Sometime between 1934 and 1942, grave robbers discovered it in a tomb near Zidanku (literally "bullet storehouse"), east of Changsha, Hunan.
Its subject matter predates the (c. 168 BCE) Han Dynasty silk Divination by Astrological and Meteorological Phenomena.
Jao Tsung-I (Lawton 1991:178) proposes the former section is written right side up because it discusses the creation myths of the Chu people, and the latter is upside down because it describes events when heaven is in disarray.
The Surrounding Text in the four margins pictures a color-symbolic tree in each corner plus twelve masked zoomorphic figures with short descriptions.
Scholars associate the twelve pictures with the Chu gods for the months and the four trees with the mythic pillars holding up the heavens.
Li Xueqin (1987) identified these twelve gods with the ancient names for the months given in the Erya (8/15, Chu 陬, Ru 如, Bing 寎, ...).
In traditional Chinese terms, the Four Symbols are the Azure Dragon of the East (青龍), Vermillion Bird of the South (朱雀), White Tiger of the West (白虎), and Black Tortoise of the North (玄武).
Li and Cook (1999:172) conclude that, "Generally, the writer of the manuscript was concerned that the calendar be used with proper respect and knowledge.
(1999:172) This shi (式, literally "model; standard; form; pattern") or shipan (式盤) was the precursor for the luopan (羅盤) or "feng shui compass".
If [...] and the length of the lunar months becomes too long or too short, then they will not fit the proper degree and spring, summer, autumn, and winter will [not] be [...] regular; the sun, moon, and planets will erratically overstep their paths.
Li and Cook 1999:174)"Seasons (Inner Short Text)" also has three subsections; describing how the gods separated heaven and earth and determined the four seasons, Yandi and Zhu Rong supported the heavens with five pillars of different colors, and Gong Gong divided time into periods, days, months, and years.
She gave birth to four [... (children)] who then helped put things in motion making the transformations arrive according (to Heaven's plan).
Relinquishing (this) duty, they then rested and acted (in turn) controlling the sidewalls (of the calendrical plan); they helped calculate time by steps.
In this context, "Yi" (夷) refers to Dongyi "eastern barbarians", while renzi (壬子) and bingzi (丙子) are names in the sexagenary cycle based on ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches (see the Chinese calendar correspondence table).Several Chinese classics are comparable with the Chu Silk Manuscript.
Within traditional terms for Chinese schools of thought, Li Ling (1985, Lawton 1991:179) classifies the manuscript as the oldest example of shushu (數術 "numerals and skills").
Shushu contrasted with fangji (方技 "prescriptions and techniques"), which included traditional Chinese medicine, neidan, daoyin, etc., and both specialties were associated with fangshi "diviners; magicians".
Li concludes the Chu Silk Manuscript's cosmic model was based on liuren (六壬) or Da Liu Ren (大六壬) calendrical astrology.