Abstract
The methodology for identifying auspicious sacrifice days in calendars changed in important ways between the Tang and Song dynasties. Extant documents in Chinese and Japanese show that from the early Tang to the implementation of the Dayan Calendar (大衍曆), the fundamental basis for selecting auspicious days in national calendars was to choose shenzai days (神在日), which were in turn preselected auspicious days in the ganzhi system; xionghui shensha (凶會神煞) and yuesha (月煞) days were to be avoided. In the middle to late Tang period, different shenzai days were identified due to the central government’s weakening control over some localities as well as a change in the definition of shenzai days by some scholars; moreover, tiangang (天罡) and hekui (河魁) days replaced xionghui shensha and yuesha days as the inauspicious shensha days to be avoided. These developments changed the selection of auspicious sacrifice days in certain local calendars. During the reign of the Song emperor Zhenzong (r. 998-1022), it is likely that Tang scholar-official Jia Dan’s 賈耽 collection of shenzai days became the basis for the arrangement of auspicious sacrifice days in national calendars. By the Chunxi era (1174-1189) at the latest, auspicious days were labeled with the characters shenzai in national calendars, while inauspicious days included tiangang, hekui, jian (建), and po (破) days, but not xionghui shensha or yuesha days. In folk almanacs during the Song dynasty, inauspicious shensha days on which to avoid sacrifices far outnumbered those in national calendars. Regarding the selection of both auspicious and inauspicious days, national calendars in the Song incorporated folk ideas that were popular from the late Tang to the Five Dynasties periods in an effort to standardize and circumscribe practices. Shenzai days had almost no impact on state sacrifices in the Tang dynasty but had some influence on the selection of days in the Northern Song. By the Southern Song, however, that influence had waned. Finally, auspicious days identified in official calendars were considered suitable for non-state sacrifices only; and they did have considerable influence on society at large, although they were also not considered suitable for Buddhist or Daoist ceremonies.
Keywords
shenzai days, calendars between Tang and Song dynasties, suitable range
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