Is the current lunar calendar in China made by German missionaries?

Recently, a post in Weibo said: "The current lunar calendar in China was compiled by a German missionary named Tang Ruowang." As soon as this post came out, it immediately caused thousands of reposts and discussions. However, some netizens pointed out that this statement is not accurate. At present, the lunar calendar we use is the Zijin calendar revised by 1929, not the constitutional calendar revised by Tang Ruowang. Apart from this, this paper only makes a brief review of the historical evolution of the China lunar calendar and the contribution of missionaries in the field of astronomical calendar in China.

From astronomy to calendar

Nowadays, we use the words "astronomy and calendar" together, but their meanings are not exactly the same. The so-called astronomy refers to the astronomical phenomena, that is, the regular movement of the sun, the moon and the stars in the sky. The calendar is a set of rules for people to adjust their work and rest according to the weather. People can calculate the calendar from astronomy (astronomical changes), and conversely, a correct calendar can definitely accurately predict astronomical phenomena (such as solar and lunar eclipses).

China is a typical country dominated by farming civilization. Since the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, in order to guide agricultural production, our ancestors tried to make an astronomical calendar, the so-called "three calendars". However, this "calendar" is very inaccurate. It was not until the Warring States period that people created a real calendar-the seasonal calendar, on the basis of discovering that the tropical year was 356 and 1/4 days.

Since then, the quarter calendar has been widely used in production and life. Therefore, Gu said in "Rizhilu Astronomy" that "astronomy has been known for more than three generations". However, we know that there is a great error between the data of tropical year calculated by seasonal calendar and the theoretical value. After years of use, the problem of misreporting the solar eclipse naturally appeared. In the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, China made major adjustments to the calendar, and the new calendar was called taichu calendar. Taichu calendar basically established the calendar system of China.

Since then, the calendar has been revised many times, but the most significant calendar changes in the history of China are the Dayan calendar in Tang Dynasty, the punctuality calendar in Yuan Dynasty and the Chongzhen calendar in Ming Dynasty. The changes of these three calendars are directly related to foreign cultures.

Three Calendar Changes and Foreign Culture

Buddhism, which originated in India, spread ancient Indian philosophy, astronomy, art and scientific knowledge to China after it was introduced to China. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, many Indian astronomers served in the imperial court. During the Kaiyuan period, Indian monk Subhakara simha came to Chang 'an to spread tantric Buddhism and teach Indian astronomical calendars. The monk and his team, the editor of Da Yan Li, are students of Xu Bodhi.

Monks and his team work in Da Yan Li.

Monks and his party presided over the creation of the world's advanced "Zodiac Sky Survey Instrument" and obtained a series of first-hand information about the movements of the sun, the moon and the stars. He also supervised the production of an astronomical clock, the "water transport armillary sphere", and made a relatively accurate time record. In order to make the new calendar applicable to all parts of the country, he also presided over the first astronomical geodetic survey in ancient China and the first meridian survey by scientific methods in the world, and came to the conclusion that "the north-south difference 1 29.22km, and the north-south difference1". After four years of preparation, he began to revise the calendar, and two years later, the first draft was formed, which was Dayan Calendar. Its structure and method followed the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols made three voyages to the West, which brought a large number of Semu people who believed in Islam into China, and the Islamic astronomical calendar took root in China. In A.D. 1264, Kublai Khan of Yuan Shizu established the "Western Calendar Calculator" to recruit Arab astronomers. They compiled the "perpetual calendar" and created the "instruments and images of the western regions", which improved the accuracy of astronomical observation. In the eighth year of Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty set up a "Huisi Wentai" in Shangdu, which presided over observation and compiled almanac. There were many astronomical books, including Ptolemy's astronomical masterpiece and Euclid's Elements of Geometry, making it the center of studying and spreading the Arabic astronomical calendar.

On this basis, Guo Shoujing and others revised the new calendar-the time calendar. The calendar is the second peak of the ancient calendar in China. Its correction is based on advanced astronomical observation instruments and years of accurate astronomical data, so the length of the tropical year of 365.2425 days is only slightly different from the theoretical value.

Guo Shoujing and others revised the calendar in Yuan Dynasty.

In the Ming dynasty, on the basis of the "chronograph calendar", it was further revised and a "big calendar" was formulated. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, Da Li Shu had been published for a long time, with great errors. The solar and lunar eclipses predicted by Qin are often not confirmed, so how to revise a more accurate calendar becomes a very important issue. However, there was a shortage of astronomical talents like Guo Shoujing at that time, and it was not until a group of missionaries appeared that China brought advanced astronomical knowledge to Europe.

At that time, missionaries such as Matteo Ricci, Xiong Sanba, Tang Ruowang and Diego de Pantoga made friends with China officials such as Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao. With the support of these China officials, in 16 1 1 year, the Ming court invited Diego de Pantoga and Xiong Sanba to participate in the revision of the calendar (Chongzhen New Calendar). However, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the society was in turmoil, the almanac was not yet completed, and the Ming Dynasty perished. It was not until the Qing Dynasty established the Qing government in Beijing that the missionary Tang Ruowang wrote to the Qing government, demanding that the calendar be revised continuously, and the Constitutional Calendar was produced.

Missionaries such as Matteo Ricci and Tang Ruowang participated in the revision of the new calendar.

Hetian case

After the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, Tang Ruowang, a German Jesuit, wrote to the court twice to revise the calendar, and asked the Qing court to send someone to check whether his solar eclipse was accurate, hoping to "sell" the almanac made by missionaries with the "new Western method".

In August of the first year of Shunzhi, Quan Feng, a university student, and officials from Qin Dynasty made a field observation of the solar eclipse that day. As a result, Tang Ruowang's prediction is accurate, but the results calculated by thomas lee and Warrior are all wrong. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty decided to adopt the new calendar proposed by Tang Ruowang, that is, the constitutional calendar.

The good times didn't last long. The emperor shunzhi 166 1 died of illness, and Kangxi acceded to the throne at the age of 6. Four assistant ministers dominated the state affairs, especially after the conservative minister Ao Bai came to power, he put forward the political proposition of "leading the ancestral system and restoring the old chapter", which abolished many policies since the Qing government entered the customs, and the new calendar formulated by missionaries was also involved.

China's astronomical calendar has been closely related to the will of the ruling class since ancient times. Since the Zhou Dynasty, the "Tang Wu Revolution" has been emphasized, and the astronomical calendar has always been regarded as a necessary condition and symbol for the establishment of kingship. Therefore, the astronomical calendar has always been in the hands of the government, and private learning is not allowed. What kind of calendar to adopt is not only a problem in the scientific field, but also a problem in the political field.

The old school headed by Ao Bai did not understand the principle of astronomical calendar, but the new calendar represented a new political trend, which Ao Bai wanted to oppose. At the same time, many Confucian officials who opposed Christianity and frustrated officials who were laid off after using the new calendar appeared in the Qing court. They jointly sued Tang Ruowang and others, and a dispute over astronomical calendar quickly turned into a political case, which was called "heavenly reckoning".

The complaining party clearly knows that it is impossible to win from the perspective of science and technology. So they used political attacks. They attacked Tang Ruowang's calendar for only 200 years, which means that the Qing Dynasty had only 200 years of national luck. They also fabricated that foreigners had stationed tens of thousands of troops in Macao to seize the land of the Qing Dynasty.

The whole "Tiansuan case" has gone through three trials. Under the political background of Ao Bai's coming to power, the trial result has already been drawn up. Conservatives tried to execute Tang Ruowang and the officials who supported the Gregorian calendar in Lingchi, but they were pardoned only after the intervention of Empress Dowager Borzijit (sourdrang dowager). However, Tang Ruowang was relieved of his post in Qin and was abolished.

However, the astronomical phenomena have not changed because of human political struggle. After the abolition of Li Shixian, the Qing government was no longer sure about the weather. It was not until Emperor Kangxi overthrew Ao Bai that Li Shixian was restored. When I arrived in Korea, I changed my name to history in order to avoid the emperor Qianlong's.

The missionary introduced the evaluation of astronomy

Missionaries in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties came to China to spread western scientific and technological knowledge, in order to win the recognition and recognition of the supreme rulers and society in China and further spread Catholicism.

Matteo Ricci once said, "If an astronomer can be sent to Beijing, it is not difficult for me to translate our calendar into Chinese, so that we will gain more respect from the people of China." Another missionary, Deng Yuxin, wrote in a letter to Europe: "I very much hope to get it from Mr. Galileo ... to calculate the solar eclipse according to his new observations ... because we urgently need to innovate the old calendar. If we want to find a legitimate reason for our existence in China, then they will not drive us out of this country. This is the only reason. "

Therefore, we can't abandon this motivation when evaluating the missionaries' spread of astronomy in China. Wishfully beautifying missionaries to spread astronomy to China, thinking that Tang Ruowang is not far away, and that Wan Li's dissemination of European science and technology to China is entirely for the people of China, which is obviously not objective.

On the other hand, in the process of spreading astronomy to China, missionaries did bring many advanced astronomical discoveries and inventions to China. For example, in 16 10, Galileo discovered Ganymede and Enceladus with a telescope; 16 1 1 year, and found that the Milky Way is composed of countless celestial bodies. These achievements were first introduced to China by missionaries, and astronomical telescopes were brought with them.

The era when missionaries came to China in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties was the stage when western astronomy evolved from "ancient astronomy" to "modern astronomy", and they had introduced the most advanced astronomical achievements at that time to China. In a word, the historical contributions of Matteo Ricci and Tang Ruowang cannot be easily erased.

References:

1, Zhang Wenyu: Lecture on Ancient Astronomical Calendar, Guangxi Normal University Press, 2008.

2. Zheng Huisheng: Knowing the Stars and Calendars-A Preliminary Study of Ancient Astronomical Calendars, Henan University Press, 2006.

3. Shi Jizhong: "Foreign culture and the three major historical changes in China", "Guizhou Literature and History Series", 03, 2000.

4. Lin Jian: "A Struggle after Modern Western Science came to China —— Debate between Tang Ruowang and Yang Guangxian on Astronomical Calendar in the Early Qing Dynasty", Historical Research No.02, 1980.

5. Jiang: On Jesuits' Failure to Stop the Spread of Copernicus Theory in China —— Early Spread and Re-evaluation of Western Astronomy in China, Academic Monthly, 12, 2004.

6. Zhao Deyu: Analysis of Jesuits' Entry into Astronomy, History Teaching, 07, 2004.