Astronomy in China has a very long history, and historians consider that, 'they were the most persistent and accurate observers of celestial phenomena anywhere in the world before the Arabs'.
Star names later categorized in the
twenty-eight mansions have been found on oracle bones unearthed at
Anyang, dating back to the middle
Shang Dynasty (
Chinese Bronze Age), and the 'mansion' (xiù:宿) system's nucleus seems to have taken shape by the time of the ruler
Wu Ding (1339-1281 BCE).
Detailed records of astronomical observations began during the
Warring States period (4th century BC) and flourished from the
Han period onwards. Chinese astronomy was 'equatorial', centered as it was on close observation of circumpolar stars, was based on different principles from those prevailing in traditional Western astronomy, where heliacal risings and settings of zodiac constellations formed the basic 'ecliptic' framework.
Some elements of
Indian astronomy reached China with the expansion of
Buddhism during the
Later Han dynasty (25–220 CE), but the most detailed incorporation of Indian astronomical thought occurred during the
Tang Dynasty (618-907) when numerous Indian astronomers took up residence in the Chinese capital, and Chinese scholars like the great
Tantric Buddhist monk and
mathematician Yi Xing mastered its system.
Islamic astronomers, collaborated closely with their Chinese colleagues during the
Yuan Dynasty, and, after a period of relative decline during the
Ming Dynasty, astronomy was revitalized under the stimulus of Western cosmology and technology after the
Jesuits established their missions. The telescope was introduced in the 17th century. In 1669,
the Peking observatory was completely redesigned and refitted under the direction of
Ferdinand Verbiest in 1669. Today, China continues to be active in astronomy, with many observatories and
its own space program.
Early history
Purpose of astronomical observations in the past
One of the main functions was for the purpose of timekeeping. The Chinese used a
lunisolar calendar , but because the cycles of the Sun and the Moon are different,
intercalation had to be done.
The
Chinese calendar was considered to be a symbol of a dynasty. As dynasties would rise and fall, astronomers and astrologers of each period would often prepare a new calendar to be made, with observations for that purpose.
Astrological
divination was also an important part of astronomy. Astronomers took careful note of "guest stars" which suddenly appeared among the
fixed stars. The
supernova that created the
Crab Nebula in 1054 is an example of a guest star observed by Chinese astronomers, recorded also by the
Arab astronomers, although it was not recorded by their European contemporaries. Ancient astronomical records of phenomena like supernovae and comets are sometimes used in modern astronomical studies/
Chinese constellations
History of Chinese constellations
The divisions of the sky began with the
Northern Dipper and the
28 mansions.
In early 1980s, a tomb was found at Xishuipo (西水坡) in
Puyang,
Henan Province. There were some clamshells and bones forming the images of the
Azure Dragon, the
White Tiger and the
Northern Dipper. It is believed that the tomb belongs to the
Neolithic Age, about 6,000 years ago.
Star names relating to the 28 lunar mansions were found on oracle bones dating back to the
Wuding Period, about 3,200 years ago.
In 1977, a lacquer box was excavated from the tomb of Yi, the marquis of Zeng, in Suixian,
Hubei Province. Names of the 28 lunar mansions were found on the cover of the box, proving that the use of this classification system was made before 433 BC.
As lunar mansions have such an ancient origin, the meaning of most of their names have become obscure. Even worse, name of each lunar mansion consists of only one Chinese word, and the meaning of which could vary at different times in history. So the meaning of the names are still under discussion.
Besides 28 lunar mansions, most constellations are based on the works of
Shi Shen-fu and
Gan De, who were astrologists during the period of
Warring States (481 BC - 221 BC) in China.
In the late period of the
Ming Dynasty, the agricultural scientist and mathematician
Xu Guangqi (1562 - 1633 AD) introduced 23 additional constellations which are near to the Celestial South Pole, which are based on star catalogues from the West (see
Matteo Ricci).
Star catalogues and Maps
Star catalogues
In the 4th century BC the two Chinese astronomers responsible for the earliest information going into the
star catalogues are
Shi Shen and
Gan De of the
Warring States period.
[Peng, Yoke Ho (2000). Li, Qi and Shu: An Introduction to Science and Civilization in China. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0486414450]These books appeared to have lasted till the 6th century, but are lost after that.
A number of books share similar names, often quoted and named after them. These texts should
not be confused with the original catalogues written by them. Notable works that helped preserve the contents include:
Wu Xian (巫咸) has been one of the astronomers in debate. He is often represented as one of the "Three Schools Astronomical tradition" along with Gan and Shi.
[Whitfield, Susan. [2004] (2004). The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith. British Library Staff. Serindia Publications. ISBN 1932476121.] The Chinese classic text "Star Manual of Master Wu Xian" (巫咸星經), and its authorship is still in dispute because it mentioned names of Twelve Countries, which did not exist in the
Shang Dynasty, the era of which it was supposed to have been written. Moreover, it was customary in the past for the Chinese to forge works of notable scholars, as this could lead to a possible explanation for the inconsistencies found. Wu Xian is generally mentioned as the astronomer who lived many years before Gan and Shi.
The
Han Dynasty astronomer and inventor
Zhang Heng (78 - 139 AD) not only catalogued some 2500 different stars, but also recognized over 100 different constellations. Zhang Heng also published his work
Ling Xian, a summary of different astronomical theories in China at the time. In subsequent period of the
Three Kingdoms (220 - 280 AD),
Chen Zhuo (陳卓) combined the work of his predecessors, forming another star catalogue. This time 283 constellations and 1464 stars were listed. The astronomer
Guo Shoujin of the
Yuan Dynasty (1279 - 1368 AD) created a new catalogue which was believed to contain thousands of stars. Unfortunately, many of documents at that period were destroyed, including that of Shoujin.
Imperial Astronomical Instruments (儀象考成) published in 1757 containing 3083 stars exactly.
Star maps
The Chinese drew many maps of stars in the past centuries. It is debatable as to which counts as the oldest star maps, since
pottery and old artifacts can also be considered star maps. One of the oldest existent star map in printed form is from
Su Song's (1020-1101 AD)
celestial atlas of 1092 AD, which was included in the
horological treatise on his
clocktower. The most famous one is perhaps the
Dunhuang map found in
Dunhuang,
Gansu. Uncovered by the British archaeologist
Marc Aurel Stein in 1907, the star map was brought to the
British Museum in
London. The map was drawn on paper and represents the complete sky with more than 1,350 stars. Though ancient Babylonians and Greeks also observed the sky and catalogued stars, no such complete record of the stars may exist or survive. Hence this is the oldest chart of the actual skies in the present.
According to recent studies, the map may date the manuscript to as early as the 7th century AD (Tang Dynasty). Scholars believe the star map dating from 705 to 710 AD, which is the reign of
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang. Some experts from the West think the chart may be a copy of an earlier existing document. There are some texts (Monthly Ordinances, 月令) describing the movement of the sun among the sky each month, which was not based on the observation at that time.
Lunar and solar eclipses
The
ancient Chinese astronomer
Shi Shen (fl. 4th century BC) was aware of the relation of the moon in a solar eclipse, as he provided instructions in his writing to predict them by using the relative positions of the moon and sun.
[Needham, Volume 3, 411.] The 'radiating influence' theory, where the moon's light was nothing but a reflection of the sun's, was supported by the mathematician and music theorist
Jing Fang (78–37 BC) yet opposed by the Chinese philosopher
Wang Chong (27–97 AD). In his writing, Wang admits that this theory was nothing new in China. The Chinese astronomer and inventor
Zhang Heng (78–139 AD) wrote of both
solar eclipse and
lunar eclipse in the publication of
Ling Xian (靈憲), 120 AD:
The sun is like fire and the moon like water. The fire gives out light and the water reflects it. Thus the moon's brightness is produced from the radiance of the sun, and the moon's darkness (pho) is due to (the light of) the sun being obstructed (pi). The side which faces the sun is fully lit, and the side which is away from it is dark. The planets (as well as the moon) have the nature of water and reflect light. The light pouring forth from the sun (tang jih chih chhung kuang) does not always reach the moon owing to the obstruction (pi) of the earth itself—this is called 'an-hsü', a lunar eclipse. When (a similar effect) happens with a planet (we call it) an occulation (hsing wei); when the moon passes across (kuo) (the sun's path) then there is a solar eclipse (shih).[Needham, Volume 3, 414.]
The later
Song Dynasty scientist
Shen Kuo (1031–1095) used the models of lunar eclipse and solar eclipse in order to prove that the celestial bodies were round, not flat. This was actually an extension of the reasoning of Jing Fang and other theorists as early as the Han Dynasty. In his
Dream Pool Essays of 1088 AD, Shen related a conversation he had with the Director of the Astronomical
Observatory, who had asked Shen if the shapes of the sun and moon were round like balls or flat like fans. Shen Kuo explained his reasoning for the former:
If they were like balls they would surely obstruct each other when they met. I replied that these celestial bodies were certainly like balls. How do we know this? By the waxing and waning of the moon. The moon itself gives forth no light, but is like a ball of silver; the light is the light of the sun (reflected). When the brightness is first seen, the sun (-light passes almost) alongside, so the side only is illuminated and looks like a crescent. When the sun gradually gets further away, the light shines slanting, and the moon is full, round like a bullet. If half of a sphere is covered with (white) powder and looked at from the side, the covered part will look like a crescent; if looked at from the front, it will appear round. Thus we know that the celestial bodies are spherical.
When he asked Shen Kuo why eclipses occurred only on an occasional basis while in conjunction and opposition once a day, Shen Kuo wrote:
I answered that the ecliptic and the moon's path are like two rings, lying one over the other, but distant by a small amount. (If this obliquity did not exist), the sun would be eclipsed whenever the two bodies were in conjunction, and the moon would be eclipsed whenever they were exactly in position. But (in fact) though they may occupy the same degree, the two paths are not (always) near (each other), and so naturally the bodies do not (intrude) upon one another.[Needham, Volume 3, 415-416.]
Equipment and innovation
Armillary sphere (渾儀)
A method of making observation instruments at the times of
Qing DynastyThe earliest development of the
armillary sphere in China goes back to the astronomers
Shi Shen and
Gan De in the 4th century BC, as they were equipped with a primitive single-ring armillary instrument.
[Needham, Volume 3, 343.] This would have allowed them to measure the north polar distance (去極度, the Chinese form of declination) and measurement that gave the position in a
hsiu (入宿度, the Chinese form of right ascension).
During the
Western Han Dynasty (202 BC - 9 AD) additional developments made by the astronomers
Luoxia Hong (落下閎),
Xiangyu Wangren, and
Geng Shouchang (耿壽昌) advanced the use of the armillary in its early stage of evolution. In 52 BC, it was the astronomer Geng Shou-chang who introduced the first permanently fixed equatorial ring of the armillary sphere.
In the subsequent
Eastern Han Dynasty ( 23-220 AD) period, the astronomers
Fu An and
Jia Kui added the elliptical ring by 84 AD.
With the famous statesman, astronomer, and inventor
Zhang Heng (78-139 AD), the sphere was totally complete in 125 AD, with horizon and meridian rings.
It is of great importance to note that the world's first
hydraulic (i.e. water-powered) armillary sphere was created by Zhang Heng, who operated his by use of an inflow
clepsydra clock (see Zhang's article for more detail).
Abridged armilla (簡儀)
Designed by famous astronomers
Guo Shoujing in 1276 AD, it solved most problems found in armillary spheres at that time.
The primary structure of Abridged Armilla contains two large rings that are perpendicular to each other, of which one is parallel with the equatorial plane and is accordingly called “equatorial ring”, and the other is a double-ring which is perpendicular to the center of the equatorial ring, revolves around a metallic shaft, and is called “right ascension double-ring”.
The double-ring holds within itself a sighting tube with crosshairs. When observing, astronomers would aim at the star with the sighting tube, whereupon the stars’ position could be deciphered by observing the dials of the equatorial ring and the right ascension double-ring.
A foreign missionary melted the instrument in 1715 AD. The surviving one was built in 1437 AD, and was taken to what is now
Germany. It was then stored in a
French Embassy in 1900 during the
Eight-Nation Alliance. Under the pressure of international public discontent, Germany returned the instrument to China. In 1933 it was placed in
Purple Mountain Observatory, which prevented it from being destroyed in the
Japanese invasion. In the 1980s it had become seriously eroded and rusted down, and was nearly destroyed. In order to restore the device, the
Nanjing government spent 11 months to repair it.
Celestial globe (渾象) before Qing Dynasty
Besides star maps, the Chinese also made Celestial globes, which show stars positions like a star map and can present the actual sky in a specific time. Because of its Chinese name, it is often confused with the Armillary sphere, which is just one word different in Chinese (渾象 vs. 渾儀).
According to records, the first Celestial globe was made by Geng Shou-chang (耿壽昌) between 70BC and 50BC. In the
Ming Dynasty, the celestial globe at that time was a huge globe, showing the 28 mansions, celestial equator and ecliptic. But just like many other equipment, none of them have survived.
Celestial globe (天體儀) in the Qing Dynasty
Celestial globe was named 天體儀(Miriam celestial bodies) in the
Qing Dynasty. The one in
Beijing Ancient Observatory was made by Belgian missionary
Ferdinand Verbiest (南懷仁) 1673 AD. Unlike other Chinese celestial globes, it employs 360
degrees rather than the 365.24 degrees (which is a standard in ancient China). It is also the Chinese-first globe which shows constellations near to the Celestial South Pole.
The Water-powered Armillary Sphere and Celestial Globe Tower (水運儀象台)
The first to invent the
hydraulic-powered armillary sphere was
Zhang Heng (78-139 AD) of the
Han Dynasty. Zhang was well-known for his brilliant applications of mechanical gears, as this was one of his most impressive inventions (alongside his
seismograph to detect the
cardinal direction of
earthquakes that struck hundreds of miles away).
Started by
Su Song (蘇頌) and his colleagues in 1086 AD and finished in 1092 AD, his large astronomical
clock tower featured an armillary sphere (渾儀), a celestial globe (渾象) and a mechanical chronograph. It was operated by an
escapement mechanism and the earliest known
chain drive. However 35 years later the invading
Jurchen army dismantled the tower in 1127 AD upon taking the capital of
Kaifeng. The armillary sphere part was brought to
Beijing, yet the tower was never successfully reinstated, not even by Su Song's son.
Fortunately two versions of Su Song’s treatise written on his clock tower have survived the ages, so that studying his astronomical clock tower is made possible through medieval texts.
True north and planetary motion
The polymath Chinese scientist
Shen Kuo (1031-1095) was not only the first in history to describe the
magnetic-needle
compass, but also a more accurate measurement of the distance between the
polestar and
true north that could be used for
navigation. Shen achieved this by making nightly astronomical observations along with his colleague
Wei Pu, using Shen's improved design of a wider sighting tube that could be fixed to observe the polestar indefinitely. Along with the polestar, Shen Kuo and Wei Pu also established a project of nightly astronomical observation over a period of five successive years, an intensive work that would even rival the later work of
Tycho Brahe in Europe. Shen Kuo and Wei Pu charted the exact coordinates of the planets on a star map for this project, and created theories of planetary motion, including
retrogradation.
Foreign influences
Indian astronomy
Indian astronomy reached China with the expansion of
Buddhism during the
Later Han dynasty (25–220 CE). Further translation of Indian works on astronomy was completed in China by the
Three Kingdoms era (220–265 CE). However, the most detailed incorporation of Indian astronomy occurred only during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) when a number of Chinese scholars—such as
Yi Xing— were versed both in Indian and Chinese astronomy. A system of Indian astronomy was recorded in China as
Jiuzhi-li (718 CE), the author of which was an Indian by the name of
Qutan Xida—a translation of Devanagari Gotama Siddha—the director of the
Tang dynasty's national astronomical observatory.
[Ōhashi, Yukio (2008), "Astronomy: Indian Astronomy in China", Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures (2nd edition) edited by Helaine Selin, Springer, pp. 321-4, ISBN 978-1-4020-4559-2]The astronomical table of
sines by the
Indian astronomer and
mathematician,
Aryabhata, were translated into the Chinese astronomical and mathematical book of the
Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era (
Kaiyuan Zhanjing), compiled in 718 AD during the
Tang Dynasty.
[Joseph Needham, Volume 3, p. 109] The
Kaiyuan Zhanjing was compiled by
Gautama Siddha, an astronomer and astrologer born in
Chang'an, and whose family was originally from
India. He was also notable for his translation of the
Navagraha calendar into
Chinese.
Islamic astronomy
Islamic astronomers were brought to work on calendar making and astronomy during the
Yuan Dynasty.
Kublai Khan brought
Iranians to Beijing to construct an
observatory and an institution for astronomical studies.
[Richard Bulliet, Pamela Crossley, Daniel Headrick, Steven Hirsch, Lyman Johnson, and David Northrup. The Earth and Its Peoples. 3. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. ISBN 0-618-42770-8] Jamal ad-Din, a
Persian astronomer, presented
Kublai Khan with seven
Persian astronomical instruments, including a Persian
globe and an
armillary sphere, in 1267. Several Chinese astronomers also worked at the
Maragheh observatory in
Maragheh,
Persia.
Jesuit activity in China
The introduction of Western science to China by
Jesuit priest astronomers was a mixed blessing during the late 16th century and early 17th century.
The
telescope was introduced to China in the early 17th century. The telescope was first mentioned in Chinese writing by
Emanuel Diaz (Yang MaNuo), who wrote his
Tian Wen Lüe in 1615.
[Needham, Volume 3, 444.] In 1626
Adam Schall von Bell (Tang Ruowang) published the Chinese treatise on the telescope known as the
Yuan Jing Shuo (The Far-Seeing
Optic Glass).
[Needham, Volume 3, 444-445.] The
Chongzhen Emperor (明思宗, 1627-1644) of the
Ming Dynasty acquired the telescope of
Johannes Terrentius (or Johann Schreck; Deng Yu-han) in 1634, ten years before the collapse of the Ming Dynasty.
However, the impact on Chinese astronomy was limited.
The
Jesuit China missions of the 16th and 17th centuries brought Western astronomy, then undergoing its own revolution, to China. After the
Galileo affair early in the 17th century, the Roman Catholic Jesuit order was required to adhere to
geocentrism and ignore the
heliocentric teachings of
Copernicus and his followers, even though they were becoming standard in European astronomy.
[Needham, Volume 3, 438-439.] Thus, the Jesuits shared an Earth-centered and largely pre-Copernican astronomy with their Chinese hosts (i.e. the inaccurate
Ptolemaic-
Aristotelian views from Hellenistic times).
The Chinese were often fundamentally opposed to this as well, since the Chinese had long believed (from the ancient doctrine of
Xuan Ye) that the celestial bodies floated in a void of infinite space.
This contradicted the Aristotelian view of solid concentric crystalline spheres, where there was not a void, but a mass of air between the heavenly bodies.
Of course, the views of Copernicus,
Galileo, and
Tycho Brahe would eventually triumph in European science, and these ideas slowly leaked into China despite Jesuit efforts to curb them in the beginning. In 1627, the
Polish Jesuit
Michael Boym (Bu Mige) introduced
Johannes Kepler's Copernican Rudolphine Tables with much enthusiasm to the Ming court at
Beijing.
In Adam Schall von Bell's Chinese-written treatise of Western astronomy in 1640, the names of Copernicus (Ge-Bai-Ni), Galileo (Jia-li-lüe), and Tycho Brahe (Di-gu) were formally introduced to China.
[Needham, Volume 3, 445.] There were also Jesuits in China who were in favor of the Copernican theory, such as Nicholas Smogulecki and Wenceslaus Kirwitzer.
However, Copernican views were not widespread or wholly accepted in China during this point. In
Japan, the
Dutch aided the Japanese with the first modern observatory of Japan in 1725, headed by Nakane Genkei, whose observatory of astronomers wholly accepted the Copernican view.
[Needham, Volume 3, 447.] In contrast, the Copernican view was not accepted in mainstream China until the early 19th century, with the
Protestant missionaries such as
Joseph Edkins,
Alex Wylie, and
John Fryer.
Famous Chinese astronomers
Observatory
See also
