Overview
Key data
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Excavated | 1977, Shuangudui tomb 1, Fuyang, Anhui (tomb of the Marquis of Ruyin, Xiahou Zao) |
| Period | Emperor Wen of Han |
| Titles | “Five Planets,” “Star Divination,” and others |
| Associated finds | The round table of the twenty-eight mansions; the Taiyi nine-palace divination board |
| Publication | The Fuyang Han Slips |
The occupant and the find
The occupant was Xiahou Zao, Marquis of Ruyin, who died in the fifteenth year of Emperor Wen (165 BCE).
Slips and astronomical instruments were placed together in the tomb, showing the occupant’s involvement with astral divination.
“Five Planets” and “Star Divination”
“Five Planets” treats the motions and portents of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn; “Star Divination” the correspondences between stars and fortune.
The two are of the same kind as the Mawangdui silk “Divination by the Five Planets” and can be compared with it, showing early Han astral divination.
The instruments found with them
The round table of the twenty-eight mansions and the Taiyi nine-palace board are working instruments,
bringing astral divination down from text to object, each confirming the other.
Compiled and arranged by Chujia Kuang.