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The Dunhuang map from the Tang Dynasty (North Polar region). This map is thought to date from the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang (705–710). Founded in Dunhuang, Gansu. Constellations of the three schools were distinguished with different colors: white, black and yellow for stars of Wu Xian, Gan De and Shi Shen respectively. The whole set of star maps contained 1,300 stars.

Astronomy in China has a very long history, with historians considering that "they [the Chinese] were the most persistent and accurate observers of celestial phenomena anywhere in the world before the Arabs."^[1] 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 BC).^[2]

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, and 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.^[3]

Some elements of Indian astronomy reached China with the expansion of Buddhism after the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD), 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, such as 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. Today, China continues to be active in astronomy, with many observatories and its own space program.

Early history[link]

Purpose of astronomical observations in the past[link]

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 observed in 1054, now known as the SN 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.

Cosmology[link]

The Chinese developed three different cosmological models. The Gai Tan, or hemispherical dome, model conceived the heavens as a hemisphere lying over a dome-shaped earth. The second cosmological model, associated with the Hun Tian school, saw the heavens as a celestial sphere not unlike the spherical models developed in the Greek and Hellenistic traditions. The third cosmology, associated with the Xuan Ye school, viewed the heavens as infinite in extent and the celestial bodies as floating about at rare intervals, and "the speed of the luminaries depends on their individual natures, which shows they are not attached to anything."^[4]

Constellations[link]

The divisions of the sky began with the Northern Dipper and the 28 mansions.

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 meanings of most of their names have become obscure. Even worse, the name of each lunar mansion consists of only one Chinese word, the meaning of which could vary at different times in history. The meanings of the names are still under discussion.

Besides the 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 near to the Celestial South Pole, which are based on star catalogues from the West (see Matteo Ricci).

Star catalogues and maps[link]

Star catalogues[link]

In the 4th century BC, the two Chinese astronomers responsible for the earliest information going into the star catalogues were Shi Shen and Gan De of the Warring States period.^[5]

These books appeared to have lasted until the 6th century but were lost after that.^[5] 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.^[10] 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 that 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 the 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 the documents of that period were destroyed, including that of Shoujin. Imperial Astronomical Instruments (儀象考成) was published in 1757 and contains 3083 stars exactly.

Star maps[link]

A star map with a cylindrical projection. Su Song's star maps represent the oldest existent ones in printed form.

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 maps 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 at 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. 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[link]

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 the sun.^[11] 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), who made clear in his writing that this theory was nothing new.^[12] Jing Fang wrote:

The moon and the planets are Yin; they have shape but no light. This they receive only when the sun illuminates them. The former masters regarded the sun as round like a crossbow bullet, and they thought the moon had the nature of a mirror. Some of them recognized the moon as a ball too. Those parts of the moon which the sun illuminates look bright, those parts which it does not, remain dark.^[13]

The ancient Greeks had known this as well, since Parmenides and Aristotle supported the theory of the moon shining because of reflected light.^[13] 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).^[14]

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 the 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.^[15]

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.^[15]

Equipment and innovation[link]

Armillary sphere (渾儀)[link]

A method of making observation instruments at the times of Qing Dynasty

The 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.^[16] 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).^[16]

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.^[16] In the subsequent Eastern Han Dynasty (23-220  AD) period, the astronomers Fu An and Jia Kui added the elliptical ring by 84 AD.^[16] With the famous statesman, astronomer, and inventor Zhang Heng (78-139 AD), the sphere was totally completed in 125 AD, with horizon and meridian rings.^[16] 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)[link]

Designed by famous astronomer 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 that is perpendicular to the center of the equatorial ring, revolving 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 star's 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[link]

Celestial globe from 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 at 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 70 BC and 50 BC. In the Ming Dynasty, the celestial globe at that time was a huge globe, showing the 28 mansions, celestial equator and ecliptic. None of them have survived.

Celestial globe (天體儀) in the Qing Dynasty[link]

Celestial globes were 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) in 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 first Chinese globe that shows constellations near to the Celestial South Pole.

The water-powered armillary sphere and celestial globe tower (水運儀象台)[link]

The inventor of 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[link]

The polymath Chinese scientist Shen Kuo (1031–1095) was not only the first in history to describe the magnetic-needle compass, but also made 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[link]

Indian astronomy[link]

Buddhism first reached China during the Eastern Han Dynasty, and translation of Indian works on astronomy came to 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.^[17]

The astronomical table of sines by the Indian astronomer and mathematician Aryabhatan was translated into the Chinese astronomical and mathematical book Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era (Kaiyuan Zhanjing), compiled in 718 AD during the Tang Dynasty.^[9] 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[link]

Islamic astronomers were brought to China in order to work on calendar making and astronomy during the Mongol Empire and the succeeding Yuan Dynasty.^[18][19] The Chinese scholar Yeh-lu Chu'tsai accompanied Genghis Khan to Persia in 1210 and studied their calendar for use in the Mongol Empire.^[19] Kublai Khan brought Iranians to Beijing to construct an observatory and an institution for astronomical studies.^[18]

Several Chinese astronomers worked at the Maragheh observatory, founded by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi in 1259 under the patronage of Hulagu Khan in Persia.^[20] One of these Chinese astronomers was Fu Mengchi, or Fu Mezhai.^[21] In 1267, the Persian astronomer Jamal ad-Din, who previously worked at Maragha observatory, presented Kublai Khan with seven Persian astronomical instruments, including a terrestrial globe and an armillary sphere,^[22] as well as an astronomical almanac, which was later known in China as the Wannian Li ("Ten Thousand Year Calendar" or "Eternal Calendar"). He was known as "Zhamaluding" in China, where, in 1271,^[21] he was appointed by Khan as the first director of the Islamic observatory in Beijing,^[20] known as the Islamic Astronomical Bureau, which operated alongside the Chinese Astronomical Bureau for four centuries. Islamic astronomy gained a good reputation in China for its theory of planetary latitudes, which did not exist in Chinese astronomy at the time, and for its accurate prediction of eclipses.^[21]

Some of the astronomical instruments constructed by the famous Chinese astronomer Guo Shoujing shortly afterwards resemble the style of instrumentation built at Maragheh.^[20] In particular, the "simplified instrument" (jianyi) and the large gnomon at the Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory show traces of Islamic influence.^[23] While formulating the Shoushili calendar in 1281, Shoujing's work in spherical trigonometry may have also been partially influenced by Islamic mathematics, which was largely accepted at Kublai's court.^[24] These possible influences include a pseudo-geometrical method for converting between equatorial and ecliptic coordinates, the systematic use of decimals in the underlying parameters, and the application of cubic interpolation in the calculation of the irregularity in the planetary motions.^[23]

Emperor Taizu (r. 1368-1398) of the Ming Dynasty (1328–1398), in the first year of his reign (1368), conscripted Han and non-Han astrology specialists from the astronomical institutions in Beijing of the former Mongolian Yuan to Nanjing to become officials of the newly established national observatory.

That year, the Ming government summoned for the first time the astronomical officials to come south from the upper capital of Yuan. There were fourteen of them. In order to enhance accuracy in methods of observation and computation, Emperor Taizu reinforced the adoption of parallel calendar systems, the Han and the Hui. In the following years, the Ming Court appointed several Hui astrologers to hold high positions in the Imperial Observatory. They wrote many books on Islamic astronomy and also manufactured astronomical equipment based on the Islamic system.

The translation of two important works into Chinese was completed in 1383: Zij (1366) and al-Madkhal fi Sina'at Ahkam al-Nujum, Introduction to Astrology (1004).

In 1384, a Chinese astrolabe was made for observing stars based on the instructions for making multi-purposed Islamic equipment. In 1385, the apparatus was installed on a hill in northern Nanjing.

Around 1384, during the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the Chinese translation and compilation of Islamic astronomical tables, a task that was carried out by the scholars Mashayihei, a Muslim astronomer, and Wu Bozong, a Chinese scholar-official. These tables came to be known as the Huihui Lifa (Muslim System of Calendrical Astronomy), which was published in China a number of times until the early 18th century,^[25] though the Qing Dynasty had officially abandoned the tradition of Chinese-Islamic astronomy in 1659.^[26]

Jesuit activity in China[link]

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.^[27] In 1626, Johann Adam Schall von Bell (Tang Ruowang) published the Chinese treatise on the telescope known as the Yuan Jing Shuo (The Far-Seeing Optic Glass).^[28] 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.^[27] 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.^[29] Thus, the Jesuits shared an Earth-centered and largely pre-Copernican astronomy with their Chinese hosts (i.e., the Ptolemaic-Aristotelian views from Hellenistic times).^[29] 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.^[29] 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.^[29]

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.^[27] 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.^[30] There were also Jesuits in China who were in favor of the Copernican theory, such as Nicholas Smogulecki and Wenceslaus Kirwitzer.^[27] However, Copernican views were not widespread or wholly accepted in China during this time.

Ferdinand Augustin Hallerstein (Liu Songling) created the first spherical astrolabe as the Head of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau from 1739 until 1774. The former Beijing Astronomical observatory, now a museum, still hosts the armillary sphere with rotating rings, which was made under Hallerstein’s leadership and is considered the most prominent astronomical instrument.

While 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.^[31] 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.^[31]

Famous Chinese astronomers[link]

• Gan De
• Guo Shoujing
• Shen Kuo
• Shi Shen
• Su Song
• Xu Guangqi
• Zhang Heng

Observatory[link]

• Beijing Ancient Observatory
• Astro Observatory

See also[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Beijing Ancient Observatory

• Needham, Joseph; Wang Ling (1959,1995). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-05801-5. 

Further reading[link]

• 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.
• Chan Ki-hung: Chinese Ancient Star Map, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, 2002, ISBN 962-7054-09-7
• Gems of the ancient Chinese astronomy relics, ISBN 962-7797-03-0

External links[link]

• 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
• Chinese Ancient Astronomy
• Ancient Chinese Astronomy Exhibition
• Chinese astronomy at the University of Maine

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2011)

Fred Espenak (born 1953) is an American astrophysicist. He works at the Goddard Space Flight Center. He is best known for his work on eclipse predictions.

Espenak earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Wagner College, Staten Island, where he worked in the planetarium. His master's degree is from the University of Toledo, based on studies he did at Kitt Peak Observatory of eruptive and flare stars among red dwarfs.

Espenak is the author of several canonical works on eclipse predictions, such as the Fifty Year Canon of Solar Eclipses: 1986–2035 and Fifty Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses: 1986–2035. He also publishes eclipse bulletins for NASA. He is co-author with Jan Meeus of Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, October 2006. This work covers all types of solar eclipses (partial, total, annular, or hybrid) from 2000 BC to AD 3000.

Asteroid 14120 Espenak is named in his honour.

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (September 2011)

External links[link]

• NASA's Eclipse Home Page
• GSFC - Fred Espenak
• Fred Espenak as Mr. Eclipse
• Espenak biography and image gallery at The World at Night

This United States astronomer article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Matteo Ricci Servant of God Born (1552-10-06)6 October 1552 Macerata, Papal States Died 11 May 1610(1610-05-11) (aged 57) Beijing, Ming Empire Ethnicity Italian Alma mater Society of Jesus Influenced by Alessandro Valignano, Christopher Clavius Successor Nicholas Longobardi Religion Catholic Matteo Ricci Traditional Chinese 利瑪竇 Simplified Chinese 利玛窦 Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Lì Mǎdòu - IPA [lî mɑ̀tôʊ] Alternative Chinese name Traditional Chinese 西泰 Simplified Chinese 西泰 Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Xītài - IPA [ɕítʰâɪ]

Matteo Ricci, SJ (October 6, 1552 – May 11, 1610; simplified Chinese: 利玛窦; traditional Chinese: 利瑪竇; pinyin: Lì Mǎdòu; courtesy name: 西泰 Xītài) was an Italian Jesuit priest, and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China Mission, as it existed in the 17th–18th centuries. His current title is Servant of God.

Early life[link]

Matteo Ricci was born in 1552 in Macerata, part of the Papal States, and today a city in the Italian region of Marche. Ricci started learning theology and law in a Roman Jesuit school. He entered the order in 1571, and in 1577 he applied for a missionary expedition to India. His journey began in March 1578 in Lisbon, Portugal. He arrived in Goa, a Portuguese Colony, in September 1578. Four years later, he was dispatched to China.

Ricci in China[link]

In August 1582, Ricci arrived at Macau, a Portuguese trading post on the South China Sea. At the time, Christian missionary activity in China was almost completely limited to Macau, where some of the local Chinese people had converted to Christianity and lived in the Portuguese manner. No Christian missionary had attempted seriously to learn the Chinese language until 1579 (three years before Ricci's arrival), when Michele Ruggieri was invited from Portuguese India expressly to study Chinese, by Alessandro Valignano, founder of St. Paul Jesuit College (Macau), and to prepare for the Jesuits' mission from Macau into Mainland China.^[1]

Once in Macau, Ricci started learning Chinese language and customs. This was the beginning of a long project that made him one of the first Western scholars to master Chinese script and Classical Chinese. With Ruggieri, he traveled to Guangdong's major cities, Canton and Zhaoqing (then the residence of the Viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi), seeking to establish a permanent Jesuit mission outside Macau.

Left plates 1-3

Right plates 4-6

Kunyu Wanguo Quantu (坤輿萬國全圖), printed by Matteo Ricci upon request of Wanli Emperor in Beijing, 1602

Unattributed, very detailed, two page colored edition (1604?), copy of the 1602 map with Japanese katakana transliterations of the phonetic Chinese characters

In 1583, Ricci and Ruggieri settled in Zhaoqing, at the invitation of the governor of Zhaoqing, Wang Pan, who had heard of Ricci's skill as a mathematician and cartographer. Ricci stayed in Zhaoqing from 1583 to 1589, when he was expelled by a new viceroy. It was in Zhaoqing, in 1584, that Ricci composed the first European-style map of the world in Chinese, now called the "Impossible Black Tulip"^[2] after its rarity. No prints of the 1584 map survive, but six re-copied, rice-paper versions survive from 1602.^[3]

It is thought that, during their time in Zhaoqing, Ricci and Ruggieri compiled a Portuguese-Chinese dictionary, the first in any European language, for which they developed a system for transcribing Chinese words in the Latin alphabet. The manuscript was misplaced in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, not re-discovered until 1934, and only published in 2001.^[4][5]

There is now a memorial plaque in Zhaoqing to commemorate Ricci's six-year stay there, as well as a "Ricci Memorial Centre"^[6], in a building dating from the 1860's.

Expelled from Zhaoqing in 1589, Ricci obtained permission to relocate to Shaoguan (Shaozhou, in Ricci's account) in the north of the province, and reestablish his mission there.^[7]

Further travels saw Ricci reach Nanjing and Nanchang in 1595. In August 1597, Alessandro Valignano (1539–1606), his superior, appointed him Major Superior of the mission in China, with the rank and powers of a Provincial, a charge that he fulfilled until his death.^[8] He moved to Tongzhou (a port of Beijing) in 1598, and first reached Beijing itself on 7 September 1598. However, because of a Korean/Japanese war at the time, Ricci could not reach the Imperial Palace. After waiting for two months, he left Beijing; first for Nanjing and then Suzhou in Jiangsu Province.

During the winter of 1598, Ricci, with the help of his Jesuit colleague Lazzaro Cattaneo, compiled another Chinese-Portuguese dictionary, in which tones in Chinese syllables were indicated in Roman text with diacritical marks. Unlike Ricci's and Ruggieri's earlier Portuguese-Chinese dictionary, this work has not been found.^[4]

In 1601, Ricci was invited by the Emperor to become an adviser to the Imperial court of the Wanli Emperor; the first Westerner to be invited into the Forbidden City. This honour was in recognition of Ricci's scientific abilities, chiefly his predictions of solar eclipses, which were significant events in the Chinese world.^[9] He established the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing, the oldest Catholic church in the city.^[10] Ricci was given free access to the Forbidden City, but he never met the reclusive Wanli Emperor. Wanli did grant him patronage, however, with a generous stipend.

Once established in Beijing, Ricci was able to meet important officials and leading members of the Beijing cultural scene, and convert a number of them to Christianity. One conversion, which he called "extraordinary", occurred in 1602, when Li Yingshi, a decorated veteran of the Japanese/Korean War and a well-known astrologer and feng shui expert, became a Christian. This man provided the Jesuits with a wealth of information useful in communicating with the "heathens."^[11][12]

Ricci was also the first European to learn about the Kaifeng Jews.^[13], being contacted by a member of that community who was visiting Beijing in 1605. Ricci never visited Kaifeng, Henan Province, but he did send a junior missionary there in 1608, the first of many such missions. In fact, the elderly Chief Rabbi of the Jews was ready to cede his power to Ricci, as long as he gave up eating pork, but he never accepted the position.^[13]

Ricci died in Beijing on May 11, 1610, in Beijing, aged 57. By the code of the Ming Dynasty, foreigners who died in China had to be buried in Macau. Diego de Pantoja made a special plea to the court, requesting a burial plot in Beijing, in the light of Ricci's contributions to China. Emperor Wanli granted this request and designated a Buddhist temple for the purpose. In October 1610, Ricci's remains were transferred there.^[14] The graves of Ferdinand Verbiest, Johann Adam Schall von Bell, and other missionaries are also there, and it became known as the Zhalan cemetery (Chinese: 栅栏墓地; pinyin: Zhàlán Mùdì). It is now part of the campus of Beijing Administrative College (located at 6 Chegongzhuang Road, Xicheng District, Chinese: 西城区车公庄大街6号; pinyin: Xīchéng Qū Chēgōngzhuāng Dàjiē 6Hào).

Matteo Ricci was succeeded as Superior General of the China mission by Nicolò Longobardo, in 1610. Longobardo entrusted another Jesuit, Nicolas Trigault, with expanding and editing, as well as translating into Latin, those of Ricci's papers that were found in his office after his death. This work was first published in 1615 in Augsburg as De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas, and soon was translated into a number of other European languages.^[15]

Ricci's approach to Chinese culture[link]

Painting of Matteo Ricci in which he was depicted as wearing "Chinese scholar" robe, dated 1611.

Matteo Ricci dressed in traditional Chinese robes.

Ricci could speak Chinese as well as read and write classical Chinese, the literary language of scholars and officials. He was known for his appreciation of Chinese culture in general, but did condemn the prostitution which was widespread in Beijing at the time.^[16] During his research he discovered that, in contrast to the cultures of South Asia, Chinese culture was strongly intertwined with Confucian values and therefore decided to use existing Chinese concepts to explain Christianity. He did not explain the Catholic faith as something foreign or new, instead, he said that the Chinese culture and people always believed in God, and that Christianity is simply the most perfect manifestation of their faith.^[17] Thus the Chinese Lord of Heaven (天主) is identical with God. He supported Chinese traditions by agreeing with the veneration of the dead. Dominican and Franciscan missionaries felt he went too far in accommodation and convinced the Vatican to outlaw Ricci’s approach.^[18][19] Similarly to developments in India, the identification of European culture with Christianity led to the virtual end of Catholic missions in China.^[18]

Later discovering that Confucian thought was dominant in the Ming Dynasty, Ricci became the first to translate the Confucian classics into a western language, Latin, with assistance from the scholar Xu Guangqi.

Ricci also met a Korean emissary to China, Yi Su-gwang. He taught Yi Su-gwang the basic tenets of Catholicism and transmitted western knowledge to him, giving Yi Su-gwang several books from the west which were incorporated in Jibong yuseol, which was the first Korean encyclopedia.^[20] Ricci's transmission of western knowledge to Yi Su-gwang influenced and helped shape the foundation of the Silhak movement in Korea.^[21]

Cause of Canonization[link]

The cause of beatification of Father Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), originally begun in 1984, was reopened on January 24, 2010 at the cathedral of the east-central Italian Diocese of Macerata-Tolentino-Recanati-Cingoli-Treia.^[22][23]

Commemoration[link]

The following places and institutions are named after Matteo Ricci:

Matteo Ricci's grave (利玛窦墓) in the backyard of the Beijing Administrative College (Chinese: 北京行政学院; pinyin: Běijīng Xíngzhèng Xuéyuàn, formerly the Beijing Communist Party School), off Chegongzhuang Dajie.

• Matteo Ricci Pacific Studies Reading Room at The National Central Library of Taiwan
• Ricci Hall, a dormitory at The University of Hong Kong
• Ricci Building, a building at Wah Yan College, Kowloon in Hong Kong
• The Matteo Ricci Study Hall, at the Ateneo de Manila University
• Matteo Ricci College, Kowloon in Hong Kong
• Matteo Ricci College at Seattle University
• Colégio Mateus Ricci, Macau
• Sekolah Katolik Ricci in Pancoran, Indonesia
• Taipei Ricci Institute, Taiwan
• Macau Ricci Institute, Macau^[24]
• Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History at the University of San Francisco.
• The Matteo Ricci Society at Fordham University
• Matteo Ricci Hall-"R" Hall, Ricci Hall Annex-"RA" Hall two buildings at Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea
• Townhouse block #14 at Fairfield University

In the run-up to the 400th anniversary of Ricci's death, the Vatican hosted a major exhibit dedicated to his life. At least one Catholic bishop - Claudio Giuliodori from Ricci's hometown, Macerata - has mentioned that the possibility of the Jesuit's beatification is considered by the church authorities.^[25] Additionally, Italian film director Gjon Kolndrekaj produced a 60 minute documentary about Ricci that came out in 2009, entitled "Matteo Ricci: A Jesuit in the Dragon's Kingdom", filmed in both Italy and China.^[26][27] Also, in Taipei, the Taipei Ricci Institute and the National Central Library of Taiwan opened jointly the "Matteo Ricci Pacific Studies Reading Room"^[28] and the Taipei-based online magazine eRenlai, directed by Jesuit Benoît Vermander dedicated its issue of June 2010 to the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Ricci's death^[29]

Map of the Far East by Matteo Ricci in 1602.

The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven[link]

The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven is a book written by Matteo Ricci, which argues that Confucianism and Christianity are not opposed and in fact are remarkably similar in key ways. Ricci used this treatise in his missionary effort to convert Chinese literati, men who were educated in Confucianism and the Chinese classics. There was controversy over whether Ricci and other Jesuits had gone too far and changed Christian beliefs in order to win converts.

See also[link]

• Religion in China
• Christianity in China
• Jesuit China missions
• List of Jesuit scientists
• List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
• List of Roman Catholic missionaries in China

• History of the Jews in China
• 19th Century Protestant Missions in China
• List of Protestant missionaries in China
• Horses in East Asian warfare
• Zhang Dai
• Kunyu Wanguo Quantu
• Diego de Pantoja

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Dehergne, Joseph, S.J. (1973). Répertoire des Jésuites de Chine de 1552 à 1800. Rome: Institutum Historicum S.I. OCLC 462805295
• Hsia, R. Po-chia. (2007). "The Catholic Mission and translations in China, 1583–1700" in Cultural Translation in Early Modern Europe (Peter Burke and R. Po-chia Hsia, eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 13-ISBN 9780521862080/13-ISBN 0521862086; OCLC 76935903
• Spence, Jonathan D.. (1984). The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci. New York: Viking. 10-ISBN 0670468304/13-ISBN 9780670468300; OCLC 230623792

Further reading[link]

• Cronin, Vincent. (1955). The Wise Man from the West: Matteo Ricci and his Mission to China. (1955) OCLC 664953
• Gernet, Jacques. (1981). China and the Christian Impact: a conflict of cultures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10-ISBN 0521313198/10-ISBN 9780521313193; OCLC 21173711

• Simon Leys, Madness of the Wise : Ricci in China, an article from his book, The Burning Forest (1983). This is an interesting account, and contains a critical review of The Memory Palace by Jonathan D. Spence.
• Mao Weizhun, « European influences on Chinese humanitarian practices. A longitudinal study » in : Emulations - Journal of young scholars in Social Sciences, n°7 (June 2010).
• World Digital Library presentation of 職方外紀 六卷卷首一卷 or "Chronicle of Foreign Lands", 1623. Library of Congress. This book explains Matteo Ricci's world map of 1574.

Resources[link]

Works

• De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas: the journals of Ricci that were completed and translated into Latin by another Jesuit, Nicolas Trigault, soon after Ricci's death. Available in various editions:
  • Trigault, Nicolas S. J. "China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Mathew Ricci: 1583-1610". English translation by Louis J. Gallagher, S.J. (New York: Random House, Inc. 1953).
  • On Chinese Government, an excerpt from Chapter One of Gallagher's translation.
  • De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas, full Latin text, available on Google Books
  • A discourse of the Kingdome of China, taken out of Ricius and Trigautius, containing the countrey, people, government, religion, rites, sects, characters, studies, arts, acts; and a Map of China added, drawne out of one there made with Annotations for the understanding thereof (an early English translation of excerpts from De Christiana expeditione) in Purchas his Pilgrimes (1625). Can be found in the full text of "Hakluytus posthumus" on archive.org. The book also appears on Google Books, but only in snippet view.
• An excerpt from The Art of Printing by Matteo Ricci
• Ricci's World Map of 1602
• Rare 1602 World Map, the First Map in Chinese to Show the Americas, on Display at Library of Congress, Jan. 12 to April 10 2010

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Matteo Ricci

• World Digital Library presentation of 職方外紀 六卷卷首一卷 or "Chronicle of Foreign Lands", 1623. Library of Congress. This book explains Matteo Ricci's world map of 1574.
• Inculturation: Matteo Ricci's Legacy in China [Short videos from Georgetown's Ricci Legacy Symposium.]
• University of Scranton: Matteo Ricci, S.J.
• The Zhaoqing Ricci Center
• Article about the tomb of Matteo Ricci in Beijing
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Matteo Ricci
• Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History
• Rotary Club Macerata Matteo Ricci (in Italian)
• Matteo Ricci moves closer toward beatification

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