 | CHAPTERS II and III The history of the former Han dynasty |  |
CHAPTER III
Appendix
THE ECLIPSES DURING THE REIGN OF THE EMPRESS OF
KAO-TSU
i. Two eclipses are recorded during this period of eight years. In the
second year, the sixth month, on the day ping-hsü, the last day of the
month, a solar eclipse is recorded (3: 3a). The Han-chi (6: 2a) notes
this eclipse in the sixth month without giving any day. The date in
the HS corresponds to July 26, 186 B.C., but there was no eclipse at
that time.
In the seven years from the last total eclipse in the reign of Emperor
Hui, in 188 B.C., to the next total eclipse of 181 B.C., 15 eclipses occurred,
of which only one was visible in China.[1]
This umbral eclipse is Oppolzer's
number 2434, on May 6, 184 B.C., 15 days before a ping-hsü day;
calculation of its circumstances shows that it merely reached a magnitude
of 0.08 in the present Soochow at 8:48 a.m., local time, a magnitude
of 0.05 at the present Changsha at 8:08 a.m., and was invisible in
northern China, including Ch'ang-an.
The explanation of this eclipse recording is not easy. It is possible
that the eclipse of 184 B.C. was observed at Wu (present Soochow) or
Lin-hsiang (present Changsha). But at both of those places the eclipse
was little more than a mere contact. At Wu it began at 8:12 and ended
at 9:04, lasting 48 minutes; at Lin-hsiang it lasted from 7:48 to 8:16,
only 28 minutes. It was unobservable except by special means, such
as watching the reflection of the sun in water or in a mirror in order to
reduce its glare. A patient astronomer who knew that the eclipse was
expected or some farmer accidentally seeing the sun reflected in a flooded
rice-field might have seen the eclipse. The Administrator of the Commandery
might have then considered it important and have reported
might have been mistaken for ping-hsü. The whole procedure however
involves so many hardly probable events that it seems better to
reject this eclipse as unobservable.
Then how did this listing of an eclipse come to be made? It is not
found in the SC; the SC likewise does not record the total eclipse of
188 B.C., which the HS has recorded correctly. It is possible that some
eclipse outside of this period of seven years was mistaken for this one;
if so, the order of the listed eclipses has somehow been disarranged.
Thus it might have been the eclipse of Sept. 29, 192 B.C.; indeed, if
that is the case, we can say that all the eclipses from 194 to 175 B.C.
were recorded. There is however no other reason for adopting this date.
The juxtaposition of this eclipse in the "Annals" with an earthquake,
the death of a pretended child of Emperor Hui, Pu-yi, a flood, and a
star seen in daytime (3: 3a, b) make it look as though someone thought
that an eclipse was due because of the Empress Dowager's actions, and
inserted it into the annals Pan Ku was using to supplement the SC.
The latter does not have any of these five calamities, although it elsewhere
records the death (with a different month) in its "Tables" (17: 8b).
If this listing is an insertion, I do not think that we can blame it upon
Pan Ku; the great exactness of the HS's list of eclipses in the latter
half of Former Han times and his rejection of the eclipse listed in 157
B.C. just before the death of Emperor Wen (cf. ch. 4: App. III, vi),
shows that Pan Ku did not unwarrantly insert eclipses into his History.
Possibly some particularly bold government official manufactured this
eclipse to express his dislike of the Empress Dowager's rule and reported
it. If so, his deed, if detected, would have brought him capital punishment;
during the reign of Emperor P'ing, Kung-sun Hung was accused
of having falsely reported a lesser calamity—that a fire had damaged
government buildings—and was imprisoned and executed (cf. 100A: 5b).
The report of a calamitous visitation was felt as a reflection upon the
government, and was dangerous. Since at that time there was much
criticism of the Empress Dowager's actions, some official might however
have ventured to memorialize an eclipse. At that time the Han officials
did not lack bravery. The foregoing seems the best explanation of this
eclipse.
ii. In the seventh year, the first month, on the day chi-ch'ou, the last
day of the month, a total eclipse is recorded (3: 4b). HS 27 Cb: 13b
adds, "It was 9 degrees in [the constellation] Ying-shih [whose stars
were then in 319.3° and 320.2° R.A.], [which constellation] is [taken
to represent] the interior of the Palace chambers. At that time the
The next year it was fulfilled," when the Empress Dowager died in the
next year. It was indeed dramatic that the only solar eclipse total in
Ch'ang-an for centuries should have come just before the death of the
Empress Dowager.
Hoang's calendar gives this date as March 4th, 181 B.C., for which
Oppolzer lists his solar eclipse no. 2441. Computation of this eclipse
shows that it was total in Ch'ang-an at 2:52 p.m., local time,
although Oppolzer and Ginzel calculate the umbral path as passing
through central China. The SC 9: 7b says, "In daytime it became
dark." The sun was in longitude 340.7° = 342.3° R.A.
Besides those whose location Oppolzer gives, the following 4 partial eclipses were
invisible in China because they belong to initial or terminal runs of exeligmos series whose
nearest umbral eclipse was located near the south pole: no. 2430 (i.), no. 2431 (t.), no.
2439 (i.), and no. 2440 (t.). In addition, 4 partial eclipses were visible in the northern
hemisphere, but calculation shows that all were invisible in China: no. 2428, on Dec. 31,
187 B.C. was far outside of Chinese territory. No. 2429, on May 28, 186 B.C. was
invisible south of 60° lat. No. 2437, on Oct. 19, 183 B.C. was visible only as far east as
European Russia and western Siberia. No. 2438, on Mar. 15, 182 B.C., was located
far outside of Chinese territory.
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