A Weather Case: An End-to-End Source Audit
Last updated 10/7/2026
This lesson reconstructs one documented historical record from source question to chart mechanics. Its job is traceability, not prediction.
This weather-chapter case is suitable because the text asks a narrow same-day question about whether the sky would be clear or cloudy. The exercise remains retrospective. It cannot be reused as a current forecast, travel or agricultural input, safety judgment, or proof that the method works.
Identify the two evidence chains
Zengshan Buyi, volume 2, Weather chapter 35; checked printed page and public transcription witnesses.
The chart printed in the public source, reconstructed line by line; construction only.
Neither lane absorbs the other. Reproducing the printed chart does not validate the source’s interpretation or reported observation.
The eight-field audit
| Field | Audited record | Evidence lane |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Source task | a same-day clear/cloudy question | primary-source text |
| 2. Primary witness | Zengshan Buyi, vol. 2, 天时章第三十五, printed p. 90 / PDF physical p. 91 | source text |
| 3. Public cross-check | Chinese Text Project work ctp:ws157683, displayed paragraphs 996–1003; Wikisource chapter transcription | public transcription witnesses |
| 4. Chart construction | Hexagram 3 → 19, moving lines 2 and 5 | printed chart and reproducible derivation |
| 5. Line-2 transformation | Yin Wood → Mao Wood at the same position | printed chart and reproducible derivation |
| 6. Source interpretation | preserve as a statement made by the source | source record, not validation |
| 7. Reported observation | preserve separately as what the source later records | source record, not validation |
| 8. Present-day use | historical source/mechanics audit only | explicit UAYA teaching boundary |
Reproduce the mechanics without importing the result
- Draw Hexagram 3 with lines numbered bottom-up.
- Flip lines 2 and 5 simultaneously.
- Confirm the changed figure is Hexagram 19.
- Pair the two moving rows with the changed-side rows.
- Record line 2 as Yin Wood transforming to Mao Wood.
- Stop before using the text’s interpretation or later observation to change any mechanical field.
This sequence should match both the printed chart and the reader-facing construction and transformed-line lessons. If it does not, the audit returns to those lessons rather than adjusting the source record.
Keep reconstruction separate from interpretation
Do not add a translated outcome label, confidence claim, or validating conclusion to the reconstruction. The learner-derived fields establish only that the printed chart can be reproduced. They do not establish weather truth or prove that a rule predicts events.
Outcome-layer control
The source later records an observation at the Xu hour. Preserve that statement in a field labelled source record. Do not relabel it verified prediction, use it to grade the interpretation, or extract a general weather rule from one record.
Stop condition
Stop if any public source locator, chart input, line position, or evidence label is missing. Stop immediately if the task shifts from historical reconstruction to a current or future weather question.
Source chain: Zengshan Buyi, volume 2, 天时章第三十五, checked composite printed p. 90/PDF physical p. 91; Chinese Text Project work ctp:ws157683, displayed paragraphs 996–1003; and the public Wikisource chapter transcription. The learner reconstruction is checked directly against the chart printed in those witnesses and supports chart construction only.