There are records of solar eclipse, lunar eclipse and stars in oracle bone inscriptions, which are the earliest valuable astronomical data in the world.
Eclipse of the sun and the moon, Oracle writing, etc. There are only two known solar eclipses recorded in oracle inscriptions
Kui Chou Chen, eclipse day and night Tian (Shangjia)? (Jing 3965) GUI you Zhen, and eat every day and night, jiaruo?
Kuiyouzhen, day and night and (have) eclipse, not if? (lost 374) the "daily food" here is the same as the "new moon, Xinmao, daily food" in the book of songs, Xiaoya, the turn of October. Eclipses generally occur in the daytime, but also in the evening, "there is an eclipse on the eve of the sun", is the evidence.
In oracle bone inscriptions, there are often records of "the sun is there"
Xin Si Zhen, the day again, it told his father Ding. (HOUSHANG 29.6) Geng chenzhen, the sun is not a disaster, and jiaruo (quintessence 55). There are two kinds of explanations for "the sun is also Ya". As Guo Moruo speculated, "Ya and eclipse, the same sound, cover the matter of solar eclipse?" ① As Chen Mengjia said: "if you read a mind or a mole, it means black Qi or sunspots in the sun.".
There are more records of lunar eclipses in oracle bone inscriptions, and some also record the month
If you don't know what to do, you'll lose your virginity? On the third day, you will see the eclipse of the moon, Wen, and August. (a 1289 + 1749)
[GUI] uncertain, Zhengzhen, yijiashen, Yiri? On the eve of the lunar eclipse? A (FOG), no rain? [front]
Lunar eclipse on the eve of the moon [reverse] (C. 56).
Seven days later, he went to eat. (Ku 1595)
"Eclipse of the moon" means "eclipse of the moon." a "1289 + 1749 is the combination of Yan Yiping. The word" Wen "in it, Dong Zuobin said:" the original meaning of this word should be "Da" in the memorial newspaper When the moon eclipses, Fang Guozao returns with "smell" Shi Zhizhong The saying that "when the Historiographer does not see, the prefecture and the state will hear" is very true. This is because it means that on August, Kuiwei day, the historian asked whether there was any disaster in this ten day period. Three days later, there was a lunar eclipse in the evening of Yiyou. It was reported by others, so it was specially noted with the word "Wen". "C Bian" 56 is a positive and negative Oracle, positive meaning: Kuiwei day divination historian asked, the next day Jiashen, Tianyin? Is there an eclipse that night? As a result, there was fog and no rain. On the other hand, there is a positive verification saying that there was a lunar eclipse that night. The word in the last article, which is not recognized, may refer to a natural phenomenon. It is said that on the seventh day of a month, the night sky appeared, and the next day there was a lunar eclipse in Gengshen.
The characters of stars in oracle bone inscriptions are written by,,, or by adding sound. They are pictographs of stars in the sky. It is said in the Oracle Inscriptions: "on the evening of the end of winter Also big star "(" miscellaneous "120). So far, it is not clear what the "big star" refers to. In Ji Wei Ju Jia Wen Shuo, Yang Shuda said: "the big star is the big star in the sky", and also said: "the big star is the big star".
Oracle bone inscriptions say:
Xin Wei, Wei, new star. (former 7.14.1) this Oracle says that a new star appeared in the sky on the night of Xinwei. Yang Shuda said: "the new star, the new" 3, meaning can not be fully understood. Recently, it has been said that a new star is a variable star in astronomy, that is, a star that is not bright enough to be seen by the naked eye. However, due to the drastic changes in its interior, its brightness suddenly increases. If it is seen by the naked eye, it is called a new star, which seems credible. In addition, there are often records of "stars" (Shi 14.6) and "Qixing" (she 598) in oracle inscriptions, which seem to be stars of stars.
Due to the need of agricultural production, the Shang Dynasty had a relatively complete calendar. According to the oracle bone inscriptions, the month had different sizes at that time. The big month had 30 days and the small month had 29 days. A year was December. Because the total number of the twelve big and small months was only 354 or 355 days, the leap month was used to adjust the number of days in a year, so that the changes of the four seasons in a year could be within a certain period of time. In the early oracle inscriptions, this leap month was placed after December, the last month of the year in which it should be placed, so it is called "13th month". This is called "year-end intercalation" in the calendar. In the late oracle inscriptions, the leap month is placed in a certain month of the year in which the leap should be placed, such as the leap may. There are two may in that year, which is called the method of "placing the leap in the middle of the year" in the calendar. This kind of calendar is neither a solar calendar based on the year measured by the sun's movement, nor a pure lunar calendar based on the moon's round and missing period, that is, the new moon, but a combined calendar of yin and Yang with "the fourth lunar month as the year of maturity".
There is a saying in Oracle Bone Inscriptions: "kuchou Buzhen, who was born in August, was worshipped by Jiawang basi" (Cui 896). It can be proved that in the era of emperor B and Emperor Xin, there were still differences in age, year, and sacrifice. In the inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells, the characters of Sui, Nian, Si and Xing are used to describe the age, the year, and the sacrifice.
Sui Zi is like a kind of half moon cutting tool with a handle. The two points on the blade are the holes on the blade, so that the blade can be tied to the handle by threading the rope. The ancients used the year to harvest the ears of grain and cut the body of animals. Therefore, the word "Sui" should be the correct interpretation of the year. Because harvest crops by year, there is a general term for a year in the oracle inscriptions, such as "receive year of this year" (a 3298) "and" receive year of the next year "(B 6881), but it refers to the harvest of a year, not used to record the time. The word "Nian" is not the year to record time. Shuowen said: "Nian, Gu Shuye." "Gu Liang Zhuan" Huan Gong three years also said: "five grains are ripe for years also." Year may be a record of several harvest seasons, such as: "since this decade, there are five, Wang Feng" (continued 1.44.5), "Shou (you) year" (a) 3430). The year recorded in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is neither year nor year. In the early inscriptions, only the sun and the moon are recorded. In the late inscriptions, the year recorded is called Si. This is related to the constant sacrifice held by the king of Shang in a year. We know that in a year, the king of Shang had to hold different kinds of sacrifices according to different times. After one sacrifice, the time of a year would pass, so the sacrifice was used to represent the year. This is consistent with the statement in Erya Shitian: "Xia said Sui, Shang said Si, Zhou yuenian, Tang Yu yuezai".
The division of spring, summer, autumn and winter started after the spring and Autumn period. Before that, there were only two seasons. In the oracle bone inscriptions, the spring character is used as (Chu) shape; the autumn character is used as shape. "Zhen, come to spring, don't accept the year" (quintessence 881), "Wu Wu Bu, I'm Zhen, this autumn, I'm in business?" (houxia 42.3) the words "spring" and "autumn" in other words mean one year, not spring and autumn in four seasons. Because of the need of agricultural production, it is also possible that in the Shang Dynasty, there were only two periods of spring planting and autumn harvest, so the spring and Autumn period was used to represent the time of a year.
In the Shang Dynasty, the method of recording the day was expressed by the combination of ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches, that is, from jiagamete (Jiazi) to guipeihai (Guihai), there were exactly 60 matches. There are some ganzhibiao in oracle bone inscriptions, which are not oracle inscriptions, but spare "almanacs", which may be used by historians at that time to check the date at the time of divination. The method of recording Japan by Zhi Lai had existed before Shang Dynasty, and it has been used in our country until modern times.
In the Shang Dynasty, each time segment of the day had its own proper name.
In oracle bone inscriptions, day and night are relative, day refers to day, and night refers to night from after dark to before dawn. The character "Xi", written in oracle bone inscriptions, has the same shape as the character "Yue". Only in the examples can we tell whether it is "Xi" or "Yue".
The word "Dan" is written in oracle bone inscriptions, such as "Dan does not rain" (quintessence 702), "Dan rains the next day" (Jin 381), etc. Ming characters, oracle bone inscriptions and shapes, such as "Ming" and "Dan" in "Yisi Mingyu" (B 6664), all refer to the time after dawn. "Shuowen" said: "Dan, Ming also." The astronomy chapter of Huainanzi is divided into three periods: "Ming" is Chenming, Ming and Danming.
The time after Dan and Ming Dynasty is called Da Cai, Da Shi or Chao. In "Da Cai Yu Zi Bei Zheng" (Yi 116), "Cai" is written in oracle bone inscriptions; in "Da Shi, bu (QI)" (Cui 999), "Shi" is written in the same way as the eclipse of the sun and the moon; in "Chao you (you) Yu" (Yi 292), "Chao" is written in oracle bone inscriptions.
The time after Da Cai, Da Shi and Chao is called Sino Japanese, which is equivalent to the present "noon". "China and Japan, its rain" (quintessence 719) "China and Japan", Oracle writing day.
The time after China and Japan is called "Ze". The oracle bone inscriptions are shaped like the sun has moved to the West. People need to look at the shape of the sun from the side. Oracle inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells say that "the rain of the river comes from the north" (he 78) and "the rain of the river" (Ming 703).
Snack is the time for businessmen to eat in the afternoon, while big food and snack are the time for two meals in the morning and night. Big food is the time to eat in the morning. From "zhongri to Yong" (a 547), "Ze to Yong (), no rain, zhongri to Ze, its rain?" "Duo I" 394), "Yong to faint, not rain?" (quintessence 751) and so on, we can know that in China and Japan, Ze, Yong and Hun are in sequence. "Yong" is also called "Yong" or ". Yong is the time before dusk.
The time after the snack is called Xiaocai or dusk. Xiaocai is opposite to Dacai in "today's Xiaocai, allow heavy rain" (Yi 276). Dacai is the Dynasty and Xiaocai is the evening. "Today Xin, to dusk rain" (Ning 1.70) of the dusk word, oracle bone inscriptions for shape, dusk after Yong, Yong after Ze, we can see dusk is dusk. Dan and dusk are relative, Dan is sunrise, dusk is sunrise. "Its mo (dusk) does not rain" (quintessence 695) "Mo" is "dusk, oracle bone inscriptions, shape, like the sun into the grass, Chao Mo relative, Chao after dawn, Mo and faint equivalent. Xiaocaihun and modu refer to the sunset and dusk. This is the same as "Guoyu", "Luyu" in Dacai Chaori The records of "picking the moon at night" are consistent.
