Download or read book Astronomy and Mathematics in Ancient China written by Christopher Cullen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1996-04-18 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher Description
Download or read book Chinese Astrology And Astronomy An Outside History written by Xiaoyuan Jiang and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2021-01-04 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chinese Astrology and Astronomy: An Outside History discusses the ancient Chinese's needs and reasons for engaging in astronomy. It presents the study on ancient astronomical phenomena and manuals, and analyzes the cosmological views of ancient Chinese. It also expounds the nature and functions of astronomy to ancient Chinese, as well as its difference from the western modern astronomy of today, exploring on new issues in a bold but logical fashion, and offering arguments that challenge even the views of authority.This book stands as a translated version, by Chen Wenan, an associate professor of Ningbo University, of the original Chinese publication Tianxue Waishi by Jiang Xiaoyuan.
Download or read book Procs Of The 21st Century Chinese Astronomy Conf Dedicated To Prof C C Lin written by K L Chan and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 1997-10-22 with total page 556 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a country with 5000 years of history, China has made tremendous contributions to astronomy. The 21st century marks the beginning of a new era for the astronomy of that country. This is the proceedings of a conference held to honour Prof C C Lin — the leading Chinese astronomer in the world academic community — on his 80th birthday
Download or read book Chinese Mathematical Astrology written by Ho Peng Yoke and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-03-01 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Though there are a number of well-written works on Chinese divination, there are none that deal with the three sophisticated devices that were employed by the Chinese Astronomical Bureau in the eleventh century and for hundreds of years thereafter. Chinese experts applied the methods associated with these devices to both weather forecasting and to the interpretation of human affairs. Hidden by a veil of secrecy, these methods have always been relatively little known other than by their names. The first work in any language to explore these three methods, known as sanshi (three cosmic boards), this book sheds light on a topic which has been shrouded in mystery for centuries, having been kept secret for many years by the Chinese Astronomical Bureau.
Download or read book Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy written by Clive L.N. Ruggles and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-08-16 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How human communities interpret what they perceive in the sky is vital in fulfilling humankind’s most basic need to comprehend the universe it inhabits, both from a modern scientific perspective and from countless other cultural standpoints, extending right back to early prehistory. Archaeoastronomy, which is concerned with cultural perceptions and understandings of astronomical phenomena, is a rich cross-disciplinary field. The central aim of “Handbook of Archaeoastronomy” is to provide a reliable source for theory, method, interpretation and best practices that will give a definitive picture of the state of the art research in this field for serious scholars regardless of the discipline(s) in which they are qualified. It will be equally suitable for those already contributing to the field and those interested in entering it. Also included are studies in ethnoastronomy, which is concerned with contemporary practices related to astronomy, particularly among modern indigenous societies. A major part of this MRW is comprised of a set of wide-ranging archaeoastronomical case studies both geographically and through time, stretching right back to Palaeolithic days, and also in terms of the types of human society and nature of their astronomical ideas and practices. However, these are chosen in order to best illuminate broader issues and themes, rather than to attempt, for example, to provide systematic coverage of recent ‘discoveries.’ Thematic articles cover general themes such as cosmologies, calendars, navigation, orientations and alignments, and ancient perceptions of space and time. They also highlight various aspects of the social context of astronomy (its relationship to social power, warfare, etc) and how we interpret astronomical practices within the framework of conceptual approaches. There are also discussions of broad issues such as ethnocentrism, nationalism, and astronomical dating. The “methods and practices” articles cover topics from field methodology and survey procedures to social theory, as well as providing broad definitions and explanations of key concepts. We are also including a number of “disciplinary perspectives” on approaches to archaeoastronomy written by leading figures in the constituent fields. These articles cover material that, generally speaking, would be familiar to graduates in the relevant discipline but, critically, not so to those with different backgrounds.
Download or read book Astrology and Cosmology in Early China written by David W. Pankenier and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-10 with total page 617 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on a vast array of scholarship, this pioneering text illustrates how profoundly astronomical phenomena shaped ancient Chinese civilization.
Download or read book The Chinese Sky during the Han written by Xiaochun Sun and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-09-13 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A reconstruction of the Chinese sky of two thousand years ago, based on analysis of the first star catalogue in China and other sources. Presented in six well-sized star maps for 100 BC, it is especially important for the history of astronomy. The Han sky, with five times more constellations than Ptolemy knew, reflects diverse human activities. The way in which constellations were grouped discloses a systematic cosmology, uniting universe and the state. The work of the three Han schools is comparable to Ptolemy's Almagest. With three detailed Appendices on the constellations of the three schools, well illustrated to demonstrate the relation between sky and human society, this book is valuable not only for astronomy historians and sinologists, but in general for scholars interested in the ancient cultures of Asia.
Download or read book Astronomy and Calendars The Other Chinese Mathematics written by Jean-Claude Martzloff and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-09-01 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presented from the viewpoint of the history of mathematics, this book explores both epistemological aspects of Chinese traditional mathematical astronomy and lunisolar calendrical calculations. The following issues are addressed: (1) connections with non-Chinese cultural areas; (2) the possibility or impossibility of using mathematics to predict astronomical phenomena, a question that was constantly raised by the Chinese from antiquity through medieval times; (3) the modes of representation of numbers, and in particular the zero, found in the context of Chinese calendrical calculations; and (4) a detailed analysis of lunisolar calendrical calculations. Fully worked-out examples and comparisons between the results of calculations and the content of Chinese historical calendars from various periods are provided. Traditional Chinese calendrical and mathematical astronomy consists of permanently reformed mathematical procedures designed to predict, but not explain, phenomena pertaining to astronomy and related areas. Yet, despite appearances, models of the mathematical techniques hidden behind this voluminous corpus reveal that they depend on a limited number of clear-cut mathematical structures. Although only a small fraction of these techniques have been fully studied, what is known surprisingly broadens our knowledge of the history of Chinese mathematics. Sinologists interested in the history of Chinese science, and anyone interested in the history of Chinese mathematics, the Chinese calendar, and the history of Chinese mathematical astronomy from its origin (104 BC) to its European reform (AD 1644) will find this book very useful. The present English language edition is a fully revised and updated version of the French original. Even though this is a research monograph in sinology, no particular sinological background is required, although a basic understanding of ‘concrete mathematics’ is needed. From the reviews of the French edition: This is a demanding, rigorous book to read ... worth the concentrated study it requires. The rewards are not only in the details but in the general overview that ...[it] provides. Joseph Dauben, EASTM, 2011 ...first Work in a Western language to turn to for anyone interested in the details of Chinese calendrical computations. Benno Van Dalen, ISIS, 2011 Martzloff’s careful scholarship and his overall look at the calendar beyond astronomical calculations, ..., make this book a most valuable contributions to a field of increasing interest. U. D’Ambrosio, Mathematical Reviews, 2013
Download or read book Heavenly Numbers written by Christopher Cullen and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a history of the development of mathematical astronomy in China, from the late third century BCE, to the early 3rd century CE - a period often referred to as 'early imperial China'. It narrates the changes in ways of understanding the movements of the heavens and the heavenly bodies that took place during those four and a half centuries, and tells the stories of the institutions and individuals involved in those changes. It gives clear explanations of technical practice in observation, instrumentation, and calculation, and the steady accumulation of data over many years - but it centres on the activity of the individual human beings who observed the heavens, recorded what they saw, and made calculations to analyse and eventually make predictions about the motions of the celestial bodies. It is these individuals, their observations, their calculations, and the words they left to us that provide the narrative thread that runs through this work. Throughout the book, the author gives clear translations of original material that allow the reader direct access to what the people in this book said about themselves and what they tried to do.
Download or read book The Prehistoric Maritime Frontier of Southeast China written by Chunming Wu and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book presents multidisciplinary research on the cultural history, ethnic connectivity, and oceanic transportation of the ancient Indigenous Bai Yue (百越) in the prehistoric maritime region of southeast China and southeast Asia. In this maritime Frontier of China, historical documents demonstrate the development of the “barbarian” Bai Yue and Island Yi (岛夷) and their cultural interaction with the northern Huaxia (华夏) in early Chinese civilization within the geopolitical order of the “Central State-Four Peripheries Barbarians-Four Seas”. Archaeological typologies of the prehistoric remains reveal a unique cultural tradition dominantly originating from the local Paleolithic age and continuing to early Neolithization across this border region. Further analysis of material culture from the Neolithic to the Early Iron Age proves the stability and resilience of the indigenous cultures even with the migratory expansion of Huaxia and Han (汉) from north to south. Ethnographical investigations of aboriginal heritage highlight their native cultural context, seafaring technology and navigation techniques, and their interaction with Austronesian and other foreign maritime ethnicities. In a word, this manuscript presents a new perspective on the unique cultural landscape of indigenous ethnicities in southeast China with thousands of years’ stable tradition, a remarkable maritime orientation and overseas cultural hybridization in the coastal region of southeast China.
Download or read book Sacred Landscapes of Imperial China written by Giulio Magli and published by Springer. This book was released on 2021-06-16 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyses the magnificent imperial necropolises of ancient China from the perspective of Archaeoastronomy, a science which takes into account the landscape in which ancient monuments are placed, focusing especially but not exclusively on the celestial aspects. The power of the Chinese emperors was based on the so-called Mandate of Heaven: the rulers were believed to act as intermediaries between the sky gods and the Earth, and consequently, the architecture of their tombs, starting from the world-famous mausoleum of the first emperor, was closely linked to the celestial cycles and to the cosmos. This relationship, however, also had to take into account various other factors and doctrines, first the Zhao-Mu doctrine in the Han period and later the various forms of Feng Shui. As a result, over the centuries, diverse sacred landscapes were constructed. Among the sites analysed in the book are the “pyramids” of Xi’an from the Han dynasty, the mountain tombs of the Tang dynasty, and the Ming and Qing imperial tombs. The book explains how considerations such as astronomical orientation and topographical orientation according to the principles of Feng Shui played a fundamental role at these sites.
Download or read book The Chinese Astronomical Bureau 1620 1850 written by Ping-Ying Chang and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-10-07 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a new insight into one of the most interesting and long-lived institutions known to historians of science, the Chinese imperial Astronomical Bureau, which for two millennia observed, recorded, interpreted and predicted the movements of the celestial bodies. Utilising archival material, such as the résumés written for imperial audiences and personnel administration records, the book traces the rise and fall of more than thirty hereditary families serving at the Astronomical Bureau from the late Ming period to the end of the Qing dynasty. The book also presents an in-depth view into the organisation and function of the Bureau and succinctly charts the impacts of historical developments during the Ming and Qing periods, including the Regency of Prince Dorgon, the influence of the Jesuits, the relationship between the Kangxi and Yongzheng emperors and the He family and the failure of the bureau to predict correctly the solar eclipse of 1730. Presenting a social history of the Qing Astronomical Bureau from the perspective of hereditary astronomer families, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of Chinese Imperial history, the history of science and Asian history.
Download or read book A History of Chinese Science and Technology written by Yongxiang Lu and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-10-14 with total page 503 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A History of Chinese Science and Technology (Volumes 1, 2 & 3) presents 44 individual lectures, beginning with Ancient Chinese Science and Technology in the Process of Human Civilizations and an Overview of Chinese Science and Technology, and continuing with in-depth discussions of several issues in the History of Science and the Needham Puzzle, interspersed with topics on Astronomy, Arithmetic, Agriculture and Medicine, The Four Great Inventions, and various technological areas closely related to clothing, food, shelter and transportation. This book is the most authoritative work on the history of Chinese Science and Technology. It is the Winner of the China Book Award, the Shanghai Book Award (1st prize), and the Classical China International Publishing Project (GAPP, General Administration of Press and Publication of China) and offers an essential resource for academic researchers and non-experts alike. It originated with a series of 44 lectures presented to top Chinese leaders, which received very positive feedback. Written by top Chinese scholars in their respective fields from the Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences and many other respected Chinese organizations, the book is intended for scientists, researchers and postgraduate students working in the history of science, philosophy of science and technology, and related disciplines. Yongxiang Lu is a professor, former president and member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), and Vice Chairman of the National Congress of China.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Astronomy Astrophysics written by P Murdin and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 5610 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a unique collaboration, Nature Publishing Group and Institute of Physics Publishing have published the most extensive and comprehensive reference work in astronomy and astrophysics. This unique resource covers the entire field of astronomy and astrophysics and this online version includes the full text of over 2,750 articles, plus sophisticated search and retrieval functionality and links to the primary literature. The Encyclopaedia's authority is assured by editorial and advisory boards drawn from the world's foremost astronomers and astrophysicists. This first class resource is an essential source of information for undergraduates, graduate students, researchers and seasoned professionals, as well as for committed amateurs, librarians and lay people wishing to consult the definitive astronomy and astrophysics reference work.
Download or read book Europe and China written by Luís Saraiva and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2013 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Missionaries, and in particular the Portuguese Assistancy of the Society of Jesus, played a fundamental role in the dissemination of Western scientific knowledge in East Asia. They also brought to Europe a deeper knowledge of Asian countries. This volume brings together a series of essays analyzing important new data on this significant scientific and cultural exchange, including several in-depth discussions of new sources relevant to Jesuit scientific activities at the Chinese Emperor's Court. It includes major contributions examining various case studies that range from the work of some individual missionaries (Karel Slavíček, Guillaume Bonjour) in Beijing during the reigns of Kangxi and Yongzheng to the cultural exchange between a Korean envoy and the Beijing Jesuits during the early 18th century. Focusing in particular on the relationship between science and the arts, this volume also features articles pertaining to the historical contributions made by Tomás Pereira and Jean-Joseph-Marie Amiot, to the exchange of musical knowledge between China and Europe.
Download or read book History of Astronomy written by John Lankford and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-03-07 with total page 616 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Encyclopedia traces the history of the oldest science from the ancient world to the space age in over 300 entries by leading experts.
Download or read book Astronomy Across Cultures written by Helaine Selin and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 678 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Astronomy Across Cultures: A History of Non-Western Astronomy consists of essays dealing with the astronomical knowledge and beliefs of cultures outside the United States and Europe. In addition to articles surveying Islamic, Chinese, Native American, Aboriginal Australian, Polynesian, Egyptian and Tibetan astronomy, among others, the book includes essays on Sky Tales and Why We Tell Them and Astronomy and Prehistory, and Astronomy and Astrology. The essays address the connections between science and culture and relate astronomical practices to the cultures which produced them. Each essay is well illustrated and contains an extensive bibliography. Because the geographic range is global, the book fills a gap in both the history of science and in cultural studies. It should find a place on the bookshelves of advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and scholars, as well as in libraries serving those groups.
