Exotic Planetary Lore in China from Mid-Tang to Northern Song

This chapter explores the various bodies of exotic planetary lore that circulated in China from the mid-Tang to the Northern Song, spanning the eighth to the beginning of the eleventh centuries CE. An overview of the main varieties of Eurasian planetary lore—Chinese, Indian, Babylonian, and Hellenistic—is first presented. Among these traditions, two specific bodies of planetary lore, Sogdian and Perso-Christian, evolved and gained widespread circulation in East Asia. The Sogdian astral lore, closely associated with Manichaean cosmography and astral beliefs, spread from Central Asia to China, resulting in hybrid astral practices related to the seven Sogdian planetary weekdays. An astronomical system of Central Asian origin, exemplified by the Tallying with Heaven Canon ( Futian li ), was also transmitted to East Asia and subsequently interacted with its Chinese counterparts. At a more popular level, the Perso-Hellenistic astral lore, characterised by a variety of Dorothean horoscopy, was translated into Chinese into a complex of Yusi treatises. The foreign horoscopy would eventually have a noticeable impact on the indigenous Chinese divinatory systems.