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Books of Fate and Popular Culture in Early China
The Daybook Manuscripts of the Warring States, Qin, and Han
Series: - Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 4 China, Volume: 33
Books of Fate and Popular Culture in Early China is a comprehensive introduction to the manuscripts known as daybooks, examples of which have been found in Warring States, Qin, and Han tombs (453 BCEâ220 CE). Their main content concerns hemerology, or âknowledge of good and bad days.â Daybooks reveal the place of hemerology in daily life and are invaluable sources for the study of popular culture.
Eleven scholars have contributed chapters examining the daybooks from different perspectives, detailing their significance as manuscript-objects intended for everyday use and showing their connection to almanacs still popular in Chinese communities today as well as to hemerological literature in medieval Europe and ancient Babylon.
Contributors include: Marianne Bujard, László Sándor Chardonnens, Christopher Cullen, Donald Harper, Marc Kalinowski, Li Ling, Liu Lexian, Alasdair Livingstone, Richard Smith, Alain Thote, and Yan Changgui.
Eleven scholars have contributed chapters examining the daybooks from different perspectives, detailing their significance as manuscript-objects intended for everyday use and showing their connection to almanacs still popular in Chinese communities today as well as to hemerological literature in medieval Europe and ancient Babylon.
Contributors include: Marianne Bujard, László Sándor Chardonnens, Christopher Cullen, Donald Harper, Marc Kalinowski, Li Ling, Liu Lexian, Alasdair Livingstone, Richard Smith, Alain Thote, and Yan Changgui.
Donald Harper, Ph.D. (1983), is the Centennial Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Chicago. His research and publications focus on newly discovered manuscripts and their significance for the history of religion, science, and technology in early China.
Marc Kalinowski, Ph.D. (1978), is Professor of Chinese Religion and Thought at the Ãcole Pratique des Hautes Ãtudes, Paris. He has published widely on correlative cosmology and mantic arts in transmitted texts and the manuscript culture of early and medieval China.
Marc Kalinowski, Ph.D. (1978), is Professor of Chinese Religion and Thought at the Ãcole Pratique des Hautes Ãtudes, Paris. He has published widely on correlative cosmology and mantic arts in transmitted texts and the manuscript culture of early and medieval China.
List of Maps, Tables, Figures, and Plates
Acknowledgments
Tables 0.1â0.9
Map 0.1
Introduction
âDonald Harper and Marc Kalinowski
âHemerology
âTechnical Occult and Scientific Literature
âCodicology of Daybook Manuscripts
âDaybook Studies and Ancient Chinese Hemerology
âConventions Used in this Volume
âChinese Terms and Translations
âLatin, Medieval Vernacular, and Cuneiform Sources
âChinese Conceptual Terms and Hemerological Terminology
1 Daybooks in Archaeological Context
âAlain Thote
âDaybooks in Tombs
âThe Four Tombs
âManuscripts in Tombs
âConclusion
2 Daybooks: A Type of Popular Hemerological Manual of the Warring States, Qin, and Han
âLiu Lexian
âContent and Defining Features of Daybooks
âOverview of Fully Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts
âUnpublished or Partially Published Hemerological Material
âComparison of Daybooks to Related Technical Literature in Excavated Manuscripts
âDaybooks from the Perspective of the Bibliographic Treatise of the Book of Han
âDaybooks and Later Hemerological Texts
âConclusion
3 Daybooks in the Context of Manuscript Culture and Popular Culture Studies
âDonald Harper
âHemerology and Hemerological Literature through the Lens of Late Han Historiography
âMakers and Users of Daybooks
âThe Form and Function of Daybook Manuscripts
âDaybooks in Everyday Life
âConclusion
4 Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks: Ideas and Practices
âMarc Kalinowski
âDaily Activities and Life Expectations in the Daybooks
âTechniques and Systems
âConclusion
âSupplement 4.1
âSupplement 4.2
âSupplement 4.3
âSupplement 4.4
âSupplement 4.5
5 Daybooks and the Spirit World
âYan Changgui
âThe Spirit World
âSpirit Origin and Background: Explanation of the âDeath Corpse-Ghostâ Diagram
âExpelling Demons and Spirits: Techniques of Exorcism in âSpellbindingâ
âSpirits in the Context of Hemerology
âConclusion
âSupplement 5.1
6 The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts
âLi Ling
âDiscovery of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and the History of Ownership
âThe Zidanku Silk Manuscripts: Physical Description and Contents
âThe Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and Ancient Chinese Hemerological Literature
âConclusion
7 Calendars and Calendar Making in Qin and Han Times
âChristopher Cullen
âLooking at a Calendar
âCalculating the Calendar
âWho Calculated the Calendar?
âConclusion
8 Daybooks in Qin and Han Religion
âMarianne Bujard
âThe First Tiller Cult: Public and Private Rites
âLocal Cults of the Qin and Han
âPrivate Rituals in the Daybooks
âConclusion
9 The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China
âRichard Smith
âBrief Overview of Calendars and Almanacs from the Tang through the Ming Dynasty
âState-Sponsored Cosmology in the Qing
âThe State Calendar and Its Derivatives
âQing Dynasty Almanacs
âConcluding Remarks
10 Hemerology in Medieval Europe
âLászló Sándor Chardonnens
âHemerology and Daybooks
âHemerology and the Study of Time
âDivination, Commemoration, and Natural Philosophy
âHemerological Practices
âConclusion
11 Babylonian Hemerologies and Menologies 408
âAlasdair Livingstone
âResearch Background
âThe Babylonian Cultic Calendar
âThe Hemerologies
âUse of the Hemerologies
âRetrospect: A Scientific Experiment in Hemerology
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
Plates
Index
Acknowledgments
Tables 0.1â0.9
Map 0.1
Introduction
âDonald Harper and Marc Kalinowski
âHemerology
âTechnical Occult and Scientific Literature
âCodicology of Daybook Manuscripts
âDaybook Studies and Ancient Chinese Hemerology
âConventions Used in this Volume
âChinese Terms and Translations
âLatin, Medieval Vernacular, and Cuneiform Sources
âChinese Conceptual Terms and Hemerological Terminology
1 Daybooks in Archaeological Context
âAlain Thote
âDaybooks in Tombs
âThe Four Tombs
âManuscripts in Tombs
âConclusion
2 Daybooks: A Type of Popular Hemerological Manual of the Warring States, Qin, and Han
âLiu Lexian
âContent and Defining Features of Daybooks
âOverview of Fully Published Daybooks and Daybook-Related Manuscripts
âUnpublished or Partially Published Hemerological Material
âComparison of Daybooks to Related Technical Literature in Excavated Manuscripts
âDaybooks from the Perspective of the Bibliographic Treatise of the Book of Han
âDaybooks and Later Hemerological Texts
âConclusion
3 Daybooks in the Context of Manuscript Culture and Popular Culture Studies
âDonald Harper
âHemerology and Hemerological Literature through the Lens of Late Han Historiography
âMakers and Users of Daybooks
âThe Form and Function of Daybook Manuscripts
âDaybooks in Everyday Life
âConclusion
4 Hemerology and Prediction in the Daybooks: Ideas and Practices
âMarc Kalinowski
âDaily Activities and Life Expectations in the Daybooks
âTechniques and Systems
âConclusion
âSupplement 4.1
âSupplement 4.2
âSupplement 4.3
âSupplement 4.4
âSupplement 4.5
5 Daybooks and the Spirit World
âYan Changgui
âThe Spirit World
âSpirit Origin and Background: Explanation of the âDeath Corpse-Ghostâ Diagram
âExpelling Demons and Spirits: Techniques of Exorcism in âSpellbindingâ
âSpirits in the Context of Hemerology
âConclusion
âSupplement 5.1
6 The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts
âLi Ling
âDiscovery of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and the History of Ownership
âThe Zidanku Silk Manuscripts: Physical Description and Contents
âThe Zidanku Silk Manuscripts and Ancient Chinese Hemerological Literature
âConclusion
7 Calendars and Calendar Making in Qin and Han Times
âChristopher Cullen
âLooking at a Calendar
âCalculating the Calendar
âWho Calculated the Calendar?
âConclusion
8 Daybooks in Qin and Han Religion
âMarianne Bujard
âThe First Tiller Cult: Public and Private Rites
âLocal Cults of the Qin and Han
âPrivate Rituals in the Daybooks
âConclusion
9 The Legacy of Daybooks in Late Imperial and Modern China
âRichard Smith
âBrief Overview of Calendars and Almanacs from the Tang through the Ming Dynasty
âState-Sponsored Cosmology in the Qing
âThe State Calendar and Its Derivatives
âQing Dynasty Almanacs
âConcluding Remarks
10 Hemerology in Medieval Europe
âLászló Sándor Chardonnens
âHemerology and Daybooks
âHemerology and the Study of Time
âDivination, Commemoration, and Natural Philosophy
âHemerological Practices
âConclusion
11 Babylonian Hemerologies and Menologies 408
âAlasdair Livingstone
âResearch Background
âThe Babylonian Cultic Calendar
âThe Hemerologies
âUse of the Hemerologies
âRetrospect: A Scientific Experiment in Hemerology
Appendices
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
Plates
Index
All interested in the study of the excavated manuscripts and everyday life in early China, and anyone concerned with the comparative study of hemerology in premodern cultures.