 | THE HISTORY OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY The history of the former Han dynasty |  |
CHAPTER XII
APPENDIX
ECLIPSES DURING THE REIGN OF EMPEROR P'ING
i. An solar eclipse is recorded in Yüan-shih I, v (the fifth month), on
the day ting-szu, the first day of the month (12: 4a). Hoang equates
this day with June 10, 1 A.D., for which Oppolzer calculates his solar
eclipse no. 2885. According to calculation, at Ch'ang-an the eclipse
reached a magnitude of 0.75 (sun's diameter = 1.00) at 10:44 a.m. local
time, so that it was conspicuous. The sun's longitude was 76° = 75° R.A.
HS 27 Cb: 16a says that the eclipse was "in [the constellation] Tung-ching,"
whose first star, μ Gem, was then in 66° R.A. This constellation
extends for some 33°.
In the year between this and preceding recorded eclipse, no solar
eclipses were visible in China.
ii. A second solar eclipse is recorded in Yüan-shih II, ix, mou-shen, the
last day of the month (12: 6a). HS 27 Cb: 16 adds that it was total.
Hoang equates this day with Nov. 23, 2 A.D., for which Oppolzer calculates
his solar eclipse no. 2888. Calculation shows that at Ch'ang-an the
eclipse reached a magnitude of 0.88, and that the path of totality passed
thru the present Ning-hsia, northern Shensi, K'ai-feng, and Shanghai, so
that reports of totality could easily be brought to the capital.
It is curious that the totality should be reported in the "Treatise,"
and not in the Annals; twice previously (ch. II, eclipse ii; ch. X, eclipse ii)
differences between the accounts in the "Annals" and "Treatise" showed
that the "Treatise" represents observations in the capital. But after
28 B.C., (except for the eclipse of 2 B.C.) the account in the "Treatise"
does not as previously give the precise positions of eclipses in the heavens,
only stating what constellation it was in and not always that; possibly the
detailed account of eclipses, which was made at the capital and was used
by Pan Ku as the source for his Treatise, ended with the eclipse of 28 B.C.
In the seventeen months between this and the preceding recorded
eclipse, no solar eclipses were visible in China.
| THE HISTORY OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY The history of the former Han dynasty | |