The Imperial Almanac (Xieji Bianfang Shu): The Basis of This Site
This site's activities, spirits, day officers and Yellow and Black Paths all follow the Qing dynasty's Imperial Almanac. Where the book comes from, what it contains and how this site uses it.
An imperial book on choosing days
The Imperial Almanac, or Qinding Xieji Bianfang Shu (钦定协纪辨方书), is a book on choosing days compiled by imperial order in the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty; "Qinding" means compiled at the emperor's command. It was later collected in the Siku Quanshu. "Choosing days" means working out which spirits govern each day and what each day favours or forbids. Popular almanacs vary and often disagree; this book examines the older sources critically, often weighing them in passages headed "Kaoyuan" (考原) and "Jin'an" (今按), which is why this site follows it.
What is in the book
The parts this site uses are:
- The twelve day officers: how Establish, Remove, Full and the rest are counted, and which are good or bad
- Chapters 3 to 9: how each spirit is found, including the twelve Yellow and Black Path spirits (chapter 7)
- Chapter 10: what each spirit favours or forbids, how good and bad spirits are graded when they meet, and the posting rules
- Chapter 11: "Activities", listing under each activity the spirits that favour or forbid it
- Chapters 20 to 31: month-by-month tables stating each day's spirits and activities
Chapter 11 opens by explaining how the various lists of activities were combined and the favourable and unfavourable spirits posted under each:
大清會典載萬年書御用六十七事民用三十七事通書載選擇六十事今以次合為一編而分列宜忌於事下依事之次第察其所宜忌之日而分註之則輕重去取可辨矣
— Imperial Almanac (Xieji Bianfang Shu), 卷十一
How this site uses it
- The text follows the Siku Quanshu edition (as transcribed on Wikisource); every quotation on this site has been checked against it.
- The monthly tables follow the scanned edition (CADAL scans held at archive.org); this site's results were checked page by page against 75 pages of them.
- Where the tables disagree with the text, or with each other, the text and the majority of table pages decide.
- Anything not in the book and added by this site is marked as compiled by this site.
If you find a day whose activities differ from the book, please write to us with the date and the chapter and page of the book.
All quotations in this guide are from the Imperial Almanac (Xieji Bianfang Shu) and have been checked against the book; other explanations are compiled by this site.