Accuracy of Solar Eclipse Calculations,1644–1785,with the Chinese SHOUSHI Calendar

Needham J. , Science and civilisation in China , iii (Cambridge, 1959), 171–494; Li Y. Zhang P.-Y. , “A review of the methods of calculating the real new moon in ancient Chinese calendars”, Progress in astronomy , xiv (1996), 66–76 (in Chinese); Li Y. Zhang P.-Y. , “Research on the methods of eclipse calculation in the Shoushi calendar”, Journal of Nanjing University (Natural Sciences) , xxxii (1996), 16–24 (in Chinese); Li Y. Zhang P.-Y. , “Comparative research on the methods of eclipse calculation during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties”, ibid. , 387–94 (in Chinese); Li Y. , “Research on the methods of calculation of syzygies and eclipses in ancient Chinese calendars of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties”, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Nanjing University, 1997 (in Chinese); Li Y. Zhang C.-Z. , “Chinese syzygy calculation established in the 13th century”, Astronomy and astrophysics , cccxxxii (1998), 1142–6; Li Y. Zhang C.-Z. , “Chinese models of solar and lunar motions in the 13th century”, ibid. , cccxxxiii (1998), L13–L15.

Li Y. Zhang P.-Y. , “Comparative research on the methods of eclipse calculation during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties” (ref. 1).

Gaubil A. , Traité de l'astronomie Chinoise , in Observations mathématiques …, ed. by Souciet E. (Paris, 1732), iii.

Stephenson F. R. Fatoohi L. J. , “Accuracy of solar eclipse observations made by Jesuit astronomers in China”, Journal for the history of astronomy , xxvi (1995), 227–36.

Li Y. Zhang P.-Y. , “Research on the methods of eclipse calculation in the Shoushi calendar” (ref. 1).

In Table 2, for Stephenson and Fatoohi's results, see Stephenson Fatoohi , op. cit. (ref. 4).

For details of observational errors by Jesuit astronomers, see Stephenson Fatoohi , op. cit. (ref. 4).

In Table 3, the data for the period a.d. 1280 to 1645 are taken from our earlier work, see Li Y. , op. cit. (ref. 1).