Chinese · c. 100–90 BCE
Shiji, Treatise on the Celestial Offices
史記 ch. 27 'Tianguan shu' 天官書
Sima Qian's treatise reads the five planets as omens, retrograde motion and stations among them. Its Jupiter section opens by telling the reader to observe the paths of the Sun and Moon to gauge Jupiter's direct and retrograde motion (以揆歳星順逆), and says that Jupiter, after emerging, moves east 12 degrees, halts after 100 days and then turns back and retrogrades (反逆行). The Grand Historian's closing remarks single out Mars: 「唯獨熒惑有反逆行」.
- Author
- Sima Qian
- Date
- c. 100–90 BCE
- Original language
- Classical Chinese
- Key term
- 順逆 shun ni; 反逆行 fan nixing (direct and retrograde; 'turns back and moves retrograde')
- Kind
- Astrological
- Planets
- Mars, Jupiter
Editions
One edition.
| Year | Edition | © |
|---|---|---|
| 1898 | Chavannes, Édouard (trans.). Les Mémoires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien. Paris: E. Leroux, 1895–1905; ch. 27 'Traité sur les gouverneurs du ciel' in t. III, part 2 (1898). | PD |
Read it
No digitised copy known.
No digitised copy known. The editions above are the way in.
References
Also on the Asia, Islam and medieval Europe shelf
| Date | Source | Planets | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| System c. 1st century BCE – early 1st century CE; Hanshu compiled c. 58–111 CE | Santong li: the Five StepsLiu XinMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| compiled c. 58–111 CE | Hanshu, Treatise on Celestial PatternsBan GuAstrological | Ve Ma | Astrological |
| 499 CE | ĀryabhaṭīyaĀryabhaṭaMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| c. 6th century CE | Bṛhat Saṃhitā, ch. 6: the course of MarsVarāhamihiraAstrological | Ma | Astrological |
| c. 900 CE (observations 877–918) | al-Zīj al-Ṣābiʾal-BattānīMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| c. 1025–1028 CE | Doubts concerning PtolemyIbn al-HaythamTheory / model | General | Theory / model |