Foreign influences Chinese astronomy

1 foreign influences

1.1 indian astronomy
1.2 islamic astronomy in east asia
1.3 jesuit activity in china

foreign influences
indian astronomy

buddhism first reached china during eastern han dynasty, , translation of indian works on astronomy came china 3 kingdoms era (220–265 ce). however, detailed incorporation of indian astronomy occurred during tang dynasty (618-907), when number of chinese scholars—such yi xing—were versed both in indian , chinese astronomy. system of indian astronomy recorded in china jiuzhi-li (718 ce), author of indian name of qutan xida—a translation of devanagari gotama siddha—the director of tang dynasty s national astronomical observatory.

the astronomical table of sines indian astronomer , mathematician aryabhatan translated chinese astronomical , mathematical book treatise on astrology of kaiyuan era (kaiyuan zhanjing), compiled in 718 ad during tang dynasty. kaiyuan zhanjing compiled gautama siddha, astronomer , astrologer born in chang an, , family india. notable translation of navagraha calendar chinese.

islamic astronomy in east asia

early european drawing of beijing ancient observatory.



gaocheng astronomical observatory. built in 1276.

islamic influence on chinese astronomy first recorded during song dynasty when hui muslim astronomer named ma yize introduced concept of 7 days in week , made other contributions.

islamic astronomers brought china in order work on calendar making , astronomy during mongol empire , succeeding yuan dynasty. chinese scholar yelü chucai accompanied genghis khan persia in 1210 , studied calendar use in mongol empire. kublai khan brought iranians beijing construct observatory , institution astronomical studies.

several chinese astronomers worked @ maragheh observatory, founded nasir al-din al-tusi in 1259 under patronage of hulagu khan in persia. 1 of these chinese astronomers fu mengchi, or fu mezhai.

in 1267, persian astronomer jamal ad-din, worked @ maragha observatory, presented kublai khan 7 persian astronomical instruments, including terrestrial globe , armillary sphere, astronomical almanac, later known in china wannian li ( ten thousand year calendar or eternal calendar ). known zhama luding in china, where, in 1271, appointed khan first director of islamic observatory in beijing, known islamic astronomical bureau, operated alongside chinese astronomical bureau 4 centuries. islamic astronomy gained reputation in china theory of planetary latitudes, did not exist in chinese astronomy @ time, , accurate prediction of eclipses.

some of astronomical instruments constructed famous chinese astronomer guo shoujing shortly afterwards resemble style of instrumentation built @ maragheh. in particular, simplified instrument (jianyi) , large gnomon @ gaocheng astronomical observatory show traces of islamic influence. while formulating shoushili calendar in 1281, shoujing s work in spherical trigonometry may have been partially influenced islamic mathematics, largely accepted @ kublai s court. these possible influences include pseudo-geometrical method converting between equatorial , ecliptic coordinates, systematic use of decimals in underlying parameters, , application of cubic interpolation in calculation of irregularity in planetary motions.

emperor taizu (r. 1368-1398) of ming dynasty (1328–1398), in first year of reign (1368), conscripted han , non-han astrology specialists astronomical institutions in beijing of former mongolian yuan nanjing become officials of newly established national observatory.

that year, ming government summoned first time astronomical officials come south upper capital of yuan. there fourteen of them. in order enhance accuracy in methods of observation , computation, emperor taizu reinforced adoption of parallel calendar systems, han , hui. in following years, ming court appointed several hui astrologers hold high positions in imperial observatory. wrote many books on islamic astronomy , manufactured astronomical equipment based on islamic system.

the translation of 2 important works chinese completed in 1383: zij (1366) , al-madkhal fi sina @ ahkam al-nujum, introduction astrology (1004).

in 1384, chinese astrolabe made observing stars based on instructions making multi-purposed islamic equipment. in 1385, apparatus installed on hill in northern nanjing.

around 1384, during ming dynasty, emperor zhu yuanzhang ordered chinese translation , compilation of islamic astronomical tables, task carried out scholars mashayihei, muslim astronomer, , wu bozong, chinese scholar-official. these tables came known huihui lifa (muslim system of calendrical astronomy), published in china number of times until 18th century, though qing dynasty had officially abandoned tradition of chinese-islamic astronomy in 1659. muslim astronomer yang guangxian known attacks on jesuit s astronomical sciences.

jesuit activity in china

the introduction of western science china jesuit priest astronomers mixed blessing during late sixteenth century , seventeenth century.

the telescope introduced china in seventeenth century. telescope first mentioned in chinese writing manuel dias younger (yang manuo), wrote tian wen lüe in 1615. in 1626, johann adam schall von bell (tang ruowang) published chinese treatise on telescope known yuan jing shuo (the far-seeing optic glass). chongzhen emperor (r 1627–1644) of ming dynasty acquired telescope of johannes terrentius (or johann schreck; deng yu-han) in 1634, ten years before collapse of ming dynasty. however, impact on chinese astronomy limited.

the jesuit china missions of sixteenth , seventeenth centuries brought western astronomy, undergoing own revolution, china and—via joão rodrigues s gifts jeong duwon—to joseon korea. after galileo affair in seventeenth century, roman catholic jesuit order required adhere geocentrism , ignore heliocentric teachings of copernicus , followers, though becoming standard in european astronomy. thus, jesuits shared earth-centered , largely pre-copernican astronomy chinese hosts (i.e., ptolemaic-aristotelian views hellenistic times). jesuits (such giacomo rho) later introduced tycho s geoheliocentric model standard cosmological model. chinese fundamentally opposed well, since chinese had long believed (from ancient doctrine of xuan ye) celestial bodies floated in void of infinite space. contradicted aristotelian view of solid concentric crystalline spheres, there not void, mass of air between heavenly bodies.

of course, views of copernicus, galileo, , tycho brahe triumph in european science, , these ideas leaked china despite jesuit efforts curb them in beginning. in 1627, polish jesuit michael boym (bu mige) introduced johannes kepler s copernican rudolphine tables enthusiasm ming court @ beijing. in adam schall von bell s chinese-written treatise of western astronomy in 1640, names of copernicus (ge-bai-ni), galileo (jia-li-lüe), , tycho brahe (di-gu) formally introduced china. there jesuits in china in favor of copernican theory, such nicholas smogulecki , wenceslaus kirwitzer. however, copernican views not widespread or wholly accepted in china during time.

ferdinand augustin hallerstein (liu songling) created first spherical astrolabe head of imperial astronomical bureau 1739 until 1774. former beijing astronomical observatory, museum, still hosts armillary sphere rotating rings, made under hallerstein’s leadership , considered prominent astronomical instrument.

while in japan, dutch aided japanese first modern observatory of japan in 1725, headed nakane genkei, observatory of astronomers wholly accepted copernican view. in contrast, copernican view not accepted in mainstream china until nineteenth century, protestant missionaries such joseph edkins, alex wylie, , john fryer.