Event

May 25-26, 2023
Empire under the Night Sky: The Role of Fenye (Astrological Contents) in Late Imperial China

Fenye is an astral-terrestrial correspondence system that associates constellations (heaven) with regions (earth) based on the ancient Chinese cosmology of inseparable heaven, earth, and the human world. It first emerged during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (8th–3rd centuries BC) for political prognostication, then continued to develop throughout the long course from Han (202 BCE–220 CE) to Song (960–1279). Scholars believe that fenye gradually lost its political prognostication function after Song.

However, in the genre of local gazetteers that documented local information which emerged after Song and flourished in late imperial period, fenye somehow obtained a crucial status: not only 80% of those gazetteers have a dedicated section on fenye, but almost all of them start the gazetteer by identifying the place in the vast empire through its assorting lodges. We question why fenye, started as a divination system, became such an essential part of local gazetteers.

After the 17th century as western astronomy became popular in China, fenye was heavily criticized by literati for its imprecise and illogical correspondence. The 1781 public critics by the Qianlong emperor is considered by scholars a major sing of the fall of fenye. However, with quantitative analysis, we found many gazetteers still kept fenye afterwards. In this workshop, we bring together historians from different domains and time periods to together examine how fenye became a popular chapter in Chinese local gazetteers, how gazetteer compilers resisted removing fenye, and what eventually replaced fenye at the time of crisis—when Chinese knowledge systems were eventually torn down and replaced by western epistemologies from Imperial to Republican China.

You can find the program and further registration informations below.

Program

Address
Harnack-House, Conference Venue of the Max Planck Society, Ihnestraße 16-20, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Contact and Registration

Registration is required for participation (Deadline: May 22, 2023), in person or online. Please note that there will be no presentations at the workshop, and we expect the audience to read the pre-circulated papers to engage in the discussion. Please send an email to event_dept3@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de with the subject of “[Registration] Role of fenye workshop”, and specify your name, position, current affiliation, and online or in person participation.

2023-05-25T09:15:00SAVE IN I-CAL 2023-05-25 09:15:00 2023-05-26 16:00:00 Empire under the Night Sky: The Role of Fenye (Astrological Contents) in Late Imperial China Fenye is an astral-terrestrial correspondence system that associates constellations (heaven) with regions (earth) based on the ancient Chinese cosmology of inseparable heaven, earth, and the human world. It first emerged during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (8th–3rd centuries BC) for political prognostication, then continued to develop throughout the long course from Han (202 BCE–220 CE) to Song (960–1279). Scholars believe that fenye gradually lost its political prognostication function after Song. However, in the genre of local gazetteers that documented local information which emerged after Song and flourished in late imperial period, fenye somehow obtained a crucial status: not only 80% of those gazetteers have a dedicated section on fenye, but almost all of them start the gazetteer by identifying the place in the vast empire through its assorting lodges. We question why fenye, started as a divination system, became such an essential part of local gazetteers. After the 17th century as western astronomy became popular in China, fenye was heavily criticized by literati for its imprecise and illogical correspondence. The 1781 public critics by the Qianlong emperor is considered by scholars a major sing of the fall of fenye. However, with quantitative analysis, we found many gazetteers still kept fenye afterwards. In this workshop, we bring together historians from different domains and time periods to together examine how fenye became a popular chapter in Chinese local gazetteers, how gazetteer compilers resisted removing fenye, and what eventually replaced fenye at the time of crisis—when Chinese knowledge systems were eventually torn down and replaced by western epistemologies from Imperial to Republican China. You can find the program and further registration informations below. Program Day 1—May 25, 2023 Welcome: 09:15–09:30 (15 mins) Shih-Pei Chen Panel #1: 09:30–10:50 (80 mins) Chair: Shih-Pei Chen Author: Paper title: Commentators: Yang Qiao Astronomy as a Science of the Archive in Imperial China (221 BC–1911 AD) Catherine Jami, David Pankenier Zhu Haohao & Zhou Qi The “Intermediary Status” of Fenye 分野 in Local Gazatteer: Study on Mei Wending's 梅文鼎 Ningguo fuzhi xingye 宁国府志·星野 in early Qing China Christopher Cullen, Ping-Ying Chang Coffee break: 10:50–11:20 (30 mins) Panel #2: 11:20–12:40 (80 mins) Chair: Mario Cams Author: Paper title: Commentators: Tan Dan Uneven Transformation of the fenye Section of Local Gazetteers in Qing Dynasty Zhang Jiajing, Daniel Morgan Chen Shih-Pei Fenye by the Numbers: A Quantitative Analysis of Astrological Contents in Chinese Local Gazetteers Daniel Morgan, Catherine Jami Lunch break: 12:40–13:40 (60 mins) Panel #3: 13:40–15:00 (80 mins) Chair: Mario Cams Author: Paper title: Commentators: Wu Huiyi Tracing Western learning in the fenye chapters of Qing dynasty local gazetteers (1660–1820) David Pankenier, Christopher Cullen Tristan Brown The Long Arm of the Calendar: Western Learning’s Impact on Astrology and Fengshui in Qing China Christopher Cullen, Catherine Jami Discussion: 15:00–16:00 (60 mins) Chair: Shih-Pei Chen Day 2—May 26, 2023 Panel #1: 09:30–10:50 (80 mins) Chair: Shih-Pei Chen Author: Paper title: Commentators: Lyu Chuanyi From Outline to Discipline: The Transmutation and Construction of Fenye Models in the Process of Great Unification David Pankenier, Shi Yunli Daniel Patrick-Morgan Popular science: Astronomical data in Chinese local gazetteers, using LOGART Shi Yunli, Catherine Jami Coffee break: 10:50–11:20 (30 mins) Panel #2: 11:20–12:40 (80 mins) Chair: Qiao Yang Author: Paper title: Commentators: Qiu Jingjia From the Astrological Mysteries to the General Knowledge of Geography: The Transmission of the “Field Allocation” Astrology in the Perspective of Intellectual History Ping-ying Chang, Shi Yunli Zhang Jiajing From Astrological Correlation to the Coordinate System: The Transformation of Fenye Knowledge in Chinese Local Gazetteers after the Introduction of Western Sciences Shi Yunli, Mario Cams Lunch break: 12:40–13:40 (60 mins) Panel #3: 13:40–15:00 (80 mins) Chair: Qiao Yang Author: Paper title: Commentators: Vera Dorofeeva-Lichtmann Spatial Framework Underlying the Fenye Maps in the Household Encyclopaedia Mario Cams, David Pankenier Sun Mengmeng Heaven, Earth, and Hou at Places: A study on the “Fenye-Qihou” sections in local gazetteers of the Ming and Qing Dynasty Christopher Cullen, Tristan Brown Discussion: 15:00–16:00 (60 mins) Chair: Dagmar Schaefer, Shih-Pei Chen Comments from Sarah Schneewind Harnack-House, Conference Venue of the Max Planck Society, Ihnestraße 16-20, 14195 Berlin, Germany Shih-Pei Chen Shih-Pei Chen Europe/Berlin public