Daoist Numerology and Astrology - Book reccomendations?

[Bleys]

Hi everyone, Iv been feeling really drawn to try and learn a bit more about how numerology works with in Daoism. I know thats a pretty broad subject and I imagine there are many different forms of it, but i have no idea where to start, does anyone perhaps have suggestions of more beginner level books / information sources in this area? 

Also the same for Daoist Astrology, I have no idea where to begin to learn about the different systems, any help finding a beginner level book would be very much appreciated 

 

Many thanks guys 

[Cobie]

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Edited July 21, 2023 by Cobie

[Zhongyongdaoist]

8 hours ago, Bleys said:

Hi everyone, Iv been feeling really drawn to try and learn a bit more about how numerology works with in Daoism. I know thats a pretty broad subject and I imagine there are many different forms of it, but i have no idea where to start, does anyone perhaps have suggestions of more beginner level books / information sources in this area? 

Also the same for Daoist Astrology, I have no idea where to begin to learn about the different systems, any help finding a beginner level book would be very much appreciated 

 

Many thanks guys 

 

In the decades of my interest in Chinese esotericism I built up a large library on these subjects, some of them may still be in print, others could be found used.  I will pull them out and post titles of some of the more useful ones.  A good practical resource is Delemme software, which has good programs for calculating astrological charts and doing numerology.

 

I'm busy, but I will try to post more shortly.

 

ZYD

[Zhongyongdaoist]

Here is some necessary background:

 

The most common astrology is based on a cycle of Sixty "Stems and Branches":

 

Quote

The sexagenary cycle, also known as the Stems-and-Branches or ganzhi (Chinese: 干支), is a cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, thus a total of sixty years for one cycle, historically used for recording time in China and the rest of the East Asian cultural sphere.^[1] It appears as a means of recording days in the first Chinese written texts, the Shang oracle bones of the late second millennium BC. Its use to record years began around the middle of the 3rd century BC.^[2] The cycle and its variations have been an important part of the traditional calendrical systems in Chinese-influenced Asian states and territories, particularly those of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, with the old Chinese system still in use in Taiwan, and to a lesser extent, in Mainland China.^[3]

 

Another important one is based on the Nine Stars:

 

Quote

9 Star Ki (Japanese: 九星気学, Chinese: 九宫命理 or 九星命理) is a popular system of astrology, often used alongside Feng shui

 

The above two are used to give meaning to time periods that are part of long repeating time cycles, such as the Sixty year cycle mentioned in the first one.

 

Finally the Twenty-eight Mansions of the Moon are also important:

 

Quote

The Twenty-Eight Mansions (Chinese: 二十八宿; pinyin: Èrshíbā Xiù), also called xiu^[1] or hsiu, are part of the Chinese constellations system. They can be considered as the equivalent to the zodiacal constellations in Western astronomy, though the Twenty-eight Mansions reflect the movement of the Moon through a sidereal month rather than the Sun in a tropical year.

 

They are used in a type of astrology that is more like the Western "astrological chart".

 

Familiarity with the above will help in understanding any further posts of mine in this thread.

 

ZYD

[Cobie]

The ITjing number diagram (He Tu diagram)

 

 

odd numbers are yang 陽 in white 

even numbers are yin 陰 in black

 

It starts with 1 to 5 (consecutive numbers are opposite to each other); 

number 5 is in the middle. 

Then it repeats:

6=5+1; 7=5+2; 8=5+3; 9=5+4; 

10= 5+5 (in the middle again) 

 

In the ITjing, South is on top of the diagram, North is at the bottom. East is at the left and West is at the right.

~~~
The number system used on a Daoist temple:
 

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by Cobie

[Cobie]

The numbers 1 to 5 are associated with the ‘Chinese 5-elements’ (五行): 

 

水 (huo3)  fire  <~> the number 2.

火 (shui3)  water <~> 1.

土 (tu3)  earth/soil <~> 5.

木 (mu4)   tree/wooden <~> 3.

金 (jin1)  gold/metal <~> 4.

 

Four of the ‘5-elements’ (五行) were shown at the four sides of the square. 

And the fifth element ( 土 earth, soil) is in the middle. 

Higher numbers take the position of the number minus multiples of 5: 

1 and 6 are water; 2 and 7 are fire, etc 

 

~~~

 

A modern one in a circle:

 

 

~~~

五行: 五 wu3 - the number ‘5’; 行 xing2 - something like ‘movements’.

 

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by Cobie

[Cobie]

Lots of info at http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Daoists/hetuluoshu.html  
 

 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Cobie

[Indiken]

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Edited July 21, 2023 by Indiken

[Bleys]

19 hours ago, Cobie said:

The ITjing number diagram (He Tu diagram)

 

 

odd numbers are yang 陽 in white 

even numbers are yin 陰 in black

 

It starts with 1 to 5 (consecutive numbers are opposite to each other); 

number 5 is in the middle. 

Then it repeats:

6=5+1; 7=5+2; 8=5+3; 9=5+4; 

10= 5+5 (in the middle again) 

 

In the ITjing, South is on top of the diagram, North is at the bottom. East is at the left and West is at the right.

~~~
The number system used on a Daoist temple:
 

 

Ah Iv never seen this before, thank you very much, that seems like a good place to start looking into things. A lot of things are related to this ITjing number diagram? 

[Bleys]

20 hours ago, Zhongyongdaoist said:

Here is some necessary background:

 

The most common astrology is based on a cycle of Sixty "Stems and Branches":

 

 

Another important one is based on the Nine Stars:

 

 

The above two are used to give meaning to time periods that are part of long repeating time cycles, such as the Sixty year cycle mentioned in the first one.

 

Finally the Twenty-eight Mansions of the Moon are also important:

 

 

They are used in a type of astrology that is more like the Western "astrological chart".

 

Familiarity with the above will help in understanding any further posts of mine in this thread.

 

ZYD

Ooh that is fascinating,  i will look into each of these concepts more, so sexagenary cycles, 9 stars and 28 mansions of the moon

[Bleys]

21 hours ago, Zhongyongdaoist said:

 

In the decades of my interest in Chinese esotericism I built up a large library on these subjects, some of them may still be in print, others could be found used.  I will pull them out and post titles of some of the more useful ones.  A good practical resource is Delemme software, which has good programs for calculating astrological charts and doing numerology.

 

I'm busy, but I will try to post more shortly.

 

ZYD

Ah thank you very much, yes any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[Cobie]

12 minutes ago, Bleys said:

...  A lot of things are related to this ITjing number diagram? 

 

Everything. It's the origin of it all. 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by Cobie

[Mig]

Have you checked this:

I ching numerology : based on Shao Yung's classic Plum blossom numerology

Edited August 15, 2023 by Mig