Comparison and Analysis of the Errors between the Lunar Eclipse Calculation Methods in the Chongzhen Lishu and Xiao'an Xinfa
In the Chongzhen Lishu(Chongzhen Reign Treatises on Calendrical Astronomy),which was compiled based on European astronomy in the late Ming Dynasty,the calculating method of eclipses was of great importance and complexity,and became an crucial content for later scholars who studied Western methods during the early Qing Dynasty.This article focuses on the calculating methods of lunar eclipses in the Xiao'an Xinfa(New Methods of Xiao'an)written by the representative scholar named Wang Xichan and the Chongzhen Lishu.Based on the calculating methods of both,a computer program is used to calculate lunar eclipses within a century after the Chongzhen calendar reform.The comparison between them and modern theoretical values shows that the long-term errors of either the lunar eclipse magnitude or timing obtained by the lunar eclipse calculating method in the Xiao'an Xinfa is higher than that by the Chongzhen Lishu,which means that Wang Xicha did not achieve the goal of"removing defects"of Western methods.Nevertheless,the accuracy of both calculating methos is better than that of the Datong Li(Datong Calendar)and Huihui Lifa(Chinese-Islamic System of Calendrical Astronomy).Afterwards,the composition and sources of the errors of the lunar eclipse calculating methods in both works are examined,and the reasons why the lunar eclipse calculating method in the Xiao'an Xinfa has greater errors than that in the Chongzhen Lishu are analyzed.During the analysis,it is also found that Beijing,rather than Nanjing as claimed in the Xiao'an Xinfa,is likely the real starting position of the longitude.
Chongzhen LishuXiao'an XinfaLunar eclipsesCalculating methodErrorLate Ming and early Qing
国家科技期刊平台
NSTL
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