The Development and Social Acceptance of Xiangrui-Zaiyi after the Six Dynasties: Divination of Mysterious Phenomena and Disasters

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25884003
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Chinese philosophy/Indian philosophy/Buddhist studies
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: SASAKI Satoshi 東北大学, 東北アジア研究センター, 専門研究員 (60704963)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-08-30 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 祥瑞 / 災異 / 妖怪・怪異 / 天文 / 五行 / 占書 / 鬼神観 / 神獣

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research project, I researched the preservation situation of divination books written by imperial order at domestic and foreign libraries. As a result, the stream of divination books from the six dynasties to the Qing Dynasty became clear. And a comparison of private and imperial divination books revealed a central difference.
Imperial divination books are based on Confucianism and do not refer to the curses of ghosts or gods or to their exorcism by magic. On the other hand, private divination books do refer to demon’s curses and various magical procedures for exorcizing them.
Additionally, in this research project, I found some non- imperial divination books that have contents like imperial divination books. It is new assignment for me to clarify their background and social importance from now on.

Free Research Field

宗教文化史