Thread by @edwardW2

1/n. a thread containing Chinese astrological/divinatory works available online. 中文星占書集。

1.欽定協紀辨方書 Qinding Xiejibian Fangshu' 'Imperially ordained compendium on harmonizing times and the times and distinguishing the directions'. a massive compendium of "electional astrology" archive.org/details/060565… This is vol 1 of 36, all 36 here archive.org/search.php?que…

1b. to gauge how influential the work is, chinese almanac makers to this day still use the work to determine how auspicious a given date is. here is an old woodblock ed. which is unfortunately incomplete: books.google.co.uk/books?id=VmFEA…

1c. Here is yet another version, this time from wikisource zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E6%AC…

1d. the book has been partially translated into English, as the The Imperial Guide to Feng Shui & Chinese Astrology amazon.co.uk/Imperial-Guide….

1e. The above-mentioned english translation is the onky book I have so far encountered explains the 神煞, Shensha, in a easy and logical manner; these shensha are the astrological/numerological configurations that are the bread-and-butter of chinese date selection.

1f. unfortunately the apparatus of tables that use the shensha are absent from the english translation. the tables makes electional astrology a breeze: just look up two factors, and you will find the suitability of every concievable activity on that day.

2. Ho Peng Yoke's "Chinese Mathemathical astrology" (written in english) is amongst the best works on the subject in English today. It deals with serious chinese astrology with a clarity that has yet to be surpassed. archive.org/details/HoPeng…

道光九年通書： books.google.co.uk/books?id=1s5RA… An almanac for the 9th year of daoguang (=1829). The format is almost identical to almanacs published in Hong kong today

4. 繼成堂 【淸同治三年甲子曆書】 "Hall of continiung accomplishment's Almanac for the 3rd year of tongzhi [1864], wood rat "books.google.co.uk/books?id=wGwtA… Format almost identical to modern taiwanese almanacs (see 4b). even more amazingly, book with same name is still published in China

4b. For reference,

https://twitter.com/edwardW2/status/1184961071037202433

Unfortunately, the Modern successor to the "Hall of continiung accomplishment" (Xucheng tang)'s almanac does not resemble its predecessor at all...

5. 月建切總通書大全 "yuejian Qiezhong Tongshu Daquan" A smaller electional handbook. nowhere near as comprehsnsve as the Imperially ordianed compendium, but more portable, and in the right hands, can still get the job done. books.google.co.uk/books?id=5TdWA…

6. 許真君玉匣記 "Xu zhenjun Yü xia ji" 'Immortal Xu's record of the Jade box". A short work, described as a Taoist 'liturgical calendar', which (amongst other things) describes how auspicious a given day is for petitioning a given god
zh.wikisource.org/zh/%E8%A8%B1%E…

6b. This short text has more recently been expanded into book-length compendia of selecting auspicious dates more generally, along with dream-interpretation, horoscopy and some elements of fengshui.

7. @astroherb's books;
1.

https://twitter.com/astroherb/status/875651264951926785

The 3rd book on this list 星學大成 'the grand compendium of astral science' is presently being studied by @JeffreyKotyk
2.

https://twitter.com/astroherb/status/875651497702211590

3.

https://twitter.com/astroherb/status/875650953810067457

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 8. Here are two Manchu translations of the 玉匣記gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv… and gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 9. Uranographie chinoise/星辰考原 by Gustav Schlegel , two volumes as one. This French work seems to be the leading reference on Chinese constellations; pity the celestial maps are not properly folded up in the digitalization
books.google.co.uk/books?id=hRoiA…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 10.新參後續百中經 “A new compendium of calendarics" A remarkable book; it contains divinatory tables, some of which are still found in contemporary Chinese almanacs. Also contains calendars and planetary ephemerides fr 1768-1840, books.google.co.uk/books?id=829PA…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 11/ 袖裏百中經-- "A pocket compendium of calendarics" archive.org/details/xiulij…. Sadly incomplete (missing pages 2-5, & stops at 26), a lithographed divinatory compendum. I recall reprints of a similar edition were sold on Taobao as 關煞百中經"complete comedium of gates and sha"

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 12/ 新參後續百中經(Nb. 參 is written with a variant on the cover,similar to 叅). A 1920s edition of No, 10 in the list. Contains calendars 1836-1979. archive.org/details/xincan…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 12b. Of particular interest is the front page. It shows a form of simple natal horoscopy, unusually presented. The 4 male figures are the 'emperors' ruling each of the seasons. Select the relevant emperor for the season where you are born...

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 12c... and then find where the hour of your birth (in black circles) is located on his body. The meaning is explained in short paragraphs. Eg; if the hour is on the emperor's head, then the native will have no worries through life etc.

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 12d this diagram is still published in traditional Chinese almanacs, eg this 2018 ed of 永经堂

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 13. 御定奇門真詮 'The imperially ordained true commentary on Qimen Dunjia" archive.org/details/dogang…. Qimen dunjia is a form of Chinese numerological astrology. Fiendlishly complex, it maintains a significant following in the Chinese world today.For more see archive.org/details/HoPeng…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 13b. The method produces a 'plate' or 'chart', depending on a particular time. This chart can be used to determine auspicious directions, ideal activities. This book gives the thousand-odd possible charts, with commentary on them.

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 14. 祕傳水龍經“ the secretly transmitted Classic of the Water Dragon" A work of Fengshui. books.google.co.uk/books?id=EoUqA…
Has been translated in Michael Paton's Five Classics of Fengshui brill.com/view/title/238… The book is pricey, but for the serious, worth every penny.

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 15. The 皇帝宅經 " The yellow Emperor's classic of sitting" ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&… and ctext.org/library.pl?if=… NB. the link here has only the text & lacks the diagrams in the original. Also transl, in Michael Paton's Five Classics of Fengshui

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 15b. The translation of the title is an error; it ought to be "The yellow Emperor's classic of Dwellings"

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 16. Not strictly astrology, but regarding astral deities 太上玄靈北斗本命延生真經 (The most high and numinous True scripture of the original Fate and Extending life by the Stars of the Norther Dipper).
zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E5%A4…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 16b This scripture, sacred to the Gods of the Seven stars of the Northern dipper, is often recited at temples; the author witnessed one such recitation in Singapore.

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 16c. About 1/2way through the scripture, you will see the rather exiraordinary series of characters 魁𩲃𩵄䰢魓𩳐魒. These are the mystical names of the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper... (img below shows the characters in yellow plurk.com/p/mxc67r)

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 16d. When the scrpture was being recited, the priests fell silent when they came to this line. A large gong was solemnly struck instead of each word. These characters apparently cannot be said aloud, but pinyin transcriptions of them do exist.

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 17.陰陽合璧新萬年曆: A Newly compiled Myriad-year-calendar for the Yin and Yang Calendars archive.org/details/yinyan…
A Chinese-Gregorian calendar conversion from 1920-1970.

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk One of the most fascinating, yet infuriating works of Chinese religion: "Researches into Chinese superstitions. Henri Dore S.J. , tr. by M. Kennelly"
1. archive.org/details/resear… (includes 小兒關煞)
2. archive.org/details/resear… (an extensive collection of amulets)

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 18b/ (this is a loooong work, 14 vols. bear with me)
3.archive.org/details/resear… (More amulets/ 符籙, this time with attempts to decipher them)
4.archive.org/details/resear… (Extensive discussion into astrology, methods of divination, date selection, festivals etc)

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 18c/
5. archive.org/details/resear… (Magical rituals, magical creatures)
6. archive.org/details/resear… (Gods incl. Guanyin, Guanyu, )
7.archive.org/details/resear… (Buddhist gods, Dizang地藏, 10 kings of hell, jigong)
8.archive.org/details/resear… (More buddhist worthies etc)

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 18d/
9. archive.org/details/resear… (Daoist gods: incl. Jade Emperor, 8 immortals,)
10.archive.org/details/resear… (God of thunder, Taisui, Five marchmounts 五岳）
[Volumes 11 and 12 do not appear to hve been digitalized]
13 archive.org/details/resear… (Confucians)

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk The final volume, vol. 14 also does not appear to have been digitalized, but here it is, in its original french: archive.org/details/resear…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 18f. The sheer bulk of the above book makes it an exceptionally valuable source of material on Chinese beliefs and customs; The author recalls reading some recently published books that appear to draw on the decipherment of Fu-Talismans/ Writs 符籙 above...

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 18g. As to why it is infuriating, let 1 eg suffice: it concerns a (now extinct) form of divination that involved rolling a ball around a tub with 12 compartments. The author comments "How then can anyone trust the predictions of these cunning knaves?" archive.org/details/resear…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 18f. The authors do not let a single opportunity to criticise the custom go by. This is Reasonable, considering it was written by a Missionary.Alas! why must it be that the most extensive collection of Chinese folk customs in the west, was written with an intent to destroy them!

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 19.The Transnational Travels of Geomancy [i.e.fengshui] in Premodern East Asia,
Part 1: transnationalasia.rice.edu/journal/Volume…
Part 2: transnationalasia.rice.edu/journal/Volume…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 20/ 聖壽萬年厯
卷首~卷一 archive.org/details/060548…
卷二~卷三 archive.org/details/060548…
卷四~卷五 archive.org/details/060548…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 21/ Feuchtwang's Celebrated "An anthropological analysis of Chinese Geomancy" b-ok.cc/book/1188316/c…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 22/果老星宗
Juan 卷1 babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.…
2 & 3 babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.…
4 babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.…
5 babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.…
6 &7 babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.…
8 babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.…
9 babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.…
10. 鄭氏星案 babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 22b. The above book, Guolao Xingzong = Guolao's Astral Compendium, is one of the leading works of Chinese horoscopic astrology-- as in the sense of using planets. This chart, for example, shows what in the west would be called the domiciles of the planets.

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 22c.But the astrology diverges from the west in other ways as well. This chart shows the "Delights“ Xi 喜" and "joys" Le 樂 of the planets. The Palace of 辰=libra is show as the "joy" of the sun: quite the opposite from western astrology! babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 22d. This book has never been translated into English, which is a bit of a shame, considering the astrology contained within is extremely fascinating and complex.

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 22e. To show how complex-- and differnt the astrology here differs from any other sort, here is a chart from the last part of the book, Mr. Zheng's Astral cases 鄭氏星案. Note how there are 7 layers of data attached to each sign of the chart!

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 22f. The complexity arises in part, because in addition to calculating the planetary positions, the astrologer is supposed to calculate various imaginary 'stars' or 'gods' that attach themselves to the various zodiac signs, depending on the year of birth.

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 22g. In addition, there is a rather intricate system of "transformed luminaries" 化曜, where the "role" each planet plays in the birthchart, depends on the year the person was born in addition to all the other factors.

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 22h. The above comes from the little I have read (so far) about this system. if anyone can provide more info or correct any errors, I will be most grateful.

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 23/ Helmer Aslaksen's magisterial "the mathematics of the Chinese calendar" possibly the only english-language work to treat the subject at length; IIRC even cited by the 'supplement to the astronomical almanac' citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/downlo…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 23b/ This may also be of interest: researchgate.net/publication/25… "Fake" leap months in the Chinese calendar.

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 23c/ Helmer Aslaken's webpage, alas only available as an archive copy now , is a veritable mine of information on calendars.web.archive.org/web/2018031120… Here is the section on chinese calendars web.archive.org/web/2018022820…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk 24/ Kusyar Ibn Labban's introduction to astrology, arabic -english parallel text, with its Ming-Dynasty Chinese translation in the back (明譯天文書).
cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/~yanom/pdf/Yan…. Special thanks to @schrift_sprache for pointing this out!

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk @schrift_sprache 25/ An introduction to the 諸葛神數, an oracle using Chinese characters. This text is a fixture in most Hong Kong almanacs to this day. biroco.com/yijing/Moore_S…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk @schrift_sprache 25b/ In the above text, Mr. Moore expresses his puzzlement about the word oracle being compared to the Maqian ke 馬前課, which he understands to be a prophetic text & not a divination method....

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk @schrift_sprache 25c/ However, I have seen a divination method called 小六壬 referred to as 馬前課, - figuratively "on the go prophesies", owing to its immense simplicity: you can literally perform the divination by counting on your fingertips yangyide.net/mingli/6582.ht…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk @schrift_sprache 26/ In any case, Mr. Moore has also translated the Maqian ke (the prophethic text) in its entirety. the book is a fascinating read: biroco.com/yijing/Maqian_…

@astroherb @JeffreyKotyk @schrift_sprache 27/ Finally, this website has an extremely interesting overview of Najia 納甲 system of using the yijing
biroco.com/yijing/najia.h…

28a/ 小兒關煞圖解 "Xiaoer Guansha tujie" = "A pictorial explication of Young Children's Gates and Sha"
A modern reprint of a book dating from 1889 (光緒十五年),
archive.org/details/guansh…

28b/ The above deals with a rather obscure, but interesting subject: Paediatric astrology, so to speak. By looking at a child's horoscope, you can detect certain problems the they would face, often rather graphically illustrated.

28c/ The consequences can range from the mild (Child cries incessantly) to the catastrophic, eg the img below 將軍箭. For children unfortunate enough to possess this configuration, "[They]will meet Yama (the King Of hell) when is 12" unless they take steps to solve it

28d/ Resolving the ailments is simple enough, most involving a talisman that is (presumably) placed with the child. But some involve more elaborate rituals. eg, for the affliction ft above, you are supposed to get a bow & 3 arrows and break them at a crossroads to lift the curse.