太乙術數與《南齊書‧高帝本紀上》史臣曰章

何丙郁

太乙術數是一門秘術，自古以來識者不多，可供研究之參考資料很缺乏。《欽定四庫全書》收入一部經後人增補之唐代典藉，《古今圖書集成》亦有明代之著作。現存關於太乙術數之文獻不早於唐代。《南齊書‧高帝本紀上》史臣曰章引述編者蕭子顯應用太乙術數，以暢論六百七十九年間之有關國家興亡大事。本文試由蕭子顯之推算結果，倒算出南北朝時代編者所採用之推算方法；因而證實唐代與明代典藉所載太乙術數最少可以追溯至南北朝。而且三者內容皆一致，表示皆出自同一系統。本文又試以編者原用方法再推算史臣曰章各條，發覺現存刻本原文略有誤漏，術數偶爾也可以應用在校讎學上。現存唐明兩代典藉所載太乙術數之操作皆以「上元積年」為距數，本文指出在運用上可以省略引用「上元積年」之繁雜操作。本文簡單介紹太乙術數之歷史及其演變，並談及歷史上術數在傳統之天人合一觀念下所扮演的角色。本文所說之太乙術數已經受時代淘汰，但此術有一支流可能受到從印度與西亞傳入中土之希臘占星學影響，演變為現代流行在華人社會中之紫微斗數。

關鍵詞：太乙南齊書蕭子顯術數三式

The Tai-i Method of Divination and the Historiographer’s Remarks in the Chronicle of Emperor Kao-ti in Nan-Ch’i-shu

Ho Peng-yoke

Needham Research Institute, Cambridge

The Tai-i method of divination was an arcane art, known only to the very few and precious little reference material is available for research. A T’ang text on the method with later additions is preserved in the Ch’in-ting Ssu-k’u ch’uan-shu, while a Ming text is included in the Ku-chin t’u-shu chi-cheng collection. From these texts alone the T’ai-i method cannot be traced earlier than the T’ang period. In the Historiographer’s Remarks section in the Chronicle of Emperor Kao-ti in Nan-Ch’i-shu the author Hsiao Tzu-hsien employs the T’ai-i method to rationalize important political events spanning a period of six hundred and seventy-nine years. This paper reconstructs the method used by Hsiao Tzu-hsien from the text of the Nan-Ch’i-shu and compares the interpretations made with those of the T’ang and Ming texts, and shows that they are essentially identical. Hence this method can be traced to a date not later than the time of the Six Dynasties. In recalculating every item in the section, some minor mistakes and omissions in the present printed editions of the Nan-Ch’i-shu reveal themselves, demonstrating an unexpected application of a so-called pseudo-science in a serious scholarly work of textual collation. The texts available to us show the dependence of the method on an accurate knowledge of the Great Epoch-the interval of time since the sun, the moon and the planets were together last in conjunction. This paper shows that the rather clumsy procedure of using the Great Epoch can be dispensed with in arriving at the same results in the Nan-Ch’i-shu. This paper also gives a brief history of the T’ai method of divination and discusses the implications of the traditional philosophical view of harmony between heaven and man on the pseudo-sciences. Although the T’ai-yi method is now gone and almost completely forgotten, it is plausible that a tributary that came under the influence of Polemic astrology, introduced to China via India and West Asia, has developed into the modern system of Tzu-wei tou-shu astrology, which is popular among Chinese communities in many parts of the world.