SIDE BY SIDE
Compare mantic systems
Read systems against shared questions to identify common language, procedural differences and distinct limits.
| Dimension | 七政四余与五星星命 ↗ | 国家星占与天象占候 ↗ |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Fate calculation and astral nativities | Celestial omens and signs |
| Inputs | Ephemeris, epoch, time zone, coordinates and interpretive text | Chronology, observation, textual locator and omen commentary |
| Procedural structure | Calendrical and textual conventions determine celestial and other system-specific positions; these are placed by palace and lunar lodge and read through condition, aspects, motion and time periods. Traditions differ on the four auxiliaries, house systems and time lords. | Observers recorded time, direction, color, duration and motion, then linked the event through star offices, terrestrial fields, phases and inherited omen statements to rulers, war, disaster or harvest. |
| Formation | Stabilized in China during Tang-Song through indigenous and Indo-Iranian elements | Early records in Shang-Zhou; systematized in Warring States-Han and long institutionalized |
| Evidence labels | Textually documented · Cross-cultural formation · Contested lineage or date | Excavated evidence · Textually documented |
| Texts | Guolao Xingzong / Xingming Suyuan / Xingxue Dacheng | Records of the Grand Historian, Treatise on Celestial Offices / Book of Han, Treatise on Astronomy / Yisi Zhan / Kaiyuan Zhanjing / Mawangdui Wuxing Zhan |
| Limits | It uses real celestial positions, but natal judgments are not conclusions of modern astronomy. A direct transmission from Zhang Guo has also been questioned by bibliographers. | Historical observations have value for the history of science, but their political prognostications are not thereby validated by modern astronomy. Observation and interpretation must be separated. |
| Research question | Which sources support position calculation and which support interpretation? | Where does observable description end and political interpretation begin? |