The Sky and Stars in Literature and Folklore During the T'ang Dynasty

FAIN: FT-12738-75

Edward H. Schafer
University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA 94704-5940)

A study of the sky and stars in common belief, folklore and literature during the T'ang period in China. Special attention will be given to cosmogony, astrology star-worship, beliefs about the nature of astronomical objects and the possibility of visiting them. Particular attention will be paid to the changing images of planets, comets, the moon and other such phenomena in T'ang poetry for the intimate views of the thoughts and feelings of writers of that age about their place in nature.