Tianwen qixiang zazhan 天文氣象雜占

Tianwen qixiang zazhan 天文氣象雜占 "Miscellaneous divinations based on the patterns of the sky and phenomenons of ether" is the modern title of a text on astronomy and astrology found in 1973 in a Former-Han-period 前漢 (206 BCE-8 CE) tomb in Mawangdui 馬王堆 close to Changsha 長沙, Hunan. Based on the burial conditions and dating of Tomb No. 3, it is inferred that the text was created in the regional state of Chu 楚 during the Warring States period 戰國 (5th cent.-221 BCE). The date of the silk manuscript can be no later than 168 BCE.

It arranges celestial phenomena such as clouds, atmospheric phenomena (including mirages, halos, and rainbows), lunar occultations of stars, fixed stars, and comets together, totaling approximately 250 illustrations. The full length is 1.5 meters, and the height 48 cm, divided into six vertical columns from top to bottom It was created on a half-width silk scroll, with illustrations and text written in the Chu-style of the chancery script (lishu 隸書) retaining some seal-script (zhuanshu 篆書) characteristics. Below the many illustrations of the manuscript, there are approximately 300 divination texts written in ink. The text is minimal, consisting only of names, explanatory notes, and divination texts.

Figure 1. Detail of the silk manuscript Tianwen qixiang zazhan 天文氣象雜占

From the Hunan Museum.

The animals, plants, and various objects depicted in the illustrations all represent different cloud formations, with "Chu Clouds" (Chuyun 楚雲) positioned at the forefront. The recorded atmospheric phenomena (qi 氣 "ether") related to the Sun and Moon include mirages (shenqi 蜃氣), halos (yun 暈), and rainbows (hong 虹). The stellar observations cover both fixed stars (hengxin 恒星) and occultations of stars by the Sun (ri an xing 日掩星). The fixed stars mentioned are likely the constellations Xin 心, Fang 房, and Wei 尾, which roughly correspond to the Scorpio constellation in modern astronomy.

The manuscript contains 29 comet illustrations with 28 distinct names. Interestingly, about half of the star names recorded in the text do not appear in any known historical literature, further emphasizing the unique value of this ancient astronomical work.

Overall, the book devotes the most space to atmospheric divination, with halos being the most extensively covered topic. The illustrations depict the sun or moon with surrounding circles or various lines. Some entries explicitly identify them as solar or lunar halos, while explanatory notes include phrases such as "double halos appearing in the second lunar month" (eryue bing shu 二月并出), "double halos appearing in the fourth lunar month" (siyue bing chu 四月并出) or "a white ring appears" (you bai huan 有白環).

Figure 2. Detail of the silk manuscript Tianwen qixiang zazhan 天文氣象雜占

From the Hunan Museum.

The most scientifically valuable part is the collection of 29 comet (huixing 彗星 "broomstick star") illustrations. Except for one entry with faded text and another with an unclear image, the rest are well-preserved, each accompanied by a name. These illustrations vividly depict a diverse array of comets with varying shapes and features: some have prominent comet heads and tails, while others have short or even no tails. Some comets display single tails, while others have two, three, or even four tails, with varying degrees of curvature. The Tianwen qixiang zazhan is the world's oldest text on comets. Of the 29 illustrations, all but the last depict comets with their heads pointing downward, aligning with the principle that comet tails always face away from the Sun.