Weather Forecasting Manual 雨旸气候亲机
Paul PengWeather Forecasting Manual
Author unknown.
It was probably composed during the Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty.
One scroll, included in the Zhengyi Section of the Daozang.
Weather Forecasting Manual
This text expounds on thunder magic and primarily focuses on observing climatic changes. The entire work includes poetic essays such as Climatic Patterns of Various Thunders, Introduction to the Wonderful Cavern and Jade Chapter of Thunder of the Primordial Single Qi, as well as thirty-nine diagrams including the "Thunder Plates". It predicts drought, flood, sunshine, cloudiness, wind, rain and thunder mainly according to the time, position and direction of the movement of celestial qi among the sun, moon, stars and the Milky Way, as well as the color and shape of clouds.
Though it inevitably contains superstitious elements, it also embodies the ancient people’s empirical knowledge of meteorological observation. For example, the book records folk weather proverbs such as "Damp stones and flowing water foretell incoming rain", "Ants sealing their nests mean rain is on the way", "A south wind in winter brings snow", and "A west wind after prolonged rain ushers in clear weather".
