一切經音義 29.99

29.99

薄蝕 (*bóshí*, eclipses; the upper character has the fanqie 傍莫 [*bàng* + *mò*]; the lower character is pronounced *shí*. Note: Eclipses of the sun and moon mean diminishing and waning. In general, a solar eclipse occurs when the yin and yang intersect and the sun is covered; a lunar eclipse is when the dark void, the eclipse-deity Rāhu, obscures it. A solar eclipse is a calamity for the ruler of men, an omen of the rise or fall of the state, and he ought to cultivate virtue. A lunar eclipse is a calamity for the crown prince, empresses, consorts, and great ministers, or a herald of flood, drought, abundance, or scarcity. In ancient-script characters it is written with 飤 as 蝕. The *Shuowen* has it with the insect radical and the sound 食; it is also called an intersecting eclipse [交蝕]).