There is always a conflict between science and zaiyi theory; the latter focuses on anomalies while the former only concerns itself with the laws of nature. This essay focuses on developments in solar eclipse calculation, and related changes in the scholarship, rituals and institutions of ancient China. This essay tries to explain the interactions between scholarly discourses and politics in light of the contradiction between the laws of nature and anomalies, which were recognized as the result of good or evil human behaviors.
Though as the ability to calculate and predict solar eclipses improved, intellectuals in the Tang dynasty held that solar eclipses followed the laws of nature, they emphasized the profound significance of “teachings through mystical methods,” and resolutely insisted upon the validity of zaiyi theory as part of their ideology. Meanwhile, astronomy and calendric systems still had unavoidable flaws in the Tang dynasty; thus, they also needed to be complemented by zaiyi theory in order to fully interpret the manifestation of Heaven’s will. For these reasons, zaiyi theory and solar eclipse calculation could coexist in the calendric system. Advances in the prediction of solar eclipses did not do away with the theory of “relations between Heaven and human beings.” Rather, they brought about consequences such as intellectuals viewing solar eclipses as some kind of auspicious sign and applying this opinion in decrees and historical records, consequences which continued until the Qing dynasty. Viewing solar eclipses as auspices is the same as viewing them as catastrophes in that it is premised on the notion that anomalies are caused by good or evil human behavior, rather than emphasizing the order of nature. Correspondingly, the efficacy of the ritualistic practice of “rescuing” solar eclipses was by then already disputed, but still had its symbolic significance. To a large extent, the “teachings through mystical methods” theory in Confucianism counteracted the influence of “the order of nature” in the political system and political activities.
solar eclipse, zaiyi, auspice, ritual, science
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