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Communication dans un congrès Année : 2023

Popular science: Astronomical data in Chinese local gazetteers, using LOGART

Résumé

Among the many astronomical facts included in the ‘Star Field’ (Xingye 星野) and ‘Field Allocation’ (Fenye 分野) chapters of local gazetteers are figures for the polar distance and equatorial and ecliptical width of the constellation with which a given locality is associated. Though these are ‘fixed stars’ (hengxing 恆星), the orthodox values of these measures vary from historical sky survey to another as a function of secular motion, the precession of the equinoxes, instrumentation, and observational practice. An astronomer knows this, and he knows to use the latest values, but a local historian in a time when the study of the subject was technically illegal might instead opt for antiquarian values, mix and match, or otherwise make a mess of scientific data. He might also copy and paste, propagating an error through subsequent generations and editions. This paper will examine these phenomena, identifying the origins of such data, tracing their separate transmission within the gazetteer genre, and reflecting upon differences in epistemology, presentation, and function between popular and expert astronomy. How, if at all, are survey data treated differently than astrological and historical facts? What relation do they have to the state of the field in the astral sciences? And what do these data matter to the history of a prefecture or town?
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Dates et versions

halshs-04107702, version 1 (26-05-2023)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : halshs-04107702 , version 1

Citer

Daniel Patrick Morgan. Popular science: Astronomical data in Chinese local gazetteers, using LOGART. The Role of Fenye (Astrological Contents) in Late Imperial China: an Author’s Workshop, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, May 2023, Berlin, Germany. ⟨halshs-04107702⟩
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