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Article ID: CBB296357559

Entangled Representation of Heaven: A Chinese Divination Text from a Tenth-Century Dunhuang Fragment (P. 4071) (2017)

Isahaya, Yoichi (Author)
Lin, Jyuh Fuh (Author)

Historia Scientiarum: International Journal of the History of Science Society of Japan
Volume: 26
Issue: 3
Pages: 153-171
Publication date: 2017
Language: English

DOI: 10.34336/historiascientiarum.26.3_153

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Christianity Cross-cultural interaction; cultural influence Taoism Buddhism Translations Primary literature (historical sources) Astrology Divination; prognostication Medieval Eurasia Greece Syria China

This article provides the transcription and translation of a tenth-century Chinese divination text from a Dunhuang fragment (P. 4071) with substantial commentary. Great importance has been so far attached to this astrological text as the most ancient source related to the eleven luminaries which consist of the seven “planets” including the Sun and Moon with the four “pseudo-planets.” This Chinese text deals with horoscopic astrology which was transmitted to China via multiple routes along the “Silk Road.” The text consists of various astral traditions in terms both of region and religion. The “original” Hellenistic elements are no more than some planetary calculations and astrological interpretations, while certain indigenous parts of astral sciences in East Eurasia are central to the astral divination in the text. Of the four pseudo-planets, Râhu 羅睺 and Ketu 計都 are undoubtedly derived from the Indic astral tradition, and a specific calculation method in the text follows that of the Jiuzhi li 九執曆, an Indic astronomical system. From the religious standpoint, that calculation method appears in the Xiuyao jing 宿曜經 originally composed by a Buddhist monk Bukong 不空. On the other hand, we find certain Daoist influences through the positions of the four pseudo-planets, and the Yusi jing 聿斯經, a text used for astrological interpretation, wasprobably brought by East-Syrian Christians. This fact confirms that Central Eurasia,where the text was recorded, encompassed various kinds of cultural elements. Thesemultiple elements were not merged into a single system, but emerged as aheterogeneous whole reflecting the cultural mosaic in Central Eurasia.

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