Chapter 23 Chapter 3 planetary astrology

Planetary astrology is also called five-star astrology, because apart from the sun and the moon, there are only five major planets that can be seen with the naked eye in the solar system to move regularly.Since the Five Elements thought was very popular in ancient China, the Five Stars are naturally associated with the Five Elements concept, and even the names of the Five Stars are consistent with the names of the Five Elements.The five-star astrology occupies an extremely important position in all astrology. From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Ming Dynasty, the five-star has always been an important divination object for astrologers.

"Kaiyuan Zhanjing" quoted "Jingzhou Zhanjing" as saying: Those with five stars are the essence of the five elements.The son of the five emperors, the messenger of heaven.Walk in Leshe, to rule the country of no way.The king, Shi Enbude, is upright and pure, and the five stars are smooth, and he enters and exits at the right time, the world is peaceful, and disasters and chaos do not happen.A man has no virtue, believes in traitors and sycophants, retreats from loyalty and kindness, stays away from gentlemen, and stays close to villains, then the five stars will go retrograde, change color, and come and go from time to time... All the monsters come out, the world is in chaos, the master dies and the country is destroyed, and it is impossible to save.The remaining disasters are endless, such as hunger, drought, and disease.

Planetary accounting covers a very wide range, including planetary position calculation and forecasting, planetary transgression observations, and planetary color, size, light, and rotation observations. The ancients believed that each of the five planets had its own characteristics, and their appearance in the sky each heralded a situation of social chaos.For example: Jupiter is a prosperous star, so when Jupiter moves to the position corresponding to a certain country, the country will be blessed by God, and outsiders cannot conquer it. If they conquer it, they will suffer failure; Mars is a thief star, and its appearance symbolizes There are turmoil, thieves, sickness, hunger, etc. Therefore, when Mars moves to the corresponding position of a certain country, the people of that country will suffer disasters; Venus is a symbol of soldiers and horses, and the country it lives in symbolizes military disasters, people's displacement and dynasty change. ; Mercury is the star of killing, and the country where it lives must have killing and fighting; Saturn is the star of auspiciousness, and the country where Saturn lives will surely gain something.Therefore, when Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty saw Saturn coming out of the east, he thought it was a good omen and beneficial to China, so he ordered Zhao Chongguo to go to conquer Xiqiang as soon as possible.Liu Xin wanted to oppose Wang Mang. When launching a coup, he still had to wait for a day when Venus would leave the east, and finally missed the opportunity.

Observing the positions of the planets is an important job of the astrologer.Duke Hui of Jin passed away in 637 BC. When Qin State escorted Jin Gongzi Chong Er back to seize the throne, Chong Er asked Jin doctor Dong Yin if he would succeed. Shen Zhixing is also Shen Zhixu. The people of Jin live here, so they are prosperous. Now the king is in charge of him, and it will be of great help.” It means that when Chong’er inherited the throne, it happened that the year star was at the time of the real Shen.In fact, Shen is the star of the Jin people and a symbol of prosperity, so there is no reason why Chong'er should not succeed in inheriting the throne at this time.Shi Shen corresponds to Bi, Qi, Shen and other places, which is the division of Jin, so it is said.

Astrologers also attach great importance to the transgression of the five stars, and now we only cite an example of Mars invading Dousu to illustrate the specific divination methods of the ancients.Ancient astrologers believed that when Mars violated Nandou, there would be "rebels" and "destroy the army and kill the general".In July of the first year of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty (156 BC), Mars stayed in Nandou. Three years later, the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of Wu and Chu occurred ("Hanshu Astronomical Records"); Moon and Mars committed Nandou again. In May of the second year, Yang Zhen from Wu County and others rebelled. At the same time, hundreds of people including Cai Boliu rebelled in Jiujiang; The moon and Mars entered the southern dipper again, and in November of that year, Xu Zhao in Kuaiji rebelled and claimed to be the king of Yue ("Continued Han Shu · Tianwen Zhi").The above-mentioned cases are considered to be the fulfillment of astrology.