Overview
Key data
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Author | Zhu Zaiyu (1536–1611) |
| Completed | Ming |
| Volumes | Eight |
| Core content | Calendrical computation and proposals for reform |
The author and his background
Zhu Zaiyu was a prince of the Ming house, versed in both music theory and calendrical mathematics.
His Book of Music and Pitch is famous for equal temperament; the Shengshou Wannian Li is his calendrical work.
He held that the calendar should rest on measurement, and criticized the Datong calendar then in use.
His calendrical views
The tropical year he computed was notably precise,
and he urged that the calendar be revised on measured figures rather than cling to old methods.
Some of his figures and methods improved on the old ones.
Value
Zhu Zaiyu’s learning covered both music and the calendar.
The Shengshou Wannian Li is a representative of the reformist current at the end of the Ming:
different from Xu Guangqi’s line in bringing in Western methods, yet of one mind with it in seeking what is true in fact.
Compiled and arranged by Chujia Kuang.