Astronomical Records in the CH'UN-CH'IU Chronicle
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References
1. Translations of the Ch'un-ch'iu together with its early commentary, the Tso-chuan, have been made by: Legge J., The Chinese classics, v (Hong Kong, 1872); and by Couvreur F. S., Tch'ouen Ts'ouet Tso Tchouan, i–iii (Hochienfu, 1914).
2. Similar chronicles were kept in other feudal states, but most were presumably destroyed at the Burning of the Books. See Watson B., Early Chinese literature (New York, 1962), 37.
3. Mencius, Works, chap. 9: Confucius was afraid, and made the “Spring and Autumn” …. Confucius said, “Yes! it is the ‘Spring and Autumn’ which will make men know me, and it is the ‘Spring and Autumn’ which will make men condemn me” (trans. by Legge J., The four books (Shanghai, 1930), 676–7). Confucian authorship has been much disputed; see, for example, Watson, op. cit., 38–40.
4. Two other ancient commentaries which are still accessible are the Kung-yang, which was officially copied from a manuscript in private hands during the second century b.c., and the Ku-liang, which was similarly copied about a century later.
5. Valuable historical comments are provided by: Watson, op. cit., 40–66; and Pokora T., in Essays on the sources for Chinese history, ed. by Leslie D. D., MacKerras C. and Gungwu Wang (Canberra, 1973), 23–35.
6. Han-shu (chap. 27): “Treatise on the five elements” (Wu-hsing Chih).
7. Tsuen-Hsuin Tsien, Written on bamboo and silk (Chicago, 1962), 73–79.
8. Carter T. F., The invention of printing in China and its spread westward (New York, 1925), 212.
9. These stelae have been viewed by both of the present authors on visits to Xi'an.
10. Peiyu Zhang, Zhongguo Xianqin Shilibiao (Jinan, 1987).
11. This is one possible explanation for the name of the chronicle. In Chinese usage, seasons tend to be grouped in pairs: I.e. spring and autumn or summer and winter.
12. Zhentao Xu, Yau K. K. C., and Stephenson F. R., “Astronomical records on the Shang Dynasty oracle bones”, Archaeoastronomy (Supplement to Journal for the history of astronomy), no. 14 (1989), S61–72.
13. Peiyu Zhang, op. cit. (ref. 10).
14. For a useful discussion of this Assyrian observation, see Fotheringham J. K., “A solution of ancient eclipses of the Sun”, Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, lxxxi (1920), 104–26.
15. Late Babylonian records of both solar and lunar eclipses (as well as other celestial phenomena) have been collated and translated by Hunger H., Astronomical diaries and related texts from Babylonia, i (Vienna, 1988), ii (Vienna, 1989).
16. For details, see: Ginzel F. K., Spezellier Kanon der Sonnen- und Mondfinsternisse (Berlin, 1899); Fotheringham, op. cit. (ref. 14); Newton R. R., Ancient astronomical observations and the rotation of the Earth (Baltimore, 1970).
17. Xu Yau and Stephenson, op. cit. (ref. 12).
18. Shih-chi, chap. 6.
19. Han-shu, chap. 27.
20. Translated by Karlgren B., The book of odes (Stockholm, 1950), 137–8.
21. Until as late as the fifth century a.d. there are only sporadic references to eclipses of the Moon in Chinese history.
22. See, for example: Hoang P., Catalogue des éclipses du soleil et de la lune (Shanghai, 1927); Eberhard W., Muller R. and Henseling R., “Beitrage zur Astronomie der Hans-Zeit, II”, Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, xxiii (1933), 937–79; Wen-Hsin Chu, Li-tai Jih-shih K'ao (Shanghai, 1934), 14–22. The Ch'un-ch'iu eclipses form only a part of these surveys. In each case, the astronomical analysis is weak.
23. Peiyu Zhang, Zhentao Xu and Yang Lu, “The ancient records of solar eclipses and a canon of solar eclipses for the years b.c. 1400 to b.c. 1000”, Nanjing Daxue Xuebao, 1982, no. 2, 371–409. This paper has received limited attention, partly because it has never been translated into a European language but also because these authors employed astronomical parameters which were already long out of date.
24. See for example Stephenson F. R. and Houlden M. A., Atlas of historical eclipse maps: East Asia, 1500 b.c. to a.d. 1900 (Cambridge, 1986), 98.
25. Shih-chi, chap. 6, and chap. 27.
26. Xu Yau and Stephenson, op. cit. (ref. 12).
27. A Jesuit account of the eclipse of a.d. 1610 as witnessed in Peking is given by Hoang P., Mélanges sur l'administration (Shanghai, 1902), 91–93.
28. Peiyu Zhang, op. cit. (ref. 10).
29. Stephenson F. R. and Morrison L. V., “Long-term changes in the rotation of the Earth: 700 b.c. to a.d. 1980”, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London, A, cccxiii (1984), 47–70.
30. For most of the period since the invention of the telescope, occultations of stars by the Moon have proved the most effective means for determining ▵T.
31. Stephenson F. R., “The Earth's rotation as documented by historical data”, in New approaches in geomagnetism and the Earth's rotation, ed. by Flodmark S. (Singapore, 1991), 97–113.
32. Morrison L. V. and Stephenson F. R., “Secular and decade fluctuations in the Earth's rotation: 700 b.c.–a.d. 1978”, in Sun and planetary systems, ed. by Fricke W. and Teleki G. (Dordrecht, 1982), 173–8.
33. Stephenson and Morrison, op. cit. (ref. 29).
34. According to our calculations, no eclipses were visible in China between the following dates: (i) Sep 19 in 647 and Nov 11 in 641 b.c.; (ii) Jul 9 in 597 and Sep 30 in 591 b.c. Peiyu Zhang, Zhentao Xu and Yang Lu, op. cit. (ref. 23), suggest alternative dates for three of the unobservable eclipses recorded on dates corresponding to (i) 645 Apr 3, (ii) 592 May 15 and (iii) 552 Sep 19: (i) They suggest the 15th year of Huan Duke (697 b.c.) instead of the 15th year of Hsi Duke (645 b.c.) — assuming that the Duke's name is wrongly recorded. However, the characters for Hsiang and Hsu are quite dissimilar. (ii) They propose reading the 7th year of Hsüan Duke (602 b.c.) instead of the 17th year of his reign (592 b.c.), while retaining the lunar month and cyclical day. (iii) They tentatively suggest reading the 12th month of the 26th year of Duke Hsiang (547 b.c.), instead of the 10th month of the 21st year (552 b.c.), while retaining the cyclical day. On the basis of these amendments, they were able to identify three eclipses visible in China. However, we feel that their suggestions, especially in the case of (i) and (iii), are highly speculative.
35. Willis D. M., Doidge C. M., Hapgood M. A., Yau K. K. C. and Stephenson F. R., “Seasonal and secular variations of the oriental sunspot sightings”, in Secular solar and geomagnetic variations in the last 10,000 years, ed. by Stephenson F. R. and Wolfendale A. W. (Dordrecht, 1988).
36. In this discussion we have ignored the single eclipse observation noted in the Tso-chuan continuation (481 b.c).
37. von Oppolzer T. R., Canon der Finsternisse (Vienna, 1887), reprinted as Canon of eclipses (New York, 1962), p. xii.
38. Hunger, op. cit. (ref. 15); Halley's Comet in history, ed. by Stephenson F. R. and Walker C. B. F. (London, 1985), 17.
39. The authenticity of the Bamboo Annals has been questioned. See, for example, Keightley D. N., “The Bamboo Annals and Shang-Chou chronology”, Harvard journal of Asiatic studies, xxxviii (1978), 423–38, and the references cited therein.
40. For comments regarding the status of the Hsia Dynasty, see Fitzgerald C. P., China, a short cultural history (London, 1976), 26–28.
41. Many examples of the expression “stars fell like rain” are found in the paper by Tianshan Zhuang, “Ancient Chinese records of meteor showers”, Chinese astronomy, i (1977), 197–220.
42. For an investigation of reports reaching Lu from other states, as recorded in the Ch'un-ch'iu, see Kennedy G. A., “Interpretation of the Ch'un-ch'iu”, Journal of the American Oriental Society, lxii (1942), 40–48.
43. Chang Y.-C., “Halley's Comet: Tendencies in its orbital evolution and its ancient history”, Chinese astronomy, iii (1979), 120–31.
44. Yeomans D. K. and Kiang T., “The long-term motion of Comet Halley”, Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, cxcvii (1981), 633–46.
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Article first published: February 1992
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