CULTURE · KNOWLEDGE LIBRARY · Appendix
Appendix · Glossary
12 min read · 4 sections
The reference desk: 190+ terms across both systems, a chronology of 34 figures, and the core bibliography.
FIGGlossary entries by category
Bazi
3925%
Tarot
3220%
I Ching / Six Lines
3120%
Stems & Branches
1510%
Calendars
149%
Synastry
149%
Solar Terms
128%
§1Appendix A · Glossary
A.1 Calendars
| Term | Pinyin | Meaning | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunisolar calendar | yīn yáng hé lì | A calendar that tracks both the phases of the moon (the synodic month) and the sun (the tropical year) — the Chinese lunisolar calendar | 01 |
| Tropical year | huí guī nián | The interval between two successive passages of the sun through the vernal equinox, about 365.2422 days | 01 |
| Synodic month | shuò wàng yuè | The interval between two new moons, about 29.5306 days | 01 |
| True new moon | dìng shuò | Fixing the first day of the lunar month by the actual positions of the sun and the moon | 01 |
| Mean new moon | píng shuò | Fixing the first day of the lunar month by the average period of the moon's phases | 01 |
| Seven leap months in nineteen years | shí jiǔ nián qī rùn | Seven leap months are inserted into nineteen tropical years so that the lunisolar calendar keeps step | 01 |
| Leap month without a median term | wú zhōng qì zhì rùn | In the lunisolar calendar, any month that contains no median term becomes the leap month | 01, 03 |
| Fixing the opening month (the three first-months) | jiàn zhèng | Which month opens the year: the Xia began with Yin, the Shang with Chou, the Zhou with Zi | 01 |
| Accumulated years since the epoch | shàng yuán jī nián | The number of years from a fictitious calendar epoch to the year the calendar was drawn up | 01 |
| Precession | suì chā | The westward drift of the vernal equinox caused by the precession of the Earth's axis | 01 |
| True Solar Time | zhēn tài yáng shí | Time measured by the sun's actual position, which must be used when casting a chart | 01 |
| The equation of time | jūn shí chā | The difference between True Solar Time and mean solar time, within ±16 minutes over the year | 01 |
| Local mean solar time | dì fāng píng tài yáng shí | Time after correction for longitude | 01 |
| Leap-month cycle | rùn zhōu | The periodic rule for inserting leap months (for example 7 in 19 years, or 144 in 391 years) | 01 |
A.2 Stems and Branches
| Term | Pinyin | Meaning | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavenly Stems | tiān gān | Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui — ten in all | 01 |
| Earthly Branches | dì zhī | Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai — twelve in all | 01 |
| The 60 Jia-Zi cycle | liù shí jiǎ zǐ | The sixty pairings of stems and branches, used in rotation | 01 |
| Hidden Stems within a Branch | dì zhī cáng gān | The stems contained in each branch, classed as Principal, Middle and Residual Qi | 01 |
| Melodic Element | nà yīn wǔ xíng | The element assigned to each pair of the 60 Jia-Zi cycle, thirty in all | 01 |
| Emptiness (the void of a decade) | xún kōng | The two branches in each decade that cannot be paired with a stem | 01, 04 |
| Dating years by stem-branch | gān zhī jì nián | Recording years by stems and branches; in Bazi the year turns at the Start of Spring | 01, 02 |
| Dating days by stem-branch | gān zhī jì rì | Recording days by stems and branches, unbroken since the Shang dynasty | 01 |
| Dating hours by stem-branch | gān zhī jì shí | Recording the double-hours by stems and branches | 01, 02 |
| Storehouse | mù kù | Chen (the water storehouse), Xu (fire), Chou (metal), Wei (wood) | 01 |
| Chinese Zodiac | shēng xiào | The twelve animals that correspond to the twelve Earthly Branches | 01, 05 |
| Bazi (Four Pillars) | bā zì | The stems and branches of the year, month, day and hour pillars — eight characters in all | 02 |
| Four Pillars | sì zhù | The year pillar, the month pillar, the day pillar and the hour pillar | 02 |
| Day Master (the day stem) | rì zhǔ | The stem of the day pillar, standing for the person whose chart it is | 02 |
| Month Command | yuè lìng tí gāng | The branch of the month pillar, the single most important factor in judging the strength of the elements | 02 |
A.3 Bazi
| Term | Pinyin | Meaning | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ten Gods | shí shén | Ten relationships defined from the day stem by the generation and restraint of the Five Elements, together with sameness or difference of polarity | 02 |
| Peer | bǐ jiān | The same element and the same polarity as the day stem | 02 |
| Rob Wealth | jié cái | The same element as the day stem but the opposite polarity | 02 |
| Eating God | shí shén | Generated by the day stem, with the same polarity | 02 |
| Hurting Officer | shāng guān | Generated by the day stem, with the opposite polarity | 02 |
| Indirect Wealth | piān cái | Restrained by the day stem, with the same polarity | 02 |
| Direct Wealth | zhèng cái | Restrained by the day stem, with the opposite polarity | 02 |
| Seven Killings (Indirect Officer) | qī shā | Restrains the day stem, with the same polarity | 02 |
| Direct Officer | zhèng guān | Restrains the day stem, with the opposite polarity | 02 |
| Indirect Resource (Owl) | piān yìn | Generates the day stem, with the same polarity | 02 |
| Direct Resource | zhèng yìn | Generates the day stem, with the opposite polarity | 02 |
| The five states of an element (prosperous, strong, resting, confined, dead) | wàng xiàng xiū qiú sǐ | The five states an element passes through in the four seasons | 02 |
| Rootedness | tōng gēn | A stem that finds a branch containing the same element beneath it | 02 |
| Twelve Stages | shí èr cháng shēng | Birth, Bathing, Capping, Office, Emperor's Prosperity, Decline, Sickness, Death, Grave, Extinction, Conception, Nurture | 02 |
| Emperor's Prosperity | dì wàng | The strongest stage among the Twelve Stages | 02 |
| Pattern | gé jú | The type of chart, decided mainly by the month command | 02 |
| Regular Pattern | zhèng gé | The eight regular patterns: Direct Officer, Seven Killings, Direct Wealth, Indirect Wealth, Direct Resource, Indirect Resource, Eating God and Hurting Officer | 02 |
| Irregular Pattern | wài gé | Special patterns such as the Following pattern, the Transforming pattern and the Dominant pattern | 02 |
| Following Pattern | cóng gé | The day master is extremely weak with no remedy and submits to whatever is strong | 02 |
| Transforming Pattern | huà qì gé | The day stem combines with an adjacent stem and transforms its qi | 02 |
| Dominant Pattern | zhuān wàng gé | One element fills the whole chart (Bends and straightens, Blazes and rises, Sows and reaps, Follows and reforms, Soaks and descends) | 02 |
| Useful God | yòng shén | The element the chart most needs | 02 |
| Favorable God | xǐ shén | The element that generates and supports the Useful God | 02 |
| Unfavorable God | jì shén | The element that restrains the Useful God | 02 |
| Support / Regulation | fú yì | The method of strengthening the weak and restraining the strong when choosing the Useful God | 02 |
| Adjustment | tiáo hòu | Choosing the Useful God by the cold, warmth, dryness and dampness of the season | 02 |
| Mediation | tōng guān | When two sides stand in opposition, taking what lies between them to harmonise the two | 02 |
| Illness and Remedy | bìng yào | Proposed by Zhang Nan: the illness of the chart is diagnosed and its remedy taken as the Useful God | 02 |
| Major Luck | dà yùn | A fortune cycle that changes every ten years | 02 |
| Annual Fortune | liú nián | The stem and branch of each year | 02 |
| Starting age | qǐ yùn | The age at which one begins to run Major Luck | 02 |
| Shen Sha (Stars & Spirits) | shén shà | Supplementary markers used in chart reading | 02 |
| Heavenly Yi Noble | tiān yǐ guì rén | The most honoured of the auspicious spirits | 02 |
| Yang Blade | yáng rèn | The Emperor's Prosperity position of a yang stem; it marks a fierce, unyielding nature | 02 |
| Peach Blossom (the Salty Pool) | táo huā | Governs attraction to the opposite sex and artistic talent; it cuts both ways very sharply | 02 |
| Post Horse | yì mǎ | Governs change, travel and moving house | 02 |
| Canopy Star | huá gài | Governs an aloof and lofty nature, the arts and a bond with religion | 02 |
| The prenatal palace | tāi yuán | The month of conception: the month pillar's stem advanced one place and its branch advanced three | 02 |
| The life palace | mìng gōng | A palace determined by the birth month and the birth hour | 02 |
A.4 Solar Terms
| Term | Pinyin | Meaning | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The 24 Solar Terms | èr shí sì jié qì | A node at every 15° of the sun's solar longitude, twenty-four in all | 03 |
| Solar longitude | huáng jīng | The angle of the sun's position on the ecliptic | 03 |
| The ecliptic | huáng dào | The apparent path of the sun across the celestial sphere | 03 |
| The fixed-term method | dìng qì fǎ | Fixing the solar terms by the sun's actual solar longitude (used from the Qing dynasty) | 03 |
| The mean-term method | píng qì fǎ | Dividing the tropical year into 24 equal parts | 03 |
| The twelve sectional terms | shí èr jié lìng | Start of Spring, Awakening of Insects, Pure Brightness, Start of Summer, Grain in Ear, Minor Heat, Start of Autumn, White Dew, Cold Dew, Start of Winter, Major Snow, Minor Cold | 03 |
| The twelve median terms | shí èr zhōng qì | Rain Water, Spring Equinox, Grain Rain, Grain Buds, Summer Solstice, Major Heat, End of Heat, Autumn Equinox, Frost's Descent, Minor Snow, Winter Solstice, Major Cold | 03 |
| The three pentads | sān hòu | Each solar term is divided into three pentads, five days each | 03 |
| The 72 pentads | qī shí èr hòu | 24 × 3 pentads in the year, recording phenological change | 03 |
| The four starts, two equinoxes and two solstices | sì lì èr fēn èr zhì | Start of Spring, Start of Summer, Start of Autumn, Start of Winter, Spring Equinox, Autumn Equinox, Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice | 03 |
| Gnomon shadow measurement | tǔ guī cè yǐng | The ancient method of fixing the solar terms by the shadow of an upright post | 03 |
| The four mid-season culminating stars | sì zhòng zhōng xīng | As recorded in the Canon of Yao, fixing the seasons by the star that crosses the southern meridian at dusk | 03 |
A.5 The I Ching and LiuYao
| Term | Pinyin | Meaning | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taiji | tài jí | The undifferentiated primal state before division | 04 |
| The two modes | liǎng yí | Yin and Yang | 04 |
| The four images | sì xiàng | Greater Yang, Lesser Yin, Lesser Yang, Greater Yin | 04 |
| The eight trigrams | bā guà | Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, Kun | 04 |
| Primary trigram | jīng guà | A three-line figure, that is, one of the eight trigrams | 04 |
| Derived hexagram (doubled trigram) | bié guà | A six-line figure, that is, one of the 64 hexagrams | 04 |
| The 64 hexagrams | liù shí sì guà | Formed by doubling the eight trigrams in pairs | 04 |
| The Earlier Heaven arrangement | xiān tiān bā guà | Fuxi's eight trigrams, Qian south and Kun north; it governs the relation of opposites | 04 |
| The Later Heaven arrangement | hòu tiān bā guà | King Wen's eight trigrams, Li south and Kan north; it governs flow and succession | 04 |
| Line | yáo | The basic symbol of a hexagram: a yang line is called nine and a yin line six | 04 |
| Line positions | yáo wèi | The first, second, third, fourth, fifth and top positions | 04 |
| Correct position | dāng wèi | A yang line in a yang position, or a yin line in a yin position | 04 |
| Holding the centre | dé zhōng | Occupying the second or the fifth line | 04 |
| Correspondence | xiāng yìng | The first with the fourth, the second with the fifth, the third with the top — one yin and one yang | 04 |
| The Ten Wings | shí yì | The Tuan, Xiang, Xi Ci (the Great Commentary), Wen Yan, Shuo Gua, Xu Gua and Za Gua — ten treatises in all | 04 |
| The Najia method | nà jiǎ | Created by Jing Fang; it assigns stems and branches to the lines of a hexagram | 04 |
| The eight-palace sequence | bā gōng guà xù | The 64 hexagrams arranged in eight palaces, eight hexagrams to a palace | 04 |
| The self and response lines | shì yìng | The self line stands for oneself, the response line for the other party | 04 |
| The six relations | liù qīn | Parents, brothers, children, wife and wealth, officials and ghosts | 04 |
| The six spirits | liù shén | Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Hooked Chen, Winged Serpent, White Tiger, Dark Warrior | 04 |
| The moving line | dòng yáo | A line that comes up old yang or old yin when casting; it changes | 04 |
| The changed hexagram | biàn guà | The new hexagram formed after the moving lines change | 04 |
| The relevant line | yòng shén | The line that stands for the matter asked about | 04 |
| The source line | yuán shén | What generates the relevant line | 04 |
| The hostile line | jì shén | What restrains the relevant line | 04 |
| The avenging line | chóu shén | What restrains the source line and generates the hostile line | 04 |
| The month branch in force | yuè jiàn | The month branch at the time of casting; it governs strength and decline | 04 |
| The day branch in force | rì chén | The day branch at the time of casting; it governs what lives and what dies | 04 |
| The timing of an answer | yìng qī | When the matter will come to pass | 04 |
| Meihua Yishu (Plum Blossom Numerology) | méi huā yì shù | Traditionally created by Shao Yong; it casts a hexagram from time and numbers | 04 |
| The number of the Great Expansion | dà yǎn zhī shù | The “fifty” of the Great Commentary; the number used when casting with yarrow stalks | 04 |
A.6 Synastry
| Term | Pinyin | Meaning | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The six marriage rites | liù lǐ | Proposing with gifts, asking the name, announcing the auspicious result, presenting the betrothal gifts, fixing the date and fetching the bride | 05 |
| Asking the name | wèn míng | One of the six rites: asking the woman's name and date of birth | 05 |
| Announcing the auspicious result | nà jí | One of the six rites: telling the woman's family once a favorable omen has been obtained | 05 |
| Synastry (marriage matching) | hé hūn | The traditional comparison of both parties' Bazi before a marriage | 05 |
| Six Combination | liù hé | Zi-Chou, Yin-Hai, Mao-Xu, Chen-You, Si-Shen, Wu-Wei | 05 |
| Three Harmony | sān hé | Shen-Zi-Chen, Hai-Mao-Wei, Yin-Wu-Xu, Si-You-Chou | 05 |
| The six Clashes | liù chōng | Zi-Wu, Chou-Wei, Yin-Shen, Mao-You, Chen-Xu, Si-Hai | 05 |
| The six Harms | liù hài | Zi-Wei, Chou-Wu, Yin-Si, Mao-Chen, Shen-Hai, You-Xu | 05 |
| The three Punishments | sān xíng | Yin-Si-Shen, Chou-Xu-Wei, Zi-Mao; and Chen, Wu, You and Hai, which punish themselves | 05 |
| The Break | xiāng pò | Zi-You, Mao-Wu, Chen-Chou, Xu-Wei, Yin-Hai, Si-Shen | 05 |
| The spouse palace | fū qī gōng | The branch of the day pillar | 05 |
| The East and West Four Life-Groups | dōng xī sì mìng | East Four (Kan, Li, Zhen, Xun) and West Four (Qian, Kun, Gen, Dui) | 05 |
| The eight wandering-year stars | yóu nián bā xīng | The eight stars of Eight Mansions theory, such as Life Qi, Heavenly Doctor and Longevity | 05 |
| The five stem combinations | tiān gān wǔ hé | Jia-Ji, Yi-Geng, Bing-Xin, Ding-Ren, Wu-Gui | 05 |
A.7 Western Tarot
| Term | Original | Meaning | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarot | Tarot | A Western system of divination and symbols made up of 78 cards, descended from a fifteenth-century Italian card game | 08 |
| Tarocchi | Tarocchi | The original Italian name for tarot, which first meant a kind of card game | 08 |
| Major Arcana | Major Arcana | The 22 trump cards, numbered 0–21, with no suit | 08 |
| Minor Arcana | Minor Arcana | The 56 suit cards, four suits of fourteen | 08 |
| Wands | Wands | The fire suit, standing for action, enthusiasm and creation | 08 |
| Cups | Cups | The water suit, standing for emotion, relationships and intuition | 08 |
| Swords | Swords | The air suit, standing for thought, communication and conflict | 08 |
| Pentacles | Pentacles | The earth suit, standing for material things, money and the body | 08 |
| Court Cards | Court Cards | The Page, Knight, Queen and King of each suit, sixteen in all | 08 |
| Page | Page | The lowest court rank, standing for a learner or a message | 08 |
| Knight | Knight | The second court rank, standing for the one who acts | 08 |
| Queen | Queen | The third court rank, standing for inner mastery | 08 |
| King | King | The highest court rank, standing for outer mastery | 08 |
| Upright | Upright | The card in its normal orientation | 08 |
| Reversed | Reversed | The card turned upside down; there are four main schools of reading it | 08 |
| Spread | Spread | The layout of the cards, each position having a fixed meaning | 08 |
| The Celtic Cross | Celtic Cross | The classic ten-card spread | 08 |
| The Fool's Journey | The Fool's Journey | The story of growth told by the 22 Major Arcana | 08 |
| The Fool | The Fool | Major Arcana 0, the starting point of the journey | 08 |
| The World | The World | Major Arcana 21, the end of the journey | 08 |
| Synchronicity | Synchronicity | Jung's term for a “meaningful coincidence” that has no causal link | 08 |
| Projection | Projection | The psychological mechanism that attributes an inner state to an external object | 08 |
| Archetype | Archetype | In Jung's theory, a universal image in the collective unconscious | 08 |
| Tarot de Marseille | Tarot de Marseille | The traditional form fixed between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries; its number cards have no scenes | 08 |
| RWS deck | Rider–Waite–Smith | Published in 1909; the first deck to illustrate every Minor Arcana card with a scene, and the most popular | 08 |
| Thoth deck | Thoth Tarot | Made in 1944 by Crowley with Harris; the most densely symbolic deck of all | 08 |
| The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn | Golden Dawn | An occult order founded in London in 1888 that brought tarot into a system | 08 |
| The Tree of Life | Tree of Life | The core structure of the Kabbalah; its 22 paths correspond to the Major Arcana | 08 |
| The Hebrew letters | Hebrew Alphabet | The 22 letters, corresponding to the 22 Major Arcana | 08 |
| Blackening (Nigredo) | Nigredo | The first of the three alchemical stages, corresponding to Death, the Devil and the Tower | 08 |
| Whitening (Albedo) | Albedo | The second of the three alchemical stages, corresponding to the Star and the Moon | 08 |
| Reddening (Rubedo) | Rubedo | The third of the three alchemical stages, corresponding to the Sun, Judgement and the World | 08 |
§2Appendix B · Chronology
Arranged by period, so that the lines of transmission in each field can be read side by side.
B.1 Timeline overview
| Period | Figure | Main contribution | Field |
|---|---|---|---|
| legendary | Fuxi | Drew the eight trigrams | I Ching |
| legendary | Xihe | Observed the heavens and set the seasons (the Canon of Yao) | Calendars |
| late Shang | King Wen of Zhou | Developed the 64 hexagrams (legendary) | I Ching |
| Western Zhou | the Duke of Zhou | Appended the line statements (legendary); established the rites and music | I Ching |
| Spring and Autumn | Confucius (551–479 BCE) | Produced the Ten Wings (a school attribution); a moral reading of the I Ching | I Ching |
| Warring States | Zou Yan (c. 305–240 BCE) | The theory of the five virtues succeeding one another; systematised the Five Elements | Philosophy |
| Western Han | Dong Zhongshu (179–104 BCE) | The mutual response of Heaven and humanity | Philosophy |
| Western Han | Luoxia Hong (c. 156–87 BCE) | The Taichu Calendar; brought the 24 Solar Terms into the calendar | Calendars |
| Western Han | Sima Qian (145–c. 86 BCE) | Took part in the Taichu Calendar; wrote the Treatise on the Calendar in the Records of the Grand Historian | Calendars |
| Western Han | Jing Fang (77–37 BCE) | The Najia method, the eight-palace sequence, the self and response lines, the six relations | LiuYao |
| Western Han | Liu Xin (50 BCE–23 CE) | The Santong Calendar | Calendars |
| Western Han | Liu An (179–122 BCE) | The Huainanzi records the full set of 24 Solar Terms | Solar Terms |
| Eastern Han | Wang Chong (27–c. 97 CE) | Balanced Inquiries (Lun Heng) attacked the doctrine of fate | Critique |
| Eastern Han | Zhang Heng (78–139 CE) | The Lingxian (Spiritual Constitution of the Universe); the armillary sphere | Astronomy |
| Eastern Han | Liu Hong (c. 130–196 CE) | The Qianxiang Calendar; the varying speed of the moon's motion | Calendars |
| Eastern Han | Zheng Xuan (127–200 CE) | The theory of line–branch correspondence | I Ching |
| Three Kingdoms | Guan Lu (209–256 CE) | The arts of calculation; divination | Arts of calculation |
| Three Kingdoms | Yu Fan (164–233 CE) | Hexagram transformation, complementary hexagrams and nuclear trigrams | I Ching |
| Eastern Jin | Guo Pu (276–324 CE) | the Book of Burial (Zang Shu); the theory of feng shui | Feng shui |
| Northern and Southern Dynasties | Zu Chongzhi (429–500) | The Daming Calendar; the first to incorporate precession | Calendars |
| Northern and Southern Dynasties | Tao Hongjing (456–536) | Edited and organised the literature of the arts of calculation | Arts of calculation |
| Tang | Li Chunfeng (602–670) | The Linde Calendar | Calendars |
| Tang | Yi Xing (683–727) | The Dayan Calendar; measured the meridian by observation | Calendars |
| Tang | Li Xuzhong (761–813) | The three-pillar method; the founding of Bazi practice | Bazi |
| Tang | Li Dingzuo | Zhou Yi Ji Jie (Collected Explanations of the Zhou Yi) | I Ching |
| the Five Dynasties and early Song | Xu Ziping (c. 907–960) | The four-pillar method; taking the day stem as the self | Bazi |
| Northern Song | Chen Tuan (?–989) | The Taiji diagram and the Earlier Heaven diagram (attributed) | I Ching |
| Northern Song | Shao Yong (1011–1077) | Huangji Jingshi; the Earlier Heaven school | I Ching |
| Southern Song | Xu Dasheng | Yuanhai Ziping | Bazi |
| Southern Song | Zhu Xi (1130–1200) | Zhou Yi Ben Yi (The Original Meaning of the Zhou Yi); “the Yi was originally a book of divination” | I Ching |
| Northern Song | Cheng Yi (1033–1107) | Yichuan Yi Zhuan | I Ching |
| Yuan | Guo Shoujing (1231–1316) | The Shoushi Calendar; the four-seas survey | Calendars |
| Yuan | Wu Cheng (1249–1333) | Yueling Qishier Hou Jijie | Solar Terms |
| Ming | Liu Ji (1311–1375) | A commentary on the Ditiansui (attributed) | Bazi |
| Ming | Wan Minying (1521–1603) | Sanming Tonghui (Comprehensive Compendium of the Three Fates) | Bazi |
| Ming | Zhang Nan (style name Shenfengzi) | Shenfeng Tongkao; the illness-and-remedy theory | Bazi |
| Ming | Xu Guangqi (1562–1633) | Chongzhen Lishu; introduced Western astronomy | Calendars |
| late Ming and early Qing | Johann Adam Schall von Bell (1592–1666) | The Shixian Calendar; the fixed-term method | Calendars |
| Qing | Shen Xiaozhan (1710–?) | Ziping Zhenquan; the theory of patterns | Bazi |
| Qing | Ren Tieqiao (1773–?) | Ditiansui Chanwei (Expounding the Ditiansui); the theory of strength and decline | Bazi |
| Qing | Wang Hongxu | Bushi Zhengzong | LiuYao |
| Qing | the Old Man of the Wild Crane | Zengshan Buyi (Augmented and Abridged Divination) | LiuYao |
| Qing | Yu Chuntai | Qiongtong Baojian; the Adjustment Useful God | Bazi |
| Qing | Chen Su'an | Mingli Yueyan | Bazi |
| Republican era | Yuan Shushan (1881–1952) | Mingli Tanyuan | Bazi |
| Republican era | Xu Lewu (1886–1949) | Commentaries on the three great classics | Bazi |
| Republican era | Lin Gengbai (1897–1941) | Renjian Mingli Cunyan | Bazi |
| Republican era | Wei Qianli (1911–1988) | Qianli Minggao | Bazi |
| Republican era | Shang Binghe (1870–1950) | Zhou Yi Gu Shi Kao (A Study of Ancient Divination in the Zhou Yi) | I Ching |
| Republican era | Hang Xizhai (1869–1924) | Yi Xie | I Ching |
B.2 Index of key biographies
| Figure | Detailed in |
|---|---|
| Luoxia Hong | 01 Calendars §1.6.1 |
| Zhang Heng | 01 Calendars §1.6.2 |
| Zu Chongzhi | 01 Calendars §1.6.3 |
| Yi Xing | 01 Calendars §1.6.4 |
| Guo Shoujing | 01 Calendars §1.6.5 |
| Johann Adam Schall von Bell | 01 Calendars §1.6.6 |
| Liu Hong | 01 Calendars §1.6.7 |
| Li Xuzhong | 02 Bazi: the Four Pillars §2.6.1 |
| Xu Ziping | 02 Bazi: the Four Pillars §2.6.2 |
| Wan Minying | 02 Bazi: the Four Pillars §2.6.4 |
| Zhang Nan | 02 Bazi: the Four Pillars §2.6.5 |
| Shen Xiaozhan | 02 Bazi: the Four Pillars §2.6.6 |
| Ren Tieqiao | 02 Bazi: the Four Pillars §2.6.7 |
| Xu Lewu | 02 Bazi: the Four Pillars §2.6.8 |
| Wei Qianli | 02 Bazi: the Four Pillars §2.6.9 |
| Lin Gengbai | 02 Bazi: the Four Pillars §2.6.10 |
| Xihe | 03 The 24 Solar Terms §3.7.1 |
| Liu An | 03 The 24 Solar Terms §3.7.2 |
| Wu Cheng | 03 The 24 Solar Terms §3.7.3 |
| Xu Guangqi | 03 The 24 Solar Terms §3.7.5 |
| Fuxi | 04 LiuYao and the I Ching §4.7.1 |
| King Wen of Zhou | 04 LiuYao and the I Ching §4.7.2 |
| the Duke of Zhou | 04 LiuYao and the I Ching §4.7.3 |
| Confucius | 04 LiuYao and the I Ching §4.7.4 |
| Jing Fang | 04 LiuYao and the I Ching §4.7.5 |
| Shao Yong | 04 LiuYao and the I Ching §4.7.6 |
| Zhu Xi | 04 LiuYao and the I Ching §4.7.7 |
| the Old Man of the Wild Crane | 04 LiuYao and the I Ching §4.7.8 |
| Shang Binghe | 04 LiuYao and the I Ching §4.7.9 |
B.3 Chronology of Western tarot figures
| Period | Figure | Dates | Main contribution | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15th century | (anonymous craftsman) | — | Painted the Visconti-Sforza cards (c. 1440) | Earliest surviving tarot cards |
| 18th century | Court de Gébelin | 1725–1784 | Proposed the “Egyptian origin” theory (1781) | The mistaken starting point of tarot occultism |
| 18th century | Etteilla (Jean-Baptiste Alliette) | 1738–1791 | The first professional tarot reader; designed the first divinatory tarot deck | The practical founder of tarot divination |
| 19th century | Eliphas Lévi (Alphonse Louis Constant) | 1810–1875 | United tarot with the Kabbalah into a single system | The builder of the tarot occult system |
| 19th century | S. L. MacGregor Mathers | 1854–1918 | A founder of the Golden Dawn; systematised the tarot correspondence tables | The standardiser of tarot technique |
| 20th century | Arthur Edward Waite | 1857–1942 | Devised the RWS deck; wrote The Pictorial Key to the Tarot | The father of modern tarot |
| 20th century | Pamela Colman Smith | 1878–1951 | Painted all 78 RWS cards | The creator of tarot's visual language |
| 20th century | Aleister Crowley | 1875–1947 | Designed the Thoth tarot deck | With Waite, a source of modern tarot |
| 20th century | Lady Frieda Harris | 1877–1962 | Painted all 78 Thoth cards | The artist behind the Thoth deck |
| 20th century | Carl Gustav Jung | 1875–1961 | Proposed synchronicity, the archetypes and the collective unconscious | The provider of tarot's psychological theory |
Index of detailed tarot biographies:
| Figure | Detailed in |
|---|---|
| Court de Gébelin | 08 Tarot §8.7.1 |
| Etteilla | 08 Tarot §8.7.2 |
| Eliphas Lévi | 08 Tarot §8.7.3 |
| S. L. MacGregor Mathers | 08 Tarot §8.7.4 |
| Arthur Edward Waite | 08 Tarot §8.7.5 |
| Pamela Colman Smith | 08 Tarot §8.7.6 |
| Aleister Crowley | 08 Tarot §8.7.7 |
| Lady Frieda Harris | 08 Tarot §8.7.8 |
| Carl Gustav Jung | 08 Tarot §8.7.9 |
Note: the tarot section holds 9 full biographies plus 1 genealogical supplement (the painter of the Visconti cards). With the 25 from the Eastern systems, the library holds 34 full biographies in all.
§3Appendix C · Core bibliography
C.1 Bazi (ordered by difficulty)
| Book | Author | Period | Difficulty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qianli Minggao | Wei Qianli | Republican era | ★★ | The best introductory book, in modern prose with abundant worked examples |
| Ziping Zhenquan | Shen Xiaozhan | Qing | ★★★ | The classic of pattern theory, tightly reasoned |
| Mingli Yueyan | Chen Su'an | Qing | ★★★ | Clearly organised; argues against needless complication |
| Shenfeng Tongkao | Zhang Nan | Ming | ★★★ | The illness-and-remedy theory; critical of Shen Sha |
| Ditiansui Chanwei | annotated by Ren Tieqiao | Qing | ★★★★ | The classic of strength-and-decline theory, rich in worked charts |
| Qiongtong Baojian | edited by Yu Chuntai | Qing | ★★★★ | A system of Adjustment Useful Gods |
| Yuanhai Ziping | compiled by Xu Dasheng | Southern Song | ★★★★ | The first textbook of the Ziping method |
| Sanming Tonghui (Comprehensive Compendium of the Three Fates) | Wan Minying | Ming | ★★★★★ | An encyclopaedia of destiny studies; essential for research |
C.2 The I Ching and LiuYao
| Book | Author | Period | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zengshan Buyi (Augmented and Abridged Divination) | the Old Man of the Wild Crane | Qing | The bible of practical LiuYao, with over 400 hexagram cases |
| Bushi Zhengzong | Wang Hongxu | Qing | The most systematic textbook of LiuYao |
| Zhou Yi Ben Yi (The Original Meaning of the Zhou Yi) | Zhu Xi | Southern Song | The official standard for Yi studies |
| Zhou Yi Zhu (Commentary on the Zhou Yi) | Wang Bi | Wei | Founded the meaning-and-principle school |
| Yichuan Yi Zhuan | Cheng Yi | Northern Song | The highest achievement of the meaning-and-principle school |
| Zhou Yi Ji Jie (Collected Explanations of the Zhou Yi) | Li Dingzuo | Tang | A compilation of Han-dynasty Yi material |
| Huangji Jingshi | Shao Yong | Northern Song | The summit of image-and-number deduction |
| Zhou Yi Gu Shi Kao (A Study of Ancient Divination in the Zhou Yi) | Shang Binghe | Republican era | A compilation of ancient divination cases |
| Meihua Yishu (Plum Blossom Numerology) | attributed to Shao Yong | Song | Casting a hexagram from time |
C.3 Calendars and Solar Terms
| Book | Author | Period | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huainanzi, the Astronomy Chapter | Liu An and others | Western Han | The first complete record of the 24 Solar Terms |
| the Book of Han, the Treatise on Pitch Pipes and the Calendar | Ban Gu | Eastern Han | A complete record of the Santong calendar |
| Yueling Qishier Hou Jijie | Wu Cheng | Yuan | The standard text on the 72 pentads |
| the Shoushi Calendar | Guo Shoujing and others | Yuan | The highest achievement of Chinese calendrics |
| Chongzhen Lishu | Xu Guangqi and others | Ming | A fusion of Chinese and Western astronomy |
| Calculation and Promulgation of the Chinese Lunisolar Calendar, GB/T 33661-2017 | Purple Mountain Observatory | Present day | A national standard |
C.4 Modern scholarship
| Book or paper | Author | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Zhongguo Tianwenxue Shi (A History of Chinese Astronomy) | Chen Zungui | The authoritative work on the history of Chinese astronomy |
| Zhongguo Gudai Lifa (Calendars of Ancient China) | Zhang Peiyu and others | A systematic study of the history of calendrics |
| Zhongguo Shushu Wenhua Shi (A Cultural History of the Arts of Calculation) | Jiang Xiaoyuan | A historical look at the culture of the arts of calculation |
| Xingzhanxue yu Chuantong Wenhua (Astrology and Traditional Culture) | Jiang Xiaoyuan | Astrology and destiny arts examined from the standpoint of the history of science |
| Zhou Yi Gu Jing Jin Zhu (A Modern Annotation of the Ancient Zhou Yi) | Gao Heng | A modern scholarly study of the Yi |
| Zhongguo Minglixue Shilun (A History of Chinese Destiny Studies) | Lu Zhiji | A modern survey of the history of destiny studies |
| Zhongguo Fangshu Zhengkao and Zhongguo Fangshu Xukao (Critical Studies of Chinese Technical Arts, I and II) | Li Ling | Archaeological and documentary research on the technical arts |
| Science and Civilisation in China | Joseph Needham | The history of Chinese science and technology (the astronomy and calendrics volumes) |
C.5 Western Tarot
| Book | Author | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Pictorial Key to the Tarot | A. E. Waite | 1911 | The authoritative source text of the RWS system |
| The Book of Thoth | Aleister Crowley | 1944 | The complete exposition of the Thoth tarot system |
| Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic | Eliphas Lévi | 1856 | The founding work that joined tarot to the Kabbalah |
| Le Monde Primitif (The Primitive World) | Court de Gébelin | 1781 | The original source of the “Egyptian origin” claim (worth more as a document than for its content) |
| Tarot and the Journey of the Hero | — | Present day | A reading of tarot from the standpoint of Jungian psychology |
| 78 Degrees of Wisdom | Rachel Pollack | 1980 | The most admired modern work on reading tarot |
| The Complete Guide to the Tarot | Eden Gray | 1970 | The most influential popular guide of the later twentieth century |
| A History of the Tarot | — | Present day | A historiographical study of tarot, key to correcting the false origin story |
| Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle | C. G. Jung & W. Pauli | 1952 | The psychological grounding of tarot theory |
Suggested reading order: to learn what actually happened, start with the historiographical studies of tarot; for an entry into reading the cards, begin with Rachel Pollack's 78 Degrees of Wisdom; to understand the system, go on to the source texts by Waite and Crowley.
§4Appendix D · Star Chart Notes
D.1 The star chart and the sidereal day
The stars on this page are real — Orion, the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, all visible tonight. The armillary turns at the sidereal rate: one full sky every 23 hours 56 minutes.
The sky on our home page is not decoration. Orion's belt, the bowl of the Big Dipper, the W of Cassiopeia — projected at their true positions, brightened by magnitude. The armillary turns at the sidereal rate: 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds to a full sky. We do not build imaginary universes; the heavens can be measured, and shown as they are.