R Hind (1877) turned to a specific case within the topic of planetary observations and elucidated mathematically the only two

planetary occultations listed in Gaubil’s "Observations chinoises. .

^Sivin, "An Introductory Bibliography," pp. 299. The book even carries an asterisk "which signals a degree of enthusiasm that would be boring if expressed at greater length": Sivin, "An Introductory Bibliography," pp. 281.

Zjohn Chalmers, "Astronomy in China," China Review, 14 (1885), 166.

from 1810, "in which the hour, or rather the particular two- hourly interval, at which the occultation took place is distinctly stated.

Pursuing yet another channel, Franz Kiihnert, E. Chavannes, and others investigated primarily issues associated with the calendrical system and the making of calendars; for instance, the twenty-four fortnightly periods, the unbelievably ancient appearance of the calendar, and the chapter concerning calendars from the Shih chi*

Kühnert’s studies (1888) (1890) (1891) typify an older historio­ graphy that, though long superseded, was in all likelihood judged satisfactory according to standards set by the late 19th century Western scholarly community. They can even be memorable and stir later generations of readers in some curious, perhaps nostalgic, way. Indeed, the concluding paragraph of his "Das Kalenderwesen bei den Chinesen" in the 1888 Osterreichische Monatschrift fur den Orient is probably the source of Needham’s translated excerpt which precedes the title page of Science and Civilisation in China vol. 3.^ Among the short accounts scattered in the China Review is one signed "J . M." from 1883 which aims at eliciting the exact meanings of certain expressions and phrases crucial to learning about the length of the Chinese moon. Was the calendar described in the twenty-sixth chapter of the Shih chi really from the Shang dynasty? The prominent 17th century Chinese mathematician Mei Wen-ting believed so. Chavannes

(1890) attempted to ascertain this by examining the way the calendar worked and the principles guiding its compilation. Kingsmill (1877) also had an interest in this calendar, and translated selected pas­ sages in order to determine "how far it may be made to support the

^J. R. Hind, "On the Two Ancient Occultations of Planets by the Moon Observed by the Chinese," Monthly Notices of the Roval Astrono­ mical Society. 37 (1877), 243.

^It runs as follows: "Diese ganze Einrichtung des chinesischen Kalenderwesens mit alien diesbezüglichen Vorkehrungen lasst uns gleichfalls einen Blick in die hervorragende Geistesrichtung dieses Volkes werfen; und wahrscheinlich sind die Chinesen auch deshalb in den Augen manches Europaers Barbaren weil sie sich unterfangen, die Astronomen — ein hochst unniitzes Volkchen nach der Ansicht dieser Erdenpilger im hoch culturellen Western — im Range gleichzuhalten den Sectionschefs und ersten Ministerialsecretaren. — 0 grassliche Barbarei!": Franz Kühnert, "Das Kalenderwesen bei den Chinesen," Osterreichische Monatschrift fur den Orient. 14 (1888), 116.

d a i m s of a high antiquity for the Chinese computation of time. As we have seen, a host of 19th century scholars tried their hands at unlocking the doors of traditional Chinese astronomy and evaluating what they discovered. By contrast, the thirty or so works published between 1907 and 1924 all came from Leopold de Saussure, with the exception of four short pieces from E. B. Knobel, Parker, William F. Rigge, and C. Bezold r e s p e c t i v e l y .^ Knobel (1909) des­ cribed an undated Chinese planisphere at an exhibition held in the Royal Scottish Museum. Like Williams half a decade ago, he also in­

formed readers of the Journal of the Roval Astronomical Society of the hsiu s y s t e m .^ Rigge (1915) brought to one’s notice and repro­ duced parts of an 18th century Chinese star-map bearing a preface from 1757. And Bezold (1920) traced certain similarities between early Chinese and Babylonian planetary astrology.

de Saussure’s role in getting the West nearer to a proper under­ standing of Chinese astronomy has been ably characterised by Needham and in Alexander Pogo’s review of an essay collection by de Saus­ sure.* Here we can only indicate briefly several salient features. The main themes explored in de Saussure’s publications on Chinese astronomy include the essential nature of the Chinese astronomical system, the hsiu, the beginning of Chinese astronomy, and the Yao

tien passage, all of which have been handled with varying degrees of thoroughness. Also studied are topics on calendrical and planetary astronomy (e.g. the so-called "animal cycle", Jupiter cycle, chieh

ch*i). The historical significance of his works resides primarily in

^T. W. Kingsmill, "The Chinese Calendar, its Origin, History and Connections," Journal of the North China Branch of the Roval Asiatic Society. 32 (1897), 2.

^Two other studies by de Saussure were published posthumously in 1930 and 1932.

^Guidance was apparently sought from writings of Biot and a few others, especially that of Schlegel whose Uranographie chinoise was regarded as "a very exhaustive work on the subject, and must always be considered of the highest value": E. B. Knobel, "On a Chinese

Planisphere," Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. (1909), 435. *See Science and Ciyilisation in China yol. 3, esp. pp. 182, 184, 229; Alexander Pogo, rev. of Les origines de l ’astronomie chinoise by Leopold de Saussure, in Isis 17 (1932), 267-71.

de Saussure’s refusai to join the camp of most other scholars influ­ ential in the field at the time; instead he approached the subject from a fresh perspective, often arriving at notions and findings that have proved to be much more revealing. However, as there were

constant re-evaluations and corrections to his own positions as his research progressed, the scholarly value of his writings varies, and the opinions articulated are sometimes confusing and conflicting. Based on comments by Needham and Pogo, the following titles (in chronological order) are among the most important ones to note: (1) "Prolégomènes d ’astronomie primitive comparée" (1907c).^ (2) "Le texte astronomique du Yao Tien" (1907d) and "Le texte astronomique du

Yao Tien; note rectificative et complémentaire" (1907e).^ (3) "Le

cycle de jupiter" (1908).^ (4) "Les origines de l ’astronomie chin­ oise: l ’origine des sieou". (5) "Le système astronomique des Chin­ ois" (1919).* (6) "Astronomie et mythologie dans le Chou Ki n ^ \ ^

^This article, considered essential reading by Needham, dis­ cusses: "Le problème sidéro-solaire"; " L ’observation a l ’horizon base originelle de l ’astronomie écliptique"; "le problème tropique"; "Role secondaire de 1 ’équateur et de l ’ecliptique dans les astronomies écliptique et équatoriale"; "Adoption de la méthode horaire en Occident"; "Genèse de la méthode équatoriale des chinois".

^The first is divided into: Avant-propos"; "I. L ’oeuvre du P. Gaubil et de J.-B. Biot"; "II. Genèse de l ’astronomie — Origines de

l ’astronomie zodiacale; Origines de l ’astronomie chinoise"; "III. Examen du texte"; "IV. La détermination des saisons"; "V. Inconsé­ quences et contradictions des interprétations admises"; "VI. Le zodiaque lunaire d ’Ideler"; "VII. La théorie de Biot"; "VIII. ’The Lunar zodiac’ de Whitney"; "IX. Sédillot"; "X. Kühnert"; "XI. Gin- zel"; "Conclusion".

3pogo expressed regret that this paper was not reprinted in de Saussure’s essay collection as it was "a paper not superseded, in 1913 and 1914, by the two instalments of chapter G bearing the same title but treating the subject in quite a different manner": Pogo, rev. of Les origines de l ’astronomie chinoise. 267. However, Need­ h a m ’s annotation for this title reads: "This paper contains many mistakes in the opinion of the author who desired that it should be considered as cancelled and replaced by (12) [i.e. "Les origines de l ’astronomie chinoise: le cycle de jupiter," T ’oung nao. 14 (1913), 387-426; 15 (1914) 645-96]": Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 3, pp. 788.

*It consists of: "Preuves de l ’antiquité du système"; "Rôle fundamental de l ’étoile polaire"; "La théorie des cinq éléments"; "Changements dynastiques et réformes de la doctrine"; "Le symbolisme zoaire"; "Le cycle sexagésimal et la chronologie". This is one of

Finally, a word on Les origines de 1*astronomie chinoise which was published posthumously in 1930. It brought together various articles that appeared initially in T'oung Pao — chiefly the "Les origines de l ’astronomie chinoise" series — in a monograph. Although it is handy to have eleven of his works in one place, typographical errors abound and cross-references in the footnotes are impossible to locate in the monograph since page numbers mentioned there refer to pages in the original articles rather than those in the book.^ Above all, this volume should be read together with his other important studies mentioned above.

In the decade and a half following the demise of de Saussure, the field received a wave of mostly short articles from new players, penned chiefly by Willy Hartner, Eberhard, and Chatley. Some of the interpretations and conceptual vocabulary adopted in these inquiries are piquant and imaginative, others less so, while their styles as well as foci are decidedly different.

Hartner, an authority who broke new grounds in the study not only of the history of astronomy in China, but also that of other civilisations, gave in three short essays (1928) (1930a) (1930b) careful consideration to the names of stars in the hsiu asterism, and to calendrical and astronomical matters as revealed in the Hsia hsiao

three accounts by de Saussure recommended by Needham, and reckoned by Pogo as "a more homogenous presentation of his views than the analy­

tic T*oung Pao series. Les origines de 1 ^astronomie chinoise": Pogo,

rev. of Les origines de l ’astronomie chinoise. 270.

^This contribution contains de Saussure’s final statement on several familiar issues: "a) le texte du Yao tien contient les traits essentiels du système exposé dans le Che ki. Une telle constatation recule des temps postconfuceéns aux temps préconfucéens, l ’apparition du système, b) le système du Yao tien et du Che ki est essentielle­ ment différent du système greco-babylonien: il est équatorial et en connexion avec l ’origine du zodiaque lunaire, c) ce système est indo-iranien, d) on pourrait admettre à la rigueur, et provisoire­ ment. . . q u ’il a été introduit en Chine dans les premiers siècles de la dynastie Tcheou; je crois néanmoins q u ’il ya a des raisons sé­ rieuses qui empêchent d ’admettre une importation aussi tardive du système": Léopold de Saussure, "Astronomie et mythologie dans le Chou

King," T ’oung Pao. 29 (1932), 366-67.

ipogo’s review which contains a list of corrections is there­ fore indispensable.

chenff— especially with regard to computations.^

Chatley’s views on the following topics can be gleaned from a number of brief portrayals published in the 1930s: (1) origins and nature of planetary cycles (1933) (1934a); (2) astronomical chrono­ logy, planetary conjunctions, and the Yao tien passage (1934b) — a response to de Saussure’s "La chronologie chinoise et 1*avènement des Tcheou"; (3) Chinese planetary observations (1936a); (4) planetary periods as set down in the Han shu (1936b); (5) the reduction, in his opinion, of "astronomy to arithmetic rule for calendarization and calculation of history" (1936c); (6) the date and antiquity of the

Hsia hsiao chens calendar and the Yao tien (1938).% One of Chat­

ley ’s chief intentions was apprently to demonstrate outside (espe­ cially Babylonian) influence and borrowing.

Writings by Eberhard can be grouped into first, a series of papers on the Han and San Kuo periods — the first two with the collaboration of Rolf Müller and Robert Henseling (1933a) (1933b), and the last two that of Müller (1936) (1937). The Han studies exa­ mine in detail the accuracy of the san t*ung calendar system — how and why, in Eberhard’s estimation, it had been altered and revised. Thought was also given to the shaping, computational techniques and historical meaning of the ssu fen li, and to literary documents such as the Chu shu chi ni en (which, according to Eberhard, might have been falsified). The San Kuo article concentrates on an astronomical text by Wang Fan. Wang’s Hun t ’ien hsianë shuo was translated and the accuracy of its date subjected to scrutiny by applying astrono­ mical computations.3 Second, several works (1936) (1937) (1940) that

^Note that the content of "Chinesische Kalenderwissenschaft" (1930b) is almost identical to that of "Die astronomischen Angaben

des Hia Siau Dschen^' (1930a),

^Herbert Chatley, "7” ai Chi Shang Yuan: The Chinese Astrologi­ cal Theory of Creation," Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 67 (1936), 7.

^Sivin observed that, "in addition to surveying the computa­ tional systems, these articles take up a number of subsidiary themes which would have occurred only to a sinologist of exceptional ingen­ uity"; nevertheless, Eberhard’s "attempts to date texts and test their authenticity astronomically, has not generally been accepted by more recent workers": Sivin, rev. of Sternkunde und weltbild im alten China: gesammelte Aufsatze. 60.

reveal special connections Chinese efforts (such as popular calendars and ephemerides) had with domains that generally went unnoticed (such as Turkish calendars and the Buddhist Tripitaka).^ Third, "Eine neue These über die Chronologie des Ch*un-ch’iu und der Chou-Zeit" (1939) which aims at contributing to the perennial debate on the calen­ drical question and astronomical chronology.

Two other studies from the 1930s should also be noted. Homer H. Dubs (1935) reflected on the exact date of the conjunction which sup­ posedly marked the establishment of the Han dynasty. It was recorded

in the Ch*ien Han shu as having occurred in 207 B.C., but Dubs (with computation help from J. K. Fotheringham) argued that it should have been May 205 B.C.. Louis Chochod’s "La notion du temps et le calen­ drier dans l ’ancienne Chine" in the 1939 Mercure de France describes the planetary cycles and the method of calculation used in making Chinese calendars.

After this burst of enthusiasm in the 1920s and ’30s the pace slackened considerably. For the next several decades, accounts trickled through, including a couple of skilfully-executed and original studies, but for the most part this particular region of Western research on traditional Chinese science remained relatively bare. It was towards the latter part of the 1970s and beginning of the 1980s, facilitated especially by the innovative research of Michel Teboul, that areas in planetary and calendrical astronomy as well as topics concerning stars and star maps were again cultivated attentively.

One of the few Western works concentrating on a Chinese star- map was W. C. Rufus and Tien Hsing-chih’s (1945) close study of the famous early 12th century planisphere and attached text engraved in the stone steles in the Wen Miao near Su-chou. Though short for a monograph (less than thirty pages), it probes into such matters as the identification and representation of asterisms, reiterating Rufus’ arguments in his "A Political Star Chart of the Twelfth

^"Untersuchungen an astronomischen Texten des chinesischen Tripitaka" (1940), for example, is divided into: "1. Das Material";

"2. Die Mondstationen"; "3. Tierkries; Zwoferzyklus"; Jupiterzuklus"; "4. Planeten und Planetenzyklen"; "5. Der grosse Bar"; "6. Zusammen- fassung und Schlussbemerkungen".

Century" about deliberate idealisation.^

In 1950 Philip Yampolsky outlined and translated statements, without critical comments, of "two divergent opinions concerning the origin of the concept of lunar mansions as held by two Japanese authorities in the field, Dr. lijima Tadao and the late Dr. Shinjo Shinzo."^ Yampolsky’s account also summarises views of Biot, de Saussure, Whitney, Müller, Weber, and Hommel.

Perimeters drawn by Dubs for his "The Beginnings of Chinese Astronomy" (1958) are not as wide as the title suggests. Steering preoccupation away from the Han and later periods for a change, Dubs dealt with several selected elements from an even earlier era: inter­ calation using measurements of the shadow at the winter solstice, the bearing sexagesimal cycle terms had on determining the length of the solar year, the watching of new moons and official announcements of new months, the observation of the revolution of planets, and "the steps which led to the use of the Chinese cyclical terms for years as well as for day" based on a Chinese book by Liu T'an on the Jupiter cycle and the calendar published in 1955.^