Granting the Seasons: The Chinese Astronomical Reform of 1280, with a Study of Its Many Dimensions and a Translation of Its Records

by Nathan Sivin

Book Overview

China's most sophisticated system of computational astronomy was created for a Mongol emperor who could neither read nor write Chinese, to celebrate victory over China after forty years of devastating war. This book explains how and why, and reconstructs the observatory and the science that made it possible.

For two thousand years, a fundamental ritual of government was the emperor's "granting the seasons" to his people at the New Year by...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1441927077
• ISBN13: 9781441927071
• Release Date: November 2010
• Publisher: Springer
• Length: 664 Pages
• Weight: 2.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.1" x 9.2"