ENGLISH RECORD 01
Tui Bei Tu
推背圖 · Back-Pushing PicturesTraditionally attributed to the Tang dynasty; surviving editions are laterChina · East AsiaDynastic change · illustrated prophecy
01 · WHAT IT IS
Overview
An illustrated Chinese prophetic work arranged as a sequence of images, cryptic statements and poems. Later readers matched its scenes to rulers, wars and changes of dynasty.
02 · ORIGINAL TEXT AND EARLIEST SOURCE
What can be traced?
03 · HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The world behind the text
A visual reconstruction of the scholarly and astronomical setting traditionally associated with Tui Bei Tu. It is not an image of a surviving Tang original.
SALGIL reconstruction · source record at the Library of Congress ↗05 · DOCUMENT TIMELINE
When the record changed
- Traditional attributionLater tradition credits Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang in the Tang court.
- Variant circulationIllustrations, verses, ordering and commentary circulate in differing forms.
- Jin Shengtan commentaryA retrospective reading assigns earlier images to already completed dynastic history.
- Global recodingUnassigned images are repeatedly linked to contemporary China, Taiwan and world conflict.
06 · EDITION AND WITNESS COMPARISON
Which Tui Bei Tu is being quoted?
The date of a document and the date of an interpretation are recorded separately.| Witness or edition | Date | Editorial status | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attributed Tang archetype | 7th century claim | Not securely extant | The traditional origin cannot be treated as a surviving fixed edition. |
| Illustrated manuscript and print families | Later imperial periods | Variant witnesses | Image order, wording and commentary can differ. |
| Jin Shengtan-attributed sequence | 17th century tradition | Influential commentary | Much of its apparent historical fit is retrospective. |
07 · MAJOR CLAIMS
Representative claims and their limits
The sixty images
Each image is paired with a statement and poem said to describe a future stage of Chinese history.
Jin Shengtan's historical reading
A later commentary connects early images to events that had already occurred.
Unfulfilled modern images
Remaining images are matched to modern leaders, Taiwan, war or global change.
08 · WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
Comparison with events
Some images can be made to resemble broad political events, especially when read with later commentary. The match becomes weaker when the pre-event wording, exact order and failed alternatives are included. No consensus historical method treats the work as a reliable timetable of future politics.09 · DISPUTES AND COUNTERARGUMENTS
Where interpretation changes
The central questions are not simply whether the book is old, but which layer is old: image, verse, order or commentary. Political censorship, manuscript circulation and later printing make a single original sequence difficult to establish.10 · EVIDENCE SCORE & PROVISIONAL CONCLUSION
Interpretive dispute
Tui Bei Tu is an important record of Chinese prophetic culture. Claims of a modern hit remain provisional until the exact pre-event edition and interpretation are demonstrated.11 · SOURCES AND REVIEW