敦煌二十八宿残简新研

A New Study on Dunhuang Slips with the Names of the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions

敦煌汉简中有一组记二十八星宿名的残简,公布至今虽不断有学者研究,但始终未能得出令人满意的结论。本文结合秦汉时广泛存在的二十八宿配日法,认为这些简原本可能属于一部二十八宿配日表,在进行择日或占卜等活动时起到辅助作用。同时,根据月序推算其所属年代为新莽时期。

There is a group of Han dynasty slips from Dunhuang with the names of the twenty-eight lunar mansions that has yet to be satisfactorily analyzed, though several theories have been put forward. Considering that calculating the days of the month with the twenty-eight mansions was widespread in the Qin and Han dynasties, this paper holds that these slips might originally belong to a calendar-like table with dates marked by the names of the various mansions, and that this timetable would have played an auxiliary role in divination activities and selection of auspicious dates. According to the lunar sequence, these slips can be approximately dated to the Xin dynasty established by Wang Mang.