The natural course and disposition of the planets, and the other
circumstances of the heavens, what shall be the nature of the weather, and
what peculiarities shall be produced by each Moon of the year; as, for
example, under which Moon there shall be thunderstorms and tempests, under
which there shall be disease, murrain, wars, disorders, and treasons, and
so on, according to the indications of each; but always adding that it
lies with God to do less or more according to His pleasure. And they write
down the results of their examination in certain little pamphlets for the
year, which are called Tacuin, and these are sold for a groat to all who
desire to know what is coming. Those of the astrologers, of course whose
predictions are found to be most exact, are held to be the greatest adepts
in their art, and get the greater fame.[NOTE 1]
And if any one having some great matter in hand, or proposing to make a
long journey for traffic or other business, desires to know what will be
the upshot, he goes to one of these astrologers and says: "Turn up your
books and see what is the present aspect of the heavens, for I am going
away on such and such a business." Then the astrologer will reply that the
applicant must also tell the year, month, and hour of his birth; and when
he has got that information he will see how the horoscope of his nativity
combines with the indications of the time when the question is put, and
then he predicts the result, good or bad, according to the aspect of the
heavens.
You must know, too, that the Tartars reckon their years by twelves; the
sign of the first year being the Lion, of the second the Ox, of the third
the Dragon, of the fourth the Dog, and so forth up to the twelfth;[NOTE 2]
so that when one is asked the year of his birth he answers that it was in
the year of the Lion (let us say), on such a day or night, at such an
hour, and such a moment. And the father of a child always takes care to
write these particulars down in a book. When the twelve yearly symbols
have been gone through, then they come back to the first, and go through
with them again in the same succession.]
NOTE 1. - It is odd that Marsden should have sought a Chinese explanation
of the Arabic word Takwim even with Tavernier before him: "They sell in
Persia an annual almanac called Tacuim, which is properly an ephemeris
containing the longitude and latitude of the planets, their conjunctions
and oppositions, and other such matter. The Tacuim is full of
predictions regarding war, pestilence, and famine; it indicates the
favourable time for putting on new clothes, for getting bled or purged,
for making a journey, and so forth. They put entire faith in it, and
whoever can afford one governs himself in all things by its rules." (Bk.
V. ch. xiv.)
The use of the term by Marco may possibly be an illustration of what I
have elsewhere propounded, viz. that he was not acquainted with Chinese,
but that his intercourse and conversation lay chiefly with the foreigners
at the Kaan's Court, and probably was carried on in the Persian language.
But not long after the date of our Book we find the word used in Italian
by Jacopo Alighieri (Dante's son): -
"A voler giudicare
Si conviene adequare
Inprimo il Taccuino,
Per vedere il cammino
Come i Pianeti vanno
Per tutto quanto l'anno."
- Rime Antiche Toscane, III. 10.
Marco does not allude to the fact that almanacs were published by the
Government, as they were then and still are. Pauthier (515 seqq.) gives
some very curious details on this subject from the Annals of the Yuen. In
the accounts of the year 1328, it appears that no less than 3,123,185
copies were printed in three different sizes at different prices, besides
a separate almanac for the Hwei-Hwei or Mahomedans. Had Polo not omitted
to touch on the issue of almanacs by Government he could scarcely have
failed to enter on the subject of printing, on which he has kept a silence
so singular and unaccountable.
The Chinese Government still "considers the publication of a Calendar of
the first importance and utility. It must do everything in its power, not
only to point out to its numerous subjects the distribution of the
seasons,... but on account of the general superstition it must mark in the
almanac the lucky and unlucky days, the best days for being married, for
undertaking a journey, for making their dresses, for buying or building,
for presenting petitions to the Emperor, and for many other cases of
ordinary life. By this means the Government keeps the people within the
limits of humble obedience; it is for this reason that the Emperors of
China established the Academy of Astronomy." (Timk. I. 358.) The
acceptance of the Imperial Almanac by a foreign Prince is considered an
acknowledgment of vassalage to the Emperor.
It is a penal offence to issue a pirated or counterfeit edition of the
Government Almanac. No one ventures to be without one, lest he become
liable to the greatest misfortunes by undertaking the important measures
on black-balled days.
The price varies now, according to Williams, from 1-1/2d. to 5d. a
copy. The price in 1328 was 1 tsien or cash for the cheapest edition,
and 1 liang or tael of silver for the edition de luxe; but as these
prices were in paper-money it is extremely difficult to say, in the
varying depreciation of that currency, what the price really amounted to.
