The calendar is closely related with the development of the astronomy.Chinais one of the first countries that see the emergence of astronomy, as well as the calendar. As far as 5,000 years ago,Chinahad the lunisolar calendar, which indicated that each year had 366 days.
In the Shang Dynasty (1600-1066BC), officials were appointed to bear the sole task of observing and recording the changes in the heavens. During this period, people used the lunisolar calendar, with an intercalary added to the end of certain years. During the Western Zhou Dynasty (1066-771BC), the astronomer began to measure the shadow cast by the sun and decided upon 24 solar terms to direct the farming.
In the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-23AD), Emperor Wu ordered the establishment of a new calendar --Taichu Calendar, based on the old calendar. And the calendar was used in the next 200 years. In the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220),Sifen Calendarwas drawn.
Later, Zu Chongzhi worked out theDaming Calendar, taking into consideration the precession of the equinoxes for the first time inChina. After observations and studies, Zu concluded that a year lasted exactly 365.24281481 days which was only 52 seconds different from the modern estimate.
In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), famous monk Yi Xing compiled theDayan Calendar, the most comprehensive and thorough calendar in the Chinese history. The almanac consisted of 7 parts, explaining in details how to calculate the new moon, full moon, 24 solar terms, the movement of the sun and the moon, etc. The calendar had great influences as all the later ones were revised according to it before the introduction of western calendar.
In the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), Shen Kuo worked out the 12 Qijie Calendar, discarding the intercalary and this is in line with theGregorian Calendar.
During the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), Guo Shoujing compiled theShoushi Calendar. He employed several methods of calculation, including interpolation, spherical trigonometry to solve four main problems in the previous calendars. His calendar had 365.2425 days in a year, which was only 26 seconds different from the time it takes the earth to go around the sun. His achievement was 300 years earlier than the finalization of the modern calendar.
From the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Jesuit missionaries brought European astronomy toChina. In the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), German missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell compiled theShixian Calendar. From 1912,Chinabegan to adopt theGregorian Calendar, but the traditional Chinese lunar calendar was still in use. In essence, the lunar calendar wasShixian Calendar.
Email to Friends
Print
Save