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Overview
Key data
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Completed | 729 (seventeenth year of Kaiyuan, Tang) |
| Compiler | Gautama Siddha, of Indian descent, an official of the Tang astronomical bureau |
| Volumes | 120 |
| Important contents | The epochs of the six ancient calendars; the measures of the twenty-eight mansions; the star-officials of the Shi, Gan and Wuxian schools; quotations from lost books |
Nature and scale
The Kaiyuan Zhanjing is the officially compiled Tang compendium of astral divination, in 120 juan.
It is arranged by class, gathering the astronomical and divinatory lore of earlier ages into one work.
Its compiler, Gautama Siddha, came of an Indian calendrical family and served in the Tang astronomical bureau, versed in both Chinese and Indian methods.
Its service in preserving old books
The work quotes a great many old books, not a few of them now lost.
The epochs and methods of the six ancient calendars survive chiefly through its quotations,
making it one of the only sources for the study of high antiquity’s calendars.
Its account of the star-officials of the Shi, Gan and Wuxian schools is likewise the fullest.
The astronomical material
Apart from the prognostications, the measures of the twenty-eight mansions, the field-allocation system,
and a body of Indian astronomical material have independent value for the history of science.
Its record of the Indian “Navagraha calendar” is key material for the history of astronomical exchange between China and abroad.
Value
The Kaiyuan Zhanjing is a book that preserves what would otherwise be lost:
many lost works survive in fragments through it, and many chronological questions can be discussed only because of it.
No study of ancient calendars, ancient star-officials, or astronomical exchange can dispense with it.
Full text
Simplified Chinese (TXT) ｜ Traditional Chinese (TXT)
The reader shows the text section by section, with the original tables preserved; the first few lines give source and licence. If scripts are disabled, use the TXT links above.
The title, date, summary and index structure compiled here are offered under CC BY 4.0 (attribution: Chujia Kuang · kuangchujia.com).
The full electronic text (about 513,546 characters) is taken from the Kanseki Repository text of 唐開元占經; that part is offered under CC BY-SA 4.0 (attribution — share alike); source: github.com/kanripo/KR3g0018.
The electronic text has not been collated by us; please check the original before citing.
Compiled and arranged by Chujia Kuang.