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Choosing an auspicious day for everyday events has been a very important matter for traditional Chinese people since the ancient times. In the earliest written texts, Tiangan Dizhi 天干地支 (Heavenly stems and Earthly branches) have been found as a means of recording days. The details about how to choose a good day became more complete in the historical documents of the Shang dynasty. Also, some bamboo slips discovered in 1975 from an ancient Qin dynasty tomb at Chengguan Shuihudi (城關睡虎地), Yunmeng County, Hubei Province, China, were written with the complete detailed data about choosing an auspicious day. Those bamboo texts are known as Shuihudi Qín jian 睡虎地秦簡 (The Shuihudi Qin bamboo texts). The Chinese methodology of choosing an auspicious day has been passed down from the old ancestors. However, civilians were not allowed to practice the choosing day in the era of emperors. Only the imperial court could perform it. As a result, the civilians also created their own methodology. Until now, there are many different types of methods. This thesis focuses on how to choose an auspicious day for a wedding and a funeral with Aotou Tong Shu 鰲頭通書 (Ao Almanac) and Qinding Xieji Bianfang Shu 欽定協紀辨方書 (Imperially Endorsed Treatise on Harmonizing Times and Distinguishing Directions). Although Aotou Tong Shu and Qinding Xieji Bianfang Shu are the most popular and most applied books of the same methodology, Sanhe (三合派), they have a lot of discrepancies. This thesis compares and explains the discrepancies between these two books in order to clear up the confusion that others may encounter in the future.
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