Overview
Key data
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Excavated | 1981–1989, Chu tombs at the Jiudian brickworks, Jiangling, Hubei (tomb 56 and others) |
| Period | Late Warring States |
| Script | Chu script |
| Contents | Day selection, prohibitions, farming, sacrifices |
| Publication | As published in the Jiangling Jiudian Eastern Zhou tombs report |
Its nature
The slips are mostly texts of day selection, fixing what is fitting by day or by month. They belong to the class called rishu, “day books.”
Rishu is a general term for a class of texts, not the title of one work — the name does not occur in transmitted literature and was given by the editors of the excavated slips.
Some contents
The slips give prescriptions for farming and sacrifice: on such a day it is fitting to sow, on such a day to sacrifice, on such a day not to travel.
Such material reflects directly the order of daily affairs of the time.
Relation to the Qin day books
The Jiudian day book is in Chu script and earlier than the Shuihudi Qin day book.
The two agree and differ: the agreement shows how general the day-selection genre was, the differences show how Chu and Qin divinatory traditions parted.
Set in a line with the day books of Shuihudi, Fangmatan and Kongjiapo, the continuity and change of the genre can be traced.
Compiled and arranged by Chujia Kuang.