 Ancient Chinese Astronomy has a very interesting past  Chinese empire was one of the first dominant civilizations of the world  The Chinese have kept the longest continuous observations of the sky  The earliest recorded observations › argue around 6000 BC  evidence from 6000 BC appears on pottery and walls  more like drawings and designs than important observations › others argue around 24 th century BC  24 th century BC records were based on the oracle bone scriptures  oracles of the time begun write down important phenomena in the sky  Earliest credible records were taken during the Shang Dynasty in 1500 BC  The Chinese deserve respect for their contribution to astronomy of keeping continuous records  Chinese also had many of the first observations of important astronomical phenomenon.

 In the night sky the Chinese were able to see about 3,000 stars  The way the search the sky was similar to the Greeks  divided the stars into easier groups › allow for easy searching in the sky  Greeks used about 88 constellations  The Chinese used about 283  constellations were grouped into large groups › called mansions  commonly called images  images were divided into three enclosures  The Chinese focus on the natural as opposed to the supernatural  Greeks and Babylonians named constellations after gods and heroes  The Chinese named after what they saw

 The Chinese credited with the first observations of significant events in the sky  The Chinese recorded the first solar eclipse 2000 BC  The Chinese were scared of the solar eclipse  They saw sky bringing despair to earth  The moment of the eclipses sacrifices were performed  Banners were hung  music was played to persuade the sky to have mercy  It was important to be prepared for another solar eclipse.

 Lunar eclipses not feared because appeared so commonly  earliest recording was 1065 BC  Chinese not try to explain/understand their sightings  Chinese were the first to record Halley’s Comet  were able to determine the difference between stars and planets  called the North Star, Bei Ji  they believed it connected to the Plough (The Big Dipper)

 seasons important for the Chinese for better agriculture techniques  only way to predict the start of the seasons by positions of the stars overhead  equinoxes and solstices the primary way to determine the seasons › middle of spring Niao was overhead › mid summer Huo is above › mid autumn Xu is in the sky › mid winter Mao is overhead

 ancient Chinese importance on creating an accurate calendar  thought initially that the calendar was needed for agriculture › as china was a very agricultural society  calendar more accurate than was needed for agriculture  calendar may linked to the fact that the emperor was link between humans and nature  any disorder in nature cause criticism of the emperor

 the Chinese used calendars to predict all that was predictable in the heavens  calendar was a lunar-solar calendar › it used the cycles of the sun and the moon as measurements of time › by the end of the first millennium BC  established midnight as the end of one day, and the beginning of the next › sixty day naming system  ten stems and 12 branches › this cause them to run into problems

 Lunation › lunar cycle › used to define a month › point at which the moon passed closest to the sun  conjunction  became the first day of the month › there are generally three moonless nights  first  the last day of the month  second  day of conjunction  third  second day of the month › Chinese encountered problems with the monthly cycle  the time of conjunction can occur at any time of the day  the time of conjunction can only be observed in the case of a solar eclipse.

› Chinese attempted to build "nests of cycles."  When a new year begins, so must a new month, day, etcetera  had problems finding the "grand origin point" at which all the cycles began › attempted to measure  a tall pole, and measured its shadow  day the shadow is its longest is the winter solstice  the day it gets the shortest is the summer solstice  problem is the shadow moves so slowly  hard to tell exactly when these occur  found that some cycles lasted 365 days  some lasted 366  it actually lasts

› thought that all four seasons should be of the same length › seasons were then divided by six › making twenty four equal length periods › to make sure that the months kept up with the seasons  earth and space is made up of interlocking cycles  Chinese saw motions in the heavens as one single phenomenon  observing one set of motions- thought they could predict patterns in any motion  their calendar was flawed because of misconceptions 

 Chinese had three theories for the model of the universe › first  the sky (heaven) was a large dome which was over top the earth and moved naturally  Chinese involved with being related to nature and the natural world  not envisioned stars having supernatural characteristics › Another model  universe was infinite and contained celestial bodies held up by winds in the sky

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