How did the ancients predict the future by observing the night sky?

The proposition of the thought of heaven and man induction. Dong Zhongshu combined Yin and Yang with Confucianism and put forward the theory of "the connection between heaven and man", which was the foundation and development of ancient Confucian theology in China. China's idealistic theory on the relationship between heaven and man. Refers to the sympathetic correspondence between providence and personnel. It is believed that heaven can influence people and predict disasters, and human behavior can also induce heaven. Dong Zhongshu, a Confucian in Han Dynasty, made a concrete exposition when answering the question of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. Preface to Song Lian in the Ming Dynasty: "All the principles of self-cultivation, the lack of knowledge, and the opportunity of induction between man and nature are written." Therefore, it is believed that heaven will enlighten people's merits and demerits, and the change of astronomical phenomena is the revelation of heaven and is valued by rulers; By observing the stars at night, we can grasp the changing laws of some natural phenomena. The ancients lacked certain scientific methods for the changes of natural phenomena, but many outstanding talents obtained more accurate laws through some changes in astrology. For example, Zhuge Liang is said to know the laws of precipitation, fog and wind direction by observing the starry sky at night, thus guiding military activities to achieve better results; People's ignorance. Ancient people lacked scientific understanding of many natural phenomena and could only explain them in an illusory way. Among them, watching the sky at night is a way for people to explain all kinds of unknown things, which is considered as providence; Watching the stars at night creates public opinion. In ancient times, many things needed the support of public opinion, especially important events such as uprisings. For example, in 2 1 1 BC, the second year of the first emperor's fifth tour, a meteor fell on the ground in the eastern county of Qin State, which is now Puyang, Henan Province, and became a huge meteorite. Someone secretly engraved seven words on it, such as "the first emperor died and the land was divided", which made the peasant uprising surge in the late Qin Dynasty. (1) In primitive society, night astrological activities such as divination were regarded as sacred and mysterious, and were controlled by witch doctors. It should be pointed out that in primitive society, "witch doctor" and "doctor" are indistinguishable. Witch doctors are more mysterious and more valued because they have the duty of saving lives and divining (including observing night sky phenomena).

(2) In slave society, the privilege of observing the celestial phenomena at night, such as divination, was controlled by slave owners and nobles. Slave owners used this to create public opinion that ruled the people and the authority that made the people believe;

(3) In feudal society, astrological divination was further specialized and standardized, with special responsibilities such as "Taibu" and "Taichang", and sometimes some records were made by ancient scholars, which were generally complete and standardized.