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.

The Answer To Everything (Credibly Ascribed To Kepler)

Wallenstein's Horoscope (credibly ascribed to Kepler)

I. From "Chinese Astrology: Early Chinese Occultism" by Paul Carus

             "There can be no doubt that the entire Western civilization may be traced to one common source.  The Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans haveinherited their mathematics, the division of the day into twice twelve hours,and their calendars from ancient Babylonia, the influence of which has beenpreserved down to modern times, and can most palpably be recognized inastrology.

Albrecht Von Wallenstein (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634)  --- Austrian GeneralGenerally But Not Consistently Loyal to the Emperor

          Astrology is unquestionably ofBabylonian origin.  It rests on the theorythat the universe is a well-ordained whole governed by universal laws, and sothe ancient sages assumed that life on earth is foreshadowed by the events inthe celestial regions; and these notions adhered to the further development ofastronomy with a persistence that is truly surprising.

Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630):  Portrait by Unknown Artist dated 1610

 

          Even as late as the fourteenthcentury astronomers were still obliged to eke out a scant living with the helpof astrology, and Kepler himself had to increase his means of subsistence bycasting horoscopes.  But he was greatenough to take the situation humorously, and in one of his letters weread:  'This astrology is indeed afoolish little daughter, but  -- lieber Gott!! – where would hermother, the highly rational astronomy, be, if she did not have this foolishoffspring?  People are even more foolish,so foolish in fact that this sensible old mother must for her own benefitcajole and deceive them through her daughter’s foolish idle talk.'"  [1]

[1] See Carus Sterne’s article, Copernicus,Tycho Brahe, and Kepler, The Open Court, XIV, 405.

Another rendition of Wallenstein's Horoscope

II. Horoscope of Albrechtof Wallenstein on display in Prague (2007)

"Therecently discovered horoscope of Duke Albrecht of Wallenstein is one of themost important of its kind. It surpasses other horoscopes from the period withits detailed explanations of the Duke's life, and its use of the then mostcontemporary astrological techniques. Created in 1627 by an unknown astrologer,it charts eleven years of the duke's life, and is a document which, if it hadfallen into the wrong hands, could have provided what would be regarded assensitive information to his enemies. The horoscope featuring in a major exhibition devoted toWallenstein.

Czech dukeand nobleman Albrecht of Wallenstein (known in Czech as Albrecht z Valdstejna)was the supreme commander of the armies of Hapsburg Emperor Ferdinand theSecond and one of the most influential figures in Seventeenth Century Europe,particularly during the period of the Thirty Years War. Though the precise timeand purpose of the horoscope's creation is uncertain, there is a strongpossibility that its formulation was ordered in 1627, when the Duke assembled alarge army in Nise in Silesia. Likewise, the identity of the horoscope'screator is also unknown, but it was clearly someone practised in the craft, asDr Petr Masek from the National Museum explains:

Thehoroscope was probably created at the end of the year 1627 to the beginning ofthe 1628 and in the greatest probability it was from Nise in Silesia. Whoevercreated it was actually a practicing astrologer, who used a whole spectrum oftechniques. They range from the traditional, including even at those timesalmost forgotten techniques, to the most modern techniques. The latter includedthe so called 'Danish tables' of Tychon de Brahe, which were developedprecisely in that year 1627. So the author had at his disposal the most modernrange of tools.'
 
Uncertaintyand mystery shrouds the question of who ordered the horoscope's creation. Itwas found in a castle in Kopidlno which at one point belonged from 1638 toJindrich Schlik, one of the duke's generals, and there is a possibility that heordered the horoscopes creation in order to ascertain the fate of his lord, onwhom much of the fate of Europe depended. Petr Masek: 

'Itwas regarded as serious information outlining one's fate, to such an extentthat the horoscopes of those prominent figures like Wallenstein were by varioussecret means copied, or basically stolen, and offered to other people for afee, because they were regarded as strategic material. It is understandablethat for many, it was important to know how the lives of personalities whoshaped the annals Central European history would turn out.'
 
However,anyone in possession of the horoscope thinking themselves to be in on fate'ssecrets might have been disappointed, as Wallenstein died ten years earlierthan the horoscope predicted. Next yearcelebrates the 425th anniversary of his birth and the horoscope forms part ofan exhibition at the Wallenstein riding school, which runs until February ofnext year."

The assasination of Albrecht von Wallenstein, 1634

Confucius and the Lin

      

Confucius (谿山行旅)(551 BC-479 BC)

         The olderConfucius grew the more disappointed was he that his life should have beenspent in vain.  We are told in the Lun Yuthat he said: 

        “No wise rulerrises; no one in the empire will make me his master.  My time has come to die.”

          Saddened bythe fact that his moral views were rejected by the princes of the nation, hepredicted the coming of turbulent times and civil wars, events which had indeedbecome unavoidable through the degeneration of many petty courts and theirdisregard for the welfare of the people.

The Lin (麒麟)

         Once ithappened (so Kung Yang [1] informs us) that a strange creature had been killedon a hunt of the Duke Ai of Lu, and the sage was called to inspect the body andgive his opinion.  Confucius declared itto be that supernatural animal called Lin, the appearance of which is deemed arare occurrence.  In his despair,Confucius looked back on the death of this royal beast as a bad omen and heexclaimed: “My teaching is finished indeed.” [2]

         It is patheticto observe the sage’s despair at the end of his career:  but such is the fate of reformers and thissaying of Confucius sounds very much like a literal translation of Christ’slast word, “It is finished!” 

Fan Kuan, Travellers Amid Mountains and Streams (谿山行旅), Song Dynasty, ca. 1000, ink and slight color on silk, National Palace Museum, Taipei

        Two yearslater Confucius felt the approach of his end. While he walked in front of his house he muttered this verse:

                                   “Hugemountains wear away.

                                                                                 Alas!

                                    The strongest beams decay.

                                                                                 Alas!

                                    And thesage like grass

                                    Must fade.                             Alas!

(The original is quoted from Li Ki, The Book of Ritual.)

         These linesof complaint are the Eli, eli, lama sabachthani of Confucius.  He feels forsaken and fears that his work hasbeen in vain.

        Confucius diedin 478 in retirement, and his faithful followers built a tomb over his remains,mourning on the spot for three years. His most devoted admire, Tze Kung, built a hut and lived there for threeyears longer.

Tomb of Confucius in Qufu

[1]  Kung Yang is one of the three commentators of Kung Tse's historical book Spring and Autumn, the others being Tso Chi and Ku Liang.

[2]  This is the verbatim translation of the four words "wu tao ch'iung i."

Excerpt from:  Paul Carus, Chinese Astrology.  LaSalle, Open Court, 1907. (Please click on link for Paul Carus biography.)

Paul Carus (1852-1919)