Overview
Key data
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Author | Wang Yinglin (1223–1296) |
| Completed | Late Song |
| Volumes | Two |
| Form | Passages on astronomy, the calendar and the stars gathered from the Six Classics and arranged by category |
The purpose of the compilation
Wang Yinglin held that the Six Classics contain astronomy and calendrics within them,
and so gathered the relevant passages from the Changes, Documents, Songs, Rites and Spring and Autumn Annals, arranging them by category.
His purpose was to show that astronomy is not a mere craft but rests on classical learning.
Contents
The work is arranged by such categories as the sky, the constellations, the sun and moon, the calendar and the seasons,
each giving the classic text first and then the commentaries in confirmation.
Its passages relate mostly to the “Canon of Yao,” the “Seventh Month” of the Songs and the “Monthly Ordinances” of the Rites.
Value
The work links classical learning to astronomy, a side of Song scholarly temper.
Its passages are easy to consult: the reader of the classics can enter astronomy by it, and the student of astronomy learn the classical accounts.
Compiled and arranged by Chujia Kuang.