Star Catalogues
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.
| Author | Transliterated name | Chinese Catalogue name | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shi Shen | Shi Shen astronomy | 石申天文 | Shi Shen tienwen |
| Gan De | Astronomic star observation | 天文星占 | Tianwen xingzhan |
These books appeared to have lasted until the 6th century but were 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:
| Author | Transliterated name | Chinese name | Pinyin | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sima Qian | Book of Celestial Offices | 天官書 | Tianguan shu | This is the astronomical chapter of the Records of the Grand Historian, a massive history compiled during the late 2nd century BC by the Han-era scholar and official Sima Qian. This chapter provides a star catalogue and discusses the schools of Gan De and Shi Shen. |
| Ma Xian (馬顯) | Star Manual of the Masters Gan and Shi | 甘石星經 | Gan Shi Xingjing | Despite having the name credited to Shi and Gan, it was lost and actually compiled circa 579 AD as an appendix to the Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era, and summarized in the book 郡齋讀書志. |
| Book of Jin | 晉書 | Jin shu | In the astronomical chapters of the text | |
| Book of Sui | 隋書 | Sui shu | ||
| Gautama Siddha | Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era | 開元占經 | Kaiyuan Zhanjing | During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (712-756 AD). After analyzing and providing a summary on the work of Gan De and Shi Shen, Tang era astronomers mentioned the names of more than 800 stars that were found, 121 of them marked with positions. The astronomical table of sines by the Indian astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata were also translated into the Kaiyuan Zhanjing. |
| The Great Firmament Star Manual Common to Astrology | 通占大象曆星經 | Tongzhan taxiangli xingjing | This renamed star manual is incorporated in the Taoist book Daozang. |
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. 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.
Read more about this topic: Chinese Astronomy, Star Catalogues and Maps
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