtue (Xingde 刑德) Hemerology

Xing (Punishment) and De (Virtue) are among the most widespread day qualifiers in early Chinese hemerology, calendrical astrology, and divination, with attestation in excavated manuscripts and transmitted texts.32 They sometimes occur separately in terms designating the auspicious or inauspicious qualities of days and months, for instance, Xingri 刑日 (Punishment 29  For debates on the date when the change occurred, see Zhang Peiyu, 1989; Chen Jiujin, 1989; Jin Liangnian, 1994; Zhang Mingqia, 2001; and Sun Zhanyu, 2010. 30  For a reproduction of the Qingshuigou calendar, see fig. 7.2 in chap. 7 in this volume. For other Han calendars with Jianchu hemerology notations, see Yang Xiaoliang, 2015; and Jianshui Jinguan Han jian, vol. 3.3, p. 48 (73EJT26:5B). 31  On the twelve monthly lodges in daybooks, see pp. 164–66 in chap. 4. 32  See Zhang Peiyu, 1989, pp. 142–43.

466 Day) in two Mawangdui silk manuscripts and Yuexing 月刑 (Month Punishment) in the Yinwan 尹灣 calendar for the year 10 bce.33 They are also found together in systems such as the one described in the Yinwan bamboo-slip text titled “Xingde xingshi” 刑德行時 (Daily movement of Punishment and Virtue), in which they are two among a total of five day qualifiers, and chiefly in the Xingde (Punishment-Virtue) system of calendrical astrology described in several Mawangdui manuscripts.34 The system known as the Xingde qishe 刑德七舍 “seven dwellings of Punishment and Virtue” is an interesting case of the diffusion of a form of hemerology during the Han dynasty and the changes made to the system as it was incorporated in daybooks and calendars. The astrological background is clear from the Master of Huainan description. The winter and summer solstices are the key to the system, which is based on the increase and decrease in the gnomon-shadow length between the two solstices and the equivalent variation of day-night or yang and yin proportions for the twelve months of the year. The gnomon shadow is longest and the day shortest on the winter solstice (eleventh month), at which time Virtue is in Shi 室 (Chamber) and Punishment is in Ye 野 (Outskirts). Their locations are reversed on the summer solstice (fifth month), when the gnomon shadow is shortest and the day longest: Virtue is in Outskirts, and Punishment is in Chamber. With Chamber and Outskirts fixed as the monthly dwellings for the eleventh and fifth months, the five additional monthly dwellings of Virtue and Punishment are Tang 堂 (Hall), Ting 庭 (Court), Men 門 (Gate), Xiang 巷 (Lane), and Shu 術 (Road). They “join at Gate” (he Men 合門) in the second and eighth months, the time of the equinoxes when the day-night proportions are equal. The progression from Chamber to Outskirts for Virtue and Outskirts to Chamber for Punishment follows a spatial logic from inside (Chamber) to outside (Outskirts). The complete annual cycle is presented in table C.9.35 A related hemerological system constitutes one section of the Kongjiapo daybook, but with significant variations. KJP.8 has six dwellings (the missing dwelling is Chamber). More importantly, the monthly cycles of Virtue and Punishment do not correspond to the solstice-based system presented in the Master of Huainan.36 In the KJP.8 system, Virtue and Punishment meet 33   Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, pp. 99–101 (Yinyang wuxing A), pp. 138–39 (Yinyang wuxing B). For the Yinwan calendar, see fig. 4.7 in chap. 4 in this volume. 34   Yinwan Han mu jiandu, p. 145, slips 77–89. For Xingde calendrical astrology in the Mawangdui manuscripts, see Kalinowski, 1999. References to Xingde calendrical astrology occur in FMTB.46 and ZJTA.13; see p. 181 in chap. 4. 35   Huainanzi, 3, pp. 97–98 (“Tianwen xun”). See Major, 1993, pp. 86–88. 36   Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, pp. 137–38, slips 90–96; see Chen Xuanwei, 2007, pp. 44–47.

appendix c Table c.9 Monthly movements of Punishment and Virtue between the solstices (months XI and V) in the Master of Huainan Month

XI XII I II III IV V

X IX VIII VII VI

Virtue

Punishment

Day-Night

Chamber 室 Hall 堂 Court 庭 join at Gate 合門 Lane 巷 Road 術 Outskirts 野

Outskirts 野 Road 術 Lane 巷

5/11 6/10 7/9 8/8 9/7 10/6 11/5

Court 庭 Hall 堂 Chamber 室

Note: Day-night proportions are based on the ratios given in the Fangmatan and Shuihudi daybooks and shown in tables 4.6 and 4.7 in chapter 4 in this volume.

Table C.10 Monthly movements of Punishment and Virtue in KJP.8 Month

XII I II III IV V VI

XI X IX VIII VII

Virtue

Punishment

meet at Hall 並在堂 Court 庭 Gate 門 Lane 巷 Road 術 Outskirts 野 meet at Road 並在術

Hall 堂 Court 庭 Gate 門 Lane 巷 Road 術

at the same location twice during the year: in the sixth month at Road and in the twelfth month at Hall (table C.10). Further, their locations are not mutually reversed from month to month, one result being that Punishment remains at Road for three consecutive months (fifth, sixth, and seventh months) and again at Hall for three consecutive months (eleventh, twelfth, and first months). Nevertheless, the regularities in KJP.8 suggest that it arose from a conscious effort to design a system, and it should not be treated as a corruption of the system described in the Master of Huainan. The KJP.8 system became yet another daybook hemerology that was not grounded in astrology and the determination of the solstices. Other Han hemerological materials and calendars are evidence of the popularity of the “seven dwellings of Punishment and Virtue” system and tend to reconfirm the details presented in the Master of Huainan. For instance, the wooden slips from Shuiquanzi 水泉子 tomb 5 refer to the eleventh-month locations of Virtue and Punishment as Nei 内 (Interior) and Ye (Outskirts) respectively—Nei is synonymous with Shi (Chamber)—and

467

Description of Select Hemerologies and Classificatory Systems hemerological fragments from Juyan 居延 also attest to the system.37 The bamboo-slip calendar for the year 87 bce excavated at Haiqu 海曲 in Shandong is notable for increasing the number of dwellings to nine with the addition of Guomen 郭門 (City Gate) and Hu 戶 (Door) (table C.11). The notations for the calendar follow the Master of Huainan system but record only the location of Virtue. City Gate and Door are the locations of Virtue on the days of the summer solstice (City Gate) and winter solstice (Door), after which Virtue moves to the expected locations for the fifth and eleventh months.38 The function of the solstices in the structure of the system is unchanged, because the number of days elapsed between the summer solstice (month V, yiwei32, on the calendar) and the winter solstice (month XI, wuxu35, on the calendar) is 183, a number that corresponds to the solar-year calculation of 365.25 days in the Master of Huainan.39

Table C.11 Monthly movements of Virtue in the Haiqu calendar for 87 bce

Reverse Branch (Fanzhi 反支) Hemerology Reverse Branch hemerology is a system of counting days based on the branch of the first day of the month, the shuo 朔 “new moon” day. For each month, the first occurrence of the branch designated as the day qualifier Fanzhi is at a set interval of up to six positions counting from the first-day branch. FMTB.34 and KJP.17 describe a system of two Fanzhi branches for each firstday branch, the second always separated from the first by six positions, resulting in a Fanzhi day recurring every sixth day following its first occurrence in the month. FMTB.34 lists favorable and unfavorable activities for Fanzhi days, including performing one’s duties as an official, dealing with legal matters, seeing people, playing music and dancing, killing animals, recovering lost items, wearing cap and belt, getting married, and having servants and goods brought in or taken out.40 The position of Fanzhi is also marked on excavated calendars of the Han period, the earliest being the Yinqueshan 銀雀山 calendar for the year

IX X XI



37  The Shuiquanzi hemerological slips are briefly described in Zhang Cunliang and Wu Hong, 2009; see p. 91 for the example cited. For the Juyan slips, see Juyan xinjian—Jiaqu houguan, vol. 1, p. 47 (EPT43:185), p. 185 (EPT65:18), p. 249 (EPS4T2:80); and Zeng Xiantong, 2005, pp. 253–56. 38  See Liu Shaogang and Zheng Tongxiu, 2010. The calendar is fragmentary, but most details can be reconstructed based on the extant slips. Information on the movement of Virtue is recorded on slips 6, 16, 21, 25, 28, 29, 32, and 35 (which relate to months II, III, V, VI, IX, X, and XI). See also the fragment of a calendar discovered at Jinguan 金關, Gansu; Jianshui Jinguan Han jian, vol. 3.3, p. 143 (73EJT32:9). 39   Huainanzi, 3, p. 98 (“Tianwen xun”). In the Huainanzi, the number of days for one seasonal quarter is 915/16 (91.3125), making 182.625 days from one solstice to the next and 365.25 days for the solar year. 40   Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, pp. 152–53.

Month

Day

Day binom

Solsticeequinox

I II

11

jiazi1

spring equinox

12

jiawu31

14 [15] 15

yiwei32 [bingshen33] bingyin3

III IV V VI VII VIII

XII

summer solstice

[autumn equinox] 18 18 20 21

dingyou34 dingmao4 wuxu35 jihai36 [jisi6]

winter solstice

Dwelling

Duration

[Court] Gate

30 days

Lane [Road] City Gate [Outskirts] Road [Lane] [Gate]

1 day [30 days] 31 days [30 days] [30 days]

Court Hall Door Chamber [Hall]

30 days 31 days 1 day 30 days

Note: Brackets indicate information restored to the calendar.

134 bce, which matches the FMTB.34 and KJP.17 system.41 This Fanzhi system remained in use for centuries, and Qing dynasty hemerological compendia explain how to plot Fanzhi days for the twelve months of the calendar year.42 According to FMTB.34 and KJP.17, when zib1 is the first day of the month, the Fanzhi days are the opposing pair sib6 and haib12; when choub2 is the first day, the Fanzhi days are wub7 and zib1. In this case, the interval from first day to first Fanzhi day is six positions, with Fanzhi days recurring every sixth day. The interval from first day to first Fanzhi day decreases to five positions for yinb3 and maob4, the first Fanzhi days being wub7 and weib8 respectively. The interval is four positions for chenb5 and sib6; three positions for wub7 and weib8; two positions for shenb9 and youb10; and one position, that is, the same day, for xub11 and haib12.43 A thirty-day month should have as many as five Fanzhi days, whereas a month of twenty-nine days might have just four. SHDA.85 describes a different system of Fanzhi days. Rather than list the first-day and Fanzhi branches serially, SHDA.85 simply arranges the first-day branches in pairs together with the day-interval before the first Fanzhi day. The passage concludes 41  For the Yinqueshan calendar and data for Fanzhi days, see fig. 7.1 and table 7.2 in chap. 7. 42   Xingli kaoyuan, 4, 38a; Xieji bianfang shu, 6, 72a–73a. 43   Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 143.

468

appendix c

Table C.12 First-day branches and correlated Fanzhi days for the twelve months of the calendar year in FMTB.34, KJP.17, and SHDA.85 FMTB.34, KJP.17 First day of Position of the month Fanzhi

SHDA.85 First day of the month

Position of Fanzhi

zib1 choub2 yinb3 maob4 chenb5 sib6 wu b7 weib8 shenb9 youb10 xub11 haib12

zib1 choub2 yinb3 maob4 chenb5 sib6 wub7 weib8 shenb9 youb10 xub11 haib12

day 6 (sib6) day 6 (wub7) day 5 (wub7) day 5 (weib8) day 4 (weib8) day 4 (shenb9) day 3 (shenb9) day 3 (youb10) day 2 (youb10) day 2 (xub11) day 1 (xub11) day 1 (haib12)

sib6, haib12 wub7, zib1 wub7, zib1 weib8, choub2 weib8, choub2 shenb9, yinb3 shenb9, yinb3 youb10, maob4 youb10, maob4 xub11, chenb5 xub11, chenb5 haib12, sib6

with the statement that “in one month there ought to be three Reverse Branch days” (yi yue dang you san Fanzhi 一月當有三 反支); that is, in the SHDA.85 system, there is only one Fanzhi branch, which recurs every twelve days during the month, resulting in three Fanzhi days in a thirty-day month or possibly two in a twenty-nine-day month (table C.12).44 All three daybooks concur on the day-interval between the first-day branch and the first Fanzhi day, but SHDA.85 has only one Fanzhi branch, while FMTB.34 and KJP.17 match the branch with its opposing branch, making a pair of Fanzhi branches and dividing the twelve-day recurrence cycle into two six-day cycles. In addition, a passage on the method of determining Fanzhi days is to the left of the slips that present the Fanzhi data in KJP.17: 求反支日先道朔日始數其雌也從亥始數右行雄也從戌始 左行前遇其日为反[支] [5] 𧘂。

To find the Reverse Branch days: First begin counting from the new-moon day (the first day of the month). When it is female, begin counting at haib12 and go to the right. When it is male, begin at xub11 and go to the left. The earlier encounter, that day is Reverse [Branch]; [5] the opposite.45

44   Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 227, slip 154v1. See discussions in Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 302–6; Chen Xuanwei, 2007, pp. 67–68; and Lu Ping, 2010, pp. 98–100. 45   Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 143, slips 1351–1361.

The missing text at the end might juxtapose an “opposite” branch with the Fanzhi branch determined by the “earlier encounter” to make a pair of Fanzhi branches, but the correlation between that method and the Fanzhi data remains unclear, and none of the interpretations that have been proposed for this passage are fully convincing.46 The most notable element of the method is the differentiation of female (even-numbered branches) and male (odd-numbered branches) as the basis for counting counterclockwise (to the right) or clockwise (to the left) in a calendar cycle that presumes use of the “Day Court” diagram. Either by coincidence or by design, KJP.17 is fitted into a space with a “Day Court” diagram above (KJP.18) and another below (KJP.19). In addition, even though there is no astrological counterpart to the Fanzhi system, the calendar cycle described in KJP.17 resembles the opposite movements of Dark Dagger-Ax hemerology and of day qualifiers such as Xiaoshi 小時 (Small Period) and Dashi 大時 (Great Period). The latter occur in KJP.14–15, in daybooks in general, and in transmitted texts such as the Master of Huainan.47



Classificatory Systems



Cyclical Animals

The correlation between the set of twelve cyclical animals (shengxiao 生肖) associated with the twelve branches and the year of birth is still used today. In its traditional form in transmitted sources, this zoomorphic series is first attested in Wang Chong’s 王充 (27–ca. 100) Assay of Arguments (Lunheng 論衡).48 Based on their occurrence in FMTA.6, FMTB.12, FMTB.80, SHDA.61, and KJP.73, the twelve cyclical animals can now be dated to the third century bce. While there are differences among the daybooks and between the daybooks and the traditional system, five of the animals and their branch assignments are identical across all sources (table C.13): Rat (zib1), Ox (choub2), Tiger (yinb3), Hare (maob4), and Pig (haib12). The Fangmatan daybooks have another four animals in common with the traditional system—Horse (wub7), Sheep (weib8), Cock (youb10), and Dog (xub11)—and FMTB.80 has Dragon (chenb5). Variability is most evident in three groups of branches. Reptile is associated with both chenb5 and sib6 in the daybooks, indicating that the differentiation between Dragon and Snake in the traditional system is absent in the daybooks. In SHDA.61 and KJP.73, Horse is associated with weib8 rather than with wub7 46  For discussions, see Liu Lexian, 1994, pp. 302–6; Chen Xuanwei, 2007, pp. 68–74; and Liu Zenggui, 2008. 47  See pp. 174–75 in chap. 4; and Huainanzi, 3, p. 124 (“Tianwen xun”). 48   Lunheng, 3, p. 150 (“Wushi” 物勢); Lunheng, 23, p. 957 (“Yandu” 言毒).

469

Description of Select Hemerologies and Classificatory Systems Table C.13 The twelve branches and cyclical animals in the Assay of Arguments (Lunheng) and the daybooks

zib1 choub2 yinb3 maob4 chenb5 sib6 wub7 weib8 shenb9 youb10 xub11 haib12

Lunheng

FMTA.6

FMTB.12

FMTB.80

SHDA.61

KJP.73

Rat 鼠 Ox 牛 Tiger 虎 Hare 兔 Dragon 龍 Snake 蛇 Horse 馬 Sheep 羊 Monkey 猴 Cock 雞 Dog 犬 Pig 豕

Rat 鼠 Ox 牛 Tiger 虎 Hare 兔 Reptile 虫 Cock 雞 Horse 馬 Sheep 羊 Stone 石 Cock 雞 Dog 犬 Pig 豕

Rat 鼠 Ox 牛 Tiger 虎 Hare 兔 Reptile 虫 Cock 雞 Horse 馬 Sheep 羊 Stone 石 Cock 鷄 Dog 犬 Pig 豕

Rat 鼠 Ox 牛 Tiger 虎 Hare 兔 Dragon 龍 Pheasant 雉 Horse 馬 Sheep 羊 King Turtle 王龜 Cock 雞 Dog 犬 [1]

Rat 鼠 Ox 牛 Tiger 虎 Hare 兔 omitted by copyist Reptile 蟲 Deer 鹿 Horse 馬 Ring 環 Water 水 Old Sheep 老羊 Pig 豕

Rat 鼠 Ox 牛 Tiger 虎 Hare 鬼(兔) Reptile Water 虫水 Reptile 虫 Deer 鹿 Horse 馬 Jade Stone 玉石 Water 水 Old Fire 老火 Pig 豕

Note: Identification of graphs for the names in the Fangmatan daybooks is based on Qin jiandu heji, vol. 4, pp. 19–25 (FMTA.6), 54–57 (FMTB.12), and 157–70 (FMTB.80).

and Deer appears under wub7. Finally, shenb9, youb10, and xub11 are notable for several non-zoomorphic variants. Similar variants were still in use in the Six Dynasties period, as recorded by Xiao Ji 蕭吉 (ca. 535–614) in the Summation of the Five Agents (Wuxing dayi 五行大義).49 The Fangmatan daybooks are closest to the traditional system. Perhaps this was due to regional differences, with the Fangmatan daybooks reflecting the traditional system forming under the greater influence of northern, Qin traditions, whereas the Shuihudi and Kongjiapo daybooks reflect the southern influence of Chu traditions. However, the closer textual relationship between several Kongjiapo daybook hemerologies and the earlier Fangmatan daybooks complicates the picture of a neat contrast between Qin and Chu traditions.50 In FMTA.6, FMTB.12, SHDA.61, and KJP.73, the twelve cyclical animals are the basis for predictions on the topic of robbery, in particular on identifying the thief, whose appearance resembles the animal associated with the branch of the day when the theft occurred.51 Other daybook sections with predictions based on the branches occasionally draw on the association between a branch and its animal without involving the complete set of twelve. For instance, in SHDA.62, Rat (choub2) and Stone

49   Wuxing dayi, 5, 42a–44a (“Lun sanshiliu qin” 論三十六 禽); Kalinowski, 1991, pp. 443–46. 50  For studies on the twelve cyclical animals in daybooks, see Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 229–36; Chen Xuanwei, 2007, pp. 176–83; and Shimizu Hiroko, 2011, pp. 229–36. 51  For translation of the entry related to Reptile in FMTA.6, see p. 146 in chap. 4.

(shenb9)52 are involved in two of the twelve predictions related to a death and the misfortune resulting from it: 丑鼠也其後必有病者三人

Choub2 is the Rat. Among his (the deceased’s) descendants there will be three who have illness.53 申石也其咎在二室生子不全

Shenb9 is the Stone. The harm will be on the second home; the child who is born will be malformed.54 The twelve cyclical animals in FMTB.80 belong to the larger set of thirty-six, which are correlated with the twelve pitch standards (shier lü 十二律) and used for divination. Each pitch standard is associated with three animals according to the time of day when the divination takes place (morning, afternoon, night). The predictions concern illness based on the symbolic connection between the animal and the person for whom the divination is performed.55 FMTB.80 precedes by more than seven hundred years the accounts of the thirty-six animals (sanshiliu qin 三十六禽) in Six Dynasties and Tang transmitted sources. The inclusion of the thirty-six animals in the design of the Six Dynasties bronze Liuren mantic device 52  Curiously, Stone is attested in FMTA.6 and FMTB.12, but not in SHDA.61, which has Ring. 53   S HDA.62, slip 84v1; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 221. 54   S HDA.62, slip 91v1; Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian, p. 221. 55  For details, see the “Pitch-Standard Divination” section in this appendix.

470

appendix c

(Liuren shi 六壬式) in the collection of the Shanghai Museum provides additional evidence of their popularity in medieval divination (see table C.14).56 There is considerable variation between the medieval animals and the animals recorded in FMTB.80, but their repartition according to the branches and a threefold division of the day on the Liuren device and in FMTB.80 further demonstrate the connection between the ancient and medieval sets of thirty-six animals.57 Earlier conjectures on the foreign origin of the thirty-six-animal divination (in part because it occurs in several Buddhist scriptures) can now be set aside.



Five-Notes Sexagenary System

Daybooks provide the oldest evidence of the five-notes (wuyin 五音) sexagenary system, in which the sixty binoms are arranged in five groups of twelve binoms each and each group is associated with one of the five notes (Gong-F, Shang-G, Jue-E, Zhi-C, Yu-D) and five agents. The system provides yet another method of integrating the sexagenary cycle into the fivefold classificatory sets of correlative cosmology. In its later, fully developed form, the system is known by the name Nayin 納音 (Containing Notes) and is explained for the first time in Ge Hong’s 葛洪 (283–363 ce) Embracing Simplicity Master (Baopuzi 抱朴子), which uses it to determine the note and agent governing a person’s fate according to birth year (benming 本命).58 Still in use today, the Nayin system has applications in hemerology and the calendar as well as in ritual practices, horoscopy, alchemy, and medicine. Daybooks do not give a name to the five-notes sexagenary system, yet occurrences of the system indicate that the main features of the Nayin system were present in the third century bce. The Nayin system described by Ge Hong in Embracing Simplicity Master is convenient for organizing the presentation of the daybook evidence. Ge Hong begins by assigning the twelve branches in matched pairs to six of the stems: zib1 and wub7 belong to gengs7, choub2 and weib8 to xins8, yinb3 and shenb9 to wus5, maob4 and youb10 to jis6, chenb5 and xub11 to bings3, and sib6 and haib12 to dings4. Next, he assigns the notes and agents to the first five odd numbers: Gong and Earth are 1, Zhi and Fire are 3, Yu and Water are 5, Shang and Metal are 7, and Jue and Wood are 9. The two sequences of assigned stems and odd numbers are the basis for assigning the sixty binoms to their appropri56  For studies of the thirty-six animals in FMTB.80 and in later transmitted texts and artifacts, see Li Ling, 2006c, pp. 181–83; Shimizu Hiroko, 2011, pp. 89–97; Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 233–36; and Cheng Shaoxuan, 2012, pp. 282–93. 57  For Xiao Ji’s detailed discussion, see Wuxing dayi, 5, 37b–44b (“Lun sanshiliu qin”); and Kalinowski, 1991, pp. 437–47. The three times of day in Wuxing dayi are dawn, noon, and dusk. 58   Baopuzi, 11, p. 209 (“Xianyao” 仙藥).

ate group number, note, and agent by a simple arithmetic procedure. Based on the stem assignment of the twelve branches, the user determines the correct number for a binom by counting the positions separating the stem of the binom from the assigned stem in the Nayin system. For instance, branches zib1 and wub7 are assigned to stem gengs7. The binoms gengzi37 and gengwu7 belong to number 1, Gong, and Earth because there is no separation between the assigned stem and the stem of the binom (both are gengs7). All twelve binoms in this group are combinations of branches with their assigned stems in the Nayin system that always result in number 1. For the group of binoms belonging to number 3, Zhi, and Fire, the first two are jiachen41 and jiaxu11. The Nayin system assigns chenb5 and xub11 to bings3, and jias1 is three positions away from bings3, hence the placement under number 3. Calculations for all five groups follow the same procedure (table C.15). In later centuries, the traditional Nayin system accords with Ge Hong’s description. Explanations of how the sixty binoms came to be attached to the five notes and the notes to the odd numbers generally trace the system to specialists in harmonics and the calendar, in particular to a theory of harmonics known as the “method for the mutual production of the twelve pitch standards” (shier lü xiangsheng fa 十二律相生法). According to this method, each binom is connected to one note and to one of the twelve pitch standards, resulting in five interconnected chromatic scales containing the sixty binoms. Thus, gengzi37 is associated with the first semitone in the Gong Chromatic Scale (Huangzhong Gong 黃鐘宮), jiazi1 is associated with the first semitone in the Shang Chromatic Scale (Huangzhong Shang 黃鐘商), and so forth.59 In the modern reconstruction of the second Fangmatan daybook, a long series of sections treats of pitch-standard divination, and several sections related to the five-notes sexagenary system tend to confirm the system’s association with the pitch standards.60 FMTB.53 and FMTB.65 both identify the odd numbers assigned to the five notes (Gong-1, Zhi-3, Yu-5, Shang-7, and Jue-9), and FMTB.53 further identifies the corresponding agents. FMTB.54 has the same distribution of the sixty binoms into groups according to the five notes found in Embracing Simplicity Master.61 FMTB.53–54 are written in the upper 59  For a full list of the sixty binoms, see the reconstruction by Qian Daxin 錢大昕 in Qianyantang wenji, 3, 9b–11b (“Nayin shuo” 納音說); and Rao Zongyi, 1986. 60   F MTB.53–92; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, pp. 182–268. For a detailed account of this part of FMTB, see Cheng Shaoxuan, 2012; and “Pitch-Standard Divination” in this appendix. 61  A similar but fragmentary list of binoms grouped by the five notes occurs in the early Western Han manuscripts discovered at Yinqueshan 銀雀山 tomb 1, Anhui, in the context of wind divination. See Yinqueshan Han mu zhujian, vol. 2, pp. 236–37. For a discussion, see Zhou Wen, 2012, pp. 323–24.

471

Description of Select Hemerologies and Classificatory Systems Table C.14 The thirty-six animals in FMTB.80 and on the bronze Liuren mantic device (Six Dynasties) Pitch/Branch

Time of day

FMTB.80

Huangzhong 黃鐘 zib1

morning afternoon night morning afternoon night morning afternoon night morning afternoon night morning afternoon night morning afternoon night morning afternoon night morning afternoon night morning afternoon night morning afternoon night morning afternoon night morning afternoon night

鼠 朐濡

Dalü 大呂 choub2 Taicou 太簇 yinb3 Jiazhong 夾鍾 maob4 Guxian 姑洗 chenb5 Zhonglü 中呂 sib6 Suibin 蕤賓 wub7 Linzhong 林鐘 weib8 Yize 夷則 shenb9 Nanlü 南呂 youb10 Wuyi 無射 xub11 Yingzhong 應鐘 haib12

slip missing 牛 兕牛 旄牛 虎 豹

[1] 兔

[1] 狐 [1] 龍 蛇

[1] 雉

[1] slip missing 馬 閭

[1] 羊 㹸 麝 王龜 鼉龜 黿龜 雞 鷮 赤烏 犬

[1] 狐

[1] 虞 豯

Six Dynasties Liuren device

Rat Earthworm Ox Buffalo Yak Tiger Leopard [1] Hare [1] Fox [1] Dragon Snake [1] Pheasant [1] Horse Donkey [1] Sheep Lion Musk Deer King Turtle Alligator Giant Turtle Cock Long-Tail Pheasant Red Crow Dog [1] Fox Pig Yu Beast Piglet

蝠 鼠 鷰 牛 蟹 鱉 豹 貍 虎 猬 兔 貉 龍 鯨 魚 蚓 蟮 蛇 鹿 馬 獐 羊 鷹 鴈 狙 猨 猴 雉 鷄 烏 狗 豺 狼 豕 豚 猪

Bat Rat Swallow Ox Crab Soft-Shell Turtle Leopard Raccoon Dog Tiger Hedgehog Hare Badger Dragon Giant Fish Fish Earthworm Earthworm Snake Deer Horse River Deer Sheep Hawk Goose Macaque Gibbon Monkey Pheasant Cock Crow Dog Dhole Wolf Pig Suckling Pig Pig

Notes: Identification of graphs for the names in FMTB.80 is based on Qin jiandu heji, vol. 4, pp. 157–70. Identification of graphs for the names on the Liuren device is based on Li Ling, 2006c, pp. 126, 182. The twelve cyclical animals in FMTB.80 and correlated animals on the Liuren device are in bold.

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appendix c

Table C.15 Repartition of the sixty binoms into five groups according to the Nayin system in Embracing Simplicity Master

Table C.16 Differences between the correlations of agents and notes in the monthly-ordinances tradition and in FMTB.53

Jue 角 9 Wood

Shang 商 7 Metal

Yu 羽 5 Water

Zhi 徵 3 Fire

Gong 宮 1 Earth

Agents

n5, n35 n6, n36 n27, n57 n28, n58 n19, n49 n20, n50

n1, n31 n2, n32 n17, n47 n18, n48 n9, n39 n10, n40

n51, n21 n52, n22 n13, n43 n14, n44 n29, n59 n30, n60

n41, n11 n42, n12 n3, n33 n4, n34 n55, n25 n56, n26

n37, n7 n38, n8 n53, n23 n54, n24 n45 n15 n46, n16

r­ egister across twelve slips, and FMTB.55 lists the twelve pitch standards in chromatic order, from Huangzhong 黃鐘 (Yellow Bell) to Yingzhong 應鐘 (Reactive Bell), and with their harmonic numbers, in the lower register on the same twelve slips.62 Thus FMTB presents the key elements of the traditional Nayin system in a context that includes the pitch standards. There is one notable difference between the FMTB evidence and the Nayin system described by Ge Hong. Rather than according with the correlations between notes and agents as given in the “monthly ordinances” (yueling 月令) traditions and as followed by Ge Hong, FMTB.53 associates three of the notes with different agents: Zhi with Wood (not Fire), Yu with Fire (not Water), and Jue with Water (not Wood) (table C.16).63 Correlations between directions, colors, and stems in FMTB.53 reflect this basic difference in the correlations between notes and agents. The same correlations between notes and directions occur in KJP.86 and in Pheasant-cap Master (Heguanzi 鶡冠子) in contexts that are not directly related to the Nayin system, indicating that the matching of the five notes to the five agents was not uniform in the third and second centuries bce.64 FMTB.14 uses the five-notes sexagenary system for travel hemerology, and the hemerology recurs in SHDA.67, where the section heading is “Yu xuyu” 禹須臾 (Yu’s quick method). Neither 62   F MTB.53–55; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, pp. 182–89; discussed in Cheng Shaoxuan, 2012, pp. 262–67. 63  Monthly ordinances appear in several versions in late Warring States, Qin, and Han texts and set out regulations for harmonizing government with the cosmos. For details on the five-agents correlations in the Huainanzi monthly-ordinances account, see Major, 1993, pp. 217–24. 64  See KJP.86, slips 461–462; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 184; and Heguanzi, 2, pp. 239–41 (“Taihong” 泰鴻). In KJP.86, the notes are matched with corresponding directions. See studies by Yan Changgui, 2007; and Takeda Tokimasa, 2011a.

Earth

Wood

Fire

Metal

Water

Monthly-ordinances Gong notes

Jue

Zhi

Shang

Yu

FMTB.53 notes

Zhi

Yu

Shang

Jue

Gong

section refers directly to the five notes associated with the five groups of binoms or to the five agents. The notes are identified in a third occurrence of the hemerology in the Mawangdui manuscript Chuxing zhan 出行占 (Divination for travel departure).65 The method determines favorable days for undertaking travel using the arrangement of the sixty binoms into five groups. The groups correspond to five-notes sexagenary hemerology, but there are differences in the assigned number associated with the groups. In the travel hemerology, this number determines the favorableness of each group, represented as the degree of xi 喜 “happiness” for the traveler. The hemerology also indicates the appropriate time of day for departure for each group. For instance, if departing on a gengzi37 day at dawn (note Gong), the traveler has “twofold happiness” (er xi 二喜), departure on wuchen5 in the afternoon (note Jue) results in “sevenfold happiness” (qi xi 七喜), and departure on jiazi1 in the evening (note Shang) results in “ninefold happiness” (jiu xi 九喜) (table C.17). The travel hemerology utilizes the five-notes sexagenary system, but the numbering of the groups does not follow exactly the assigned numbers of the traditional Nayin system. The binoms in the Gong group indicate “twofold happiness,” but Gong is assigned the number 1 in the Nayin system. Similarly, the numbers assigned to Shang and Jue in the Nayin system are reversed in the travel hemerology: Shang-7 becomes a 9 in the travel hemerology happiness count and Jue-9 becomes a 7. The reason for this adaptation of the five-notes sexagenary system for use in popular travel hemerology is not known.

65  For transcription of “Yu xuyu” in the Chuxing zhan, see Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, p. 156. See also Liu Lexian, 2012b, pp. 89–90. In FMTB.14 and SHDA.67, several of the sixty binoms are missing, but these are minor discrepancies. SHDA.44 also has the heading “Yu’s xuyu” and bears a slight resemblance to SHDA.67, but the travel hemerology lacks the full presentation of the sixty binoms that is characteristic of the fivenotes sexagenary system.

Description of Select Hemerologies and Classificatory Systems Table C.17 The travel hemerology in Chuxing zhan Sexagenary days

Notes

Time of day Happiness Nayin number

n37, n7, etc. n41, n11, etc. n51, n21, etc. n5, n35, etc. n1, n31, etc.

Gong Zhi Yu Jue Shang

Dawn Morning Midday Afternoon Evening

two three five seven nine

1 3 5 9 7

In sum, the daybook evidence clearly shows that the arrangement of the sixty binoms into five groups associated with the five notes was well established in the third century bce, yet the underlying ideas were not fully in accord with contemporaneous correlations between the five notes and the five agents.66 In particular, the system consistently maintained the connection between the notes and the five groups of twelve binoms, while the correlations between the notes and the five agents varied. In the second Fangmatan daybook, FMTB.53 does correlate notes and agents, but none of the lists of the sixty binoms arranged by their five-notes groups in the Fangmatan daybook (FMTB.54 and FMTB.14) or in any other daybook refer to the five agents. This suggests that the five agents were not instrumental in the formation of the five-notes sexagenary system that preceded the fully developed Nayin system.



Pitch-Standard Divination

The most recent reconstructions of the second Fangmatan daybook (FMTB) identify a group of texts that share extensive use of the twelve pitch standards (shier lü) in connection with divination. Given the numerous slip fragments and missing slips, and the manuscript’s generally poor state of preservation, it is not possible to determine the original number of texts and their arrangement in sections or to be certain of their place in the daybook manuscript.67 In the 2013 reconstruction by Sun Zhanyu, the texts occupy FMTB.53–92 in the second half of the manuscript and represent roughly 20 percent of the manuscript’s total length.68 Because similar content is not found in other daybooks or daybook-related manuscripts, whereas FMTB.1–52 are composed of hemerologies and predictive sys66  See Cheng Shaoxuan, 2012, pp. 266–67. 67  See Cheng Shaoxuan, 2012, pp. 244–45; and Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, “Gaishu” 概述, pp. 2–3. 68  See Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, pp. 182–268. For a different arrangement of some of the texts, see Qin jiandu heji, vol. 4, pp. 109–95.

473

tems that are typical for daybooks, some scholars have proposed that FMTB.53–92 constitutes a distinct manuscript separate from the daybook manuscript.69 Whether treated as a separate manuscript or as a unique example of a daybook with extensive content related to pitchstandard divination, FMTB.53–92 contribute significantly to our understanding of the pitch standards and their use in hemerology and divination. Some texts set out theories on the numbers associated with the pitch standards in Qin and Han calendrical harmonics as found in the Master of Huainan (FMTB.55, 61, 62).70 Others are lists of the twelve pitch standards and their correlations with various topics and predictions (FMTB.80, 82, 83, 84), meant to guide the user in finding the correct prediction after completing the divination process. There are also texts of a technical nature that provide concrete examples of how the divination system works (FMTB.63, 67, 76, 85–90, 92). Finally, in addition to texts that explicitly mention the pitch standards, some refer to closely related elements such as the five musical notes, the five agents, and the “Day Court” diagram (drawn in FMTB.58).71 Despite their fragmentary condition and incomplete content, the texts belong to a single divinatory system and enable reconstruction of a four-step process. First, the user determines the input data by means of a technique referred to as tou 投 “casting,” which may involve the use of tokens and a material object on which to lay them.72 The input data are represented by the day and time when the divination is performed (daystems, day-branches, time periods of the day, stellar lodges) and/or the twelve pitch standards and the five notes. Second, the data are converted into numbers by consulting relevant lists in the texts: numbers from 9 to 5 apply to the ten stems and the time periods of the day, from 9 to 4 to the twelve branches, and

69  Cheng Shaoxuan (2012, pp. 244, 333) refers to the texts in FMTB.53–92 either as “Zhonglü zhan” 鐘律占 or as “Zhonglü shizhan” 鐘律式占. The titles of works on pitch-standard divination in the bibliographic treatise of the Book of Han include Huangzhong 黃鍾 in seven scrolls and three others (Han shu, 30, p. 1768). 70  On new evidence provided by the pitch-standard divination texts for the study of Qin and Han harmonics, see Kalinowski, 2011b. 71  For a schematic reconstruction of the diagram, see fig. 4.16 in chap. 4. Sections related to the diagram are FMTB.66, 72, 73. Most occurrences of the five notes and the five agents in the pitchstandard divination slips are based on the Nayin (Containing Notes) system (FMTB.23, 53, 54, 59, 60, 65, 79, 81); see the “FiveNotes Sexagenary System” section in this appendix. 72  Chen Wei (2011) suspects that the pitch-standard divination system was based on a cleromantic method of randomly casting tokens on a board in order to get an answer to the user’s question.

474

appendix c

Table C.18 Numbers correlated with the ten stems, the twelve branches, time periods of the day, and pitch standards in the second Fangmatan daybook

Stems Branches Time periods

Pitch standards

9

8

7

6

5

4

jias1, jis6 zib1, wub7 level-dawn

yis2, gengs7 choub2, weib8 sunrise

bings3, xins8 yinb3, shenb9 mealtime

dings4, rens9 maob4, youb10 all-still

wus5, guis10 chenb5, xub11 midnight

sib6, haib12

81 F, zib1 57 B, wub7

76 F#, choub2 54 C, weib8

72 G, yinb3 51 C#, shenb9

68 G#, maob4 48 D, youb10

64 A, chenb5 45 D#, xub11

60 A#, sib6 42 E, haib12

Note: Information for time periods is selective (FMTB.59–60 list more than twenty time-period names, and several are correlated with each number).

from 81 to 42 to the pitch standards (see table C.18).73 For the twenty-eight stellar lodges, the numbers use the lodge widths recorded in FMTB.64.74 In the third step, the user combines the numbers into a single figure that serves as the basis for divination. The following example begins by determining whether a boy or a girl will be born according to the combination of the numbers and the final number. The passage then continues to the use of the corresponding pitch-standard number for further divination in regard to the child: 即有生者而欲智其男女投日辰星而參合之奇者男殹禺者 女殹因而參之即以所中鐘數為卜 [1]

When there is about to be a birth and you want to know whether the child will be a boy or girl, cast for (the numbers of) the stem, branch, and stellar lodge (of the day/ of the hour), combining them three times. Odd means a boy, even a girl. Having made the triple calculation, then

73  The earliest occurrence of numbers 9–4 associated with the twelve branches is in the looted Warring States manuscripts acquired by Tsinghua University, in the text assigned the title “Shifa” 筮法 and dated around 300 bce; see Qinghua daxue cang Zhanguo zhujian, vol. 4.1, p. 119. 74  For the stellar lodges and the old system of lodge widths, for which FMTB.64 is now the earliest evidence, see table 0.7 in this volume. According to Cheng Shaoxuan (2012, pp. 251–57), the stellar-lodge system is being used to designate the time periods of the day and is related to the “Twenty-Eight Hourly Lodge” diagram in the first Zhoujiatai daybook (ZJTA.3); see fig. 4.13 in chap. 4.

use the number of the pitch standard that you have hit to divine [1].75 When the final number does not match the harmonic number of one of the twelve pitch standards, another passage explains the necessary adjustments: 凡投黃鐘不合音數者是謂天絕紀殹數有六十六旦從六十 八夕從六十四數七十五占七十六數有卌四占卌二

Whenever casting for the pitch standards does not match the harmonic number, this is called “heaven severs its support cords.” If the number is 66, in the daytime use 68 and in the nighttime use 64. If the number is 75, make the divination for 76. If the number is 44, make the divination for 42.76 In each case the adjusted number corresponds to a pitchstandard number, such as 76, the harmonic number of Grand Norm (Dalü 大呂) (F#-choub2), and 42, the harmonic number of Reactive Bell (Yingzhong) (E-haib12). After determining the correct pitch standard, the final step is to consult the lists of predictions attached to the twelve pitch 75   F MTB.67, slip 293; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 211. The last graph on slip 293 is illegible, and the subsequent slip or slips on which the passage continued are missing. 76   F MTB.89, slip 283; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 264. It should be noted that the largest number obtained by adding the numbers of the day-stems, the day-branches, and the time periods of the day is 27 (9+9+9), which, multiplied by 3, equals the harmonic number of the lowest pitch standard (Yellow Bell, F, 81). Likewise, the smallest number thus obtained is 14 (5+4+5), which, multiplied by 3, equals the harmonic number of the highest pitch standard (Yingzhong, E, 42).

Description of Select Hemerologies and Classificatory Systems standards. The following example is from FMTB.80, which has correlations between the pitch standards and the cycle of thirtysix animals, three animals for each pitch standard differentiated by the time of day when the divination occurs (morning, afternoon, night).77 The divination involves an association between the animal and the person for whom it is performed: 平旦至日中投中黃鐘鼠殹兌顏兌頤赤黑免僂善病心腸

From level dawn to midday, if you cast and hit Yellow Bell (F-zib1), it is the Rat. Pointed forehead, pointed jaw, redblack, stooped and bent-over body. Tendency for ailments of the heart and intestines.78 A relatively coherent divination system emerges from the group of texts gathered in FMTB.53–92.79 The technicity of pitch-standard divination and the steps involved in its practice, from casting to numerical conversion and finally to the identification of the pitch standards, makes it rather different from the hemerologies and prediction systems found in daybooks. The organization of the texts devoted to pitch-standard divination also differs from the typical section arrangement and content of daybooks. If the bamboo slips that have been reconstructed as the FMTB daybook manuscript were originally bound together as a single manuscript unit, the part devoted to pitch-standard divination sets this manuscript apart from the other five published examples of the daybook text type. Alternatively, it is not impossible that bamboo slips of similar shape were used to produce two manuscript units, one a daybook and the other a work on pitch-standard divination. These issues remain a matter of debate.80



Weather Prediction

Whereas astrology based on the observation of celestial bodies is not attested in daybooks and daybook-related manuscripts, several sections in daybooks from Fangmatan, Shuihudi, and Kongjiapo contain weather-related predictions based on hemerology.81 For instance, KJP.83 includes rain prediction

77   See the “Cyclical Animals” section and table C.14 in this appendix. 78   F MTB.80, slip 206; Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian jishi, p. 233. 79  For two attempts to reconstruct the divination system, see Takeda Tokimasa, 2011a, pp. 16–19; and Cheng Shaoxuan, 2012, pp. 311–26. 80  See Cheng Shaoxuan, 2012, pp. 244–45, 433–34; and Qin jiandu heji, vol. 4, p. 36. 81   F MTB.44, FMTB.51, SHDB.40, KJP.43, KJP.78–80, KJP.83–84. Yinwan tablet D9 has a diagram labeled “Zhanyu” 占雨 (Rain prediction), and there is a similar but unlabeled diagram in FMTB.43. On these diagrams, see pp. 187–88 and figs. 4.36–37 in chap. 4; and Lu Jialiang, 2014.

475

among the agriculture and weather predictions associated with the stems and branches for the first day of a month: 午未朔多雨

When the first day of the month is wub7 or weib8, there will be abundant rain.82 In most cases, weather conditions are part of the input data, the prediction taking the form “when rain or wind occurs on this or that day, the result will be such and such.” In this example from KJP.79, the prediction concerns the year’s harvest and drought based on the occurrence of rain or wind on specific sexagenary days in the first month: 正月乙巳乙亥雨不風有歲雨而風有旱不雨而風大旱

If in the first month on yisi42 and yihai12 there is rain but there is not wind, there will be a (good) year (i.e., the harvest will be good); if there is rain and wind, there will be drought; if there is no rain but there is wind, there will be great drought.83 Predictions of this sort were popular at the time. The Records of the Scribe notes that the Han government employed diviners who specialized in predicting the coming year by observing weather conditions in the first month.84 According to the Records of the Scribe, it was also the practice to predict per capita grain production based on divination related to rain during the first seven days of the first month.85 FMTB.44 has similar predictions derived from divination based on rain and wind in the same interval of days: rain determines when drought will occur during the rest of the year, and wind determines which of the domestic animals will be affected.86 As indicated by these examples, weather prediction in daybooks focuses on agricultural matters, and rain or wind in the first month foretells good or bad harvests, food shortages, 82   K JP.83, slip 4392; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 182. 83   K JP.79, slip 415; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 180. Sui 歲 means “year” and “harvest.” 84  On Wei Xian 魏鮮 and his art of divination, see Shiji, 27, pp. 1340–41, 1349. 85  Ibid., 27, p. 1341. 86  Rain on the first day means drought in the first month, followed by drought in each successive month for rain on the second through seventh days of the first month, ending with drought in the seventh month for rain on the seventh day. For wind, wind on the first day is unfavorable for chickens, on the second day for dogs, on the third day for pigs, on the fourth day for sheep, on the fifth day for oxen, on the sixth day for horses, and on the seventh day for people. The Han manuscripts held by Peking University include a text on rain prediction titled Yushu 雨書 (Rain book); Beijing daxue cang Xi Han zhushu, vol. 5, pp. 45–86.

476

appendix c

droughts, and high or low grain prices throughout the year. Predictions about military and political affairs or illness are rare.87 In contrast to daybooks, astrological and meteorological manuscripts from Mawangdui tomb 3 focus on political and military topics, as evidenced by the predictions recorded in two manuscripts with titles assigned by modern editors: Tianwen qixiang zazhan 天文氣象雜占 (Assorted astrological and meteorological divination) and Riyue fengyu yunqi zhan 日月風雨雲 氣占 (Sun, moon, wind, rain, clouds, and vapors divination).88 A pair of examples from the Kongjiapo daybook and Riyue fengyu yunqi zhan illustrates the difference. KJP.78 is composed in verse form and gives agricultural predictions for rain in the first month based on the ten stems: 正月甲乙雨雨膏丙丁雨田囂戊己雨禾饒庚辛雨田多蒿壬 癸雨禾消

In the first month, if it rains on jias1 and yis2 days, the rain is lush (gao/*kâu 膏); if it rains on bings3 and dings4 days, the fields are arid (xiao/*hâu 囂); if it rains on wus5 and jis6 days, the grain is luxuriant (rao/*ŋiau 饒); if it rains on gengs7 and xins8 days, the fields are mostly weeds (hao/*hâu 蒿); if it rains on rens9 and guis10 days, the grain is wasted (xiao/*siau 消).89 87  A few examples of military- and illness-related topics are in FMTB.51, SHDB.40, and KJP.79. 88  For the Tianwen qixiang zazhan, see Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 4, pp. 245–88; for the Riyue fengyu yunqi zhan, see ibid., vol. 5, pp. 2–17. For studies of these manuscripts, see Liu Lexian, 2004; and Loewe, 1994, pp. 191–213. 89   K JP.78, slip 398; Suizhou Kongjiapo Han mu jiandu, p. 179. Reading xiao 嚻 as kao 槁 “dry, arid” follows the suggestion of

The hemerological context in Riyue fengyu yunqi zhan is similar—rainfall on the five zib1 days in the sexagenary cycle— but the topic has changed to predicting when enemy troops will enter a besieged city, calculating the days by decades: 兵在野甲子雷不出百日兵入丙子雨不出八旬兵入戊子雨 不出六旬兵入庚子雨不出四旬兵入壬子雨不出二旬兵入

When troops are in the outskirts, if it thunders on a jiazi1, within one hundred days the troops will enter; if it rains on a bingzi13, within eight decades the troops will enter; if it rains on a wuzi25, within six decades the troops will enter; if it rains on a gengzi37, within four decades the troops will enter; if it rains on a renzi49, within two decades the troops will enter.90 In the Kongjiapo daybook, the weather predictions come near the end of the manuscript, just before the final section, which has the heading “Sui” 歲 (Year) and is related to the monthly ordinances tradition. Whether this was a general trend in Western Han daybooks remains to be seen. However, the Fangmatan and Shuihudi manuscripts indicate that Qin daybooks already included weather predictions.

the modern editors of the text. Old Chinese reconstructions are from Schuessler, 2009. 90   Changsha Mawangdui Han mu jianbo jicheng, vol. 5, p. 15; Liu Lexian, 2004, p. 187. Lei 雷 “thunder” in the prediction for jiazi1, is doubtless a copyist error for yu 雨 “rain.”

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Premodern Works

Baihu tong 白虎通. Edition: Baihu tongde lun 白虎通德論. Sibu congkan ed. Baopuzi 抱朴子. Edition: Baopuzi neipian jiaoshi 抱朴子內篇 校釋, edited by Wang Ming 王明. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1996. Beidou zhifa wuwei jing 北斗治法武威經. Daozang, no. 870. Bushi zhengzong 卜筮正宗. By Wang Weide 王維德. N.p.: Jinchang Lüyintang, 1787. Chu ci 楚辭. Edition: Chu ci buzhu 楚辭補注, edited by Hong Xingzu 洪興祖. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1983. Congshu jicheng 叢書集成. Shanghai: Shangwu, 1935–37. Da Dai liji 大戴禮記. Edition: Da Dai liji huijiao jizhu 大戴禮記 彙校集注, edited by Huang Huaixin 黃懷信 et al. Xi’an: San Qin, 2005. Da Qing huidian 大清會典. Edition: Qinding Da Qing huidian 欽定大清會典, edited by Kun Gang 崑岡. 3 vols. Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1996. Da Song Baoyou sinian bingchen sui Huitian wannian juzhu li 大宋寶祐四年丙辰歲會天萬年具注曆. 1256. In Zhongguo kexue jishu dianji tonghui: Tianwen juan, vol. 1, pp. 691–706. Daojia jinshi lüe 道家金石略. Edited by Chen Yuan 陳垣. Beijing: Wenwu, 1988. Daozang 道藏. Edition: Zhengtong Daozang 正統道藏. Shanghai: Shangwu, 1923–26. Works in the collection are identified by number, following Schipper and Verellen, 2004. Datong lizhu 大通曆註. In Xuxiu siku quanshu, vol. 1036, pp. 495–591. Diwang shiji 帝王世紀. Congshu jicheng ed. Fayan 法言. Edition: Fayan yishu 法言義疏, edited by Wang Rongbao 汪榮寳. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1987. Fengsu tongyi 風俗通義. Edition: Fengsu tongyi jiaozhu 風俗通 義校注, edited by Wang Liqi 王利器. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1981. Gongyang zhuan 公羊傳. Edition: Chunqiu Gongyang zhuan zhushu 春秋公羊傳注疏. Shisan jing zhushu ed. Gujin tushu jicheng 古今圖書集成. Edition: Qinding gujin tushu jicheng 欽定古今圖書集成, edited by Chen Menglei 陳夢雷 et al. Taibei: Dingwen shuju, 1977. Guoyu 國語. Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1978. Han shu 漢書. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1962. Hanfeizi 韓非子. Edition: Hanfeizi jijie 韓非子集解, edited by Wang Xianshen 王先慎. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1998. Heguanzi 鶡冠子. Edition: Heguanzi huijiao jizhu 鶡冠子彙校 集注, edited by Huang Huaixin 黃懷信. Beijing: Zhonghua, 2004. Hou Han shu 後漢書. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1965. Huainanzi 淮南子. Edition: Huainan honglie jijie 淮南鴻烈集解, edited by Liu Wendian 劉文典. 2 vols. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1989.

Huangchao zhengdian leizuan 皇朝政典類纂. Edited by Xi Yufu 席裕福. Taibei: Chengwen, 1969. Huangdi Taiyi bamen rushi bijue 黃帝太一八門入式祕訣. Daozang, no. 587. Ishinpō 醫心方. By Tanba Yasuyori 丹波康賴. Beijing: Renmin weisheng, 1993. Jinshi lu 金石錄. Edited by Zhao Mingcheng 趙明誠. In Shike shiliao xinbian, 1st series, vol. 12, pp. 8799–984. Kaiyuan zhanjing 開元占經. Edition: Tang Kaiyuan zhanjing 唐開元占經. Siku quanshu ed. Leibian lifa tongshu daquan 類編曆法通書大全. Edited by Song Luzhen 宋魯珍, He Shitai 何士泰, and Xiong Zongli 熊宗立. In Xuxiu siku quanshu, vol. 1062, pp. 207–684. Liji 禮記. Edition: Liji zhengyi 禮記正義. Shisan jing zhushu ed. Lishi 隸釋. Edited by Hong Kuo 洪适. In Shike shiliao xinbian, 1st series, vol. 9, pp. 6747–7042. Lishi mingyuan 曆事明原. By Cao Zhengui 曹震圭, edited by Zhu Shengqi 朱勝麒. Taoyuan: Jiulongtang, 2011. Lunheng 論衡. Edition: Lunheng jiaoshi 論衡校釋, edited by Huang Hui 黃暉. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1990. Lunyu 論語. Edition: Lunyu zhushu 論語注疏. Shisan jing zhushu ed. Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋. Edition: Lüshi chunqiu jiaoshi 呂氏春 秋校釋, edited by Chen Qiyou 陳奇猷. Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2002. Mengzhan leikao 夢占類考. By Zhang Fengyi 張鳳翼. Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1995–99. Mengzi 孟子. Edition: Mengzi zhushu 孟子注疏. Shisan jing zhushu ed. Mozi 墨子. Edition: Mozi jiangu 墨子閒詁, edited by Sun Yirang 孫詒讓. Beijing: Zhonghua, 2001. Qianfu lun 潛夫論. Edition: Qianfu lun jian jiaozheng 潛夫論 箋校正, edited by Wang Jipei 汪繼培 and Peng Duo 彭鐸. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1985. Qianjin yifang 千金翼方. Edition: Qianjin yifang jiaozhu 千金翼 方校注, edited by Zhu Bangxian 朱邦賢 and Chen Wenguo 陳文國. Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1999. Qianyantang wenji 潛研堂文集. By Qian Daxin 錢大昕. In Xuxiu siku quanshu, vol. 1438, pp. 439–690; vol. 1439, pp. 1–232. Qing bai leichao 清稗類鈔. Edited by Xu Ke 徐珂. Shanghai: Shangwu, 1928. Qing shigao 清史稿. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1977. Quan Shanggu Sandai Qin Han Sanguo Liuchao wen 全上古三 代秦漢三國六朝文. Edited by Yan Kejun 嚴可均. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1958. Quan Tang shi 全唐詩. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1960. Qubi jian 趨避檢. In Zengbu siku weishou shushu lei guji daquan, 10th series, vol. 4, pp. 1433–634.

478 Rizhi lu 日知錄. Edition: Rizhi lu jishi 日知錄集釋, edited by Huang Rucheng 黃汝成. Changsha: Yuelu shushe, 1994. Sanli cuoyao 三曆撮要. In Xuxiu siku quanshu, vol. 1061, pp. 31–59. Sanshu cuoyao 三術撮要. In Zengbu siku weishou shushu lei guji daquan, 10th series, vol. 1, pp. 127–242. Shangshu 尚書. Edition: Shangshu zhengyi 尚書正義. Shisan jing zhushu ed. Shanhai jing 山海經. Edition: Shanhai jing jiaozhu 山海經校注, edited by Yuan Ke 袁珂. Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1986. Shiben bazhong 世本八種. Edited by Qin Jiamo 秦嘉謨 et al. Shanghai: Shangwu, 1957. Shiji 史記. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1959. Shijing 詩經. Edition: Mao Shi zhengyi 毛詩正義. Shisan jing zhushu ed. Shike shiliao xinbian 石刻史料新編. 1st series, 30 vols. Taibei: Xinwenfeng, 1982. Shisan jing zhushu 十三經注疏. Edition: Chongkan Song ben Shisan jing zhushu fu jiaokan ji 重刊宋本十三經注疏附校勘 記. Taibei: Yiwen, 1965. Shizi 尸子. Reconstruction by Sun Xingyan 孫星衍. Congshu jicheng ed. Shuijing zhu 水經注. Edition: Wangshi hejiao Shuijing zhu 王氏 合校水經注, edited by Wang Xianqian 王先謙. Sibu beiyao ed. Shuo yuan 說苑. Congshu jicheng ed. Shuowen jiezi zhu 說文解字注. Edited by Duan Yucai 段玉裁. Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1981. Sibu beiyao 四部備要. Shanghai: Zhonghua, 1927–36. Sibu congkan 四部叢刊. Shanghai: Shangwu, 1919–36. Siku quanshu 四庫全書. Edition: Wenyuange siku quanshu 文淵 閣四庫全書. Taibei: Shangwu, 1983–86. Siku quanshu zongmu 四庫全書總目. Edition: Qinding Siku quanshu zongmu 欽定四庫全書總目, edited by Jiyun 紀昀 et al. 2 vols. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1997. Simin yueling 四民月令. Edition: Simin yueling jiaozhu 四民月 令校注, edited by Shi Shenghan 石聲漢. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1965. Soushen ji 搜神記. Edited by Wang Shaoying 汪紹楹. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1985. Sui shu 隋書. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1973. Sui shu jingji zhi kaozheng 隋書經籍志考證. By Yao Zhenzong 姚振宗. Reprinted in Ershiwu shi bubian 二十五史補編, vol. 4. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1955. Sunzi 孫子. Edition: Sunzi shisan pian zonghe yanjiu 孫子十 三篇綜合研究, edited by Li Ling 李零. Beijing: Zhonghua, 2006. Taiping jing 太平經. Edition: Taiping jing hejiao 太平經合校, edited by Wang Ming 王明. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1960. Taiping yulan 太平御覽. By Li Fang 李昉. Beijing: Zhonghua, 1960.

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Index administrative texts 40, 47, 50, 141, 192; in HK, 440; at Huxishan, 441; at Liye, 306–10, 313; and manuscript culture, 103, 137; at northwest sites, 75; in partially published/unpublished material, 76–79; in Peking University manuscripts, 441; at Shuihudi, 27, 69, 70n44, 98, 101, 102, 439, 441; and technical literature, 4, 16n23; at Wangjiatai, 35, 440; at Xuanquan, 442; at Yintai, 441; in YW, 74, 440; at Zhoujiatai, 101, 102 Ælfric of Eynsham 376, 384–85, 386, 389 agriculture 454–55, 475–76; in almanacs, 355–57, 367, 370, 371; in Babylonian hemerology, 431, 432; Book of Han on, 87; and calendars, 283–84, 337, 351; and dreams, 359; in Egypt, 393; in European hemerology, 375, 397, 402; monthly ordinances on, 94, 95; and Qin-Han religion, 305; and spirits, 136, 207, 222, 232, 239, 246; technical literature on, 4; in topical hemerologies, 7, 142, 144–45, 149, 151; and weather prediction, 475. See also First Tiller Akkadian language 410, 429–32 Allestree, Richard 376 Almanac for 1988 (Gongyuan yijiubaba nian wuchen lishu) 371 Almanac for Day Selection (Xuanze tongshu) 337, 343 Almanac for the Convenience of the People (Bianmin tongshu) 354 Almanac of Essentials Concerning Auspicious Images (Xiangji beiyao tongshu; Wei Jian) 337, 345 Almanac of Perpetual Peace (Yongning tongshu; Wang Weide) 353, 354n124 almanacs 3, 7–9, 270, 336–72; advertising in, 368; banning of, 369; Buddhism in, 354, 356, 358, 359; and calendars, 336–37, 354, 376; Chinese New Year in, 280; Daoism in, 354, 358, 359; vs. daybooks, 58, 80, 88–89, 275, 336, 376; diagrams in, 338, 355, 358, 360–62; European, 382, plates 10–11; Japanese, 338; and Jesuits, 365–66; locally produced, 342; modern, 152, 335, 364, 367, 370–72; in PRC, 370–72; private publication of, 353; Qing, 353–67; and Qing official calendar, 348, 352; Republican-period, 367–69; in Taiwan, 367, 370, 371, plate 9; Tang–Ming, 337–42; titles of, 337, 354, 368–69; topics in, 338, 340, 342, 351–53, 355–57, 359, 360, 364, 367, 370–72; Yuan, 338, 340, 341 Ambrose 384, 385, 386, 389 Analects (Lunyu) 35, 79, 84, 99, 100, 320n71, 442 Anatolia 413 ancestors 48, 292, 302, 456; and Babylonian hemerology, 411, 417; Chu, 264; and First Tiller, 310, 311, 312, 313; imperial, 351n106; in Qin/ Han religion, 325, 326, 332, 334, 335; and spirits, 106, 146, 207, 212, 214, 244 Andrae, Walther 433 animals 72, 87, 94, 451, 456, 459; in Babylonian hemerology, 412, 413; cyclical, 146, 340, 351, 445, 447, 455, 468–70, 471, 475; in European hemerology, 373, 375, 392, 393, 394, 397, 402; in JD, 151, 443, 444, 445; in KJP, 125n137, 126, 147, 453, 454, 455; in predictive systems, 108, 139, 140, 141, 143, 171, 194, 195, 197, 199, 462, 464, 467; in Qing almanacs and calendars, 286, 359, 360; in Qin/Han religion, 286, 305, 324, 338, 352; sacrificial, 25, 26, 35, 64, 211, 231, 308, 309, 310, 316, 317, 320, 443; in SHDA, 125, 144, 145, 190, 194, 448, 449; and spirits, 220, 233, 243; therapeutic release of, 414, 422–23; in tombs, 30, 45; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 80, 267; in ZJTB, 135, 136 Approaching Refinement (Erya) 265–66 Aramaic language 410 archaeological evidence xxii–xxv, xxvi, 1, 8, 11–56; and manuscript culture, 17, 103, 107, 121, 128, 137; and published manuscripts, 12–17; vs. textual evidence, 24, 41, 44; and transmitted texts, 110, 149, 162, 309. See also tombs; particular sites

arithmetical texts 4, 470; Babylonian, 409; European, 375; in JD, 67, 105, 439; on “nine nines,” 99–102; from Shuanggudui, 77; from Shuihudi, 36, 78, 441; from Zhangjiashan, 36, 107n65. See also calendrical science; shushu; “Shushu” Arrault, Alain 171n157, 337, 338 artes (practices and skills) 4, 5, 375, 380 artisans 19, 52, 53; literacy of, 93, 101, 104; and social status, 150–51, 317 Assay of Arguments (Lunheng; Wang Chong): on cyclical animals  468, 469; on hemerology, 9, 59n9, 75n65, 88, 89, 92, 162, 274, 276, 305; on spirits, 212, 213–14, 215, 230, 231 Aššur 409, 414, 417, 418, 429, 433; legal documents from, 434–36 Aššurbanipal 409, 434; libraries of (Nineveh), 416, 418, 420, 429 Assyria 2–3, 8, 374, 409, 432, 433. See also Neo-Assyrian period Assyrian language 408 astrology 11, 65, 77, 80, 242; vs. astronomy, 164, 270, 346, 365, 392, 404n113; in Book of Han, 85, 86; and calendrical science, 83–84, 138, 163n121, 272; and European hemerology, 375, 376, 380, 385, 387, 389–91, 394, 396, 401, 402, 404, 406, 407; and lingchuang boards, 19; Liuren system of, 165n129; and Mawangdui manuscripts, 81; in modern almanacs, 371; and natural philosophy, 385–86; and Pace of Yu, 131, 132, 133; in predictive systems, 174, 193, 465, 466, 475, 476; Qing regulation of, 339, 347; as technical literature, 82, 83, 268; and Wang Jing, 94, 107; and weather prediction, 475, 476; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 263, 266, 271; in ZJTA/B, 72, 73 astronomy: vs. astrology 164, 270, 346, 365, 392, 404n113; Babylonian, 408, 427; in Book of Han, 5, 268, 270, 298; and calendrical calculations, 280, 281, 290–304, 339; European, 2n3, 4, 345, 365–66, 375–79, 392; imperial control of, 347, 349; Islamic, 341n40; Wang Chong on, 156. See also Dipper, Northern Augustine of Hippo 376–77, 384, 385, 386, 389 “Babylonian Almanac” 412, 413–14, 433 Babylonian Empire 8, 408–36; calendars in, 282, 411–12, 415, 418, 421, 423, 431, 433; chronology of, 410; deities in, 411, 413–15, 420, 423–32; Kassite period of, 409–10, 417; literature of, 409–10, 417, 429, 432–33; and Neo-Assyrian period, 409, 429, 432, 433, 434–36; ritual in, 410–11, 422–23, 427, 431, 432; texts from, 409, 432 Babylonian hemerology 1, 3, 412–23; classification of, 412; and European hemerology, 374; mythology in, 427; royal, 419–20; topics in, 2, 408, 413, 432, 434–36; uses of, 432–36 Babylonian language 408–10, 420; menologies in, 423–29 Baiji li (Hundred avoidance calendar; Lü Cai) 89, 341 Baize jingguai tu (White Marsh diagrams of spectral prodigies; Dunhuang P2682) 129–30, 228, 229, 231 Bajiaolang tomb 40 (Dingzhou, Hebei) 13, 14, 35, 50, 79, 441 bamboo slips 443; binding of, 111, 176–79; diagrams on, 111–13, 128, 176–79; looted, 78; sizes of, 77, 79, 104; transmitted texts on, 105. See also particular sites and documents Ban Gu 268, 269, 297. See also Book of Han Baoshan tomb 2 (Hubei) 19n31, 37, 38, 40, 47–49, 104–7; bamboo tablets from, 226; manuscripts from, 47, 48, 105, 157; occupant of, 21, 48, 104, 107 Barnard, Noel 257–58, 259 Bartholomaeus Anglicus 388 Bede 376, 377, 378, 385 Beikangcun tomb 34 (Shaanxi) 52–54 Bianguai gaojiu (To declare the harm of mutant prodigies; Book of Han bibliographic treatise) 87 Bianmin tuzuan 342n53

index Biannianji (Chronological record; Shuihudi tomb 11) 27, 70 Bible 376–77, 379, 380, 384, 386–89, 400 “Bilingual Menology” (Babylonian) 429–32 “Bing” (Illness; SHDA) 326 birth times 118, 446, 449, 451, 452; in European hemerology, 375, 399, 400, 402; and predictive systems, 7, 140–44, 147–53, 189, 197, 198, 468, 470, 474; in Qing almanacs and calendars, 336, 351, 353, 360–61. See also childbirth bloodletting 373, 379, 380, 385–95, 397, 399–405 Bodde, Derk 306 Boethius 389n58 Book of Han (Han shu; Ban Gu) 95n16, 161n113; on calendrical systems, 9, 86, 108, 290–98, 302; five agents in, 86–87, 108, 122n121, 133, 268–70, 273; military activities in, 85, 108, 133, 275; on spirits, 208n9, 236, 306n5, 334 Book of Han bibliographic treatise 5, 7, 89–90; and daybooks, 59, 60, 275; divisions of, 84–87; and European hemerology, 375; hemerological systems in, 110, 133, 225n105, 273, 276, 460; lost titles in, 270, 292; and manuscript culture, 108, 137; and manuscript production, 107–8; and Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 268, 269. See also “Shushu” Book of Later Han (Hou Han shu) 9, 94–95, 96, 133, 292n56, 306; on calendrical calculations, 290n44, 291, 294–95, 303 Book of Sui (Sui shu) 97 Boone, Elizabeth Hill 3, 6 Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World 4 Buddhism 339, 354, 356, 358, 359, 470 Bujard, Marianne 8 Byrhtferth 394, 396, plate11 Cai Jixiang 249–55, 257, 258, 259, 277 Cai Yong 94, 96–97, 103, 107, 294–95, 334n138 Calendar of the Seven Regulators (Qizheng li) 349 calendar spirits (shensha) 61n19, 88, 89, 171, 207, 212; in Qing almanacs and calendars, 338, 342, 344–45, 349, 350, 351, 360; in Song, 340; in Taiwan almanacs, 367. See also day qualifiers calendars 7–9, 278–304; and agriculture, 283–84, 337, 351; and almanacs, 3, 88–89, 336–37, 348, 352, 354, 376, plate 9; annotated (juzhu li), 82, 88, 89, 171, 270, 275, plate 8; avoidance, 89, 97, 341; Babylonian, 3, 282, 411–12, 415, 418, 421, 423, 431, 433; in Book of Han, 86, 87, 108, 268, 292, 297; Chu, 114–15, 265n60; and day qualifiers, 82, 172, 285, 338n16; and daybooks, 1, 6, 65, 80, 81–82, 128, 275, 283, 284n23, 286nn28–29, 376; and diagrams, 97, 200, 272, 349–50; from Dunhuang, 88, 155n86, 171, 337, 338, 340; and European hemerology, 278n4, 281n14, 374, 377, 378, 382, 383, 387, 388, 390, 392, 394, 395; excavated, 8, 9, 81–82; Five Dynasties period, 339; foreign, 278n4, 281n14, 281n16, 341, 377; foreign influence on, 338, 339, 340, 341, 345–46; Gregorian, 377; Han, 94–95, 160–61, 172, 289n33, 298–303, 338, 343, 465; Hebrew, 377; and hemerological systems, 2–3, 82, 96, 97, 112, 138, 145, 184, 185, 193, 200, 202, 270, 285–86, 290n45, 335, 343, 344, 456, 465, 467, 470; huangli, 275; inconsistencies in, 344n65, 346; Islamic, 341; from Jinguan, 160–61, 289n33; Julian, 278n4, 281n14, 377; in KJP, 33, 34, 82, 283, 284n23, 286n29, 439; in Korea, 341, 348; legal restrictions on, 339, 341, 347, 349, 353; liturgical, 377, 378, 383, 387, 388, 392, 394, 395; lunar, 86, 370, 377, 433; Ming, 338–41, 347, 348, 351, 367; Mongolian, 341; official, 337, 343, 345, 346, 348, 349, 352, 367; panoptical, 74, 160–61, 286–87, 289; in partially published/unpublished material, 76–79; and printing, 339–40, 341; private (sili), 339, 341, 347, 348, 349, 353; Qin, 88, 338, 441; in Qin/ Han religion, 325, 326, 334; reforms of, 290–91, 297–303, 339, 366–67; Republican-period, 367; revenue from, 341; Roman, 390; seasons in, 274, 281n16, 282, 288, 289, 341, 343, 349, 351; Semitic, 3;

503 from Shuihudi, 441; and spirits, 210, 242, 298–303, 351; Tang–Ming, 88, 337–42; terms for, 82, 278, 290; and textual variants, 149, 151; time divisions in, 153–60, 286; in tombs, 36, 47, 49; topics/activities in, 351–53; from Yinqueshan, 282–84; from Yintai, 441; in YW, 74, 440; from Zhangjiashan, 441; from Zhoujiatai, 72, 332, 440; and Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 80, 107, 250, 266, 268 calendrical science: and astrology 83–84, 138, 163n121, 272; and astronomy, 280, 281, 290–304, 339; Book of Han on, 9, 86, 108, 290–98; Book of Later Han on, 290n44, 291, 294–95, 303; calculation of, 289–96; and emperors, 295–97; and European hemerology, 376–83, 384, 392, 406; in Han dynasty, 292–303; and Huangdi, 292, 293, 296; and Liu Xiang, 291–92, 293, 295, 296; in Qin dynasty, 292–96, 297; and Qing government, 342–47; Records of the Scribe on, 293–94, 296; six systems (liu li) of, 291–92, 293, 294; and solar cycles, 289–90, 291, 292, 295; and spirits, 297–303; transmitted sources on, 292–94. See also intercalation calligraphy (handwriting) 17, 299; in daily life, 16, 249; and interpretation of slips, 27, 67, 72, 88, 99n35, 105, 113–15; scripts used in, 24, 46–47, 53, 55, 67–68, 72, 105; skill in, 55, 100; variability of, 46–47; and Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 252n14, 256, 258n34 Cang Jie 231 Cangjie pian (Cangjie treatise) 36, 77, 78, 79, 441, 442 Canon of the Ages (Shijing; Liu Xin) 292 Canshu 95n20 Cao Zhengui 89 Capp, Bernard 376 Carey, Hilary 382 Central Asia 25, 298 Ceremonial Rituals (Yili) 11, 74, 75, 440 Cerquiglini, Bernard 116n98 Chabas, François 3n8 Chagan chuanji (Ejina, Inner Mongolia) 99, 100 Changes (Yi; Yijing) 94, 95, 116n97, 340, 440; in Book of Han, 84, 85, 87, 276n106; and calendrical calculations, 303; “Great Commentary” (Dazhuan) on, 336; from Mawangdui, 152, 442; and official calendars, 343, 345, 346; in partially published/unpublished material, 76, 77; and Republican almanacs, 369; from Shuangudui, 152, 441; “Ten Wings” (Shiyi) of, 336; from Yanghai, 88 Changsha (Hunan) 250–52; Japanese occupation of, 251–52; manuscripts from, 16, 38–39, 249; tomb robbers in, 251, 252; tombs in, 14, 38, 258. See also Mawangdui; Yangjiawan; Zidanku Changtaiguan tombs (Henan) 47 Chardonnens, Lászlo Sándor 8 Chartier, Roger 92, 127 Chase, W. Thomas 259 Chen Pan 249n6 Chen Wei 473n72 Cheng, Emperor (Han) 60, 324n88 Cheng, Lord of Pingye (Geling tomb 1) 106n58 Cheng Shaoxuan 474n74 Chenjia Dashan (Changsha) 258 Chiang Kai-shek 251 Chicago Assyrian Dictionary 408 childbirth 72, 74, 305, 451, 456, 474; in European hemerology, 379, 380, 397, 399, 403; in FMTA, 147n43, 199; in HK, 147n43, 458; in KJP, 82, 118, 453; in Mawangdui texts, 82, 132; in SHDA, 61, 62, 82, 189, 194; and spirits, 212 “Childbirth” diagram 189, 201, 204, 455 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 370 Chinese University of Hong Kong slips (HK) 70, 73, 93n10, 440; day qualifiers in, 175nn175–76; diagrams in, 185n196; and hemerological

504 time divisions, 155n82, 155n86, 157n97; spirits in, 235, 236, 240, 245–47; topics/activities in, 147n43, 457–58; and Xuning texts, 211 Chiyou 124, 129, 136, 232–34, 237, 239, 244, 326 Christianity: calendars of 278n4, 281n14, 377, 378, 383, 387, 388, 392, 394, 395; and European hemerology, 373, 374, 375, 390, 397, 402, 406; free will in, 389–90, 397; and hemerology, 2, 3, 383–86; and Qin/Han religion, 319; and study of time, 376–83; and Taiping Rebellion, 364 Chu, state of: ancestors of 264; calendar in, 114–15, 265n60; and daybooks, 107, 151, 274, 276, 469; divination and offering records from, 208, 211, 212, 221, 225; divination in, 84, 104, 106, 210; funerary customs in, 15, 40, 44–45; government of, 103; hemerological systems in, 65, 67, 142, 149, 175, 464–65; manuscript culture in, 104, 105, 107; manuscripts from, 15, 16, 36, 47, 48, 249–50; months in, 156–57, 265, 266, plates 6; and Qin, 64, 104, 128; spirits in, 208, 210–12, 221, 224, 225, 233, 234, 243; and textual variants, 148, 149; tombs in, 17, 19, 25, 29, 30, 37–38, 41, 49. See also Shanghai Museum Chu bamboo slips; Zidanku Silk Manuscripts Chu Shaosun 86–87, 109, 110, 133, 168, 269, 460 Chu Silk Manuscript (Chu boshu) 11, 38–39, 249–50. See also Zidanku Silk Manuscripts Ch’u Silk Manuscript, The: Translation and Commentary (Barnard) 257, 258 Chu Verses (Chu ci) 210, 224, 233, 329n110 Chuxing zhan (Divination for travel departure; Mawangdui) 81, 99, 165n128, 185n195, 235, 236, 442, 472, 473 “Circular Hall of Marriage” (Jiaqu Zhoutang; diagram) 361, 370 civil service examination system 340 Classic of Changes (Yijing). See Changes Classic of Documents. See Documents Classic of Great Peace (Taiping jing) 238 Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhai jing) 214, 215, 234, 265 Classic of Songs (Shijing) 77, 239, 441 Classified Anecdotes from the Qing Dynasty (Qing bai leichao) 349 Classified Compendium of Qing Government Statutes (Huangchao zhengdian leizuan) 349, 351nn105–6 codicology 2, 6–7, 8, 47 Collected Statutes (Ming and Qing) 351, 355 Collection of Dos and Don’ts (Qubi jian) 232 colors, five 59, 121, 122, 146; and calendars, 292, 293, 297, 299, 302, 350; and emperors, 168, 211, 224, 238, 243, 264; and Qing almanacs, 355, 356; and spirits, 222–25, 238; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 263–64, 267, 272 Comprehensive Almanac Based on the Seven Regulators (Daquan Qizheng tongshu) 351n106, 359–60 Comprehensive Almanac for Responding to the Kalpas of the Three Buddhas (San Fo yingjie tongguan tongshu) 364 Comprehensive Collection of the “Duke of Zhou Explanation of Dreams” (Zhougong jiemeng quanshu) 359–60 Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall (Baihu tong) 168–69 Comprehensive Summary of Customs (Fengsu tongyi) 230, 236 computus 378–79, 383, 389, 390, 391 Confucianism 274, 366 Confucius 16, 76, 281, 356 Congchen (Collected Branches) hemerology 460, 461, 464; in Book of Han, 86; in daybooks, 61n18, 62, 64–65, 72, 73, 139–42, 149, 193; in partially published/unpublished material, 76, 79; and spirits, 207, 225; and topical hemerologies, 143–44, 145; topics/activities in, 194–98 Containing Notes (Nayin) system 161, 470, 472; in Qing almanacs and calendars, 338, 343, 350, 353, 356

index Convenient Classified Reference for Officials and Merchants from the Dazzling Snow Study (Yangxue Zhai fenlei guanshang bianlan) 368–69 Convenient Reference for Day Selection (Zouji bianlan) 354 Convenient Reference for Officials and Merchants (Guanshang bianlan) 364 Convenient Reference for the Republic of China (Zhonghua minguo bianlan) 369 “Corpse-Ghost” diagram, plate 3; hemerology of 190, 207, 216–20, 228–29, 244, 460; in KJP, 179, 190, 191, 201, 206, 216–19, 455; in SHDA/B, 190, 191, 194, 201, 206, 216–19, 449, 452 correlative cosmology: in Daoism 133; and daybooks, 192, 276–77; and divination, 153n76; and European hemerology, 404; and five agents, 5, 86, 136, 163n121, 168; and hemerological systems, 4, 10, 83, 136, 137, 138, 176, 470; in official calendars, 343–44, 346; and spirits, 208, 234, 235, 236, 239, 241, 242, 244; and Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 267 Cox, John Hadley 250–59, 260, 277 Cui Shi 99–100 culinary texts 36, 77, 441 Cullen, Christopher 8 “Cult Menology 1” (Babylonian) 423–27 “Cult Menology 2” (Babylonian) 427–29 “Cultic Calendar of Tukulti-Ninurta I,” 411–12 cuneiform texts 2, 408–11, plate 12 Cuo, King of Zhongshan 45, 314n45 Curth, Louise Hill 376 Dai Fubao (J. T. Tai) 252, 257 Dai Zhen 346 daily life: and Babylonian hemerology 413, 417, 433; daybook use in, 59, 81, 85, 89–91, 94, 99, 106, 107, 109, 110, 127–37, 138, 192–93, 275, 276, 305, 306; and European hemerology, 373, 406; religion in, 325, 334; and spirits, 208, 232, 233, 237, 241, 244; writing in, 16, 249 Daniel (biblical figure) 400 Daoism 78, 441, 442; and exorcism, 227, 229; and immortality cults, 323, 324, 325; and Pace of Yu, 131–32, 133; and Qing almanacs and calendars, 339, 345, 354, 358, 359 Dark Dagger-Ax hemerology. See Xuange (Dark Dagger-Ax) hemerology Dark Fundament of the Great Expansion (Dayan xuanji; Wang Jing) 95, 113 “Day Court” (Riting) diagram 162–66, 169, 178–84, 190–92; and day qualifiers, 174, 175, 176; in FMTB, 175, 183–84; and hemerological systems, 461, 463, 468, 473; in KJP, 162, 169n150, 178, 179–83, 190, 200, 202, 272; and spirits, 220, 223 day qualifiers 6, 72, 74, 83, 171–76, 265; as calendar spirits, 61n19, 88, 89, 171, 207, 212, 338n16, 344n70; in calendars, 82, 171, 172, 285, 338n16; Congchen, 460, 461; in diagrams, 164, 174–76, 181, 187, 190, 191, 218, 220, 272; in hemerological systems, 112, 139, 142, 145, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 468; in HK, 175nn175–76; in JD, 67, 106; Jianchu, 88, 112, 117, 171, 172n159, 173, 218, 285, 286, 344n66, 460, 464, 465; in KJP, 168; and Mawangdui manuscripts, 81; in partially published/unpublished material, 76; and production of daybooks, 112, 117; Qin-style, 464; in SHDA/B, 65, 171n156, 172, 175; and spirits, 207, 208, 212, 223, 234–36, 238, 243, 244, 330, 338n16; and time divisions, 154, 157 daybook-related manuscripts: vs. daybooks 69, 87, 88, 110, 274–75; in manuscript culture, 91, 94, 96, 98, 103, 106–11, 115–16, 117, 121–23, 127, 128, 130, 133, 137; partially published/unpublished, 440–42; predictive systems in, 138–48, 162, 172, 175, 176, 179, 191–93, 200, 464, 465, 473, 475; published, 66, 70–75, 90, 439–40; in Qin/Han religion,

index 306, 326, 332, 334, 335; spirits in, 212, 218, 223, 232, 235, 244; summary of, 456–59; on tablets, 6, 12, 16, 70–71; as text type, 6–10, 66, 87, 88, 110; in tombs, 11–17, 34, 35, 37, 46, 47, 49–51, 53, 55, 115–16; transmitted, 8, 85 daybooks (rishu) 1–10; abbreviation in, 127, 193, 463; blank space in, 55, 60, 65, 72, 111, 114, 119, 128, 180, 262, 443; circulation of, 4, 5, 7, 16, 34, 36, 49, 83, 87–88, 93, 97, 108–9, 123, 133, 192, 234; codicology of, 2, 6–7, 8; conventions of, 66, 79–80, 87, 105–6, 107, 116, 144, 192–93; copying of, 68, 69, 116–27; dating of, 87–88, 148, 151; defining characteristics of, 57–90; ephemerality of, 7, 8, 59, 85, 88, 276; form and function of, 94, 110–16; geographic distribution of, 7, 8, 149, 334; as miscellanies, 3, 6–7, 12, 63, 65, 66, 79, 110, 113, 114, 172, 275–76, 325, 326; non-hemerological sections of, 83, 87, 110; partially published/ unpublished, 12, 76–79, 440–42; production of, 6, 7, 8, 53–55, 89, 104–10, 111, 176–79, 463; published, 12, 66–70, 90, 439–40, 443–59; size of, 41, 46, 49, 65, 77, 79, 104, 110; studies of, 2, 7–9, 138; summary of, 443–55; terminology in, 10, 59, 151, 171; users of, 9, 46, 85, 94, 97–104, 108–9, 275, 335, 463. See also Rishu day-night proportions 155, 156, 159 days: divisions of 157–59; in European hemerology, 374, 375, 379, 381–97, 402, 403, 407; in hemerology, 2–3, 59, 61, 65, 79, 80, 268; new Song system of, 340; and stellar lodges, 165–66. See also day qualifiers De anni ratione (The reckoning of the year; Johannes de Sacrobosco) 388–89 “De l’authenticité des calendriers Qing” (Morgan) 349 de Pee, Christian 340 De proprietatibus rerum (The properties of things; Bartholomaeus Anglicus) 388 De temporibus anni (The times of the year; Ælfric of Eynsham) 376, 378 De temporum ratione (The reckoning of time; Bede) 376, 378 Decretum Gratiani (Decree of Gratian) 386–87 deities 208–11, 244–46; Babylonian, 411, 413–15, 420, 423–32; Neo-Assyrian, 434; Roman, 330. See also demons and spirits demonology 85, 108, 110, 132, 143, 276; in Book of Han, 268; and demonography, 129; and popular culture, 92, 104n52, 114, 121; in SHDA, 63, 65, 83, 87, 128, 129–30 demons and spirits (gui shen) 207–47; Babylonian, 411, 413–15, 420, 423–32, 434; of calamity (suigui), 212, 220, 221, 222, 223, 225; and calendrical calculations, 297–303; control of, 208, 220–31, 244; in daybooks, 8, 67, 72, 129–30, 216, 327–30, 332; and Emperor Wu, 298–303; exorcism of, 208, 212, 215, 225–31; five domestic (wusi), 141, 207, 225, 226, 311, 312, 325–26, 335; functionality of, 330, 335; of harm (jiugui), 212–13, 220; and hemerology, 127, 136–37, 231–43; and imperial cult, 305, 306, 313–15, 335, 346; levels of, 208–14; locations of, 229–30; names of, 227, 228, 244–46; in Qing almanacs and calendars, 349–50, 351, 355, 356, 364, 370; in Qin/Han religion, 325–30, 332–34; regional differences in, 224–25; standardization of, 208, 224–25; traits of, 214–16; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 80. See also calendar spirits; First Tiller (Xiannong) Deng Ping 303 DeVane, William 257 “Diagram of the Position of the Spirits for the Year” (Nianshen fangwei zhi tu) 349–50, 355, 370 diagrams 176–92, 200–206; in almanacs, 338, 355, 358, 360–62; on bamboo slips, 111–13, 128, 176–79; in calendars, 97, 200, 272, 349–50; “Childbirth,” 189, 201, 204, 455; “Circular Hall of Marriage,” 361, 370; and copying, 124, 125; “cord-hook,” 19n34, 55, 162, 179, 181, 183, 272, 273; day qualifiers in, 164, 174–76, 181, 187, 190, 191, 218, 220, 272; and divination, 183, 184, 362–64; in Dunhuang medieval manuscripts, 123–24, 129–30, 185, 220, 228, 229, 231; five agents in, 181n189, 272; in

505 FMTB, 113, 181n188, 183–84, 186–88, 190, 200, 201, 204; “Heaven Jail,” iv, 188, 189, 201, 204, 455; in HK, 185n196; in KJP, iv, 113, 178–91, 200–206, 216–19, 272, 455; Liubo board, 74, 83, 177, 187, 188, 192, 201, 203, 272, 439; in Mawangdui manuscripts, 176, 181, 185n195, 209, plate 2; and Northern Dipper, 179–84, 190, 191, 216, 217; in Qin/Han religion, 326; “Root Mountain,” 113, 184–88, 192, 200, 460; and sexagenary cycle, 162–63; in SHDA, 93n10, 113, 124–25, 178, 179, 185–87, 189–91, 190, 191, 194, 200–206, 201, 206, 216–19, 449, 452; in SHDB, 179, 187, 190, 191, 194, 201, 206, 216–19, 449, 452; shi (shitu), 272–73; and spirits, 129–30, 221, 228, 229, 231, 349–50, 355, 370; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 260–62, 264–65, 266, 267; in ZJTA, 178, 179, 181–84, 200, 202, 273. See also “Corpse-Ghost” diagram; “Day Court” (Riting) diagram Dianzi (Shaanxi) 46 Di/Emperor 208–11, 245; and calendrical systems, 292; in daybooks, 214, 233–34, 237, 239, 241; in Qin/Han religion, 309, 313, 326; and Wuyi, 208–9, 228; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 210, 264. See also Huangdi; Red Emperor; Shangdi Di/Emperor (Di) hemerology 210, 463–64 Ding Shan 224 Dipper, Northern 132, 163–66; and calendars, 64, 280n6, 286n29, 345n72, 351; in daybooks, 64, 72, 107, 122, 273, 461; in diagrams, 179–84, 190, 191, 216, 217; and spirits, 227, 332 Dipper astrolabe (Beidou shi) 35, 52, 55, 122n123, 162–65, 191, 212, 265 Dipper Establishment (Doujian) method 163–66, 174, 193, 460, 464; and calendars, 107, 155, 286, 289; and diagrams, 179–81, 182, 183–84, 190, 216, 217 Discourse of the Secluded Man (Qian fu lun; Wang Fu) 237–38 Discussion of the Five Measures of Time (Wuji lun; Liu Xiang) 291–92, 295 divination: in almanacs 336, 357, 362, 365–67, 369, 371; Babylonian, 433; in Book of Han, 87, 268; and calendars, 303, 304, 345; in Chu, 84, 104, 106, 208, 210, 211, 212, 221, 225; and correlative cosmology, 153n76; in daybooks, 57, 83–84, 109, 276; and diagrams, 183, 184, 362–64; in European hemerology, 375, 384–86, 388, 391, 407; and faces, 363–64; and hand diagram, 362–63; and hemerology, 3, 268, 270, 373, 384–86, 465; and Huangdi, 292n59; by internal organs (extispicy), 414, 415, 421, 433–34, 436; and literacy, 101; Mawangdui manuscripts on, 81, 99, 165n128, 235, 442, 472, 473; vs. natural philosophy, 386; in partially published/unpublished material, 76, 77, 79; and printing, 339–40; Shang, 225, 336; shi-method, 273–74; and social status, 106, 353n117; specialists (zhanjia) in, 86–87, 109, 110; and spirits, 208, 210, 225; with “spiritual sticks” (lingqian), 363–64; in technical literature, 83, 268; texts on, 152, 167, 168, 292n56, 295, 353; in tomb manuscripts, 11, 35, 52, 55; turtle and milfoil, 83–84, 95, 106, 108, 109, 116, 133, 210, 225, 268, 269, 276; Wang Jing on, 94–95; in Wangjiatai manuscript, 440; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 107, 250, 259, 260, 267, 273–74 Divination et société dans la Chine médiévale (Kalinowski) 337 Documents (Shu) 100, 240, 269, 296, 314; in Book of Han, 85, 86, 87 Dog Days 387, 388, 391, 392, 397, 402, 403 Dong Zhongshu 335 Dongfang Shuo 231 Dongmen Jing 271 Dongpailou site (Hunan) 100 Dou, Empress Dowager (Han) 299 dreams 228, 324; in daybooks, 83, 87, 140, 276, 452; in European hemerology, 375, 397, 398, 400; in Qing almanacs, 358, 359–60 Du Bo 232n160 Du Yu 159n102, 232n160 Duan Qirui 369 Duan Yucai 240n228

506 Duke of Zhou Explanation of Dreams (Zhougong jiemeng) 359–60 Duling tomb 5 (Xi’an, Shaanxi) 13–14; wooden tablet from (DL), 14, 73, 142, 192, 458 Dunhuang Han slips (Gansu) 16, 75, 276, 440 Dunhuang manuscripts (medieval) 80, 88, 89, 123–24, 129–30, 155n86, 171, 185, 212, 220, 228, 229, 231, 242–43, 337, 338, 340, 373, 374–75, plate 8 Eanflæd, Queen 378 Easter 377–78, 384 Eastern Han dynasty 14, 121, 153, 172, 276, 465; religion in, 306, 307, 313–15, 321, 323, 324, 334; spirits in, 212–13, 219, 228, 233, 235, 240 Ebrey, Patricia 321n75 “Eclipse Hemerology” (Babylonian) 412, 419–20 eclipses 109, 154, 280n9, 290, 296n76 Edsen-gol River (Inner Mongolia-Gansu) 16, 75, 440. See also Ejina wooden slips; Juyan Han slips Egypt 3, 7, 98n31, 390, 393 Egyptian Days 374, 375, 379, 381–97, 402, 403, 407 Eight Trigrams sect 364 Ejina wooden slips (Inner Mongolia) 75, 99–100, 117–24, 127, 128, 131, 169n143, 440 Elder Dai’s Record of Rites (Da Dai liji) 237, 274 Elucidating the Origin of Calendrical Matters (Lishi mingyuan; Cao Zhengui) 89 Emar (Tell Meskene) 408 Embracing Simplicity Master (Baopuzi; Ge Hong) 131–32, 228, 230, 470, 472 emperors, xviii–xix; and calendrical calculations 295–97; colors of, 168, 211, 224, 238, 243, 264; and spirits, 223–24, 243. See also Di/ Emperor; Huangdi; Red Emperor; particular individuals “Emperors of the Four Seasons” (Siji Huangdi; diagram) 360–61 “Encountering Sorrow” (Lisao; Chu ci) 233 Encyclopedia of Myriad Treasures (Wanbao quanshu) 357–58, 360 “Encyclopedias for daily use” (riyong leishu) 337, 342, 357 “Epistle to the Galatians” (Paul) 384, 386, 389, 390 equinoxes 74, 82, 86, 281–86, 297, 298; in European hemerology, 377–78, 385, 392, 404; in hemerological systems, 155–56, 466, 467 Erlangen, Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg: MS 673, 398; MS 674, 401 Erlitou 38n74 Esarhaddon 433, 434 Essentials of the Three Calendrical Systems (Sanli cuoyao) 340 Europe, medieval 3–4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 93, 116n98 European hemerology 1, 3, 373–407; and almanacs, 382, plates 10–11; and Babylonian hemerology, 374; and calendrical science, 278n4, 281n14, 376–83, 387, 388, 390, 392, 394, 395, 406; and Chinese calendars and almanacs, 342; and Christianity, 373, 374, 375, 390, 397, 402, 406; as commemoration, 386–89, 406–7; and daybooks, 373, 374–76; as divination, 375, 384–86, 388, 391, 407; as natural philosophy, 385–86, 389–90, 396, 404, 406, 407; poems on, 395–96; practices in, 390–406; time in, 373, 374, 376–84, 391, 406; types of, 390–406 Examination and Verification of the Late Zhou Silk Manuscript (Wan Zhou zeng shu kaozheng; Cai Jixiang) 252 Examination of Clerical Script (Lishi; Hong Kuo) 315, 318, 319 Examination of Dream Interpretation by Categories (Mengzhan leikao; Zhang Fengyi) 359 Examining the Secret Records of Auspicious Days (Kichinichikō hiden) 88 Exhibition of Chinese Antiquities from Ch’ang-sha (Yale Art Gallery; Cox) 251 extispicy (divination by internal organs) 414, 415, 421, 433–34, 436

index Fabing shu (Book on the occurrence of illness; Dunhuang P2856) 229 Fachliteratur 4, 375n10 Falkenhausen, Alexander von 251 Falkenhausen, Lothar von 16 Fan Guodong 186n197 Fan Ye 110n80, 133 Fan Zhizhang 133–34 Fang Yizhi 346 Fangmatan daybook, first (FMTA) 6, 7, 12, 444; copying of, 68, 69, 119–20, 127; in daily life, 127–29; dating of, 24, 276; as daybook text type, 66, 67, 89, 113, 274; description of, 49, 67–69, 70, 112; hemerological systems in, 65, 68, 69, 81, 108, 139–42, 146nn36–37, 147, 175, 286, 466, 468, 469; and other daybooks, 68n38, 72, 76, 79, 99, 115; and Pace of Yu, 130, 132n168; and Qin/Han religion, 333, 334; and spirits, 241–42, 246, 247; and textual variants, 148, 149; time divisions in, 155n82, 159, 160; topics/activities in, 139, 149, 194, 195–200, 444; travel in, 68, 69, 83, 119, 121n116, 128, 194, 195, 200, 331, 334, 444 Fangmatan daybook, second (FMTB) 6, 7, 12, 444–47; and copying, 68, 69, 119–20, 121, 123, 124, 127; in daily life, 127–29; dating of, 276; as daybook text type, 66, 67, 89, 113, 274; description of, 49, 67–69, 70, 112, 113; diagrams in, 113, 181n188, 183–84, 186–88, 190, 200, 201, 204; hemerological systems in, 65, 81, 83, 86, 108, 134–36, 139–43, 146–48, 163–65, 167–69, 172n161, 175, 463–75; and other daybooks, 72, 73, 74, 76, 79, 99, 115; and Pace of Yu, 130, 132n168; and Qin/Han religion, 333, 334; resurrection text in, 23, 24, 27, 53, 67, 226, 439; and spirits, 83, 207, 210, 212, 220–22, 226, 236n198, 242, 243, 244–47; and textual variants, 148, 149; time divisions in, 154n78, 155, 157n97, 159, 159n106, 160; topics/activities in, 121n116, 122, 194, 196–98, 331, 475, 476n87 Fangmatan tomb 1 (Tianshui, Gansu) 13, 439; burial goods in, 23–24, 36, 47, 53; dating of, 14, 24–25, 67, 148n48, 151; description of, 17, 21–25, 27, 34, 67; occupant of, 24, 98, 439 fangshi (fangshu; occult specialists) 133, 299, 302, 303, 323, 324 fangshu (techniques and arts) 267–68 Fanzhi (Reverse Branch) hemerology 179, 282–84, 467–68 Farmer’s Almanac (Nongmin li) 372 fate (ming) 336, 360 Fei Chun 353–54, 355n126 Fei Zhi cult 323, 324–25 Feng and Shan rituals 211, 293, 299–302, 305, 309, 313, 334 Fenghuangshan tomb 168 (Hubei) 50, 53n110 Fenghuangtai tomb 1 (Anhui) 121n117, 122n120 filial piety 17, 313, 356, 366 Filial Piety Classic (Xiao jing) 99 First Council of Nicea 377 First Emperor of Qin 148, 295, 300, 314, 315; and First Tiller, 309, 313; tomb of, 26, 45 First Tiller (Xiannong) 305, 306–13, 334; and private rituals, 327–28, 330, 333; in ZJTB, 306, 307, 310–13, 327–28, 335 five agents (wuxing), xxi; in Book of Han 86–87, 108, 122n121, 133, 268–70, 273; and calendars, 296, 297, 343, 346, 350; and copying daybooks, 117, 118, 121, 122, 123; and correlative cosmology, 5, 86, 136, 163n121, 168; in daybooks, 10, 63, 64, 72, 77, 80, 168–71, 193, 194, 276, 277, 332; in diagrams, 181n189, 272; and emperors, 224; and hemerological systems, 95n15, 136, 146, 153, 163n121, 168–71, 174, 268, 269, 462, 469, 470, 472–73; and manuscript culture, 91; in Mawangdui manuscripts, 273–74, 277; in military texts, 83, 99; in Qing almanacs and calendars, 338, 351, 356, 360; in Qin/Han religion, 333; and quaternities, 396–97; and spirits, 208, 211, 222–25, 235–38, 243, 244; and time divisions, 157; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 80, 107, 168, 264, 266–67, 277. See also Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2

index Five Dynasties period 339 Five Peaks and Four Rivers (Wuyue Sidu) 315, 319, 320 five-notes (wuyin) sexagenary system 157, 161, 168, 470–73 Fogg Museum (Harvard University) 253, 256, 257, 258, 259 Four Modernizations 371 Freer Gallery of Art (Smithsonian, Washington D.C.) 233, 250, 256, 258, 260 Fruit, Lord of the Month (Inbu bēl arḫi; Babylonian) 2, 412, 415, 420–22, 434, plate12 Fu Juyou 258 Fujiwara-kyō tablet (Japan) 229 Fully Annotated Huitian Eternal Calendar for the Fourth Year of the Baoyou Reign Period of the Great Song (Da Song Baoyou sinian bingchen sui Huitian wannian juzhu li) 340 funerary customs: Chu, 15; and preservation 37–38; and tomb manuscripts, 12–13, 16–17, 36, 50, 56. See also mingqi; shengqi; tombs Fuxi (Green Di) 153, 264 Gailu (Zhangjiashan tomb 247) 83 gangmao jade amulets 121–22 Gansu xxii–xxiii, 12–16, 25, 238, 440; calendars from, 160, 284–86, 289n33; military outposts in, 66, 75–76. See also Dunhuang Han Slips; Shuiquanzi tomb 5; Xuanquan settlement site Gao, Emperor (Han; Liu Bang): and calendar 291, 295, 301; and spirits, 224 Gao You 281n15 gaodi shu (document of declaration to the earth) 47, 48, 50, 53, 78, 441; in Kongjiapo tomb 8, 30, 33, 34, 70, 439 Gaotang Long 97n28 Ge Hong 131, 470, 472 Geling tomb 1 (Henan) 47, 106n58 geomancy 338, 340, 358, 370, 371, 372, 375. See also topomancy Gettens, R. J. 256, 259, 260 ghosts (gui) 92, 207, 216, 245; vs. shen, 212, 214. See also “CorpseGhost” diagram; demons and spirits Giele, Enno 16, 17, 40, 41, 46 Gnomon of Zhou (Zhou bi) 156 Gonggong 236, 263, 264 Gongsun Chen 293, 296, 297, 298, 304 Gongsun Qing 300, 301, 302, 303, 304 government: and Book of Han bibliographic treatise 108; and calendrical cosmology, 342–47; and daybook production, 107; and education, 98, 99–100, 101; and hemerology, 80, 81, 94–95, 97, 117, 140–41, 142, 145, 152, 475; local, 140, 151, 305, 314, 315, 319, 321, 323, 334, 335; and manuscript culture, 102, 109; regulations by, 158, 339, 341, 347, 349, 353; and religion, 274, 305, 314, 315, 319, 321, 323, 334, 335; and social status, 91, 103; and spirits, 207, 241, 243. See also administrative texts; officials, government; particular dynasties and states Grand One (Taiyi) 209, 299–300, 301, 302, 324 Grand Scribe (Taishi) 85, 96, 97 Grand Scribe Hundred Avoidance Calendar Diagrams (Taishi baiji litu) 97 Gratian 386, 389 Great Compendium of Calendrical Methods and Almanacs (Leibian lifa tongshu daquan) 89 Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution 371 Great Qing Collected Statutes (Da Qing huidian) 347 Great Qing Legal Code (Da Qing lüli) 347 Great Unified Calendar (Datong li) 342, 348 Greece 373, 374, 379, 390, 391, 397 Greenblatt, Sydney 372

507 Gu Jiegang 241 Gu Yanwu 231, 346 Gu Zuyu 345 Guan Shefu 225 Guangwu, Emperor (Han) 271, 306 Guanzi. See Master Guan Gugong Danfu (Taiwang) 320n72 gui shen. See demons and spirits Guicang (Returning to be stored) 35, 76, 237 Guiyu Qu 300, 301 Gun 136, 234 Gungsun Qing 298 Guo Bao 320n70 Guo Xiang 97n27 Guodian tomb 1 (Hubei) 47, 104, 105 Guomindang 369 Guxu (Orphan-Empty) hemerology 142–43, 161–62, 460; in Book of Han, 86, 108; in daybooks, 72, 73, 95, 129, 137, 332; and popular culture, 133–36 Haage, Bernhard 4 Haiqu calendar (Shandong) 467 Hammurabi 423 Han dynasty: almanacs from, 338; calendars in 94–95, 160–61, 172, 289n33, 298–303, 338, 343, 465; calendrical systems in, 292–303; hemerology in, 151, 155–57, 159, 168, 171, 466, 473, 475; local administration in, 140, 305, 314, 315, 319, 321, 323, 334, 335; religion in, 305–35; scripts in, 55; society of, 103, 150; spirits in, 211, 216, 224, 228, 229, 235, 239, 240; territory of, 64; tombs from, 15, 21, 29, 45, 48, 50, 239, 240 “Han learning” (Hanxue) 346 Hanfeizi. See Master Han Fei Hantanpo tomb (Wuwei, Gansu) 16n17 Haojiaping tomb 50 (Sichuan) 25n53, 38n77, 48 Harkness, Ethan 236 Harper, Donald 8, 326, 328, 385 Hart, Robert 366 Hattusha 414 Hayashi Minao 257, 259 He, Emperor (Han) 325 He Jiejun 258 He Qilong 341 “Heaven Jail” (Tianlao) diagram iv, 188, 189, 201, 204, 455 Heavenly Mirror of Day Selection (Xuanze tianjing; Ren Duanshu) 353, 366 Helu, King of Wu 83 hemerological literature: daybook (rishu) 270, 274–77; and daybooks, 137; seasonal-ordinances (shiling), 270, 274; shi-method (shifa), 270–74; and Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 267–77 hemerological systems: in European hemerology 390–406; types of, 460–76. See also particular types hemerologies, general 7, 61–65, 67, 138–42, 172, 193; European, 400, 401, 402; vs. topical, 72, 142–45. See also particular types hemerologies, topical 7, 61–64, 67, 70, 88, 142–45, 194; European, 397, 399–400, 406; vs. general, 72, 142–45; in partially published/ unpublished material, 76, 77, 79; and spirits, 207, 238. See also topics and activities Hemerologies of Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars (Livingstone) 408 Hemerologium Hermeticum (John Smith) 2n3 hemerology 1, 7, 11, 138–206; in almanacs, 338, 371; attempts to legitimate, 386–90, 407; as commemoration, 386–89, 406–7; and cultural memory, 136–37; definitions of, 373; and divination, 3, 268, 270, 373, 384–86, 465; of emperors, 223–24; and government, 80, 81,

508 94–95, 97, 117, 140–41, 142, 145, 152, 475; Han, 151, 155–57, 159, 168, 171, 466, 473, 475; and historiography, 94–97; inconsistencies in, 342–43; levels of complexity of, 332–34; non-textual, 381–82, plate 10; and popular culture, 85, 95, 96–97, 101, 103, 108, 117, 151; Qin, 65, 67, 69, 464–65; and religion, 2, 96, 127, 139, 142, 326; simple, 193; skepticism about, 9, 59n9, 75n65, 88, 89, 92, 162, 274, 276, 305; and social status, 75n65, 97, 150–51, 192, 379, 382, 417; and spirits, 231–43; technical aspects of, 152–92; as technical literature, 4, 80–84, 138, 463; terminology of, 2–4, 10, 59, 110n80, 142, 151, 171, 268, 373, 374–76; in transmitted sources, 89, 94–97, 108, 152, 193, 269, 273 “Hemerology for Nazimaruttaš” (Babylonian) 412, 417–19 Henderson, John 346 Hesiod 408, 423 Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical history of the English people; Bede) 378, 385 Historia scholastica (Scholastic history; Peter Comestor) 387 Hong Chaohe 353, 354 Hong Kong, 371. See also Chinese University of Hong Kong slips Hong Kuo 315 Hongfan wuxing zhuan (Liu Xiang) 167n135 horoscopes 360, 371, 375 Hu Dexing 252 Hu Sui 298 Hu Wei 346 Huai River 305, 314, 319–21, 322 Huainanzi. See Master of Huainan Huan, Emperor (Han) 96 Huan, Sire of Qi 213 Huan Tan 324n88 Huang Ruxuan 184 Huang Yinong 338, 342 Huang Zongxi 346 Huangdi (Yellow Emperor) 211, 224, 234, 245; in Book of Han, 275; and calendars, 292, 293, 296, 299, 300, 301, 302; and immortality cults, 323; and spirits, 232, 235, 237, 238, 241; and Yellow Spirit, 235–36 Huangfu Mi 131 Huangzi Gao’ao 213 Huchang tomb 5 (Jiangsu) 211 Hui, King of Chu 40 Hui Dong 346 Hunan Provincial Museum 252, 258, 259 Hundred Demon Register (Baigui lu) 228 Huxishan tomb 1 (Yuanling, Hunan) 12–14, 35, 77, 171, 174, 175, 271, 441 Huzirina (Sultantepe) 409, 416 illness 7, 443–48, 451–52, 454–59; in Babylonian hemerology, 418, 419; in European hemerology, 392, 397, 399, 400, 406; in predictive systems, 140, 141, 144–47, 152, 171, 194, 196, 199, 469, 476; in private rituals, 326, 327–28, 329; in Qing almanacs, 358, 359; in Qin/Han religion, 305, 306, 310, 319, 324, 326–28, 329; and spirits, 207, 208, 212, 213, 220–25, 229, 243, 244 Illustrated Compendium for the Convenience of the People (Bianmin tuzuan) 342 immortality 298–303, 304, 323–25, 328 imperial cult 305, 306, 313–15, 335, 346 Imperially Approved Investigation into Stars and the Calendar (Yuding xingli kaoyuan). See Investigation into Stars and the Calendar Imperially Approved Perpetual Calendar (Yuding wannian shu) 343 Imperially Approved Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions (Qinding xieji bianfang shu). See Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions

index “Important Affairs of the Year” (Liunian shikuan) 355 India 339 Inner Mongolia xxiv, 16, 75, 99–100, 440. See also Ejina wooden slips; Juyan Han slips inscriptions, stone: Babylonian 433; and immortality cults, 323–25; to mountains, 305, 315–19, 321, 323; on stelae, 8, 94–95, 305, 308–10, 314–19, 323–24, 334 intercalation 155, 280n11, 281–82, 289, 290, 296, plate 12; in Babylonian calendar, 411; in Qing official calendar, 349 Investigation into Stars and the Calendar (Xingli kaoyuan) 89, 337, 343, 344, 345 Iqqur īpuš (Babylonian) 421, 423 Iron-Pen Peoples’ Almanac (Tiebizi minli) 372, plate 9 Ishinpō (Tanba Yasuyori) 243 Jacquin de Margerie, Roland 252 Jade Box Record (Yuxia ji) 359 jade suit (Bajiaolang tomb 40) 35, 79 Japan 89, 229, 243; and almanacs, 338, 366, 367, 369; wars with, 251–52, 367 Jesuits 342, 345, 365–66. See also Christianity Jia Sheng 293 Jian Dawang bohan (Great King Jian ends the drought; Shanghai Museum slips) 314–15 Jianchu (Establish-Remove) hemerology 7, 139–45, 460, 464–65; in almanacs, 338, 365; in calendars, 82, 88, 285–86, 343, 344; day qualifiers in, 88, 112, 117, 171, 172n159, 173, 218, 285, 286, 344n66, 460, 464, 465; in daybooks, 62, 64, 65, 67–69, 72, 74, 106, 107, 110, 112, 113, 117, 128, 193; and diagrams, 218, 219; and exorcism, 225; and gangmao amulets, 121; in partially published/unpublished material, 76, 77, 79; and spirits, 207, 211; and textual variants, 148, 149; and topical hemerologies, 143–44, 145; topics in, 194–98 Jianshui. See Jinguan site Jiaqing emperor (Qing) 349, 364 Jiaqu houguan site (Gansu) 12n10, 75, 440 Jichen hemerology. See Congchen (Collected Branches) hemerology Jie (Xia ruler) 231 “Jie” (Spellbinding; SHDA.59) 87, 98, 128, 129–30, 335; on exorcism, 225–31; and private rituals, 326, 333; and spirits, 208, 210, 212–16, 244 Jin Congyi (T. Y. King) 252 Jing, Emperor (Han) 298, 464n25 Jing Fang 303, 346 Jinguan Han slips 82n97, 440; panoptical calendar on, 160–61, 289n33, 467n38 Jinguan site (Jianshui, Gansu) 76, 160, 238, 289n33, 440 Jingzhou tombs (Hubei) 13, 14 Jiudian daybook (JD) 6, 7, 12, 47, 93; arithmetical texts in, 67, 105, 439; and Book of Han, 86; contents of, 104–5; in daily life, 127–29; dating of, 79, 151, 276; and daybook production, 104, 107, 112; as daybook text type, 66, 89, 113, 274; description of, 49, 66–67, 70, 112; diagrams in, 179; divination in, 83, 84; and exorcism, 225, 228, 229; hemerological systems in, 65, 139–42, 148n46, 164, 169, 173, 175, 198, 460, 461, 464, 465; non-hemerological texts in, 67; and other daybooks, 67, 72, 76, 88, 106n61, 115; and social status, 106, 109, 150n63; and spirits, 136, 207, 208, 209, 211, 221, 233, 243, 245–47; and textual variants, 148, 149, 150; time divisions in, 153, 157; topics/ activities in, 67, 106, 139, 149–51, 173, 194–200, 443–44 Jiudian tombs (Jiangling, Hubei) 13, 17–19, 21, 22, 38 Jiudian tomb 56 (Jiangling, Hubei) 439; bamboo slips from, 105; burial goods in, 19–20, 53, 66; dating of, 14, 21, 151; description of, 17–21, 34, 66; and manuscript culture, 93; manuscripts in, 20–21, 36, 47, 66–67; social status of, 98, 107

index Jixian tomb (Henan) 11 Johannes de Sacrobosco 388–89, 395, 396 Jupiter (suixing) 153–54 Juyan Han slips (Edsen-gol, Inner Mongolia) 75–76, 219n78, 228, 229, 440, 467; New, 75, 76. See also Ejina wooden slips Kaimu (Qimu), cult of 321 Kalhu 409, 418, 434–36 Kalinowski, Marc 8, 17, 272, 337, 374 Kangxi emperor (Qing) 349 Kanyu (Canopy and Chassis) hemerology 59, 86, 95, 171n158, 273 Kirchenhoffer, Herman 1 Kong Yingda 295 Kongjiapo daybook (KJP) 6, 7, 12, 66, 326, 453–55; and Book of Han, 86; calendars in, 33, 34, 82, 283, 284n23, 286n29, 439; and copying, 116–17, 118, 125–26, 127; in daily life, 127–29, 138, 139; dating of, 64, 79, 151, 276; as daybook text type, 60, 64, 65, 89, 113, 274; description of, 41, 49, 64–65, 70, 112; diagrams in, iv, 113, 178–91, 200–206, 216–19, 272, 455; and European hemerology, 397; hemerological systems in, 108, 134–50, 159n108, 162, 164n127, 166n130, 168–72, 175, 193, 198–99, 243, 460, 461, 464, 466–69, 472, 475, 476; manufacture of, 111n83, 113n93; and other manuscripts, 68n38, 69, 72, 73, 76, 78, 80, 82, 88, 99, 115, 149, 186, 441; and Pace of Yu, 132n168; Rishu as title in, 58, 59, 439; and spirits, 136, 207, 210, 211, 221–25, 233–47, 312; and textual variants, 148, 149, 150; time divisions in, 153, 154, 155, 159; topics/ activities in, 64–65, 126–27, 136, 180, 187, 193–200, 453–55, 476n87 Kongjiapo tombs (Suizhou, Hubei) 13, 29, 30, 33, 34 Kongjiapo tomb 8 (Suizhou, Hubei): burial goods in 30, 32, 33; dating of, 14, 30, 58; description of, 17, 29–34, 70; manuscripts in, 33, 34, 36, 64, 82; occupant of, 70, 98; wooden tablet in, 30, 33, 34, 70, 439; and Zhoujiazhai tomb 8, 7, 34, 70, 78, 149, 186, 441 Korea xxv, 15, 341, 348 Kudō Motoo 124n135, 128n146 La Festival 324, 326, 328, 332n126, 334, 335; in calendars, 279, 284, 288; and First Tiller, 310–12, 313 Lang Yi 303, 304 Laoguanshan tomb 1 131n161 Laozi. See Master Lao Latin 93, 373, 374, 379 law, canon (Europe) 386–89, 390, 406 Lawton, Thomas 258n34, 260 legal affairs: calendars as 341, 347, 349; as hemerological topic, 141, 142, 144, 145n31, 152, 196, 199; lawsuits, 340, 358, 359, 372; and Ming/ Qing Collected Statutes, 351, 355; Qin, 128n146; Tang, 339 legal texts 36, 40, 47, 141, 145, 192, 439, 445, 467; and manuscript culture, 137; Neo-Assyrian, 433, 434–36; in partially published/ unpublished material, 78; at Shuihudi, 27, 36, 69–70, 78, 98, 140n11, 144, 149n57, 441; as technical literature, 4, 16n23, 50, 268; at Wangjiatai, 35; at Yintai, 78, 441 Leigudun tombs (Hubei) 14, 22, 39 Levi, Jean 319 Li Bo 270 Li Cang (Lord of Dai; Mawangdui tomb 2) 38 Li Chunfeng 339, 362 Li Ciming 348n96 Li Gong 346 Li Guangyuan 252 Li Jie 271 Li Keqi 346 Li Ling 8, 76, 107, 324n89 Li Shaojun 299, 301, 324

509 Li Xian 110n80 Li Xueqin 259, 265 Li Yuanhong 369 Li Zhonglin 295, 296, 298 Li Zhuguo 85 Lianying tomb 10 (Jiangsu) 272 Liao, Joshua 254 Lin (Inspection) day hemerology, 460. See also Red Emperor Lin Qing 364 Ling, Emperor (Han) 96 lingchuang boards 18, 19, 20 Linyi tombs (Shandong) 15 “Lipu” (Calendars and chronologies; Book of Han bibliographic treatise) 86, 87, 108, 268, 292, 297 Lister, Alfred 366 literacy: of artisans 93, 101, 104; in Assyria, 409n5; and European hemerology, 374, 379, 382; functional, 97–98, 101; and manuscript culture, 91, 93, 94, 97–104, 137; and popular culture, 93, 98; and social status, 98, 99, 103, 104 literati 75n65, 86, 96, 97, 108, 299, 319, 334. See also social status Liu Bang. See Gao, Emperor Liu Boping lead tomb contract 220n78 Liu Bowen 368 Liu Ding (King Miao of Lu’an) 35 Liu Gu 97n27 Liu Guosheng 99n35 Liu Lexian 8, 110, 143n23, 274 Liu Xiang 60, 84, 86, 107, 110n80, 268, 269; and calendrical calculations, 291–92, 293, 295, 296 Liu Xiangguang 339–40 Liu Xin 84, 107, 268, 269, 292, 294 Liu Xisou 294n67 Liu Xiu (King Huai of Zhongshan; Bajiaolang tomb 40) 35, 36, 50, 79, 441 Liu Ying 231 Liu Zenggui 330 Liubo board (Boju) diagram 74, 83, 177, 187, 188, 192, 201, 203, 272, 439 liubo game sets 26, 27, 50, 55, 262n47 Liuren mantic device (Liuren shi) 165n129, 469–70, 471 Livingstone, Alasdair 2, 8 Liye well 1 slips (Longshan, Hunan) 75, 101–3, 159n105, 305, 314, 334; on First Tiller, 306–10, 313 lodge dial (ershiba xiu yuanpan) 167, 168 London, British Library: Arundel 60, 397, 399; Cotton Caligula A. xv, 379, 382; Sloane 475, 391; Sloane 2250, 405 Lord of the White Stone stela (Baishi Shenjun; Yuanshi, Hebei) 308, 309, 310, 315 Low, P. C. 254 Lu, state of 292 Lü Cai 365 Luan Da 299, 300, 301 Lujiang stelae (Anhui) 94, 95 lunar cycles 68, 86, 280, 282; in Babylonian calendar, 411; and calendrical calculations, 290, 291; in European hemerology, 377, 378–79, 384, 397, 400–402, 403; and Jianchu hemerology, 465; and natural philosophy, 385–86; and predictive systems, 154–55, 157 lunar hemerology 391, 401n101, 402 lunaries 374–76, 379–82, 384, 391, 397–400; activities in, 397, 402; agenda, 397–99; for bloodletting, 385; general, 400, 401, 402; picture, 381–82, plate 10; topical, 397, 399–400, 406 Lunheng. See Assay of Arguments Lunyu. See Analects

510 Luo River Writing (Luoshu) 338, 343, 346, 349–50 Luoxia Hong 303 Luoyang tomb jar 228–29 Lüshi chunqiu. See Spring and Autumn of Master Lü Ma Yuan 271 magic: Babylonian 410–11, 417, 432; in Book of Han, 87, 268; in daybook-related manuscripts, 440, 441; in daybooks, 65, 73, 128, 194, 275, 276, 326–34; in European hemerology, 375, 385, 396, 397; in hemerology, 139, 142, 199; levels of complexity of, 332–34, 335; and Pace of Yu, 132; and preservation of tombs, 38; in private rituals, 326, 330–32; and spirits, 230, 241; as technical knowledge, 82; and textual variants, 149 Magic, Science, Religion, and the Scope of Rationality (Tambiah) 372 Manchu language 348 Manchuguo (Manchuria) 369–70 mansions of the moon 374, 391n63, 396, 397, 400–402, 404 mantic devices (shi) 52, 77, 270–72; and calendars, 280n6; Liuren, 165n129, 469–70, 471; Nine Palaces, 271, 362, 371; terms for, 270–71. See also Dipper astrolabe manuscript culture 91–137; archaeological evidence for, 17, 55, 103, 107, 121, 128, 137; and Book of Han, 108, 137; Chu, 104, 105, 107; and copying, 116, 118; and cultural memory, 136–37; and daily use, 99, 127–37; daybooks in, 66, 91–94; and hemerological systems, 133–36; and hemerological topics, 94, 96, 98, 102, 106, 107, 109, 110, 112, 116–17; and literacy, 93, 94, 97–104, 137; local, 95, 101, 108, 151; vs. oral transmission, 97, 102; and Pace of Yu, 128, 130–33; and popular culture, 91–92, 123, 136–37; and production of daybooks, 93, 104–27, 128, 137, 151, 275; and social status, 91, 100, 102–4, 108, 137; and spirits, 213 manuscript matrix 93, 109, 116, 136 manuscripts: authenticity of 12; binding of, 119, 176–79; conventions of, 105–6; copying of, 111, 116–27; dating of, 148, 149; excavated, 5, 8, 10, 11–12, 41, 46; geographic distribution of, 15; hypotheses concerning, 16–17; looted, 11, 12, 57, 63, 73, 76, 91; non-funerary, 46, 48–49, 50, 55; partially published/unpublished, 76–79; physical forms of, 11, 17; preservation of, 15–16, 36, 37–38; production of, 9, 49, 50, 53, 55, 91, 93, 94; regional differences in, 148–49; sizes of, 41, 46, 49, 77, 79, 104; and social status, 35, 36, 94; textual variance in, 8, 116–27, 136, 148–52, 192–93; in tombs, 26–27, 35, 36, 37–55 Manzalaoui, Mahmoud 375n11 Mao Zedong 370, 371 maps 23–24, 47, 67, 439 marriage 445, 447–54, 456–59; in almanacs and calendars, 88, 89, 338, 340, 351, 352, 360, 361, 364, 366, 368, 370, 372; in Babylonian hemerology, 411, 413, 415, 423; and day qualifiers, 174; in European hemerology, 397, 402, 403, 406; in general hemerologies, 139, 140, 141; and manuscript culture, 97, 107, 108, 132, 134, 136; modern, 368, 372; in predictive systems, 139, 145, 147, 148, 168, 174, 194, 199, 460; and spirits, 207, 238–41; in topical hemerologies, 7, 62, 143, 144; of Yu, 239, 240–41 Martin, W. A. P. 366 Martzloff, Jean-Claude 337, 338 Master Guan (Guanzi) 266 Master Han Fei (Hanfeizi) 104n52, 118n106, 214, 231 Master Lao (Laozi) 78, 323, 441, 442 Master Mo (Mozi) 59, 109, 132, 249 Master of Huainan (Huainanzi) 3, 9; on calendars, 280–83, 289, 290, 293, 344; and hemerological systems, 162, 169n149, 174, 175, 464, 466, 467, 468, 473; and seasonal-ordinances texts, 274; spirits in, 214; and time divisions, 155n82; and Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 263, 266 Master Shi (Shizi) 131, 132

index Master Wen (Wenzi) 35, 79, 442 Master Xun (Xunzi) 44 Master Zhuang (Zhuangzi) 77, 132n170, 213, 276n107 Mawangdui manuscripts 1, 8, 11, 38, 48–49, 66, 442; and Book of Han, 85; Changes in, 442; and daybooks, 81, 82, 107, 108; diagrams in, 176, 181, 185n195, 209, plate 2; on five agents, 81, 175n175, 273–74, 277, 442, 462–63; hemerological systems in, 113, 137, 152, 181, 273, 462, 466, 472; and manuscript culture, 93, 104; and Pace of Yu, 131, 132; vs. seasonal-ordinances, 276; on silk, 91, 99, 122n119, 249, 262n48, 325, 442; and spirits, 233; and time divisions, 154n78; on travel, 81, 99, 165n128, 185n195, 235, 442, 472–73; and weather prediction, 476; and Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 108, 260. See also Chuxing zhan; Muren zhan; Riyue fengyu yunqi zhan; Taichan shu; Taiyi zhutu; Tianwen qixiang zazhan; Wu ze you xing; Wushi’er bingfang; Wuxing zhan; Xingde A–C; Yangsheng fang; Yinyang wuxing; Zaliao fang Mawangdui tombs (Changsha, Hunan) 19n34, 38, 48–50, 81, 85, 258 Means, Laurel 401 medical texts 6, 11, 36, 47, 441; and daybooks, 276; and manuscript culture, 93, 137; from Mawangdui, 82, 83, 93, 122, 210, 211, 235, 326, 328, 329n108, 329n113, 331–33; and Pace of Yu, 131, 133; in partially published/unpublished material, 77, 78, 79; in ZJTB, 73, 276, 326–34 medicine 326, 342, 470; in almanacs, 358, 371; in Book of Han, 85, 275; and European hemerology, 373, 375, 380, 382, 385, 389–94, 402–4, 406, 407; and extispicy, 415, 421, 436; as technical knowledge, 5, 82, 268 Mei Wending 346, 365–66 Mencius (Mengzi) 233 menology 2–3, 8, 10, 408; Babylonian, 423–32 Mesopotamia 408–11, 413. See also Babylonian Empire Metonic period 282 Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) 257 Mexico 3, 6, 7 military activities 27, 47, 65–66, 110, 451, 456; in Babylonian hemerology, 433; in Book of Han, 85, 108, 133, 275; in Dunhuang slips, 124; and education, 99–100; in KJP, 455, 476n87; in Mawangdui manuscripts, 81; in predictive systems, 133–34, 141, 144, 152, 193, 196, 200, 476; in Qing calendars and almanacs, 338, 345, 351, 366, 369; and Qin/Han religion, 305; in YS, 80–81, 237, 442; in Zhangjiashan text, 83; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 80, 107, 261, 267, 271 military outposts 99; northwest, 11, 57, 66, 75–76, 157 Ming, Emperor (Han) 94, 283 Ming dynasty: almanacs in 337–42; calendars of, 338–41, 347, 348, 351, 367; legal statutes in, 351, 355 mingqi (replicas made for tombs) 17, 19–22, 36, 52, 53, 55; in Kongjiapo tomb 8, 30, 33; tomb manuscripts as, 39–47, 115. See also shengqi Mongol language 348 monthly ordinances (yueling) 168, 312, 472; and spirits, 224, 225, 243; time divisions in, 154; topics/activities in, 81, 94, 95; and weather, 476. See also seasonal ordinances; Zidanku Silk Manuscripts Monthly Ordinances Calendar (Yueling li) 349 months: and calendrical calculations 289–90, 295; Chu, 156–57, 265, 266, plates 6; in daybooks, 156–57; in hemerological systems, 154–56, 160, 164–68, 175, 176; Qin, 156–57, 448; Shang, 278; Xia standard, 157, 265, 266, 278, 280; in Yinqueshan calendar, 280; Zhou, 278, 281n14; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 263, 265–66 moonbooks 402–3 Morgan, Carole 349 Mount Song 305, 314, 315, 319, 321, 323, 324 Mount Tai 315, 328, 330

511

index mountain and river cults 310, 314–23, 324; and inscriptions, 305, 315–17, 318, 319, 321, 323, 334 Mozi. See Master Mo Mozuizi tomb 6 (Wuwei, Gansu) 11, 13–15, 16n17, 34, 49, 74–75, 276. See also Wuwei manuscripts Mr. Liu’s Family Almanac Designed to Explicate Profundities (Liushi jiacang chanwei tongshu) 342 Muren zhan (Mawangdui) 442 Muslim Astronomy Bureau (Huihui Sitian Jian) 341n40 Nanchang (Jiangxi) tomb 208n9 Napoleon Bonaparte 1 Narām-Sîn 423 nationalism, Chinese 367, 368, 369 natural philosophy 385–86, 389–90, 396, 404, 406, 407 Nayin system. See Containing Notes (Nayin) system Nebuchadnezzar 410 Needham, Joseph 339 Nelson Gallery of Art (Kansas City, Missouri) 253, 254 Neo-Assyrian period (Mesopotamia) 409, 429, 432, 433, 434–36 New Almanacke and Prognostication, for this yeare of our Lord God, 1617 (Allestree) 376 New Version of the Yin and Yang Precious Mirror Almanac for Day Selection (Xinkan yinyang baojian keze tongshu) 342 Ni Kuan 302 Nine Cauldron Record (Jiuding ji) 228 Nine Palaces (Jiu Gong) system 271, 273, 338, 349, 351, 362, 371 Nineveh 409, 418, 432, 433, 434–36 Nishijima Sadao 150 noninterference method (bujiang zhi fa) 338, 340–41 northwest Han sites 88, 93, 99, 119, 159, 440; military, 11, 57, 66, 75–76, 157. See also Dunhuang Han slips; Ejina wooden slips; Gansu; Inner Mongolia; Juyan Han slips Nüwa 129, 136, 153, 234, 245, 263 “Offering Bread Hemerology” (Babylonian) 412, 414–15, 420, 421 officials, government 308, 326; almanacs for, 353, 363, 364, 368–69; and local cults, 305, 314, 315, 319, 321, 323, 334, 335; and Qing official calendar, 348, 349 onmyōdō literature, Japanese 89 Opening Epoch Divination Classic (Kaiyuan zhanjing) 167, 168, 292n56, 295 Oracle or Book of Fate, The (Kirchenhoffer) 1 oral transmission 97, 102, 118, 414 Ordinances of the Five Agents (Wuxing ling). See Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2 Ordinances of the Four Seasons (Sishi ling). See Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 Orthodox Almanac of the Three Terraces (Santai tongshu zhengzong) 342 Orthodox Divination (Bushi zhengzong; Wang Weide) 353 Oswiu, King 378 Oxford, Bodleian Library: Ashmole 8, 381n32; Digby 63, 379, 381; Rawlinson D. 939, 381, plate 10 Oxford, St. John’s College, MS 17, 393 Oxherd and Weaver Maid (Qianniu and Zhinü) 129, 136, 237–39, 241, 246 Pace of Yu (Yu Bu) 63, 121, 128, 130–33, 241, 247, 311; in Qin/Han religion, 328, 329, 330–32, 333; in ZJTB, 328, 332 Pariser Tage (Parisian Days) 403 Parker, A. P. 366

Paul, apostle 384, 385, 386, 389, 390 Pei Yin 133n172 Peking University Han bamboo slips 78–79, 82, 85, 93n10, 95n17, 273, 441; daybook text type in, 113; diagrams in, 74n59, 187n204; titles on, 59; and weather prediction, 475n86 Peking University Qin bamboo slips 76, 82, 88, 172n159, 226, 440–41 Peng Hao 306, 308 Penglai, island of immortals 298, 299, 301, 302 People’s Republic of China (PRC) 370–72 Peter Comestor 387–88 Pheasant-cap Master (Heguanzi) 472 physiognomy 5, 85, 87, 268, 357; of horses, 271 Pi Xirui 346 pitch-standard (shier lü) system 473–75; and calendars, 290, 303; in FMTB, 69, 83, 146n37, 167, 183, 184, 447, 470, 471; and spirits, 220, 222 Pochengzi (Juyan) 228 poems 395–96, 440 Poo Mu-chou 210, 216, 325, 335 popular culture 1, 5, 91–137; and Book of Han bibliographic treatise, 108; and calendrical calculations, 304; and daybooks, 66, 80, 108–9, 110, 127–29, 275, 276; and demonology, 92, 104n52, 114, 121; hemerology in, 3, 85, 95, 96–97, 101, 103, 108, 117, 133–36, 151; and literacy, 93, 98; and manuscript culture, 91–92, 123, 136–37; and Pace of Yu, 130–33; and Qing almanacs, 354–55, 356; and social status, 92, 96; and spirits, 233, 234, 236, 243; and technical literature, 4, 94–95, 118. See also daily life Precious Mirror of Yin and Yang (Yinyang baojian; Song Luzhen) 342 predictive systems. See hemerological systems; particular types printing 93, 97, 339–40, 341, 355, 376 “Prostration Hemerology” (Babylonian) 412, 415–17, 420 Puyi, Emperor (Qing) 369 qi (vital force, vapor) 153, 207, 213, 264, 297, 298, 343 Qi Sunzi (Sunzi of Qi) 275 Qi Xiaozhong 252 Qianlong emperor (Qing) 343, 347n90, 365 Qin dynasty: calendars in 88, 114–15, 172, 265n60, 278, 292–96, 297, 325, 326, 334, 338, 441; and Chu, 64, 104, 128; daybook-related manuscripts from, 76, 82, 88, 172n159, 226, 439–41, 447–48; daybooks from, 276, 439, 447; funerary customs in, 45, 53; government of, 103, 140; hemerological systems in, 65, 67, 69, 142, 168, 172, 460, 464–65, 469, 473; immortality cults in, 323; legal affairs, 128n146; months in, 156–57; religion in, 305–35; rituals in, 313–14; sacrifices in, 309–10; and spirits, 224, 243; territory of, 64; and textual variants, 148, 149, 151; and time divisions, 156, 159; tombs from, 15, 17, 21, 23–25, 27, 36, 38, 47, 49, 50, 55, 439, 440; and weather prediction, 476. See also Fangmatan daybooks; Shuihudi daybooks; Wangjiatai tomb 15; Zhoujiatai manuscripts Qin Yin 324 Qing dynasty: almanacs from 336, 338, 340–42, 353–67; calendars from, 338–41, 347–53; cosmology in, 342–47; hemerological systems in, 237, 462, 467 Qingshuigou calendar (Gansu) 284–86, 465 Qinjiazui tombs (Hubei) 47 quarter-remainder (sifen) systems 282, 289–90, 295, 300 quaternities 396, 404 Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu) 136, 234 Quick Reference for Officials and Merchants (Guanshang kuailan) 363, 364 Rand, Christopher 254 Rao Zongyi 238, 249n6, 257, 460

512 Rationale divinorum officiorum (Explanation of the divine offices; William Durand) 388 Rawlinson, Henry 2, 3 Record of Investigations of Spirits (Soushen ji) 231 Record of Rites (Liji) 125n138, 215, 230, 274 Record of the Great Model Five-Agents Chronicle (Hongfan wuxing zhuanji; Liu Xiang) 269 Records of the Scribe (Shiji; Sima Qian): on calendars 9, 278, 293–94, 296, 300, 302; on Dipper, 164n126; divination in, 60, 109; on Feng and Shan ritual, 211, 293, 305, 309, 313, 334; and First Tiller, 306n5, 313; and five agents, 168; hemerological systems in, 133, 225n105, 269, 460; on moutains and rivers, 334; rizhe in, 59n10, 60, 87, 109–10; on shi device, 271; on spirits, 208n9, 211, 237; and textual variants, 148; and time divisions, 154nn78–80; and weather prediction, 475 Red Emperor (Chidi) 171, 211, 224, 238; inspection days of, 117, 125–27, 172, 175, 187, 237, 449, 451 “Refuting Day Avoidances” (Jiri; Lunheng; Wang Chong) 305 Regulating Time Book (Shixian shu, Shixian li) 342, 347–53; and almanacs, 353, 365, 367, 369; forgeries of, 348, 349; variations in, 348–49 Reisner, George 423 religion: Babylonian 410–11; and daybooks, 1, 65, 151, 325–34; and hemerology, 2, 127; and imperial cult, 305, 306, 313–15, 335, 346; imperial recognition of, 319, 321, 323; local, 8, 305, 309, 313–25, 334, 335; and Pace of Yu, 132; private, 305–6, 310, 313, 324, 325–34, 335; public, 305, 313–14, 324; Qin/Han, 305–35; regional differences in, 149, 224–25. See also demons and spirits; ritual Ren Duanshu 366 Ren Hong 84 Ren Quansheng 252 Republican period (China) 367–69 resurrection texts: FMTB.93 23, 24, 27, 53, 67, 226, 439; in Peking University manuscripts, 441 Revelatio Esdrae (Revelation of Esdras) 391, 406 Reviews of Books in the Complete Collection of the Four Treasuries (Siku quanshu zongmu) 344–45 Ricci, Matteo 366 Riji (Day avoidances) 59, 78, 79 Rishu (Daybook; as title) 57–60; and daybook text type, 63, 110, 274–75; in KJP, 58, 439; in partially published/unpublished material, 59, 77, 78, 79; in Peking University slips, 441; in SHDB, 3, 6, 27, 36, 57, 58, 62, 274, 439 Rishu (Daybook; Tan Rong) 59n7 Rites of Zhou (Zhou li) 95n20, 119n110, 214, 215, 230, 243, 271 ritual: Babylonian 410–11, 422–23, 427, 431, 432; and burial goods, 19–22, 25, 27, 30, 36, 40–46, 50, 55; Christian, 3; complexity of, 332–34; in daybook-related manuscripts, 440, 441; and daybooks, 6, 63, 65, 69, 73, 119, 121, 128, 194, 276; Feng and Shan, 211, 293, 299–302, 305, 309, 313, 334; functionality of, 335; and hemerology, 96, 139, 142, 199, 470; and manuscript culture, 91, 101; Nuo, 228, 230; and Pace of Yu, 132; private, 326–34; Qin, 313–14; and Qing almanacs and calendars, 347, 355; reforms in, 297–98; vs. seasonal-ordinances texts, 274; and spirits, 207, 214, 220, 222, 225, 228, 236, 241, 244; as technical knowledge, 82; terms for, 247; and textual variants, 148, 149; vessels for, 19–22, 25, 30, 36, 40–46, 50, 55 Riyue (Day digest) 59, 78 Riyue fengyu yunqi zhan (Mawangdui) 476 rizhe (day-ist, hemerologist) 58, 59, 87, 109–10, 128, 268, 269 Robber Zhi 77 Rome, ancient 330, 390, 392 Rong calendar hemerologies 184, 185, 193, 200, 202, 290n45, 456 Rong Cheng 292n59 “Root Mountain” (Genshan) diagram 113, 184–88, 192, 200, 460

index Sackler, Arthur M. 249, 250, 252, 253, 257, 258, 260 Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.) 250, 257, 258, 259, 260 Sacred Edict (Shengyu; Kangxi emperor) 349 sacrifices: animals for 25, 26, 35, 64, 211, 231, 308, 309, 310, 316, 317, 320, 443; Babylonian, 2, 426; and calendars, 302, 345, 351, 352, 354; categories of, 309–10; in daybooks, 64, 96, 106, 130, 139, 148–49, 194, 211, 212, 226, 232, 443–58; and European hemerology, 376, 388–89; and hemerology, 72, 80, 88, 96–97, 106, 141, 143, 207, 211, 462; leftovers from, 308–9; in Qin/Han religion, 25, 305–17, 319–20, 324, 325, 327, 328, 333, 335; specialists in, 106, 225; and spirits, 207, 211, 212, 214, 225–26, 232, 234, 236, 244, 247; Zhou, 26 Saint John of Beverley 385 Salvolini, Francesco 3n8 Sanft, Charles 307 Sangong Mountain inscription 324 Sanlicun clay jar (Shaanxi) 212, 213 Sanshi shi (Yinqueshan tomb 1) 442 Santai tongshu zhengzong 342n53 Sayce, A. H. 2, 3 Sayings of the States (Guoyu) 225, 231, 263 SBH VIII. See “Cult Menology 1” Scheid, John 330 Schipper, Kristofer 323 scholasticism 387–88, 389, 390, 395, 407 Schøyen Collection, MS 1581, 381n32 Schultheis, Frederic 253, 254, 256, 258 Scientific Examination of an Ancient Chinese Document... (Barnard) 257 Season Granting Calendar (Shoushi li) 341 seasonal markers (jieqi), 465; in almanacs 338, 343, 349, 351, 365, 367; in calendars, 155, 161, 282–84, 286, 288, 295, 296 seasonal ordinances (shiling) 270, 274, 276, 325 seasons: in almanacs 338, 343, 349, 351, 355, 365, 367; in calendars, 155, 161, 281n16, 282–84, 286, 288, 289, 292, 295–97, 341, 343, 349, 351; in diagrams, 184, 272; in hemerological systems, 160, 164, 165, 167, 170, 173, 175, 176, 268; and intercalation, 281n16; in Master of Huainan, 283; and spirits, 210, 211; and time divisions, 154, 155; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 261–62, 263, 264, 266, 267, 277 Seidel, Anna 235 “Setting-Out-Seeds” (Chuzhong) 311–12, 335 settlement sites 88, 93, 99, 116, 119, 159, 440, 442; manuscripts from, 12, 36, 57, 79; military, 11, 57, 66, 75–76, 157. See also Dunhuang Han slips; Ejina wooden slips; Juyan Han slips; Xuanquan settlement site Seven Luminaries (Qiyao) 339, 340, 341, 344 Shaman Xian (Wu Xian) 233–34, 326 shamans (wu): and calendar reform 298, 300; and Pace of Yu, 131–32, 133; and predictive systems, 147, 148, 150; and spirits, 225, 233–34, 241, 246, 247, 309, 326 Shang Chengzuo 252, 259, 259n39, 263 Shang (Yin) dynasty 160, 336; calendars in, 278, 292, 300; oracle-bone inscriptions from, 225; spirits in, 211, 231, 234, 242 Shang Zhitan 259, 259n39 Shangdi (Supreme Di) 210, 214, 309, 314 Shangdizi (Son of Supreme Di) 210, 230, 245 Shanghai Museum Chu bamboo slips 76, 104, 314, 440 Shangshu. See Documents Shanhai jing. See Classic of Mountains and Seas Shao Tuo (Baoshan tomb 2) 21, 48, 104, 107 Shao Weng 299, 301 Shao Yong 346 Shaojiagou talisman (Jiangsu) 227–29

index She (Altar to god of soil) 221, 222, 223, 246 She Xing 298 Shen Gong 301 Shen Shu and Yu Lü 230 shengqi (objects from life) 44, 45–46, 48, 52–53, 55, 56; tomb manuscripts as, 46–47. See also mingqi; tombs Shennong, 238. See also First Tiller Shetige year-count (Shetige jinian) 154, 193 Shi. See Classic of Songs shi (gentlemen) 16, 21 shi diagrams (shitu) 272–73 Shibancun tomb 36 (Hunan) 47 “Shifa” (Tsinghua University text) 474n73 “Shigui” (Milfoil and turtle; Book of Han bibliographic treatise) 87, 268 Shijing. See Classic of Songs shi-method (shifa) texts 270–74. See also mantic devices (shi) Shizi. See Master Shi Shu. See Documents Shuanggudui tomb 1 (Fuyang, Anhui) 11, 13, 14, 48, 79; Dipper astrolabe in, 162, 163, 164–65, 271; divination manual in, 84, 152; occupant of, 35, 36, 77, 152, 441; and stellar lodges, 167, 168 Shuihudi daybook, first (SHDA) 1, 7, 12, 47, 447–50; and copying, 116–17, 121, 122, 124, 125–26, 127; and daily life, 127–29, 138, 139; dating of, 151, 276; as daybook text type, 63–66, 89, 110, 113, 192, 274; description of, 25–27, 49–50, 60–63, 69–70, 112, 193–94; diagrams in, 93n10, 113, 124–25, 178, 179, 185–87, 189–91, 194, 200–206, 216–19, 449, 452; and European hemerology, 374; hemerological systems in, 64, 83, 84, 138–48, 159n108, 163n122, 164n127, 165–67, 169n143, 171, 172, 175, 198, 460–69, 472; and literacy, 98; manufacture of, 110–16; non-hemerological content in, 60, 63, 64–65; and other texts, 67, 69, 72, 73, 76, 79, 81, 82, 99, 106n61, 115; and Qin/Han religion, 83, 326, 333, 334; on social status, 98, 150n63; and spirits, 136, 207–8, 210–13, 222, 223, 225, 229, 232–41, 243–47; terms in, 149n51, 149n55; and textual variants, 148; time divisions in, 153, 155, 156–57; topics/ activities in, 61–62, 95n20, 119n113, 121n116, 125, 130, 138, 139, 187, 194, 195–200, 331, 447–50, 476. See also “Jie” Shuihudi daybook, second (SHDB) 149n51, 150n63, 450–52; and copying, 116–17, 121, 122, 125–26, 127; and daily life, 127–29; dating of, 276; as daybook text type, 63–64, 65, 66, 89, 113, 274; description of, 25–27, 29, 49, 62, 69–70; diagrams in, 179, 187, 190, 191, 194, 201, 206, 216–19, 449, 452; and European hemerology, 374; hemerological systems in, 64, 83, 138–47, 163–66, 169n143, 169n149, 171, 172, 175, 198, 460, 461, 464, 466; manufacture of, 112; non-hemerological content in, 60, 64–65; and other texts, 67, 69, 72, 76, 79, 81, 86, 99, 115; and Pace of Yu, 130; and Qin/Han religion, 333, 334; Rishu as title in, 3, 6, 27, 36, 57, 58, 62, 274, 275, 439; and spirits, 207–8, 211, 221–23, 225–27, 237, 243–47; and textual variants, 148; time divisions in, 153, 155, 156, 157n97, 159; topics/activities in, 65, 67, 119n113, 121n116, 195–200, 331, 450–52, 475, 476; Yu talisman in, 132–33 Shuihudi tomb 11 (Yunmeng, Hubei) 13, 38n77, 78; burial goods in, 25–29, 50–53; dates of, 14, 148n48, 151; description of, 17, 23, 25–29, 34, 69–70; discovery of, 110; manuscripts in, 11, 17, 23, 29, 35, 36, 47, 49, 69–70, 98, 101, 102; occupant of, 25, 27, 34, 58, 70, 98, 104 Shuihudi tomb 77 (Yunmeng, Hubei) 14, 35–36, 59, 77–78, 82, 151, 441 Shuiquanzi tomb 5 (Yongchang, Gansu) 12–14, 36, 157n97, 159, 171, 175n175, 442, 466; dating of, 79; daybooks in, 64n23, 88; and spirits, 222, 223 Shujing. See Documents Shun 136, 233, 314 Shun, Emperor (Han) 303 Shuoyuan (Liu Xiang) 110n80

513 shushu (calculations and arts) 5, 85, 95, 267–68, 272, 274, 277 “Shushu” (Calculations and arts; Book of Han bibliographic treatise) 84, 85–90, 108, 133, 176n177, 268, 275, 375 “Si Shi tu” (Death Corpse-Ghost diagram; KJP.64) 179, 216–19 Sickman, Laurence 253, 255–56 silk: for manuscripts 176–77, 249; for paintings, 258; production of, 73, 95, 239; in tombs, 21, 33, 38. See also Mawangdui manuscripts; Zidanku Silk Manuscripts Sima Bao 96, 292n56 Sima Jizhu 60, 109, 110n80 Sima Qian 59–60, 109–10, 269, 291, 293–94, 298, 302. See also Records of the Scribe Sima Tan 108 Sima Zhen 110n77 Simon of Bisignano 387 Singer, Paul 257 Sino-Japanese War 367 Sivin, Nathan 290 Six Classics 95n16 Six Dynasties period 469 Smith, George 2, 3 Smith, John 2n3 social status: and almanacs 337, 366; archaeological evidence of, 192; and Babylonian hemerology, 417; and Book of Han bibliographic treatise, 108; and calendars, 299, 302–4, 346, 349n99; and daybook production, 104, 106, 107; and daybooks, 9, 46, 85, 98, 108–9, 128, 150n63, 275, 335; and divination, 106, 353n117; and European hemerology, 379, 382; and funerary customs, 40, 44–45; and hemerological systems, 75n65, 97, 150–51, 192, 379, 382, 417; and immortality cults, 324, 325; and literacy, 98, 99, 103, 104; and local cults, 317, 319; and manuscript culture, 91, 100, 102–4, 108, 137; and popular culture, 92, 96; at settlement sites, 75; and spirits, 225, 230, 241, 243, 244; and technical literature, 80; and textual variants, 150; of tomb occupants, 19, 21, 25–26, 27, 66, 67, 73, 98, 106, 107, 109, 150n63, 439; and tombs, 16–17, 34–36, 38, 39, 48–50, 55, 98; and topics/activities, 98, 102, 106, 151, 152 solar cycles 86, 156–57, 280n11, 281, 282, 391; in Babylonian calendar, 411; and calendrical calculations, 289–90, 291, 292, 295; in European hemerology, 377, 378–79, 384, 403; and Jianchu hemerology, 465 solstices 74, 82, 86, 155–56, 158, 159, 165, 214; and calendar reform, 298, 300, 301; and calendrical calculations, 291, 294, 295, 297; and Xingde hemerology, 467; in Yinqueshan calendar, 279, 281–86, 288, 291, 292, 294, 295 Song dynasty 338, 339–40, 341, 343 Song Luzhen 342 Songs. See Classic of Songs South China Almanac (Hua’nan tongshu) 370 spatial hemerology 109n73, 150, 154, 158–63, 331, 360, 443–59; in daybooks, 59; and diagrams, 175, 189; and Dipper, 122, 165, 182, 190, 280n6, 286n29, 351; in Ejina slips, 99, 122; and emperors, 224, 238, 242, 243; in Europe, 396–97; and five agents, 63, 118–19, 168, 169, 211, 397; and Guxu hemerology, 129, 133–36; in KJP, 64, 159n108, 216–18, 224, 234–35, 238, 453, 454, 455; in Mawangdui manuscripts, 83; in SHDA, 61n19, 159n108, 236, 448, 449, 450; and spirits, 345, 349–50, 353; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 267–68; in ZJTB, 328, 332, 457. See also geomancy; topomancy; Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions specialists: in calendrical calculations 296–303; and daybooks, 104–10, 128, 129, 192; in divination, 86–87, 109, 110; and manuscript culture, 91, 93, 137; occult, 133, 299, 302, 303, 323, 324; on spirits, 106, 225, 230; in technical literature, 8, 80, 86–87, 107; terms for, 247 Speculum maius (The great mirror; Vincent of Beauvais) 388 spirits. See demons and spirits

514 Spiritual Sticks of the Military Sage-Emperor Guan (Wusheng Guandi lingqian) 363–64 split-up-days hemerology 242–43, 460 Spring and Autumn of Master Lü (Lüshi chunqiu) 269–70, 274, 282n18, 312 spring ox (chunniu) 348, 354n125, 355, 367, 370 St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 751, 379, 380 Standard Mirror of Day Selection (Xuanze zongjing) 344 Stein, Aurel 75 stellar hemerology 391, 401n101, 402, 403 stellar lodges xxi–xxii, 164–68; in almanacs, 338, 356; and calendars, 298, 340, 343, 344, 345, 351; in daybooks, 116, 117, 193; in diagrams, 182, 272; and European hemerology, 400; and hemerological systems, 139n4, 174, 198, 460–61, 462, 473; and spatial divisions, 160; and spirits, 210, 232, 239n220, 241, 242; and Taiping Rebellion, 365; and time divisions, 154, 155, 157, 158; in ZJTA, 164n127, 165n128, 166, 273, 474n74 stem-and-branch sexagenary system xx, 160–64; in almanacs, 338, 356, 358, 367; and calendars, 280–95, 300, 340, 343, 344, 350, 353; and cyclical animals, 468, 469, 471; and daybook manufacture, 112nn87–88; in daybooks, 65, 67, 68, 69, 74, 75, 193, 276; in diagrams, 181, 185–89, 191, 201, 216–18, 220, 272; and five agents, 169, 170, 171; and hemerological systems, 133–36, 146, 147, 172–76, 273, 460–65, 467, 468, 470, 472–74; and spatial hemerology, 160, 162–63; and spirits, 210, 220–25, 229, 231, 232, 234–36, 238, 239, 241–43; and Taiping Rebellion, 364; and time divisions, 154, 157, 158; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 262, 267 stone carvings 55, 153, 232–33, 307. See also inscriptions, stone Su Dongpo 364 Sui dynasty 338 Sumeria 408, 410 Sumerian language 408, 409–10, 413, 420, 429–32 Sumerisch-babylonische Hymnen nach Thontafeln Griechischer Zeit (Reisner) 423 Summation of the Five Agents (Wuxing dayi; Xiao Ji) 469 Sun Bin 80 Sun Ji 233 Sun Simo 229 Sun Yat-sen 369 Sun Zhanyu 186n201, 473 Sunzi bingfa (Master Sun’s military methods) 237, 261 Superior Position Calendar (Shangwei li) 349 Synod of Whitby (664) 378 Syria 413 Taavitsainen, Irma 404 tablets, wooden/bamboo 66, 158, 160, 226, 439–40; calendars on, 82, 286–89; daybook-related manuscripts on, 6, 12, 16, 70–71; diagrams on, 176–78, 188, 201, 203, 204, 272; DL, 14, 73, 142, 192, 440, 458; Fujiwara-kyō, 229; gaodi shu on, 30, 50, 70; Huchang, 211; from Kongjiapo, 30, 33, 34, 70, 439; maps on (Fangmatan), 23, 24, 67, 439; from northwest, 75–76; partially published/unpublished, 76–79; from Shuihudi, 77–78; spirits on, 208n9; in tombs, 30, 33–36, 46–48, 50, 59; YS, 47, 70–72, 157n97, 170, 232, 234, 245–47, 439, 456. See also Dunhuang Han slips; Juyan Han slips; Yinwan slips and tablet Tai, J. T. 250 Taichan shu (Book of the generation of the fetus; Mawangdui) 82, 83 Taichu (Santong) system (Taichu li) 290–91, 292 Taigong bingfa (Grand Sire military methods) 275 Taiji diagram 262, 361 Taiping Rebellion 364–65, 367 Taiwan 367, 370, 371

index Taiyi (Grand One). See Grand One Taiyi Golden Mirror Shi Classic (Taiyi jinjing shijing) 270 Taiyi zhutu (Grand One incantation and diagram; Mawangdui) 209, 442, plate 2 Taizong, Emperor (Tang) 339 Talmud, Babylonian 415 Tambiah, Stanley 372 Tan Rong 59n7 Tang Du 303 Tang dynasty 337–42, 343 Tang Gongfang 323, 324 Tangxi Dian 321, 323 technical literature, occult and scientific 2, 4–9, 441, 442; astrology as, 82, 83, 268; in Book of Han, 85–87; daybooks as, 4, 6, 8, 34, 63, 66, 79–84, 127, 137, 192, 275, 276; demonology in, 129; diagrams in, 176n177; and European hemerology, 375n10; hemerology as, 4, 7, 80–84, 138, 463; in JD, 104–5; legal texts as, 4, 16n23, 50, 268; and manuscript culture, 91, 93, 103, 104, 133; in partially published/ unpublished material, 77, 78; popular, 4, 94–95, 118; for practical use, 95–96, 127; specialists in, 8, 80, 86–87, 107; and spirits, 208, 225; in tombs, 16–17, 34, 36, 40, 47, 48, 50, 52, 53, 55; in transmitted texts, 89; variety of, 82–84; and Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 250, 267–68, 275, 276. See also shushu text types: daybook 6–7, 57, 60, 62, 63, 66, 67, 79, 80, 87, 89, 92, 93, 99, 110, 113, 127, 149, 192, 274–75; daybook-related, 6–10, 66, 87, 88, 110; specialized hemerological, 6, 7, 8, 10 The Hague, National Library of the Netherlands, MS 76 F 13, 382, 383 Theodore of Tarsus 385 Thote, Alain 8 Thousand in Gold Supplementary Recipes (Qianjin yifang; Sun Simo) 229 Three Character Classic (Sanzi jing) 367 Three Principles of the People 369 three-unions system 175–76, 181, 190, 236n198, 237n202 Tian (Heaven) 210, 211, 214, 235, 237–39, 246 Tiandi bafang wuxing kezhu wuyin zhi ju (Yinqueshan tomb 1) 442 “Tianwen” (Heaven pattterns; Book of Han bibliographic treatise) 86, 87, 268 Tianwen qixiang zazhan (Mawangdui) 476 Tianxingguan tomb 1 (Hubei) 47 Tibet 338 Tiglath-pileser (Neo-Assyrian king) 434 time: divisions of 80–81, 83, 153–60, 286, 392; in European hemerology, 373, 374, 376–84, 391, 406; study of, 374, 376–84, 391, 406. See also days; months; seasons tombs: bell sets in 40; burial goods in, 19–22, 25–30, 32–36, 40–46, 47, 50–53, 55, 66; construction of, 15–16, 38, 55–56; daybooks in, 11–56, 66, 89; declarations to the earth (gaodi shu) in, 30, 33, 34, 47, 48, 50, 53, 70, 78, 439, 441; figurines in, 26, 30, 33–34, 39; geographic distribution of, 13–15, 34, 36; inventories in, 38, 39–40, 46–50, 74, 78, 440, 441; and manuscript culture, 137; manuscripts in, 7, 11, 35, 37–55; as microcosms, 45; mural paintings in, 55; occupants of, 19, 21, 25–27, 34–36, 48–50, 53, 56, 58, 66, 67, 70, 73, 77, 85, 98, 104, 106, 107, 109, 150n63, 152, 259, 326, 439, 441; and otherworld, 13, 16, 40, 44, 53, 56, 70; and preservation, 36, 37–38, 39; ritual vessels in, 19–22, 25, 30, 36, 40–46, 50, 55; vs. settlement sites, 75; and social status, 16–17, 34–36, 38, 39, 48–50, 55, 98; writing implements in, 21, 35, 36, 40, 50, 51, 53. See also mingqi; shengqi Tomioka Shigenori 252 topics and activities 2, 7, 138–45; in almanacs, 338, 340, 342, 351–53, 355–57, 359, 360, 364, 367, 370–72; in Babylonian hemerology, 2, 408, 413, 432, 434–36; in calendars, 88, 94, 151, 268, 337, 340, 341,

515

index 351–53; and day qualifiers, 171–72, 173; in DL, 73, 458; in European hemerology, 373, 375, 388, 394, 396–97, 402, 403, 406; in FMTA, 139, 149, 195–200, 444; in FMTB, 187, 195–200, 444–47, 445, 446, 447; in general hemerologies, 149; in HK, 457–58; in JD, 67, 106, 139, 149–51, 173, 194, 195–200, 443–44; in KJP, 64–65, 126–27, 136, 180, 187, 193–200, 453–55; and manuscript culture, 94, 96, 98, 102, 106, 107, 109, 110, 112, 116–17; in monthly ordinances, 81, 94, 95; and private rituals, 325, 326; in SHDA, 61–62, 95n20, 119n113, 121n116, 125, 130, 138, 139, 187, 194, 195–200, 331, 447–50, 476; in SHDB, 65, 67, 119n113, 121n116, 195–200, 331, 450–52, 475, 476; in Shuanggudui Changes text, 152; and social status, 98, 102, 106, 151, 152; and spirits, 207–8, 210–11, 220, 222, 233–34, 237–41, 305, 342; in topical hemerologies, 149, 194; in WW, 459; in YS, 72, 456; in YW, 74, 458–59; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 80, 107, 264, 267; in ZJTA, 108, 456–57; in ZJTB, 108, 131, 306, 327–28. See also agriculture; animals; childbirth; daily life; illness; legal affairs; marriage; military activities; ritual; travel topomancy 5, 87, 91, 149, 268, 276; domestic, 63, 65, 67, 83, 89, 148, 150, 211. See also geomancy transmitted sources: and archaeological evidence 91–94, 105, 110, 149, 162, 309; calendars in, 289, 292–94; Daoist, 124; and daybooks, 8–9, 80, 85, 103, 274, 275; and exorcism, 228, 230; on First Tiller, 306, 312, 313; hemerological systems in, 89, 94–97, 108, 129, 133, 134, 152, 158, 164, 193, 269, 270, 273; and immortality cults, 323; and literacy, 97; on Pace of Yu, 131, 132, 330; on religion, 305; spirits in, 208, 210, 213–16, 221, 224, 231, 234, 236, 239, 240, 243; terms in, 59, 109; and text variants, 149; and Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 263, 265, 266. See also Assay of Arguments; Book of Han; Records of the Scribe travel 7, 35, 72, 74, 109, 117–28, 456–59; in Babylonian hemerology, 2; in Ejina slips, 99, 118–24, 127; in European hemerology, 396–97, 402, 403, 404, 406; in FMTA, 68, 69, 83, 119, 121n116, 128, 194, 195, 200, 331, 334, 444; in FMTB, 68, 69, 83, 119, 121, 122, 124, 128, 194, 195, 200, 444, 445, 446, 447, 472–73; in general hemerology, 139–40, 142; in JD, 67, 194, 195, 200, 444; in KJP, 125–27, 136, 187, 194, 195, 453, 455; in Mawangdui manuscripts, 81, 99, 165n128, 235, 442, 472–73; and Pace of Yu, 121, 127, 130–32, 330; in predictive systems, 145, 152, 158, 169, 172, 194, 195, 200, 462, 472; in private rituals, 329, 331–32, 333, 334; in Qing calendars and almanacs, 340, 352–53, 354, 357, 364; in Qin/ Han religion, 305, 306, 326, 328, 329, 330–33; in SHDA, 62, 63, 83, 119n113, 122, 124–27, 172, 187, 194, 195, 237, 331, 448, 449; in SHDB, 83, 119n113, 125, 172, 194, 195, 333–34, 450, 451, 452; and spirits, 136, 207, 230, 231, 234–38, 241, 243, 328; in topical hemerologies, 61, 62, 143, 144; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 267; in ZJTB, 73, 88, 96, 124, 306, 326, 329, 331–33, 457 “Treatise on Feng and Shan Rituals” (Feng Shan shu; Shiji) 211, 293, 305, 309, 313, 334 Treatise on Harmonizing the Times and Distinguishing the Directions (Xieji bianfang shu) 89, 171, 172, 243, 337, 338n17, 343–46, 348, 351nn110–11, 353, 354, 365 “Treatise on Rites” (Liyi zhi; Hou Han shu) 306 “Treatise on Sacrifices” (Jiaosi zhi; Han shu) 305 “Treatise on the Calendar” (Lishu; Shiji) 293 trigrams 350, 362, 447; eight (bagua), 336, 338, 343, 350. See also Changes triplicities 396 Ugarit (Syria) 414 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) 97 Unicorn Virtue Calendar (Linde Li) 339 Unschuld, Paul 342 Uruk 427–29

Venture, Olivier 24 Verbiest, Ferdinand 345, 365–66 vernacular languages 4, 93, 373, 374, 379, 380, 403 Vietnam 341, 348 Vincent of Beauvais 388, 389 Virtue (De) cycle 72, 81, 82, 113, 154n78, 181, 223 Wagner, Donald 14n14 Wallis, Faith 376–77, 378 Wang Anshi 341 Wang Chong: on cyclical animals 468, 469; education of, 99–100; on five agents, 169; on hemerology, 9, 59n9, 75n65, 88, 89, 91–92, 94–97, 107, 156, 274, 276, 305, 334; social status of, 103; on spirits, 171n158, 212, 213–14, 215, 230 Wang Fu 237, 283 Wang Fuzhi 346 Wang Guiyuan 328n104, 329 Wang Jing 94–95, 97, 103, 107, 108, 113, 118, 136, 334n138 Wang Mang 74–75, 122nn121–23, 293 Wang Mingqin 76 Wang Weide 353, 354n124 Wang Yi 210 Wang Zang 299 Wang Zijin 233 Wangjiatai tomb 15 (Jingzhou, Hubei) 13, 14, 34–36, 76, 440; device in, 52, 272; diagram from, 190n210, 218, 272; manuscripts from, 49, 52, 84, 147n43, 237, 262n48 Wangshan tombs (Jingzhou, Hubei) 19, 20, 40–44, 47, 49n103 Wangzi Qiao stela 313, 323, 324, 325, 334 watchtower sites (Ejina) 75, 99, 100. See also Ejina wooden slips weather prediction 475–76 Weaver Maid (Zhinü). See Oxherd and Weaver Maid Wedemeyer, Albert 253 Wegner, Wolfgang 4 Wei, state of 21 Wei Jian 337, 345, 365n168 Wei Ping 271 Wen, Emperor (Han) 296, 298, 300 Wenzi. See Master Wen William Durand 388, 395 Williams, S. W. 366 Wind Lord’s Orphan-Empty (Fenghou Guxu) 108, 133, 137 Wise Book of Philosophy and Astronomy, The 373, 389–90, 391, 407 women: as healers 147–48; predictions about, 147, 148; and social status, 103; and Taiwan almanacs, 367; as tomb occupants, 49, 73, 74 Works and Days (Hesiod) 408, 423 writing implements 21, 35, 36, 40, 50, 51, 53 Wu, Emperor (Han) 109, 271, 315; and Book of Han, 87; calendar reforms of, 298–303; and hemerology, 168, 172, 269, 460; and immortality cults, 304, 323, 324; and imperial cult, 314; and spirits, 231 Wu Liang shrine stone relief 153 Wu Peifu 369 Wu Sunzi bingfa (Sunzi of Wu military methods) 275 Wu Yang (Lord of Yuanling; Huxishan tomb 1) 35, 77, 441 Wu ze you xing (Mawangdui) 262n48 Wu Zetian (empress) 339n22 Wu Zhucun 255 Wu Zixu 83 Wudi (Five Powers) 297–98 Wuji Mountain (Hebei) 305, 310, 315–17, 318, 319

516 Wushi’er bingfang (Recipes for Fifty-Two Ailments) 82, 83, 93, 122, 210, 211, 235; and Qin/Han religion, 326, 328, 329n108, 329n113, 331–33 Wuwei manuscripts (WW) 74–75, 247, 440, 459 “Wuxing” (Five agents; Book of Han bibliographic treatise) 86–87, 108, 133, 268, 269, 270, 273 Wuxing zhan (Prognostics of the five planets; Mawangdui) 83, 303 Wuyi (spirit) 207, 208, 209, 225, 227, 228, 229, 246 Xia dynasty 231, 234, 241, 242, 292 Xia (Anthropic; Ren) standard 278n6, 281n13, 284, 291 Xia standard month (Xia zheng) 265, 266, 278, 280 Xiahou Zao (Lord of Ruyin; Shuanggudui) 35, 36, 77, 152, 441 Xian (Pit) day hemerology 163 Xianmen shifa (Xianmen shi method) 273 Xiannong. See First Tiller Xiao Ji 469 Xiasi tombs (Henan) 19n31, 37, 38, 41 Xifu Gong 122n123 Xing Yitian 16, 17, 40–41, 46 Xingde A–C (Mawangdui) 81, 442 Xingde (Punishment-Virtue) hemerology 64, 81, 86, 113, 154n78, 181, 273, 442, 465–67 Xingde qishe (seven dwellings of Punishment and Virtue) system 466 “Xingfa” (Form structures; Book of Han bibliographic treatise) 87, 268 Xinsheng tomb 2 (Sichuan) 240 Xinyang tomb 1 (Hubei) 40 Xinyuan Ping 297, 298 Xiong Chuanxin 258 Xiongnu 298 Xiyangpo tomb 1 (Hunan) 47 Xu Jian 325 Xu You 325 Xuan, Emperor (Han) 142, 440 Xuange (Dark Dagger-Ax) hemerology 73, 171n156, 194, 460–61, 462, 468 Xuanquan settlement site (Dunhuang, Gansu) 75, 442; manuscripts from, 79, 131, 158, 218, 219, 221, 249n3; wall inscription at, 94 Xuanzong, Emperor (Tang) 339 Xuning documents (Chinese University of Hong Kong) 211 Xunzi. See Master Xun Yabuuchi Kiyoshi 338 Yale College 257 Yale in China Association 251 Yale University 251 Yali Middle School (Changsha) 251 Yan Changgui 8, 136, 186n201 Yan Ruoju 346 Yan Shigu 236 Yan Yuan 346 Yan Zhao 77 Yandi (Flame Emperor) 224, 237, 238, 245, 264 Yang Kuan 224 Yang Weide 270, 273 Yang Xiong 131, 132 Yanghai tomb 1(Turfan, Xinjiang) 88 Yangjiawan tomb 6 (Changsha tomb 569) 38n78 Yangsheng fang (Recipes for nurturing life; Mawangdui) 328 Yangtianhu tomb 25 (Changsha tomb 169) 38n78 Yanshi wusheng (Master Yan’s five conquests) 77, 171

index Yao 242, 263, 296 year (sui) 83, 153–54, 171, 175, 181, 281n15; in KJP, 168; in SHDA, 61, 67, 143, 194; in SHDB, 146; in Yinqueshan calendar, 280–82; in Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1, 263–64, 272 Yeh, Jonathan 371n197 Yellow Emperor Dragon-Head Classic (Huangdi longshou jing) 270 Yellow River Chart (Hetu) 343, 346 Yi. See Changes Yi, Lord of Zeng, tomb of (Leigudun) 14, 21, 39–40, 47, 48, 49, 122n118 Yi Jun 303 Yijing. See Changes “Yijing” (Medical classics; Book of Han bibliographic treatise) 275 Yili. See Ceremonial Rituals Yin Anren 88, 123, 124 Yin (Terrestrial; Di) standard 278n6 Yin system (Yin li) 292, 293, 295 Yin Xian 85 Yinan stone reliefs (Shandong) 232–33 Yingzao fashi (Models and technical plans for building; Li Jie) 271 Yinqueshan tombs (Linyi, Shandong) 1, 11, 80–83, 155n85, 237, 276, 442; calendar from, 278–96, 294, 312, 467; and hemerological systems, 163, 171, 470n61; occupant of, 85; and Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 266 Yinshu (Pulling book; Zhangjiashan tomb 247) 131 Yintai tombs (Jingzhou, Hubei) 13, 14, 78, 186n198, 441 Yinwan slips and tablet (YW) 73–74, 86, 458–59; calendar from, 82, 142n15, 160n110, 286–87, 288, 466; dating of, 276; diagrams on, 177, 178, 187, 188, 201, 203, 204, 272; hemerological systems in, 83, 172, 173, 238; and weather prediction, 475n81 Yinwan tomb 6 (Lianyungang, Jiangsu) 13, 14, 34, 36, 49, 51, 53, 440; occupant of, 73–74 yinyang: in almanacs 338, 354, 356; and Book of Han, 5, 86; and calendars, 290, 291, 292, 343, 345; and daybooks, 10, 276, 277; in diagrams, 272; and hemerological systems, 136, 171, 269, 462; in military texts, 83; misuse of, 95n15; and spirits, 207, 243, 244; in Yinqueshan slips, 80; in Zidanku Silk Manuscripts, 262, 264 “Yinyang” (Yinyang; Book of Han bibliographic treatise) 108 “Yinyang jia” (Yinyang experts; Book of Han bibliographic treatise) 108 Yinyang wuxing (Yinyang and five agents; Mawangdui) 81, 175n176, 273–74, 277, 442, 462–63 Yongli emperor (southern Ming) 364 Yongzheng emperor (Qing) 349 Yu 121, 124, 127, 129–33, 136, 187; marriage of, 239, 240–41; in Qin/Han religion, 320, 321, 326, 327–28, 330, 332; and spirits, 233, 234, 237, 246; talisman of (Yu fu), 132–33, 241, 331. See also Pace of Yu Yu Rongkuan 354 Yu Xin 123n125 Yuan, King of Song 271 Yuan dynasty 234, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342 Yuan History (Yuan shi) 341 Yuan Shikai 369 Yuanshi county stelae 323, 324 Yueshan tablets (YS) 47, 70–72, 157n97, 170, 456; and spirits, 232, 234, 245–47 Yueshan tomb 36 (Jingzhou, Hubei) 13, 14, 53, 70 “Yu’s split-up days” (Yu liri) 460 Yushu (Declaration document) 27 Yutaishan tombs (Hubei) 15, 38 Zaliao fang (Recipes for various cures; Mawangdui) 83 Zang Wenzhong 321

index “Zazhan” (Miscellaneous divination; Book of Han bibliographic treatise) 87, 268 Zhang, Emperor (Han) 325 Zhang Cang 293–94, 296, 297 Zhang Chunlong 306, 308n20 Zhang Fengyi 359 Zhang Huiyan 346 Zhang Peiyu 294n67 Zhang Shouwang 292, 293, 294 Zhang Zuolin 369 Zhangjiashan (Jingzhou, Hubei), 13; tomb 127 at 14, 36, 77, 441; tomb 136 at, 77; tomb 247 at, 36, 76, 77, 83, 101, 102, 107, 131; tomb 249 at, 14, 36, 76–77, 82, 441; tomb 258 at, 76, 77 Zhanshu (Yinqueshan tomb 1) 442 Zhao Chao 316n55 Zhao Wan 299 Zhao Yan 133 Zhaoyao (Far-Flight) hemerology 461–63 Zheng Xuan 95n20, 125n138, 215, 230 Zheng Zhong 271 Zhongshan, state of 35, 36, 45, 50, 79, 262n47, 314n45, 441 Zhongshan tomb 3, 262n47 Zhou (Shang ruler) 231 Zhou Changes (Zhouyi). See Changes Zhou Documents (Zhou shu) 237 Zhou dynasty 26, 211, 314; calendars in, 292, 298, 300; divination in, 336; month in, 278, 281n14 Zhou Shirong 258 Zhou (Celestial; Tian) standard 278n6 Zhoujiatai manuscript, first (ZJTA) 72, 82, 154n78, 326, 456–57; as daybook text type, 192; diagrams in, 178, 179, 181–84, 186, 190, 200, 202, 273; hemerological systems in, 108, 134, 143n21, 162, 164n127, 165n128, 166, 169n143, 193, 273, 474n74; manufacture of, 111–12, 113; and Mawangdui manuscripts, 81; and spirits, 223, 224, 244–46; topics/activities in, 108, 456–57 Zhoujiatai manuscript, second (ZJTB) 72–73, 82, 95–96, 226, 457; and copying, 117, 122, 123, 124; and European hemerology, 397; on First Tiller, 306, 307, 310–13, 327–28, 335; hemerological systems in, 108, 134–36, 143n21, 169, 332; medical recipes in, 73, 276, 326–34; and other texts, 88, 99; on Pace of Yu, 130–31, 330–31; and Qin/Han religion, 305, 313, 314, 326–34; on sericulture, 95; topics/activities in, 108, 131, 306, 327–28, 457

517 Zhoujiatai tomb 30 (Jingzhou, Hubei) 13, 47, 49, 82, 397, 439–40; burial goods from, 51, 52, 53; dating of, 14, 72; description of, 72–73; occupant of, 72, 326 Zhoujiazhai tomb 8 (Suizhou, Hubei) 13, 149, 216, 441, plate 1, plate 3; dating of, 14; and Kongjiapo tomb 8, 7, 34, 70, 78, 149, 186, 441; manuscript from, 64n22, 83, 93n10 Zhu Xi 346 Zhu zalüe deyao chaozi yiben (All-miscellany digest; Dunhuang P2661) 88, 123–24 Zhuangzi. See Master Zhuang Zhuanxu 215, 224, 246, 263, 292, 296 Zhuanxu system (Zhuanxu li) 293–94, 295, 296 Zhuge Liang 368 Zhujiabao tomb (Shaanxi) 229n130 Zhurong 264 “Zhuzi” (The masters; Book of Han bibliographic treatise) 84, 108 Zichan 242 Zidanku Silk Manuscripts 11, 38–39, 80, 107, 108, 249–77, 442; conservation of, 250, 259, 267; dating of, 276; descriptions of, 250, 259–66; diagrams in, 176, 272; fragments of, 249, 250, 252, 253, 256–60, 267; and hemerology, 250, 267–77; history of, 250–59, 277; seasonal ordinances in, 274, 276, 325; and second manuscript theory, 259–60 Zidanku Silk Manuscript 1 (Ordinances of the Four Seasons) 11, 153, 168, 249–67, plates 4–5; description of, 260–66; history of, 250–59; seasonal ordinances in, 274, 276, 325; silk fabric of, 257, 259, 260, 263; on spirits, 210, 211, 215; Text A (“Year”), 263–64, 272; Text B (“Four Seasons”), 264, 272; Text C (“Twelve Months”), 264–66, 267 Zidanku Silk Manuscript 2 (Ordinances of the Five Agents) 107, 250, 259, 260, 265–67, 274, 276, 277, 325, plates 6–7 Zidanku Silk Manuscript 3 (Divination for Attack and Defense) 107, 250, 259, 260, 267 Zidanku tomb (Changsha, Hunan) 8, 47, 249–53, 258, 259, 277, 442 Ziwei 86 Zixia 321 Ziyou 321 zodiac 391, 396, 397, 400–406 Zou Yan 86 “Zu Chu wen” (stone inscription) 314n45 Zuo Chronicle (Zuozhuan) 109, 131, 159n102, 281, 329n110; on spirits, 129, 230, 231, 242