Forecasting Weather: Agricultural Divination in Daily-Use Encyclopedias of the Mid-to-Late Ming

Abstract

During the mid-to-late Ming period, within the context of the Little Ice Age, progressively cooling climates posed substantial threats to agricultural productivity. Booksellers from Jianyang, the center for commercial publishing in Fujian, promptly incorporated agricultural divination into their compiled daily-use encyclopedias, aiming to meet the pressing needs of the populace for weather forecasting. The main content of agricultural divination within these encyclopedias involves forecasting future weather patterns and agricultural yields based on indicators such as the Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, five elements, and meteorological factors of specific dates. Enhancements and original contributions within these works were built on the foundation of earlier literature. Both farmers involved in agriculture and merchants trading in grain constituted the primary readers for the agricultural divination works in these encyclopedias. Agricultural divination may be viewed as an example of the “interaction between Heaven and humanity” during the mid-to-late Ming period, offering insights into the effects of climatic changes and resultant agricultural challenges on societal mindsets.

Keywords

agricultural divination / daily-use encyclopedias / the Little Ice Age / readers

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Higher Education Press