Chinese people have paid attention to recording solar eclipses since Xia Dynasty, and Oracle Bone Inscriptions unearthed in Shang Dynasty has a clear record of solar eclipses, with detailed records of time and frequency.
There is a solar eclipse in our country, which is a very serious matter, especially for the emperor, who claimed to be the son of heaven and was ordered by heaven. The appearance of the eclipse shows that the leader is not satisfied with your work. You should take an attitude and correct it immediately.
The translation of "the day changes into Xiu De, the month changes into punishment, and the stars change into harmony" means to increase morality after the eclipse, to reduce the sentence after the eclipse, and to pay attention to harmony after the astrological abnormality. Li was a great astrologer in the Tang Dynasty. He believed that the occurrence of the solar eclipse was a sign that the emperor lost his virtue and the traitors came to power. If there is a total solar eclipse, it will be in big trouble, which means the death of the country, the chaos of the world, the death of cities and the loss of territory. During the reign of Emperor Wendi, there were three consecutive eclipses, which scared the Emperor Wendi to death. A generation of sages are still so guilty, and other emperors can imagine.
In this case, the monarch should change into plain clothes, stop recreational activities, lower the food standard, temporarily live in a private room and think behind closed doors, and even blame himself, solicit criticism and suggestions from his subjects, and take specific measures such as pardoning criminals and reducing taxes to show his sincerity in repentance.
Of course, there are exceptions: during the Eastern Han Dynasty and Emperor Wudi, Dou Xian, a consort, was in charge of the state affairs, just in time for the solar eclipse. The minister took the opportunity to clamor that the courtiers oppressed the lords and that the evil party must be eradicated. As a result, the Han Dynasty took the opportunity to get rid of the Dou family and regain power, and the bad things turned into good things.
Comparatively speaking, although the eclipse is not a good thing, it is not as important as the ancient eclipse. For example, only the lunar eclipse was recorded in the Spring and Autumn Period, but the people were very excited when they saw that "Tiangou ate the moon", beating gongs and drums and thinking about driving the dogs away.
It is precisely because of these special meanings that some careerists or insurgents rebelled. For example, during the reign of Emperor Ai of the Western Han Dynasty, there were many natural disasters and an eclipse occurred, which was used by Wang Mang as the reason for the exhaustion of the Western Han Dynasty.
All this is an imagination of people under the condition of underdeveloped ancient science and technology. Today, the solar eclipse has become a natural phenomenon loved by astronomy enthusiasts and even the general public, and it does not have much significance.