PT 1056 — A Dunhuang Divination Manual
PT 1056 is a fragmentary divination manual from the Pelliot tibetain collection of the Bibliotheque nationale de France. Written in Old Tibetan on paper, it describes a system of dice divination (Mo) in which the number of dice showing a particular face determines which of the five elements governs the reading. The surviving text covers four dice-count oracles: Water (four), Gold (five), Earth (six), and the beginning of a seventh. The oracles for Wood and Fire are presumably lost.
Each oracle section follows the same formulaic structure as the other Mo texts in the Dunhuang corpus: the element is named, and then readings are given for household fortune (khyim phya), life fortune (srog phya), marriage (gnyen), house-building (khang khyim), illness (nad pa), enemy fortune (dgra phya), demon fortune (gdon phya), lost goods (stor lag), travel ('dron po), and general affairs (don gnyer). The verdicts range from "very good" (bzang rab) to "bad" (ngan), with specific causes and ritual remedies named.
The text opens with a general introductory oracle before the numbered sections begin, suggesting it may have been preceded by instructions for the dice-casting procedure. The dice counts are represented in the manuscript by sequences of @ marks, a notation unique to this text in the corpus. This is the fifth Mo text identified in the Dunhuang Bon-Tibetan divination corpus, alongside the Coin Manual (PT 1055), the Dice Oracles (PT 1046), the Spirit Oracles (PT 1051), and the Great Divination Manual (ITJ 0738).
The Opening Oracle
If it divides: the self prevails, and it is good.
If the lord requests service: there is one who seizes by speech. For marriage: middling. If cast for building a house: wealth gathers. If cast for the sick: though the illness is severe, [...]. It is an ancestor demon; if ritual is performed, it benefits. If seeking the desired: it will not succeed. Whatever it is cast for: middling.
The Water Oracle — Four Dice
If four dice show and the rest fall: it is the aspect of Water.
If cast for household fortune and life fortune: good. Though there is a heartache, it will gradually clear. What is planned will succeed and come to fruition: the self is happy. If seeking marriage: a marriage partner will be found. If building a house: wealth gathers. If cast for demon fortune: a wild hearth-demon and a smell-demon are the cause; if ritual is performed, it benefits. If pursuing affairs: they will swiftly succeed. If cast for enemy fortune: good. Lost goods will be found. If a man's omen is taken: good. If a traveler casts: they will swiftly arrive.
Whatever this oracle is cast for: it is very good.
The Gold Oracle — Five Dice
If five dice show and the rest fall: the aspect of Gold arises.
If cast for household fortune: a possession will be taken by a demon. What is planned will not succeed. If cast for the sick: it is the aspect of death. If cast for enemy fortune: it is the aspect of meeting enemies. Lost goods will not be found.
Whatever this oracle is cast for: it is bad.
The Earth Oracle — Six Dice
If six dice show and the rest fall: it is the aspect of Earth.
If cast for household fortune and life fortune: good. If making prayers and offerings and it divides: the self prevails, the heart is happy. If seeking marriage: like a seedling taking root. If building a house: auspicious. Great power and authority — it will become a strong hand. If pursuing affairs: affairs will succeed. If cast for the sick: a food-hearth demon is the cause; if ritual is performed: auspicious.
Whatever it is cast for: it is very good.
The Seventh Oracle
If seven dice show and the rest fall [...]
The text breaks off here. The oracles for Wood and Fire, and any higher dice counts, are lost.
Colophon
PT 1056 (Pelliot tibetain 1056). Old Tibetan divination manual from the Dunhuang cave library. Translated from Old Tibetan by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, April 2026. First English translation.
The source text was accessed from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) database maintained by Osaka University.
Translation notes: "Dotse" is rendered as "dice" based on context; the term may more precisely mean "points" or "marks" — the @ symbols in the manuscript represent the dice count visually. The five-element system (Water, Gold/Metal, Earth, and presumably Wood and Fire in the lost sections) assigned to dice counts is a distinctive feature of this text. The Mo vocabulary is consistent with the other Dunhuang divination texts: "khyim phya" (household fortune), "srog phya" (life fortune), "gdon phya" (demon fortune), "dgra phya" (enemy fortune), "stor lag" (lost goods), "cho ga" (ritual), "'dron po" (traveler). "SrI gdon" (ancestor demon) in the opening oracle refers to a class of malevolent spirits associated with the patrilineal dead. "Thab rgod" (wild hearth-demon) and "drI mo gdon" (smell-demon) in the Water oracle are specific demon types — the hearth-demon is associated with the household cooking fire, and the smell-demon with pollution or contamination.
The Gold Oracle is unambiguously negative — death, enemies, loss — while the Earth Oracle is comprehensively positive. The Water Oracle is mixed but favorable. This asymmetry in the element readings suggests a cosmological system where Earth represents stability and Gold represents danger, possibly reflecting the Buddhist or Bon association of gold/metal with cutting and death.
This is a Good Works Translation. The English is independently derived from the Old Tibetan source text. No prior English translation was available for consultation.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: PT 1056
Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) database, Osaka University. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
(1) 'gyed na / bdag rgyal ste bzang / / [rje] blas gsol na kha nas
(2) 'phrog pa zhIg yod / / gnyen byed na 'brIng / / khang khIm byed
(3) pa la btab na nor 'du / / nad pa la btab na tshabs che na yang
(4) [myI] [---] [cIg?] / / pha myes kyI srI gdon te / co ga byas na phan / /
(5) [don?] gnyen na myI 'grub / / [ci] [la] btab kyang ['bring ngo] / @@@@ /
(6) dotse bzhI gan te gzhan bub na / / chu'I ngo ste / khyIm phya dang srog
(7) phya la btab na bzang / / snyIng 'tsher ba zhIg yod na yang de'u [re]
(8) 'byang / / bya 'o chog phams shad 'grub ste / bdag dga' / gnye[n]
(9) byed na / gnyen 'byor khang khyIm bya na nor 'du / / gdon phya la
(10) btab na thab rgod dang drI mor gdon / / cho ga byas na phan 'o / /
(11) d[o]n gnyer na nyur du 'grub / / dgra bya la btab na bzang / /
(12) stor lag byung rnyed / pho skyas byas na bzang / / 'dron po la btab
(13) na nyur du phyIn te mo 'dI ci la btab kyang bzang rab 'o / / @@@@@ / dotse
(14) lnga gan te gzhan bub na / gser kyI ngo 'byung ste / khyIm phya la btab
(15) na / nor rdzas cig gdon ste / / bya 'o chog myi 'grub / nad pa la
(16) btab na 'chI ba'I ngo / / dgra phya la btab na dgra phrad pa'I ngo / /
(17) stor lag byung myI rnyed / / mo 'dI cI la btab kyang ngan / / @@@@@@ /
(18) dotse drug gan te gzhan bub na / sa'I ngo ste khyIm phya dang srog phya
(19) la btab na bzang / / gsol ba dang shags 'gyed na bdag rgyal
(20) snyIng dga' / / gnyen byed na 'brod bu tsa gzhIn / khang khyIm byed
(21) na kha dro / / dbang tang che / / btsan phyag du 'gyur / / don gnyer na
(22) don grub / nad pa la btab na za thab cig gdon / cho ga byas na
(23) kha dro / / ci la btab kyang bzang rab 'o / / @@@@@@@ dotse bdun gan te
(24) [---]
Source Colophon
Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO), https://otdo.aa-ken.jp/archives?p=Pt_1056, maintained by Osaka University. The original manuscript is held by the Bibliotheque nationale de France. The text is fragmentary, breaking off at the beginning of the seventh oracle. The @ symbols represent dice count markers in the manuscript.
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