The Dissemination Practice of Shixianshu in the Western Regions during the Qing Dynasty

Abstract

The dissemination and implementation of Shixianshu (the official almanac) in the Western Regions during the Qing Dynasty is a typical example of the cross-regional spread of Central Plains calendrical culture. This article takes the multilingual Shixianshu as the starting point and, combined with archival materials and physical relics, systematically examines the westward dissemination path of the calendar and its cultural shaping of Western Regions society. By simultaneously publishing Shixianshu in Manchu, Chinese, and Mongolian languages, it not only carried cultural symbols such as the twenty-four solar terms and agricultural time sequences of the Central Plains but also accommodated the monthly-order traditions of nomadic tribes, forming a cross-cultural dialogue pattern of “one calendar integrating three customs”. From the Hami Oasis, where farming was arranged according to the solar terms, to the Ili River Valley, where herders selected grazing areas by observing celestial phenomena, Shixianshu reconstructed the daily life rhythms of the people in the Western Regions based on scientific data. The concurrent use of the “Kitchen God” calendar paintings and the official almanac further promoted the in-depth integration of the Han cosmology and the folk customs in the Huijiang region. This process reveals that the dissemination of the calendar during the Qing Dynasty, through the “technology-symbol” dual-coding strategy, transformed the time order into a cultural integration bond, constructing a shared time-cognition framework for diverse ethnic groups. Its multi-modal text strategy still has implications for contemporary cross-cultural communication.