For example, astronomers could calculate the lunar and solar eclipses as early as the Warring States period, but these "oddities" continued to be interpreted not scientifically, but as symbols that the Emperor lacked in moral propriety, that there was a need to cut back feasting and festing, or that prisoners be amnestied as a benevolent gesture to compensate for the emperor's failures.
舉例說來，我國早在戰國時期已經能推算出日蝕、月蝕的日期，但長久以來這類「異象」，常被用來象徵皇帝的德行有缺，要「減膳」、「撤樂」（節制飲食與享樂），或赦免罪犯，以補過失。