L.01MANTIC ARTS LIBRARY
Thirty-four core dossiers across nine families. Explore principles, formation, primary texts, school differences and the limits of evidence.
Guībǔ yǔ gǔbǔ · Pyromantic shell and bone divination
A pyromantic decision system using prepared turtle shell or animal bone whose cracks were interpreted; it is the earliest Chinese divinatory institution documented by a large surviving archive.
Shīshì yǔ Zhōuyì · Yarrow divination and the Zhou Changes
A method producing a six-line hexagram and changing lines with counting stalks, interpreted through line statements and later correlative reasoning; it became a canonical hub for Yijing studies and many later arts.
Shùzì guà yǔ Xiān-Qín shìfǎ · Numerical hexagrams and pre-imperial divination
Excavated traditions in which numbers such as one, four, five, six, eight and nine directly formed line positions, revealing a plurality of methods before and alongside standardized yin-yang lines.
Hétú, Luòshū yǔ Jiǔgōng · River Chart, Luo Writing and the Nine Palaces
Spatial-numerical models of parity, generative numbers, center, cardinal and corner positions; a foundational node for the Three Boards, fengshui, date selection and Song correlative Yijing studies.
Guàqì, Nàjiǎ yǔ Bāgōng · Hexagram qi, Najia and the Eight Palaces
Correlations of hexagrams and lines with months, seasonal nodes, stems, branches, phases, pitch and waxing-waning cycles; a technical substrate for Six Lines, fate calculation and some fengshui systems.
CONNECTED KNOWLEDGE
Each path connects a family, shared questions and related fields for comparative reading, without claiming proven historical transmission.
02KNOWLEDGE FAMILIES
From oracle bones, yarrow and numerical hexagrams to Hetu-Luoshu and Najia: the symbolic, temporal and numerical languages shared by many later systems.
Distinct traditions of inference built around hexagrams, lines, correlative roles, oracular texts and large-scale models of time.
Taiyi, Qimen, Liuren and related methods organize time and space through nine-palace models, cosmic boards, agents and calendrical rules.
Traditional interpretive systems organizing life narratives through birth time, stems and branches, palaces or celestial positions.
From state astrology to winds, cloud forms and phenology: how observations became political and human interpretation.
Approaches to dwellings, graves, settlements and landscapes through form, orientation, timing and spatial order.
Historical systems of classification and analogy based on appearance, bones, voice and movement, studied together with their risks of bias.
Traditions matching activities with calendrical days, seasonal nodes, the Twelve Officers and other almanac factors.
Lots, moon blocks, character analysis, dream books and local quick methods reveal the diversity of divination in everyday life.
03Scope and classification
No closed, universally accepted list covers every Chinese mantic art. Names overlap, divide, disappear, acquire pseudonymous authors and are reinvented. This atlas centers identifiable texts, living systems and significant branches, with its scope and evidence levels made explicit.
Supported by datable material, catalogs, objects or verifiable text.
How a lineage or book tells its story; not automatically a modern historical finding.
A culturally meaningful origin narrative that does not establish a date.
Disagreement over author, composition, genealogy or algorithmic relationship.
04Branch index and extended dossiers
These names remain in a traceable branch index. They become independent dossiers only when rules, dates and relationships can be described with adequate evidence.
Six Lines: Huozhulin, Wenwangke, Huangjin Ce, hidden lines, advancing-retreating signs and timing schools
Qimen: rotating, flying, split-term, intercalary, Maoshan, hourly, daily and selection approaches
Liuren: lesson-pattern, correlative, case-based, Golden Formula and the genealogically uncertain Lesser Liuren
Fate calculation: nayin luming, Ziping pattern, strength, climatic adjustment, spirits, Taiyi natal methods, nine-palace annual movement and hand mnemonics
Astral nativities: Qintang, Guolao, celestial-office planets, Seven Governors and Four Auxiliaries, animal-star and lodge traditions
Fengshui: form, Sanhe, Sanyuan, Xuankong, Flying Stars, Eight Mansions, living and burial approaches and compass layers
Physiognomy: face, bone, hand, voice, gait, complexion and moles, with cross-cultural origins marked where needed
Miscellaneous methods: hidden-object guessing, inverse puncture, emptiness, animal calls, bodily signs, anomalies, board games, coins, dominoes and dice
