Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory, also known as the Dengfeng Observatory, is an observatory in Duke of Zhou's shrine, Gaocheng Town, near Dengfeng in Henan province, China. This site has a long tradition of astronomical observations, from the time of the Western Zhou up to the early Yuan dynasty. There is also a gnomon used for the Da Yan calendar in 729 AD and the great observatory of the Yuan Dynasty. As part of the "Dengfeng Historic Monuments of Dengfeng 'in the Center of Heaven and Earth'" the observatory was listed as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 2010.[1]
Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory. It was built in 1276.
It is believed that the Duke of Zhou (c. 1042 BC) had erected at this place a Ceyingtai (observatory measuring the shade or gnomon) to observe the Sun, as he believed the area to be the centre of heaven and earth.[2] His interest in mathematics, astronomy/astrology is reported in the Zhoubi Suanjing.
Tang Dynastyedit
The astronomer Yi Xing (683–727) of the Tang Dynasty built 20 standardized gnomons spread out over China to measure the equation of time dependent on the geographical location. Following a proposition of Liu Zhuo from 604 AD, 10 of these were aligned along the meridian 114° east of Greenwich from Central Asia down to Vietnam in order to determine the circumference of the Earth and deviations from a perfect sphere. One of these 10 observatories was situated at Gaocheng. The observations were used to establish the Da Yan calendar.
South of the observatory, in the temple dedicated to Zhou Gong can be found a Shigui chart made by Yi Xing. According to the Zhou Li (Rites of Zhou) this place is the center of the Earth. [2]
Yuan Dynastyedit
The great observatory was built in 1276 in the early Yuan dynasty on the order of Kublai Khan and was designed by astronomers Guo Shoujing (1231–c.1215) and Wang Xun (1235–1281) to observe the movement of the sun, the stars and record time.[2]
It was built of stones and bricks. It has two parts: the body and shigui (also called the ruler to measure the sky). It is 9.46 meters high by itself, and 12.62 meters high if the 2 cabinets on the top are included. The somewhat unconventional gnomon is a bar mounted horizontally between the 2 cabinets. The shigui extending to the far north is 31.19 meters long and 0.53 meters wide. It is made up of 36 square stones with two parallel waterways on it to check its levelness. The location of shigui is in accordance with the direction we take today to measure the meridian. During measurement, a beam is put across the grooves. Jingfu (an instrument with many holes) on the waterways is used to measure the shade, whose precision is within 2 millimeters. At winter solstice, the length of the shadow at noon is nearly as long as the shigui.
The very precise observations served for the new Shoushi calendar (Season-Granting Calendar) of 1281, which was in use for 364 years. It was by far the most advanced calendar for its time; the length of the tropical year was determined to 365 d 5 h 49 m 20 s, a value in accord with the value of the Gregorian Calendar, but obtained 300 years earlier.[2]
In 1787, Laplace applied these measurements to check his calculations on the secular changes of the obliquity of the ecliptic and the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit.
It is the first in a series of 27 observatories built in the early Yuan dynasty.
See alsoedit
Taosi (Xiangfen, Shanxi), a late Longshan neolithic site suggested to contain an ancient observatory
gaocheng, astronomical, observatory, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, schola. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory also known as the Dengfeng Observatory is an observatory in Duke of Zhou s shrine Gaocheng Town near Dengfeng in Henan province China This site has a long tradition of astronomical observations from the time of the Western Zhou up to the early Yuan dynasty There is also a gnomon used for the Da Yan calendar in 729 AD and the great observatory of the Yuan Dynasty As part of the Dengfeng Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in the Center of Heaven and Earth the observatory was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010 1 Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory It was built in 1276 Gaocheng Astronomical ObservatorySimplified Chinese登封观星台Literal meaningGaocheng Astronomical ObservatoryTranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinDengfeng guanxingtai Gaocheng Astronomical ObservatoryUNESCO World Heritage SiteOfficial nameHistoric Monuments of Dengfeng in The Center of Heaven and Earth IncludesTaishi Que Gates Zhongue Temple Shaoshi Que Gates Qimu Que Gates Songye Temple Pagoda Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple Kernel Compound Chuzu Temple Pagoda Forest Huishan Temple Songyang Academy of Classical Learning ObservatoryCriteriaCultural iii vi Reference1305revInscription2010 34th Session Area825 ha 2 040 acres Buffer zone3 438 1 ha 8 496 acres Contents 1 History 1 1 Western Zhou 1 2 Tang Dynasty 1 3 Yuan Dynasty 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksHistory editWestern Zhou edit It is believed that the Duke of Zhou c 1042 BC had erected at this place a Ceyingtai observatory measuring the shade or gnomon to observe the Sun as he believed the area to be the centre of heaven and earth 2 His interest in mathematics astronomy astrology is reported in the Zhoubi Suanjing Tang Dynasty edit The astronomer Yi Xing 683 727 of the Tang Dynasty built 20 standardized gnomons spread out over China to measure the equation of time dependent on the geographical location Following a proposition of Liu Zhuo from 604 AD 10 of these were aligned along the meridian 114 east of Greenwich from Central Asia down to Vietnam in order to determine the circumference of the Earth and deviations from a perfect sphere One of these 10 observatories was situated at Gaocheng The observations were used to establish the Da Yan calendar South of the observatory in the temple dedicated to Zhou Gong can be found a Shigui chart made by Yi Xing According to the Zhou Li Rites of Zhou this place is the center of the Earth 2 Yuan Dynasty edit The great observatory was built in 1276 in the early Yuan dynasty on the order of Kublai Khan and was designed by astronomers Guo Shoujing 1231 c 1215 and Wang Xun 1235 1281 to observe the movement of the sun the stars and record time 2 It was built of stones and bricks It has two parts the body and shigui also called the ruler to measure the sky It is 9 46 meters high by itself and 12 62 meters high if the 2 cabinets on the top are included The somewhat unconventional gnomon is a bar mounted horizontally between the 2 cabinets The shigui extending to the far north is 31 19 meters long and 0 53 meters wide It is made up of 36 square stones with two parallel waterways on it to check its levelness The location of shigui is in accordance with the direction we take today to measure the meridian During measurement a beam is put across the grooves Jingfu an instrument with many holes on the waterways is used to measure the shade whose precision is within 2 millimeters At winter solstice the length of the shadow at noon is nearly as long as the shigui The very precise observations served for the new Shoushi calendar Season Granting Calendar of 1281 which was in use for 364 years It was by far the most advanced calendar for its time the length of the tropical year was determined to 365 d 5 h 49 m 20 s a value in accord with the value of the Gregorian Calendar but obtained 300 years earlier 2 In 1787 Laplace applied these measurements to check his calculations on the secular changes of the obliquity of the ecliptic and the eccentricity of the Earth s orbit It is the first in a series of 27 observatories built in the early Yuan dynasty See also editTaosi Xiangfen Shanxi a late Longshan neolithic site suggested to contain an ancient observatory List of astronomical observatoriesReferences edit Centre UNESCO World Heritage Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in The Centre of Heaven and Earth whc unesco org Retrieved 2017 08 19 a b c d Historic Monuments of Dengfeng China L ICOMOS Evaluation Report International Council on Monuments and Sites Retrieved 17 Apr 2021 External links editThe Antiquarian Society Early Chinese Astronomy Ancient Observatories Gaocheng at ChinaCulture org showing both observatories Surveying of the meridian Article on the Shoushi calendar from the National University of Singapore PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2011 05 17 Retrieved 2007 04 13 509 KB Portals nbsp China nbsp Astronomy nbsp Stars nbsp Spaceflight nbsp Outer space nbsp Solar System nbsp Education nbsp Science 34 24 10 N 113 08 27 E 34 40278 N 113 14083 E 34 40278 113 14083 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory amp oldid 1091709148, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
