Overview
Key data
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Excavated | 1972, Yinqueshan tombs 1 and 2, Linyi, Shandong |
| Period | Early Western Han |
| Title | “Thirty Periods” (title assigned by the editors) |
| Character | A seasonal system of thirty periods in the year |
| Associated finds | The Art of War, Sun Bin’s Art of War, and many other military texts |
The “thirty periods” system
The text cuts the year into thirty segments, each with its signs, stars and prescriptions.
This is neither the twenty-four nodes nor the seventy-two seasonal signs; it is another way of dividing time.
Thirty periods in the year is a division found only in excavated texts, with no parallel in transmitted literature.
Contents
Each period records changes in seasonal signs and the affairs that go with them, with fortune and avoidance attached.
It overlaps both the “Monthly Ordinances” and the day books, while its division of time is its own.
The find context
The Yinqueshan tombs are known for the Art of War and Sun Bin’s Art of War, but calendrical and seasonal texts lie alongside the military ones.
The range of knowledge in one tomb is itself a sample of what men of the time read.
Compiled and arranged by Chujia Kuang.