Talk:Chinese astronomy

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I know very little about this subject. I tried to expand the article but it still needs attention. Especially something needs to be said about astronomy in modern China. I know there are active observatories and programs but that's it. Katherine Tredwell 20:24, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Description on preparing calendar

"The Chinese used a lunisolar calendar, but because the cycles of the Sun and the Moon are different, astronomers often prepared new calendars and made observations for that purpose."

Besides this astronomers had to prepare a new calendar after the fall of the old dynasty. Calendar in ancient China was considered to be the symbol of the dynasty.

I've cleaned this document up a bit, fixing grammatical errors here and there, and have added new information to 'beef it up'. However, this article is far from finished, and I will dedicate some more time soon in getting some worthy passages from Joseph Needham and the like.

Yours truly, --PericlesofAthens 00:50, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Amateur astronomy in China

Is that a good idea to include amateur astronomy as part of the article?--Dobs 16:55, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Jesuit activity in China

I cannot agree to the telescope part. I read so many materials written in Chinese, and most of them claimed that the royal family saw telescopes as toy. Jesuit really bought telescopes to China, but the impact on Chinese astronomy was limited. At least Chinese astronomers built and used so many large equipment in 17 century.

Usually, when the Chinese talk about Jesuit contributions, they mostly talk about the reform in calendar. Some Jesuit members even worked there.

It is true that there were some establishments mentioned telescope, some guys even made one themselves. However, those telescopes are not for observing stars.--Dobs 05:23, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Well, at least I beefed up the article a bit, and added more info about Zhang Heng's water-powered armillary sphere. However, this article needs major reconstruction and editing. And when I say major, that's an understatement. --PericlesofAthens 22:24, 25 April 2007 (UTC)