Astral Sciences in Early Imperial China: Observation, Sagehood and the Individual
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Challenging monolithic modern narratives about 'Chinese science', Daniel Patrick Morgan examines the astral sciences in China c.221 BCE–750 CE as a study in the disunities of scientific cultures and the narratives by which ancients and moderns alike have fought to instil them with a sense of unity. The book focuses on four unifying 'legends' recounted by contemporary subjects: the first two, redolent of antiquity, are the 'observing of signs' and 'granting of seasons' by ancient sage kings; and the other two, redolent of modernity, involve the pursuit of 'accuracy' and historical 'accumulation' to this end. Juxtaposing legend with the messy realities of practice, Morgan reveals how such narratives were told, imagined, and re-imagined in response to evolving tensions. He argues that, whether or not 'empiricism' and 'progress' are real, we must consider the real effects of such narratives as believed in and acted upon in the history of astronomy in China.
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The 'Baiguan zhi' states that the Prefect Grand Clerk handles the seasons/time of heaven and sequence of the stars, memorializes the new year's li, handles memorializing auspicious dates and seasonal prohibitions for state sacrifices, funerals and weddings, and handles recording auspicious responses or calamitous anomalies.
“[The Prefect Grand Clerk] handles the seasons/time of heaven and sequence of the stars ( xingli 星曆 ). Near the end of each year, [he] memorializes the new year ' s li [in this instance, the civil calendar]. For all state matters of sacrifices, funerals and weddings, he handles the memorializing of auspicious dates and seasonal prohibitions. For every time that the state experiences an auspicious [”
From No Comment (2019) · cites this paper as [37]
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Morgan, D. P. (2019) · Monumenta Serica · doi:10.1080/02549948.2019.1603438 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citation(2018) · Early China · doi:10.1017/eac.2018.11
- Authors
- Morgan, D. P.
- Affiliations
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Morgan, Daniel Patrick
- Venue
- Cambridge University Press eBooks
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Published
- 2017-07-27
- OpenAlex
- W2773140080
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 2.18
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- shs.hal.science
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-sa
- www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified)
- Locations
- Cambridge University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Historical Astronomy and Related Studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › History and Developments in Astronomy
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Chinese history and philosophy
- Keywords
- Chinese astronomy, astral sciences, early imperial China, history of astronomy, scientific narratives, sage kings, scientific culture, empiricism, progress narratives
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