Tablets of Destiny (From Chinese Astrology)

      "At the beginning of Chinese history stands a tablet which in somemysterious way is supposed to be connected with an explanation of theuniverse.  It has been reconstructed by later Chinese thinkers and ispictured in the hands of Fuh-Hi [1] asan arrangement of the kwa figuresin preserved in the Yih King.  Considering theseveral traces of Babylonian traditions in ancient Chinese literature andfolklore, would it not be justifiable to identify the tablet of Fuh-Hi with theancient Babylonian “Tablet of Destiny” mentioned in the Emmeduranki Text, a copy of which was discovered in the archives of Asurbanipal and was said to contain the “Mystery of Heaven andEarth?”

  Emmeduranki[2], king of Sippar, isthe seventh of the aboriginal kings, and he declares that he received thedivine tablet “from Anu[Bel, and Ea]."

Site of Sippar

    Chinesesages have their own interpretation of the phrase “the mystery of  heavenand earth.”  They would at once associate the words “heaven” and “earth”with the two opposing principles yangand yin, and the question is whether among the ancient Sumerians therewas not a similar tendency prevalent.  It seems not to be impossible that the Chinese tablet in thehands of Fuh-Hi is thesame as the “Tablet of Destiny” of the Sumerians, and when some Assyriologist hasinformed himself of the primitive Chinese conception of this mysterious tablet,he may be able to throw some additional light on the subject." [3]

One of the dragons from TheNine Dragons handscroll (九龙图／九龍圖),painted by the Song-Dynasty Chinese artist Chen Rong (陈容／陳容) in1244 CE. Ink and some red on paper.

[1]  Fuh-Hi (伏羲), the mythical founder of Chinese civilization, who livedfrom 2858 to 2738 B.C. The writers of Chinese historytell us that the Emperor Fuh-hi was living in the time of Noah.

 

Fuh-Hi and his sister and consort Nuwa.  Hanging scroll,8th century AD (Tang Dynasty).

[2]   En-men-dur-ana(also Emmeduranki) ofSippar was an ancient Sumerian king, whose name appears in the Sumerian King List as theseventh and penultimate pre-dynastic king of Sumer (before ca. 2900 BC). Hisname means "chief of thepowers of Dur-an-ki," while "Dur-an-ki" in turn means "the meeting-place of heaven andearth" (literally "bond of above and below").En-men-dur-ana's city Sippar was associated with the worship of the sun-god Utu, later called Shamash inthe Semitic language. Sumerian and Babylonian literature attributed thefounding of Sippar to Utu. A myth written in a Semitic language tells ofEmmeduranki subsequently being takento heaven by the gods Shamash and Adad, and taught the secretsof heaven and of earth. In particular, Emmeduranki was taught arts of divination, suchas how to inspect oil on water andhow to discern messages in theliver of animals and several other divine secrets. En-men-dur-ana was extremelysignificant to the Sumerians, as he was the ancestor from whom all priests of the sun God had tobe able to trace descent.

 

Sumerian "cosmology map" derived from Tablet ofDestiny.

[3]  At the Instituteof Fine Arts of New York University, I regularly sat in raptfascination in ProfessorDonald Hansen’s lectures concerning the history of ancient Middle Eastern Art and alsoin Professor Alexander Soper’sChinese Art classroom.  Frequently I wish Icould return to the Institute and its sounds, moods and, especially, its views.  (However, I do not miss the parades constantly going by – you wouldn’t believe how many – on Fifth Avenue.  I hate parades and they're all, with the notable exceptions of Steuben Day and Pulaski Day, untidy and unruly beyond belief.)  These esteemed scholars taught me much ofwhat was known then (and was still being discovered) about ancient trade routes and the remarkable influences geographicallyremote parts of the ancient world exerted on each other.  Could anything possibly be more interesting?  The first part of this messy,incoherent-seeming post is excerpted from Paul Carus’ excellent Chinese Astrology (LaSalle,Open Court Press, 1907).  Notes 1and 2 above were assembled from other sources. Someday, some way, I’d like to be able to make sense out of everythingthat has always confused me and confuses me now.