Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 China on the Eve of the Historical Period
- 2 Language and Writing
- 3 Shang Archaeology
- 4 The Shang: China’s First Historical Dynasty
- 5 Western Zhou History
- 6 Western Zhou Archaeology
- 7 The Waning of the Bronze Age: Material Culture and Social Developments, 770–481 B.C.
- 8 The Spring and Autumn Period
- 9 Warring States Political History
- 10 The Art and Architecture of the Warring States Period
- 11 The Classical Philosophical Writings
- 12 Warring States Natural Philosophy and Occult Thought
- 13 The Northern Frontier in Pre–Imperial China
- 14 The Heritage Left to the Empires
- Bibliography
- Index
- Map 1 Topography of China
- Map 3.1 Archaeological sites of the Early Bronze Age
- Map 6.1 Archaeological sites of the Western Zhou period
- References
12 - Warring States Natural Philosophy and Occult Thought
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 China on the Eve of the Historical Period
- 2 Language and Writing
- 3 Shang Archaeology
- 4 The Shang: China’s First Historical Dynasty
- 5 Western Zhou History
- 6 Western Zhou Archaeology
- 7 The Waning of the Bronze Age: Material Culture and Social Developments, 770–481 B.C.
- 8 The Spring and Autumn Period
- 9 Warring States Political History
- 10 The Art and Architecture of the Warring States Period
- 11 The Classical Philosophical Writings
- 12 Warring States Natural Philosophy and Occult Thought
- 13 The Northern Frontier in Pre–Imperial China
- 14 The Heritage Left to the Empires
- Bibliography
- Index
- Map 1 Topography of China
- Map 3.1 Archaeological sites of the Early Bronze Age
- Map 6.1 Archaeological sites of the Western Zhou period
- References
Summary
The natural experts were vital participants in the intellectual and spiritual ferment of the Warring States period. They looked for order in natural phenomena and related this order to human activity in numerologically based classifications. The natural experts embraced the magico-religious elements of Warring States culture. Varieties of divination, demonology, charms, incantations, and magico-religious operations (exorcism, propitiation) found a place in their practices and texts; in short, the natural experts were also occultists. While correlative cosmology is a significant historical outcome, other aspects of Warring States astrology and the calendar should not be overlooked. Astrology remained closely connected to religious ideas about Heaven and the spirit world, whose influence was manifested in celestial and other phenomena. Divination with turtle and milfoil remained important in the religious life of the Warring States elite. The bamboo-strip divination record from Baoshan tomb 2, Hubei, documents routine divination to obtain judgments from the spirits and their approval of sacrificial offerings.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Ancient ChinaFrom the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC, pp. 813 - 884Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1999
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