Portents in Early Imperial China: Observational Patterns from the “Spring and Autumn” Weft Profoundly Immersed Herptile (Qiantan ba 潛潭巴)

Abstract

Abstract Still neglected by modern research, the “Weft” (or “Apocrypha”) contain a wealth of unexploited data relevant to Chinese history in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Sometimes ascribed to Confucius, these texts, whose Chinese name (wei 緯) denotes the crosswise threads of woven fabric, have long been perceived as arcane supplements to the “Classics,” called jing 經, the lengthwise threads. Repeatedly prohibited and destroyed, they survive mainly as citations today. This paper focuses on one of them, anonymous, undated, and fragmentary, titled Qiantan ba 潛潭巴. Most of its remnants present extrapolations derived from observed phenomena interpreted as signs. By comparing the observed patterns to the typology of portents in the official monographs on celestial phenomena and the Five Agents of the era, the paper sheds light on the logic at work in the interpretative process.