Chinese Astrology And Astronomy: An Outside History PDF Download

Author: Xiaoyuan Jiang
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9811223475
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
Chinese Astrology and Astronomy: An Outside History discusses the ancient Chinese's needs and reasons for engaging in astronomy. It presents the study on ancient astronomical phenomena and manuals, and analyzes the cosmological views of ancient Chinese. It also expounds the nature and functions of astronomy to ancient Chinese, as well as its difference from the western modern astronomy of today, exploring on new issues in a bold but logical fashion, and offering arguments that challenge even the views of authority.This book stands as a translated version, by Chen Wenan, an associate professor of Ningbo University, of the original Chinese publication Tianxue Waishi by Jiang Xiaoyuan.

Author: David W. Pankenier
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107006724
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 617

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Book Description
Drawing on a vast array of scholarship, this pioneering text illustrates how profoundly astronomical phenomena shaped ancient Chinese civilization.

Author: David William Pankenier
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781461944935
Category : Astrology, Chinese
Languages : en
Pages :

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Author: Helaine Selin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401141797
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 678

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Book Description
Astronomy Across Cultures: A History of Non-Western Astronomy consists of essays dealing with the astronomical knowledge and beliefs of cultures outside the United States and Europe. In addition to articles surveying Islamic, Chinese, Native American, Aboriginal Australian, Polynesian, Egyptian and Tibetan astronomy, among others, the book includes essays on Sky Tales and Why We Tell Them and Astronomy and Prehistory, and Astronomy and Astrology. The essays address the connections between science and culture and relate astronomical practices to the cultures which produced them. Each essay is well illustrated and contains an extensive bibliography. Because the geographic range is global, the book fills a gap in both the history of science and in cultural studies. It should find a place on the bookshelves of advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and scholars, as well as in libraries serving those groups.

Author: Clive L.N. Ruggles
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9781461461401
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
How human communities interpret what they perceive in the sky is vital in fulfilling humankind’s most basic need to comprehend the universe it inhabits, both from a modern scientific perspective and from countless other cultural standpoints, extending right back to early prehistory. Archaeoastronomy, which is concerned with cultural perceptions and understandings of astronomical phenomena, is a rich cross-disciplinary field. The central aim of “Handbook of Archaeoastronomy” is to provide a reliable source for theory, method, interpretation and best practices that will give a definitive picture of the state of the art research in this field for serious scholars regardless of the discipline(s) in which they are qualified. It will be equally suitable for those already contributing to the field and those interested in entering it. Also included are studies in ethnoastronomy, which is concerned with contemporary practices related to astronomy, particularly among modern indigenous societies. A major part of this MRW is comprised of a set of wide-ranging archaeoastronomical case studies both geographically and through time, stretching right back to Palaeolithic days, and also in terms of the types of human society and nature of their astronomical ideas and practices. However, these are chosen in order to best illuminate broader issues and themes, rather than to attempt, for example, to provide systematic coverage of recent ‘discoveries.’ Thematic articles cover general themes such as cosmologies, calendars, navigation, orientations and alignments, and ancient perceptions of space and time. They also highlight various aspects of the social context of astronomy (its relationship to social power, warfare, etc) and how we interpret astronomical practices within the framework of conceptual approaches. There are also discussions of broad issues such as ethnocentrism, nationalism, and astronomical dating. The “methods and practices” articles cover topics from field methodology and survey procedures to social theory, as well as providing broad definitions and explanations of key concepts. We are also including a number of “disciplinary perspectives” on approaches to archaeoastronomy written by leading figures in the constituent fields. These articles cover material that, generally speaking, would be familiar to graduates in the relevant discipline but, critically, not so to those with different backgrounds.

Author: Ho Peng Yoke
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134430671
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
Though there are a number of well-written works on Chinese divination, there are none that deal with the three sophisticated devices that were employed by the Chinese Astronomical Bureau in the eleventh century and for hundreds of years thereafter. Chinese experts applied the methods associated with these devices to both weather forecasting and to the interpretation of human affairs. Hidden by a veil of secrecy, these methods have always been relatively little known other than by their names. The first work in any language to explore these three methods, known as sanshi (three cosmic boards), this book sheds light on a topic which has been shrouded in mystery for centuries, having been kept secret for many years by the Chinese Astronomical Bureau.

Author: Gleb Nosovskiy
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781549788253
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
'Ancient' China is a misunderstanding at best NASA research of earth-moon mechanics by astrophysicist Robert Newton leads mathematicians of MS U to a breakthrough in the chronology of civilization, China including. 'The Issue with Chinese Astronomy' is that it just can't serve anymore as a solid foundation of 'ancient' Chinese History. It looks that 'ancient' China is a misunderstanding at best. It is presumed to be exceptionally ancient, a lot more so than European history, and its datings are said to be perfectly reliable. The basics of Chinese chronology are believed to be so firm that it serves as a classical example of an indubitably ancient and reliable chronology. There is a popular misconception about Chinese chronology being based on the "ancient Chinese" astronomical records, which permit to date the events of the "ancient Chinese" history without any ambiguity whatsoever. This example makes it difficult to believe that the history of Europe, Egypt and Asia Minor is as brief as the new chronology claims it to be. Moreover, one must naturally wonder about the possible reasons why the documented history of China begins thousands of years ago, remaining reliable nonetheless, whereas the much shorter history of Europe contains so many errors. Could it really be that the Chinese have maintained the chronology and history of the last six thousand years unbroken and distortion-free, whereas the history of every other nation is a millennium old at best, and filled with errors? Another example is the invention of the printing press by the Germans in the XV century, 1440 being the earliest estimation. There is nothing odd about this invention being made in Europe around that time - after all, all European languages use phonetic alphabets. However, consensual history is trying to convince us that somebody invented printing molds in China 300 years before, in the XI century - for tens of thousands of hieroglyphs, no less. The invention had promptly been forgotten, serving no other purpose than going down in history. The more plausible version is that a European (possibly Dutch) book about the invention of the printing press in Germany became translated into Chinese around the XVII century and became part of Chinese history.One must also recollect the alleged invention of the logarithms in China that took place 500 years before they were invented in the Netherlands. The comparison of two publications, European and Chinese, demonstrates that a misprint from Napier's table of natural logarithms (first published in 1620) was repeated in a Chinese book that is presumed to be 500 years older. Is that the natural way of making history, one wonders? The Spanish Armada of 300 great vessels also became an important part of Chinese history. Every Chinese history book reports about the construction of a gigantic 300-vessel Armada in 1405; some of the ships are said to have been 150 meters long, which is quite impossible for wooden ships. This fleet was presumably sent to India, the Arabic countries and so on; the expedition recurred six or seven times, its purpose remains unclear. This is obviously the Great Spanish Armada transformed into a Chinese myth. The authors give a brief description of the real situation with Chinese history and chronology as opposed to whatever is advertised. The authors are far from claiming that their reconstruction is complete. The work on the reconstruction of Chinese history has only just begun. China special PS: Dr. Prof. Fomenko will refute, repent and eat his shapka (fur hat) if it is proven that the Earth is flat thus making it possible that most comets were visible in China and not in Europe.

Author: Zhenoao Xu
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9789056993023
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Book Description
Historical astronomical records can play an important role in modern research, especially in the case of ancient Chinese observational data: sunspot and aurora records are important for the study of solar variability; solar and lunar eclipse records for the study of the Earth's rotation; records of Comet Hally for the study of orbital evolution; "guest star" records for the study of supernova remnants; planetary conjunction records for research in astronomical chronology. In the past, Western scientists have not been able to exploit these valuable data fully because the original records were difficult to gather and interpret, and complete English translations have not been available. East-Asian Archaeoastronomy is the first comprehensive translation into English of such historical records for modern research. The book also features an introduction to East Asian astronomy and offers guidance on how to use the records effectively. It will not only be a valuable research tool for astronomers but should also be of great interest to historians of China and Chinese science.

Author: Nicholas Campion
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443895482
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
Astrology is the practice of relating the heavenly bodies to lives and events on earth, and the tradition that has thus been generated. Many cultures worldwide have practised it in some form. In some it is rudimentary, in others complex. Culture and scholarship have categorised it as both belief and science, as a form of magic, divination or religious practice – but in many ways it defies easy categorisation. The chapters in this volume make a significant contribution to our understanding of astrology across a range of periods of cultures. Based on papers presented at the annual conference of the Sophia Centre held in 2012, the contributions range from China and Japan, through India, the ancient Near East, the classical world and early modern Europe, to Madagascar and Mesoamerica. The different topics include ritual and religion, magic and science, calendars and time, and questions of textual transmission and methodology. Astrology in Time and Place is essential reading for all interested in the history of humanity’s relationship with the cosmos.

Author: Richard Kerner
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9811214611
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 503

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Book Description
This book is a superposition of two distinct narratives: the first is historical, discussing the evolution of astronomical knowledge since the dawn of civilizations; the second is scientific, conveying mathematical and physical content of each advancement. Great scientists of antiquity, Middle Ages and modern times until the 18th century, are presented along with their discoveries, through short biographies and anecdotes. Special care is taken to explain their achievements using mathematical and physical concepts of their time, with modern perspective added only when ancient methodology is too cumbersome or its language hardly understandable to contemporary readers.The book conveys a lot of astronomical facts and data in a pleasant and accessible manner. Almost all findings and discoveries made in ancient times are followed by simple mathematical exercises using basic knowledge, so that the reader can check the assertions himself. The book contains a lot of inedited illustrations. Geometrical schemes are given extra attention to make the examples clear and understandable. The language is simple and accessible to the young audience.