A Study Of Chinese Calendar Annotations In The 7th-14th Century As Seen In Unearthed Documents

The main part of the calendar documents unearthed in the 7th and 14th centuries is the calendar documents found in the Dunhuang Tibetan Scripture cave and the ancient tomb of Turpan.There are more than 40 calendars with clear chronology,three of which are early Tang calendars,the rest are practical calendars from the Tang Dynasty(806-820)to the Northern Song Dynasty(990-994),spanning nearly 200 years.In addition,the documents unearthed in Heishuicheng contain more than 20 calendar fragments of Xixia and Yuan Dynasty,of which 13 have been dated.These calendars have calendar annotations,but there are only simple differences.Firstly,this paper classifies and catalogues the calendar annotations in all calendars of this period,and generally introduces the functions and arrangement rules of various calendar annotations.The calendar annotations of each period are presented in tabular form.Secondly,on the basis of the foregoing,the evolution process of calendar notes is divided into stages,and the change characteristics of each stage are summarized.It is considered that the early Tang Dynasty is a transitional period from simple to camplex calendar annotations,and the calendar annotations category and specific content are relatively simple,which is the formation period of calendar annotations;the middle and late Tang Dynasty to Southern Song Dynasty is a period of great development of calendar annotations,and the calendar annotation category and specific content tend to be complete.The Yuan Dynasty simplified the category of calendar annotations and adjusted the format of calendar annotations,which is the reform period of calendar annotations.Finally,with the unearthed calendars from the 7th to 14th centuries as the center,and combined with relevant documents,the political culture and folk culture of the Middle Ages reflected in the calendar annotations are investigated.