Overview
Key data
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Excavated | 1972, Yinqueshan tomb 2, Linyi, Shandong |
| Date | First year of Yuanguang, Emperor Wu (134 BCE) |
| Form | Day-table, days in sexagenary order |
| Notations | Jianchu, fu-la, the eight nodes |
| Significance | A day-table from before the Taichu reform |
Why it matters
The Taichu calendar began in the first year of Taichu (104 BCE); before that Han followed Qin and used the Zhuanxu calendar.
This table is for 134 BCE, a practical day-table from before the reform, and so direct evidence of the closing years of the Zhuanxu calendar.
Day-tables from before and after a reform are the hardest evidence for checking a calendar’s history, and this is one end of that pair.
What the table looks like
The days run in sexagenary order with jianchu, fu-la and the eight nodes noted beneath.
Such notations are the bridge between the day-table and the later tongshu almanac, and material for the daily affairs of the time.
“Calendrical tables” (lipu) are another large class of excavated slips: the practical day-tables of their time. The days are set down in the sexagenary cycle with notes on the jianchu cycle, the fu-la festivals and the eight nodes. They are the first-hand material evidence of how the calendar was actually used. The calendars preserved in transmitted texts are mostly the court’s methods and numbers; the tables show what those looked like in daily practice.
Compiled and arranged by Chujia Kuang.