Abstract
Some of the texts in Almanac (rishu 日書) Type B from the Fangmatan bamboo slips are related to a form of divination based on cosmic boards (shizhan 式占). These texts create a systemic and independent book which may be separated from Almanac Type B and entitled A Cosmic Board Divination Book on the Chinese Twelve Tones (zhonglü shizhan 鐘律式占). This work can be divided into three parts: the first part includes a series of forms and explanations centering around cosmic board diagrams (shitu 式圖); the second part contains various divination interpretations (guaci 卦辭 and zhanci 占辭); and the third part includes explanations about divination methods. These sections are relatively independent, and the order of the three can be rearranged at will. A Cosmic Board Divination Book on the Chinese Twelve Tones is simpler than later works on cosmic board divination and should be regarded as a transitional piece between early cosmic board divination books and more mature works from the Han dynasty. The book is probably related to Huangzhong (黃鐘) and three other ancient books about yin-yang and the five elements (yinyang wuxing 陰陽五行) which are recorded in the Book of Han’s bibliography section (hanshu yiwenzhi 漢書藝文志).
Keywords
Fangmatan bamboo slips, cosmic board divination, Chinese twelve tones, Almanac, divination
Cite
Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.
