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The Compilation of the Astronomical Portion of the ‘Treatise on Harmono-Metrology and Mathematical Astronomy’ and Its Impact

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Monographs in Tang Official Historiography

Part of the book series: Why the Sciences of the Ancient World Matter ((WSAWM,volume 3))

Abstract

This study examines the characteristics of Li Chunfeng’s historical writing through the astronomical portion of the Sui shu ‘Lü-li zhi’ 律曆志 (Treatise on Harmono-metrology and Mathematical Astronomy). There Li Chunfeng devotes special praise to the Huangji li 皇極曆 (Sovereign Pole system) and a whole volume to its preservation, all despite the fact that it was never adopted by the Sui court. This shows that, as a scholar specialised in the astral sciences, Li Chunfeng prioritised the excellence of astronomical achievements over their official status, setting his treatises apart from official histories up to that point. Li Chunfeng’s strong opinions on the various astronomical systems of the Sui, this study argues, was probably decided by his social environment, personal experience and his own attempt at astronomical reform, not to mention his personal preferences in astronomical models. Li Chunfeng attaches great importance to the summary of previous astronomic and astronomical knowledge and the precedence of his predecessor’s failures gave him food for thought. Li Chunfeng’s later success in the astral sciences, this study argues, would seem to have benefitted from his historical inquiry. Having examined what Li is doing in (and doing with) the astronomical portion of the Sui shu ‘Lü-li zhi,’ lastly, this study will discuss the reception of this treatise and its impact on the field of historical literature and the history of astronomy in later generations.

Résumé

Il s’agit ici d’examiner les caractéristiques des écrits historiques de Li Chunfeng à travers l’étude de la partie du « Lü-li zhi » 律曆志 du Sui shu consacrée à l’astronomie mathématique. Dans ce texte, Li Chunfeng fait tout particulièrement l’éloge du Huangji li 皇極曆 (système de la souveraine perfection), et consacre un juan entier à sa préservation, bien que ce système ne fût jamais adopté par la cour. Cela montre que Li Chunfeng, en tant que savant spécialisé dans les sciences astrales, accordait la priorité à l’excellence des réalisations concernant les systèmes astronomiques plutôt qu’à leur statut officiel. Les opinions tranchées de ce lettré à propos des systèmes astronomiques des Sui, montre-t-on, étaient sans nul doute le produit de son environnement social, de son expérience personnelle et de ces propres efforts pour entamer une réforme astronomique, sans oublier celui de ses préférences en matière de modèles astronomiques. Li Chunfeng accorde beaucoup d’importance aux savoirs astronomiques du passé dans la mesure où les précédents constitués par les échecs de ses prédécesseurs donnèrent du grain à moudre à sa réflexion. Les réussites ultérieures de Li Chunfeng dans les sciences astrales, comme je le montre, semblent avoir tiré grand avantage de ses recherches historiques. Le chapitre se termine autour d’une discussion à propos de la réception de ce traité et de son influence lors des générations postérieures sur le plan de la littérature historique et dans le domaine astronomique.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    史之所難, 無出於志, cited in Shi tong, 12.101.

  2. 2.

    Lixue dawen, 12.17b.

  3. 3.

    論者謂『天文志』首推晉、隋, Ming shi, 25.339.

  4. 4.

    Jiu Tang shu, 66.2463.

  5. 5.

    The Sanji jiazi yuan li was not used by the Jin court; it was submitted in 384 to the Qiang 羌 Later Qin 後秦 (384–417) court at Chang’an 長安.

  6. 6.

    Liu Hong’s 劉洪 (fl. 167–206) Qianxiang li was not used by the Wei–Jin court either, it having been adopted instead by the Sun-Wu 孫吳 (229–280) court from 223 to 280.

  7. 7.

    Wuying dian ershi san shi kaozheng, 34.13a.

  8. 8.

    自是世有著述, 皆擬班、 馬, 以為正史, Sui shu, 33.957.

  9. 9.

    Jiu Tang shu, 32.1153.

  10. 10.

    As already noted by early scholars, ‘the contents of the [Sui shu] treatises on harmono-metrology and mathematical astronomy and heavenly patterns dated back to the Wei and Jin dynasties, and some of them are repeated the content in the Jin [shu] treatises’ 其律曆、 天文志所載, 皆上溯魏晉, 多與『晉志』複出 (Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao, 263).

  11. 11.

    At the beginning of its history of liMA, the Sui shu ‘Lü-li zhi’ introduces the purpose of liMA as such: ‘liMA is used to mark the change of seasons and alternation of day and night; it also records the past, predicts the future and grants the seasons based on the movement of the sun, guiding affairs by tracing heaven’ 夫曆者, 紀陰陽之通變, 極往數以知來, 可以迎日授時, 先天成務者也 (Sui shu, 17.415). From there, it explains the causes of various phenomena between heaven and earth, the evolution of the universe, and its relationship with the eight trigrams of the Book of Changes (Zhouyi 周易). These contents are very similar to the shorter text concerning the ‘origin of liMA numbers’ 曆數之原 in Jin shu, 17.497.

  12. 12.

    Sui shu, 17.416.

  13. 13.

    咸遵劉洪之術, 未及洪之深妙, Sui shu, 17.416.

  14. 14.

    Jin shu, 17.498.

  15. 15.

    今采梁天監以來五代損益之要, 以著於篇, Sui shu, 17.416.

  16. 16.

    棄舊事, 更制新法, Sui shu, 17.418.

  17. 17.

    On the stakes and process(es) of early astronomical reforms, see Cullen (1993, 2007), Niu (2004) and Morgan (2017: 140–176).

  18. 18.

    See particularly the debates surrounding the Taichu li 太初曆 in the Western Han (202 BCE–9 CE), the Sifen li 四分曆 in the Eastern Han (25–220) and the Daming li 大明曆 in the Liu-Song 劉宋 (420–479) as treated in Chen (2007).

  19. 19.

    Sui shu, 17.420–421.

  20. 20.

    依何承天法, 微加增損, Sui shu, 17.421.

  21. 21.

    學無師法, 刻食不中, Sui shu, 17.423.

  22. 22.

    Sui shu, 17.424.

  23. 23.

    Sui shu, 17.428.

  24. 24.

    以算術直太史, 久未知名…異論鋒起, 久之不定, Sui shu, 17.429.

  25. 25.

    Sui shu, 17.429.

  26. 26.

    Sui shu, 17.429.

  27. 27.

    與胄玄之法, 頗相乖爽, 袁充與胄玄害之, Sui shu, 17.429.

  28. 28.

    善曆算、 推步之術, Jiu Tang shu, 79.2710.

  29. 29.

    Jiu Tang shu. 79.2711. Translations of official titles throughout are as per Hucker (1985).

  30. 30.

    仁均曆法祖述冑玄, 稍以劉孝孫舊議參之, Xin Tang shu, 25.536.

  31. 31.

    Both systems were written in Chang’an, so we would expect their solar tables to be identical. If they are not identical, this means that Fu Renjun was doing something different. But the tiny difference between them shows that they are almost the same, and the difference is probably caused by using various denominator of the fraction (Fu Renjun used 24, while Zhouxuan used 68).

  32. 32.

    For example, their synodic period for the Saturn and Mercury are the same.

  33. 33.

    Chen (2003: 345).

  34. 34.

    Chen (1990).

  35. 35.

    Chen (2003: 345).

  36. 36.

    Xin Tang shu, 25.536.

  37. 37.

    比不効, Xin Tang shu, 25.534.

  38. 38.

    Zhang et al. (2008: 458).

  39. 39.

    考其得失, Xin Tang shu, 25.534.

  40. 40.

    This ‘Jiachen li’ may refer to the Kaihuang li, which was authored and adopted in 584—year jiachen in the sexagenary cycle—though it might just as well refer to another lost li of which we are currently unaware.

  41. 41.

    孝孫以為然, 但略去尤疎闊者, Xin Tang shu, 25.536.

  42. 42.

    改凡數十條, Xin Tang shu, 25.536.

  43. 43.

    See Niu (2004)

  44. 44.

    Xin Tang shu, 25.536.

  45. 45.

    Xin Tang shu, 25.536.

  46. 46.

    Li Chunfeng recorded Zhang Zhouxuan’s revised li in his ‘Lü-li zhi’ instead of his early version, because, as he points out, the eclipse calculations by Zhang Zhouxuan’s earlier procedures did not fit very well with observation. Later, ‘[Zhang] Zhou Xuan refers to Zhu Chongzhi’s, gets the master method of him, since then, his eclipse prediction fit well’ 胄玄學祖沖之, 兼傳其師法。 自茲厥後, 克食頗中 (Sui shu, 17.435). This shows that Li Chunfeng is more concerned here with the accuracy of the model than its historical circumstances.

  47. 47.

    術士咸稱其妙, 故錄其術云, Sui shu, 18.461.

  48. 48.

    Similarly exceptional of course is the Jin shu’s inclusion of the Qianxiang li and Sanji jiazi yuan li canons, which were official, if not at the Jin court; see Notes 5 and 6.

  49. 49.

    The Qing scholar Ruan Yuan 阮元 (1764–1849) comments: ‘The well-known systems in the Tang such as the Linde and Dayan [li] all refer back to the old model of the Huangji [li]’ 唐麟德、 大衍, 號稱名術, 而皆寫皇極舊法 (Chouren Zhuan, 26b). The Qing mathematician Luo Shilin 羅士琳 (1789–1853) also says: ‘The Linde li is based on the Huangji li’ 麟德曆本于劉焯皇極曆 and ‘Liu Zhuo’s liMA procedures are the source of Li Chunfeng’s’ 劉之曆術實李之所本也 (Jiu tangshu jiaokan ji, 3a).

  50. 50.

    Xin Tang shu, 26.559.

  51. 51.

    See Liu and Zhao (1984) and Liu (1985).

  52. 52.

    皇極曆一卷劉焯撰; 又一卷李淳風撰, Jiu Tang shu, 47.2038.

  53. 53.

    博學多通, 尤精術數…所推步甚精密, Sui shu, 78.1779.

  54. 54.

    與古不同者有三事…超古獨異者有七事, Sui shu, 78.1779–1782.

  55. 55.

    Sui shu, 18.460–461.

  56. 56.

    多識前古, 貽鑒將來, Quan Tangwen, 2.8. ‘Xiu wei zhou sui liang qi chen shi zhang’ 修魏周隋梁齊陳史詔.

  57. 57.

    Sui shu, 75.1718–1719.

  58. 58.

    Sui shu, 18.459.

  59. 59.

    Ruan Yuan’s Chouren Zhuan 疇人傳, for example, refers almost exclusively to the Sui shu ‘Lü-li zhi’ in introducing Sui and Northern and Southern Dynasties astronomers like He Chentian, Zu Chongzhi, Zhang Bin, Liu Xiaosun, Zhang Zhouxuan and Liu Zhuo. The Gujin tushu jicheng 古今圖書集成 ‘Lifa dian’ 曆法典 borrows similarly from Li Chunfeng in dealing with Sui astronomy. In modern times, such monumental studies as Needham (1959) and Yabuuti (1989) are equally dependent on Li’s writings.

  60. 60.

    On the Sui shu ‘Lü-li zhi’ eclipse data, see Liu and Ma (2013).

  61. 61.

    Shuxue, j. 4, ‘Dongzhi quandu’ 冬至權度.

  62. 62.

    蓋自何承天、 祖沖之以來, 未有能過之者, Chouren zhuan, 12.26b.

  63. 63.

    The Yisi yuan li was a political failure and is preserved only in part in Li’s omen compendium Yisi zhan 乙巳占 (Yisi-year Omens).

  64. 64.

    Liu (1987).

  65. 65.

    Tong zhi, 71.835.

  66. 66.

    古稱善治曆者, 若宋何承天, 隋劉焯, 唐傅仁均、 僧一行之流, 最為傑出 Yuan shi, 52.1140.

  67. 67.

    Xu zizhi tongjian changbian, 173.4179.

  68. 68.

    This despite the fact that research shows that the Linde li had the advantage in the correction of irregular movement of the planets than previous li; see Chen (1990).

  69. 69.

    Li Liang (2018).

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  1. Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 55 Zhongguancun East Road, Haidian, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China

    Liang Li

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  1. Laboratoire SPHERE, UMR 7219, Université Paris 7—CNRS, Paris cedex 13, France

    Daniel Patrick Morgan

  2. Centre de recherche sur les civilisations de l’Asie orientale, Paris, France

    Damien Chaussende

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Li, L. (2019). The Compilation of the Astronomical Portion of the ‘Treatise on Harmono-Metrology and Mathematical Astronomy’ and Its Impact. In: Morgan, D., Chaussende, D. (eds) Monographs in Tang Official Historiography. Why the Sciences of the Ancient World Matter, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18038-6_5

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