Chinese astronomy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Astronomy in China has a very long history. Oracle bones from the Yin Dynasty (2nd millennium BC) record eclipses and novae. Detailed records of astronomical observations were kept from about the 6th century BC until the introduction of Western astronomy and the telescope in the 17th century. The practice of astronomy in China was fundamentally changed by extended contact with Western astronomy. Today, China continues to be active in astronomy, with many observatories and its own space program.
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[edit] Early history
Much of early Chinese astronomy was for the purpose of timekeeping. The Chinese used a lunisolar calendar, but because the cycles of the Sun and the Moon are different, astronomers often prepared new calendars and made 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, 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.
The world's first star catalogue was made by Gan De, a Chinese astronomer, in 4th century BC.
Muslim and Chinese astronomy intermixed during the Mongol rule of the Yuan Dynasty. Muslim astronomers worked in the Chinese astronomical bureau established by Kublai Khan. A few Chinese astronomers also worked at the Persian Maragha observatory.[1]
[edit] Jesuit activity in China
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. Thus, the Jesuits shared an Earth-centered and largely pre-Copernican astronomy with their Chinese hosts.
[edit] Modern astronomy
Modern western-style astronomy entered China in the 19th century.
[edit] Famous Chinese astronomers
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, edited by Helaine Selin. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1997. S.v. "Astronomy in China," by Ho Peng Yoke.
- Sun Xiaochun, "Crossing the Boundaries Between Heaven and Man: Astronomy in Ancient China," in Astronomy Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, edited by H. Selin, pp. 423-454. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 2000.
[edit] External links
- The Mathematics of the Chinese Calendary by Helmar Aslaksen
- Copernicus in China by Nathan Sivin
- Boundaries Crossing: Western Astronomy in Confucian China, 1600-1800 by Pingyi Chu
- Homepage of the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences
