Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era
Encyclopedia
The Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era is a Chinese
astrology
encyclopedia
compiled by the lead editor Gautama Siddha
and numerous scholars from 714 to 724 AD during the Kaiyuan era of Tang Dynasty
. The compilation is attributed to the author by 729. Its full title is regarded as the Great Tang Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era. It is also referred to as the Kaiyuan Star Observations.
approximately in 645. It incorporated many fragments works, including the star catalogues of Shi Shen
and Gan De
, and contained a translated version of Navagraha
calendar under the chapter of 104. The astronomical table
of sines by the Indian mathematician
and astronomer, Aryabhata
, were also translated into the Kaiyuan Zhanjing.
The manuscript had started to fade away in copies since the 10th century, but was over again received a special attention by scholar Cheng Mingshan in 1616 and was later included in the Siku Quanshu
collections of the 18th century.
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
compiled by the lead editor Gautama Siddha
Gautama Siddha
Gautama Siddha, astronomer, astrologer and compiler of Indian descent, known for leading the compilation of the Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era during the Tang Dynasty. He was born in Chang'an, and his family was originally from India, according to a tomb stele uncovered in 1977 in Xi'an...
and numerous scholars from 714 to 724 AD during the Kaiyuan era of Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
. The compilation is attributed to the author by 729. Its full title is regarded as the Great Tang Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era. It is also referred to as the Kaiyuan Star Observations.
The book
The book is divided into 120 volumes and consisted of about 600,000 words. The compilation of writings had based on many previously astrological and divination materials, and probably a similar classic known as the Yisizhan, compiled by Li ChunfengLi Chunfeng
Li Chunfeng was a Chinese mathematician, astronomer, and historian who was born in today's Baoji, Shaanxi during the Sui and Tang dynasties. He was first appointed to the Imperial Astronomy Bureau to help institute a calendar reform. He eventually ascended to deputy of the Imperial Astronomy...
approximately in 645. It incorporated many fragments works, including the star catalogues of Shi Shen
Shi Shen
Shi Shen was a Chinese astronomer and contemporary of Gan De born in the State of Wei, also known as the Master Shi Shen .-Observations:...
and Gan De
Gan De
Gan De was a Chinese astronomer/astrologer born in the State of Qi also known as the Lord Gan . Along with Shi Shen, he is believed to be the first in history known by name to compile a star catalogue, preceded by the anonymous authors of the early Babylonian star catalogues and followed by the...
, and contained a translated version of Navagraha
Navagraha
Graha is a 'cosmic influencer' on the living beings of mother Bhumidevi . In Hindu astrology, the Navagraha are some of these major influencers.All the navagraha have relative movement with respect to the background of fixed stars in the zodiac...
calendar under the chapter of 104. The astronomical table
Āryabhaṭa's sine table
Āryabhaṭa's sine table is a set of twenty-four of numbers given in the astronomical treatise Āryabhaṭiya composed by the fifth century Indian mathematician and astronomer Āryabhaṭa , for the computation of the half-chords of certain set of arcs of a circle...
of sines by the Indian mathematician
Indian mathematics
Indian mathematics emerged in the Indian subcontinent from 1200 BCE until the end of the 18th century. In the classical period of Indian mathematics , important contributions were made by scholars like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, and Bhaskara II. The decimal number system in use today was first...
and astronomer, Aryabhata
Aryabhata
Aryabhata was the first in the line of great mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy...
, were also translated into the Kaiyuan Zhanjing.
The manuscript had started to fade away in copies since the 10th century, but was over again received a special attention by scholar Cheng Mingshan in 1616 and was later included in the Siku Quanshu
Siku Quanshu
The Siku Quanshu, variously translated as the Imperial Collection of Four, Emperor's Four Treasuries, Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature, or Complete Library of the Four Treasuries, is the largest collection of books in Chinese history and probably the most ambitious editorial...
collections of the 18th century.