''Lingqijing'' (or ''Ling Ch'i Ching''; 靈棋經 lit. "Classic of the Divine Chess") is a Chinese book of
divination. It is not known when, nor by whom, it was written, though legend has it that the strategist
Zhang Liang Zhang Liang is the romanization of common names like 張良, 張亮 and 張梁.
張良
* Zhang Liang (Western Han) (died 189 BC), early Han dynasty strategist
** Zhang Liang, an animation character from the animated TV series ''The Legend of Qin'' ...
got it from Huang Shigong (黃石公), a semi-mythological figure in Chinese history. The first commented edition of the work appeared in the
Jin Dynasty.
As its name suggests, the work concerns "divining" with tokens, such as
Chinese chess
''Xiangqi'' (; ), also called Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. ''Xiangqi'' is in the same family of games as '' shogi'', '' janggi'', Western chess, '' ch ...
(''
xiangqi
''Xiangqi'' (; ), also called Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. ''Xiangqi'' is in the same family of games as ''shogi'', ''janggi'', Western chess, '' chat ...
'' i.e.象棋) pieces (instead of with the more traditional
turtle shells or yarrow stalks used in ''
I Ching
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zh ...
'' divination).
Twelve
Xiangqi
''Xiangqi'' (; ), also called Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. ''Xiangqi'' is in the same family of games as ''shogi'', ''janggi'', Western chess, '' chat ...
pieces are used; each piece is a disc with a character on one side, and the other side unmarked. Four have the character for "up" (, pronounced ''shang''), four have the character for "middle" (, ''zhong''), and four have the character for "down" (, ''xia''), representing respectively the Three Realms: Heaven (, ''
tian
''Tiān'' () is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang dynasty (17th―11th century BCE), the Chinese referred to their supreme god as '' Shàngdì'' (, "L ...
''), Humanity (, ''ren''), and Earth (, ''di'').
These pieces are cast onto a surface, and the text of the ''Lingqijing'' the resulting combination is in for what fortune the combination means.
The text of the ''Lingqijing'' has an entry for all 125 combinations (i.e., three kinds of pieces, times the five possibilities for each kind: one through four pieces landing face up, or none).
Notes
See also
*
I Ching
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zh ...
- the most famous Chinese oracle, much more complex than the Lingqijing
*
Taixuanjing
The text ''Tài Xuán Jīng'' ("Canon of Supreme Mystery", ) is a guide for divination composed by the Confucian writer Yang Xiong (53 BCE – 18 CE). The first draft of this work was completed in 2 BCE (in the decade before the fall of the We ...
- similar to the I Ching
*
Xiangqi
''Xiangqi'' (; ), also called Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. ''Xiangqi'' is in the same family of games as ''shogi'', ''janggi'', Western chess, '' chat ...
- the board game that is commonly called Chinese chess
*
Qi Men Dun Jia
Qimen Dunjia is an ancient form of divination from China. It is still in use in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore and the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia. It is one of the Three Styles () of Chinese divination, wit ...
- a divination/astrology
*
Zhang Liang Zhang Liang is the romanization of common names like 張良, 張亮 and 張梁.
張良
* Zhang Liang (Western Han) (died 189 BC), early Han dynasty strategist
** Zhang Liang, an animation character from the animated TV series ''The Legend of Qin'' ...
- a purported author of the Lingqijing
* ''
Three Strategies of Huang Shigong
The ''Three Strategies of Huang Shigong'' () is a treatise on military strategy that was historically associated with the Taoist hermit Huang Shigong and Han dynasty general Zhang Liang. Huang Shigong gave this treatise to Zhang Liang, that all ...
'' - another work by another purported author/editor of the Lingqijing.
References
*
*
*{{cite book
, last=东方朔
ongfang Shuo , authorlink=Dongfang Shuo
, last2=刘基军
ijun Liu
is a Shinto- Ryukyuan-derived religion founded by Takayasu Ryūsen (1934-) in Okinawa. This modern religion started in 1972 and in 1980 became registered under the Religious Corporations Law (''Shūkyō Hōjinhō''). In the same year, the movemen ...
, title=靈棋經
ing qi jing , publisher=山东画报出版社
, year=2004
, language=Chinese
, oclc= 56926286
, isbn= 7806038337
Divination
Chinese books of divination