Institute of Chinese Mantic Arts中国术数研究院

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LResearch library · source navigator

Let one reliable lead open
an entire knowledge genealogy.

This is a traceable research navigator: define the question, then move through dossiers, terminology, historical evidence and institutional resources. Every external entry retains its context for further verification.

34dossiers36external research entries48core terms
A research table joining texts, catalogues, manuscripts and digital resources

INDEXPAGE CONTENT

Enter sources through a ranked, question-led research map.

The library begins with four question-led routes, then explains reading levels, edition evaluation, directly accessible sources and citation protocol.

A research archive of catalog drawers, manuscript folios and documentation tools

01Four research routes

Systems, chronology, concepts and method:
four research entry points.

One name may belong at once to method, history, text and social practice. These four routes interconnect, but answer different questions.

01 · Identify a system

Atlas

Check names, aliases, pinyin, family, principles, formation, texts and debates.

Enter 34 dossiers02 · Trace a chronology

History of Chinese mantic arts

Use bones, manuscripts, institutions, print and modern scholarship to distinguish types of evidence.

Open the timeline03 · Clarify a concept

Bilingual glossary

Search cross-system terms such as image, number, yin-yang, Five Phases, stems-branches, Nine Palaces and Najia.

Search the glossary04 · Conduct research

Methods and project frameworks

Move from source layers and textual criticism to algorithm reconstruction and empirical inquiry.

View research methods

02Layered reading

The research question determines reading order. Each step should answer the question left by the previous one.

The library separates public orientation, specialist study and independent research. You may move quickly, but should not skip checks of terminology, period and source type.

  1. 01

    Public orientation

    Read atlas summaries, the historical overview and glossary definitions to establish names, periods and families.

    For first encounters with Chinese mantic arts
  2. 02

    Specialist study

    Enter a dossier's principles, texts, evidence limits and related systems; record differences among editions and lineages.

    For learners with a defined field
  3. 03

    Independent research

    Return to primary texts, catalogues, archaeology and institutional databases; publish citations, procedures and uncertainties.

    For papers, translation, reconstruction and digital projects

03Evaluating sources

When a source says “ancient,” “secret” or “proven,”
ask six questions first.

An institutional page may offer only an introduction; a lineage manuscript may preserve a valuable lead. Evaluation asks exactly what a source can establish, regardless of institutional or lineage status.

01

What is the material?

Received edition, excavated manuscript, object, oral account, paper and modern manual support different claims.

02

How is it dated?

Separate the date claimed in a text, the surviving edition, attribution and the date of modern cataloguing.

03

Can the passage be located?

Record chapter, fascicle, page, edition, collection number or a stable link whenever possible.

04

Tradition or research conclusion?

Layer lineage interpretation, cultural narrative, historical claim and modern validation.

05

Can the procedure be reproduced?

Charts and calculations require inputs, rules, calendar conventions and intermediate steps.

06

Are the limits explicit?

Cases do not generalize automatically; mantic content does not replace medical, legal or financial advice.

An archivist examining paper, binding, ink and edges to establish material provenance

04Source catalogue

Bring the site’s dispersed research entries
into one traceable catalogue.

These links are the sources already annotated in dossiers and the history: museums, universities, research institutes, academic publishers and digital text projects. External content and availability remain under the responsible institution.

Dossier sources

28
11

National Chung Hsing University: mantic arts and the Nine Palaces

Linked entry · 太乙

chinese.nchu.edu.tw
Open source

History sources

08
A subject-study table of celestial instruments, calendrical device, counting rods and blank manuscripts

05Citation record

Keep a minimum viable research record.

When pages, editions or interpretations change, a clear record lets you and later readers retrace the same evidentiary path.

  1. 01Author or responsible institution
  2. 02Title and document type
  3. 03Edition, fascicle or collection number
  4. 04Stable URL and access date
  5. 05Page number for the cited passage
  6. 06Your inference separated from the source