SIDE BY SIDE
Compare mantic systems
Read systems against shared questions to identify common language, procedural differences and distinct limits.
| Dimension | 测字、拆字与相字 ↗ | 梅花易数 ↗ |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Dreams, characters and popular divination | Yijing-derived and correlative systems |
| Inputs | Original character, script form, decomposition convention and context | Casting source, number selection, time and body/use convention |
| Procedural structure | The graph is split or recombined, interpreted through component meaning, homophones, stroke position, writing gesture and the situation; some schools add phases, trigrams or calendrical signs. | Numbers are reduced by eight or six to obtain upper-lower trigrams and a moving line. The body and function trigrams are distinguished, then compared through phase production-control, seasonal strength, nuclear and changed figures, and situational signs. |
| Formation | Early graph-pun stories; rich Song records; Ming-Qing manuals | Influenced by Shao Yong's Song thought; received method chiefly visible in Ming-Qing texts |
| Evidence labels | Textually documented · Traditional attribution | Traditional attribution · Contested lineage or date |
| Texts | Song anecdotes of Xie Shi / Zichu / Ming-Qing character-divination manuals | Xinyi Guashu attributed to Shao Kangjie / Ming text on character reading and Plum Blossom numbers / Later editions titled Meihua Yishu |
| Limits | Character divination depends on graph structure, puns and improvisation, limiting repeatability. Retrospective ingenuity should not be presented as a fixed algorithm. | Attribution to Shao Yong does not establish his authorship. Famous stories such as the plum-blossom omen belong to lineage narratives; their historical status requires independent evidence. |
| Research question | Which decompositions depend on form, sound or context? | Which choices convert an observation into figure numbers? |