Ming
Dynasty Islamic Calendar
in China
Olli Salmi
7.12.2006 [latest revision 7.9.2009]
This
is a rough and incomplete translation of
the
beginning of the description of the Islamic calendar in the
History of
the Ming Dynasty. The calendar has a solar Persian calendar and an
Islamic lunar
calendar. The formulas for determining the
leap years and days of the week are interesting.
The description continues with astronomical tables. I have
not translated this
part but I have made an attempt to understand how solar
longitude is
calculated. The
tables themselves are missing
from my main source and apparently all mainland Web sites that I have
come across.
The Chinese term for the calendar
is 回
回历法 Huíhui lìfǎ, where Hui is the normal
post-1949 term for Chinese speaking Muslims, formerly known as Dungans
or Tungans.
明史卷三十七
志第十三 历七
▲ 回回历法一
《回回历法》，西域默狄纳国王马哈麻所作。其地北极高二十四度半，经度偏西一百零七度，约在云南之西八千馀里。
其历元用隋开皇己未，即其建国之年
也。
洪武初，得其书於元都。十五年秋，太祖谓西域推测天象最精，其五星纬度
又中国所无。命翰林李翀、吴伯宗同回回大师马沙亦黑等译其书。其法
不用闰月，以三百
六十五日为一岁。岁十二宫，宫有闰日，凡百二十八年而宫闰三十一日。
以
三百五十四日为一周，周十二月，月有闰日。凡三十年月闰十一日，历千九百四十一年，宫月日辰再会。此其立法之大概也。
Islamic
calendar
“Islamic Calendar”, by King Mahama of the
Western
country
Modina, which is situated on 24.5 degrees northern latitude, 107
degrees
to the west, about 8000 Chinese miles from
Yunnan. The beginning of the era is Kaihuang
ji-wei
in the Sui Dynasty, which is the year of the establishment of the
country. At the beginning of the Hongwu reign period [Jan. 23
1368–Feb. 5, 1399], this book was
obtained in the Yuan capital. In the autumn of the fifteenth year
[1382], the
Emperor said that the Westerners were best in predicting astronomical
phenomena, and China did not have their system of coordinates for the
celestial bodies. He ordered the Hanlin Academicians Li Chong and Wu
Bozong to translate the book with the Muslim master Sheikh Ma.
The method does not use intercalary months. A year has 365 days. The
year is divided into 12 signs of the Zodiac, which have leap days, so
that 128 years have 31 leap days. 354 days form a lunar year with 12
months which can have leap days.
There are 11 leap days in 30 years. In
1941
years the lunar and the solar years coincide again. These are the main
points of this calendar.
There
are different opinions of
the leap year cycle of Persian calendars. This is a relatively early
source which clearly describes a very elegant and accurate mathematical
calendar with a 128-year leap year cycle.
The
prime factors of 1941
are 3 and 647. It is unclear what relevance it has to the calendar.
107° degrees east of Medina is in the Pacific Ocean east of
Japan.
按西域历术见於史者，在唐有《九执历》，元有札马鲁丁之《万年历》。《九执因》最疏，《万年历》行之未久。唯《回回历》设科，隶钦天监，与《大统》参
用二百七十馀年。虽於交食之有无深浅，时有出入，然胜於《九执》、《万年》远矣。但其书多脱误。盗盖其人之隶籍台官者，类以土盘布算，仍用其本国之书。而
明之习其术者，如唐顺之、陈壤、袁黄辈之所论著又自成一家言。以故翻译之本不行於世，其残缺宜也。今为博访专门之裔，考究其原书，以补其脱落，正其讹
舛，为《回回历尖》，著於篇。
The passage mentions older Western calendars, which have mistakes. The
Muslim astronomer use books from their own countries and dust board.
Dust board presumably refers to calculations with Arabic numerals.
积年 起西域阿喇必年， 隋开皇己未。
下至洪武甲子，七百八十六年。
Elapsed
years
Numbering the years starts from the western Alabi year, Kaihuang ji-wei
(599 AD) in the
Sui Dynasty. By Hongwu jia-zi (1384 AD) it is 786.
The
beginning of the Islamic lunar calendar is 23 years too early because
786 has been taken
to mean Chinese years (with intercalary months) instead of Islamic
lunar years. The correct date is
Friday, 16th July, 622 AD (Julian).
http://makuielys.info/wenz1/show.php?type=hjyanjiu&id=1049895895
This error has persisted until modern times.
The solar calendar starts in 599 AD, 786 solar
years before 1384 AD (Shi
Yunli, Tao
Peipei). This fits the formula in the text.
用数 天周度三百六十。 每度六十分，每分六十秒，微纤以下俱准此。 宫十二。 每宫三十度。 目周分一千四百四十，时二十四， 每时六十分。
刻九十六。 每刻十五分。 宫度起白羊，节气首春分，命时起午正。 午初四刻属前日。
Numbers
used
The circle of heaven is divided into 360 degrees. Each degree has 60
minutes,
each minute sixty seconds. These are also used for coordinates. There
are 12 signs of the Zodiac,
each of them 30 degrees. The day has 1440
minutes, 24 hours of 60 minutes, 96 quarters,
each of them 15 minutes. The signs of the Zodiac start from Aries, on
spring
equinox. Hours are counted from noon.
The four quarters before noon belong
to the previous day.
It is traditional in the Persian calendar to round the times to the
nearest midnight. (Heydari-Malayeri).
This is equivalent to having integral days from noon to noon, a system
that was also followed by Ptolemy.
七曜数 日一，月二，火三，水四，木五，金六，土七。
以七曜纪不用甲子。
Days
of the week
1. Sunday, 2. Monday, 3. Tuesday, 4. Wednesday, 5. Thursday,
6. Friday, 7. Saturday. The sexagenary
cycle is not used.
The names are names
of celestial
bodies, Sun,
Moon, and the planets named after elements, Fire (Mars),
Water (Mercury), Wood (Jupiter), Gold (Venus), Earth (Saturn). These
names are still
used for the days of the week in Japanese.
Qi Zheng Tuibu gives the Persian names which are also ordinal with the
counting starting from Sunday.
宫数 白羊初，金牛一，阴阳二，巨蟹
三，狮子四，双女五，天
秤六，天蝎七，人马八，磨羯九，宝瓶十，双鱼十一。
The signs of the Zodiac
Aries 0, Taurus 1,
Gemini 2,
Cancer 3,
Leo 4,
Virgo 5,
Libra 6,
Scorpio 7,
Sagittarius 8,
Capricorn 9,
Aquarius 10,
Pisces 11.
Aries 0, because a sign is also an angle measure, 30°. This
seemed
to be so in Persian astronomical tables.
宫日 白羊戌宫三十一日。金牛酉宫三十一日。阴阳申宫三十一
日。巨蟹未宫三十二日。狮子午宫三十一日。双
女巳宫三十一日。天秤辰宫三十日。天蝎卯宫
三十日。人马寅宫二十九日。磨羯丑宫二十九日。宝瓶子宫三十日。双鱼亥宫三十日。
已上十二宫，所谓不动之月，凡三百六十五日，乃岁周之日也。若遇宫分有闰之年，於变鱼宫加一日，凡三百六十六日。
The
days of the signs of the Zodiac
| Aries |
31 days |
| Taurus |
31 days |
| Gemini |
31 days |
| Cancer |
32 days |
| Leo |
31 days |
| Virgo |
31 days |
| Libra |
30 days |
| Scorpio |
30 days |
| Sagittarius |
29 days |
| Capricorn |
29 days |
| Aquarius |
30 days |
| Pisces |
30 days |
These twelve signs are known
as immovable months. Each period of 365 days is a year. In a leap year
Pisces has an extra day and the year contains 366 days.
This
is different from the pre-1925 Persian calendar described by Birashk,
in which Gemini had 32
days instead of Cancer. The duration of these periods should change
from year to year and
with precession. Some sources say the pre-1925 solar months
were
astronomically determined. Afghanistan uses the names of the signs of
the Zodiac for months and they are known in Tajik as well.
The
duodecimal cycle is used in Chinese but
I have omitted it from the translation.
Libra has 31 days in the version of the text I have used as my main
source.
月分大小 单月大，双月小。
凡十二月，所谓动之月也。月大三十日，月小二十九日，凡三百五十四日，乃十二月之日也。遇月分有闰之处，於第十二月内增一日，凡三百五十五日。
Full
and hollow months
Odd numbered months are full, even numbered ones hollow. These are so
called movable months. A full month has 30 days, a hollow one 29. Each
period of
354 days is a period of twelve months. When a month is a leap
month a day is added to the twelfth month to make a period of 355
days.
There
is no attempt to use the
original Arabic names of the months in Chinese, but Qi zheng tuibu
gives the Persian names as well. These are used for the solar months in
the
present Persian calendar.
太阳五星最高行度 隋己未测定。
太阳二宫二十九度二十一分。 土星八宫十四度四十八分。木星六宫初度八分。火星四宫十五度四分。金星二宫十七度六分。水星七宫六度十七分。
The apogee calculated for 622 AD.
| Sun |
89°21′ |
| Saturn |
254°48′ |
| Jupiter |
180°8′ |
| Mars |
135°4′ |
| Venus |
77°6′ |
| Mercury |
216°17′ |
These values are for 16th
July, 622 AD (Julian). However, in the
astronomical tables the accumulated change is -10°40′28″
at epoch and 0° in the year 660, so the values are actually for
this year, AD 1262. The actual longitude of solar apogee is
89°21′-10°40′28″=
78°40′32″
at epoch.
The
Ming History and the astronomical tables give the following values of
mean longitudes and mean motion for
16th
July, 622 AD (Julian).
|
first
year |
daily
increment |
In
1440 lunar years |
| Day
of week |
6
Friday |
1
Sunday |
1
Sunday |
| Sun |
116°5′19″ |
59′8″ |
160°5′33″ |
| Saturn |
359°18′ |
58′ |
|
| Jupiter |
145°19′ |
54′ |
|
| Mars |
274°6′ |
28′ |
|
| Venus |
45°29′ |
37′ |
|
| Mercury |
85°34′ |
3°6′ |
|
| Apogee |
-10°40′28″ |
10‴ |
12°36′53″ |
From the above table one can
calculate a more accurate value of the
daily increments. 30 lunar years are 10631 days.
In earlier versions
(27.4.2008, 23.5.2008)
the above passage was
unfortunately confused and had imcomprehensible mistakes. I hope it is
better now.
In
the case of linear functions, the Ming History only
describes how the tables are made, but Qi Zheng Tuibu has the tables
written out. There
are different tables of the mean motion for cycles of thirty
lunar
years, starting
from epoch and jumping direct to year 600, as well as for
individual years,
months, both solar and lunar, and days.
The values derived from the
tables are more accurate than the ones given by the Ming History.
Huihui Lifa gives instructions for adding or subtracting the smallest
units at certain intervals, leap seconds and thirds. There
are obvious mistakes in the tables. Digits may be missing and carried
numbers added a few lines too late.
Now
I will attempt to
calculate the solar longitude at epoch. First, 1′4″
is subtracted from the mean solar longitude. There are different
theories about this (Chen Jiujin, Shi
Yunli). 116°5′19″
− 1′4″=
116°4′15″.
To get the mean anomaly,
subtract the longitude of the solar
apogee
from the mean solar longitude.
At epoch it is 116°4′15″
− 78°40′32″=
37°23′43″.
The mean anomaly is used as the index to get the equation of centre.
Chen Jiujin (1989) states that the eccentricity is 0.0351295, but this
does not generate the maximum value of 2°0′47″
at 92°. The following Excel function generates values that
differ
at most one second from the table in Qi Zheng Tuibu within the first 92
degrees:
G$1=0.035135
F2 mean anomaly
=DEGREES(-G$1*SIN(RADIANS(F2)))/(SQRT(1+2*G$1*COS(RADIANS(F2))+G$1^2))
In the table for the equation of the centre in Qi Zheng Tuibu, the
value for 37° is 1°10′41″.
To make interpolation easy the table also gives the difference from the
next value, 1′39″
or 99″.
23′43″=1432″.
x:99″=
1432″:3600″.
x=39.38″.
1°10′41″+
39″
= 1°11′20″(
1°11′21″with
the
above Excel formula).
This is subtracted from the mean solar longitude. The solar longitude
at epoch is
116°4′15″
−
1°11′20″=
114°52′55″, which is reasonably
close to the
114.796 (114°47′45″)
given by Calendrica.
Shi
Yunli has made the same calculation and arrived at 114°51′53″.
It seems that the correction of 1′4″
has not been included in his calculation.
The
astronomical tables
include the day of the week, which can be used to tie the system to the
real world. Year one has Friday, which is 16th
July, 622 AD
(Julian). The next year in the
table for every thirty years has 1 Sunday, which is the first day of
the year 601 AH. In the yearly, monthly and daily tables the day
indicated is an increment, although the name of the planet is included.
Thus, the first year in the yearly table has 4 Wednesday, which means
an increment of 4 days (modulo 7) after the 354 days of the first year
of the cycle. Similarly, the first month has 2 Monday, a two day
increment after a 30-day month. The daily table adds 1 Sunday, 2 Monday
etc.
The text says that these should take to the first of Aries, but I
cannot see how this is possible since the increments clearly take us to
the current day.
求宫分闰日 无〔 宫？〕之馀日。
置西域岁前积年，减一，以一百五十九乘之， 一百二十八年内，闰三十一日故以总数乘。 内加一十五，
闰应。
以一百二十八屡减之，馀不满之数，若在九十七已上， 闰限。 其年宫分有闰日，已下无闰日。於除得之数内加五， 宫分立成起火三，故须加五。
满七去之，馀即所求年白羊宫一日七曜。 有闰加一日，后同。
Obtaining
the leap day for the signs of the Zodiac.
(Extra day in a sign of the Zodiac) Take the years accumulated before
the Western year, subtract one,
multiply it with 159 (there
are 31
leap
years in 128 years, so you multiply with the total). Add 15 to it
(earlier error) to
find the leap year. Repeatedly subtract 128. If the remainder is above
97 (intercalation), it is a leap year. Then add 5 to the quotient of
the above division
(because the starting point is Tuesday, one has to add 5). Divide by 7
and the remainder is the day of the week of the first day of
Aries. (For a leap year add 1.)
This
passage has two functions
which find whether a solar year is a
leap year and what is the day of the week of the first day of the year.
Leap year rule
The
following Excel function determines whether
the solar year YS, is a leap year:
=IF(MOD((YS-1)*159+15;128)>96;"leap";"common")
The year is a leap year if the remainder is greater than 96.
The rule creates a
128-year cycle which consists of the subcycles of
29+3*33 years. Each subcycle begins with four common years followed by
a
leap year.
97 is the smallest remainder that defines a leap year. Because
97+31=128, this means that the accumulated error carried over from
previous years amounts to one full day. The error is checked at the
beginning of the year, in other words, the formula finds out how much
was left over after the previous year.
The number 15, called leap
constant by Shi Yunli,
should mean the fractional days accumulated before the beginning of the
era, in this case 15/128 of a day, 2h48'45". Since days are from noon
to noon, the spring equinox occurred at 14h48'45" at the beginning of
the calendar. However, in the following formulas where we know the
longitude better the leap constant has
no relation to the actual time of the spring equinox.
The rule described in
this
passage is a typical
rule of the Persian calendar,
but it checks the beginning of the year and also calculates the day of
the week. Another rule
is
the
one by Abdollahy in Encyclopedia Iranica s.v. Calendars:
=IF(MOD((YS+38)*31;128)<31;"leap";"common")
Mathworld misquotes
this
using the fractional part of the division
instead
of the remainder. The fractional part should be <0.24. With a
calculator it would be easier to use the fractional part.
To check the end of
the year the
function should be written =IF(MOD((YS-1)*159+26;128)>96;"leap";"common"
Birashk
uses a 2820-year cycle.
The following Excel function agrees
with his tables:
=IF(MOD((YS-1)*683+558;2820)>2136;";"leap";"common").
The equinox
occurred at 5h48'45" after noon on the first day.
The remainder has to be greater than or equal to 2820-683=2137.
Day of the week
The
second rule keeps track of
the day
of the week at the starting point of the era. This Excel
function does it correctly:
=MOD(INT(((YS-1)*159+15)/128)+5;7)
This is 5, Thursday, if YS is 1.
In both formulas the multiplier 159=128+31. The first number keeps
track of the day of
the week, the second number takes care of the leap years. The 15 in the
formulas is the excess fractions of a day accumulated before the
beginning of the calendar, 15/128 days.
求月分闰日 朔之馀日。 置西域岁前积年，减一，以一百三十一年乘之， 总数乘。 内加一百九十四， 闰应。 以三十为法屡减之，馀在十九已上，
闰限。 其年月分有闰闰已下则无。於除得之数，满七去之，馀即所求年第一月一日七曜。
Obtaining
the leap day for the lunar months
(Extra day before the new moon) Take the years accumulated
before
the Western year, subtract one, multiply
it with 131 (multiply
with the
total). Add 194 to it (earlier error). Repeatedly subtract 30. If the
remainder is above
19 (intercalation), it is a leap year. Divide the quotient of
the above division by 7 and the remainder is the day of the week of
first day
of the first month.
This passage also
has two functions, which generate a standard mathematical Islamic
calendar.
Leap year
This function determines whether a year is a leap year:
=IF(MOD((YL-1)*131+194;30)>18;"leap";"common")
The fractional part should be >0.6 if decimals are used.
Day of the week
This function calculates the day of the week of the first day of the
year correctly:
=MOD(INT(((YL-1)*131+194)/30);7)
The first day of the first year (AD 622) is correctly 6, Friday, if YL is 1.
The total that is used to multiply means 4*30+11. Since the length of a
common year is 354 days the day of the week advances by 4 every common
year and the integral part of the quotient changes accordingly.
194=6*30+14 sets the first day of the first year of the era at
6, Friday. The accumulated error is 14/30 days. In
Birashk's
calendar it is 15/30.
An excursus:
In Qizheng tuibu there is a passage which is of
interest here:
求中国闰月（至元甲子至洪武甲子计积一百二十一算）
法曰距至元甲子岁为元至所求年内减一算却加一百三十七以一百二十三乘之又加一十以三百三十四除之得数寄左其除不尽之数若在二百一十一已上其年中国有闰月已
下其年中国无闰月若在已上者与三百三十四相减余以四乘之以四十一除之得数即求年中国闰月也
假令除得一数是正月二数是二月余仿此
“Calculating the
Chinese leap months (with 121 years
between Yuan jia-zi (1324 AD) and
Hongwu
jia-zi (1384 AD))
”Take the years from Yuan 甲子 (1324 AD), subtract one, add 137
and
multiply with 123. Add 10 and divide by 334. If the remainder is above
211, the year is a Chinese leap year. If the remainder is below 211,
the year is not a Chinese leap year. If the remainder is above 211,
subtract it from 334, multiply the difference by 4 and divide by 41.
The quotient is the Chinese leap month.
”If the result [rounded up?] is one, it is the
first
month, if it is two, it is the second month etc.”
The years are confused. 121 years before Hongwu jia-zi is before
the Yuan dynasty rule in China.
According to this formula, there are 123 leap years in 334 years. 334
is the length of a twelfth of the solar year in units of
time suitable for the accuracy of the calculation. The lunar
year
is 123 units shorter. This figure is equivalent to the epact of the
Gregorian calendar. The solar year is 4008 units long and the lunar
year 3885 units. The
ratio 3885:4008 is the ratio of the lunar year to the solar year,
although it is not exactly the ratio obtaining in the Huihui lifa. If
123 is
divided by 12 the result is 10.25=41/4, the monthly
difference, so
dividing 334-remainder with 10.25 indicates in how many months an extra
lunar
month fits into the solar year. This means the formula relies on the
mean sun and the mean moon. The Chinese gave up the mean moon at
the
beginning of the Tang dynasty, about 619 (Aslaksen).
Alternatively, the solar year is 12 123/334= 4131/334
lunations but the ramifications of this idea are not yet clear. The ratio of the lunar year to the solar
year is 4008:4131.
It is difficult to anchor
this scheme in time. The 123/334 formula produces an endless cycle of
Metonic cycles with new moons that drift slowly towards the end of the
solar year. At 334-year intervals the last new moon moves from
February to January. This corresponds to the solar equation in the
Gregorian calendar.
The remainder refers to the time before the the last possible new moon
(or alternatively the time elapsed from the end of the lunar year). The
remainder 0 means the last possible date and 333 the first possible
date.
A somewhat fruitful approach is to compare these cycles to the Metonic
cycle in the Gregorian calendar. The pattern of
remainders and leap years fits an epoch with golden
number 3 and epact 24 in the 14th or 15th century according to the
Gregorian calendar. This is based on the idea that the last possible
date of the New Year is near 20th February, which has epact 9.
According to Calendrica the switch of the new moon from
February to January takes place in 1423 which would place the
epoch on 1351. The next switch is in 1890 while the formula predicts
1757 so there is some latitude in the choice of the epoch.
The pattern of leap years produced by the formula fits the present
Chinese calendar for the years 1900-1918 as well, although an
astronomical
calendar may have exceptions to regular patterns.
A1 Year AD
B1 Years from 1351
C1 Quotient
D1 Remainder
E1 Leap/Common
F1 Leap month
G1 Golden number
A2 1351
B2 =A2-1351
C2 =((B2+137)*123+10)/334
D2 =334*MOD(C2;1)
E2 =IF(D2>=211;1;0)
F2 =IF(E2=1;CEILING((334-D2)/(41/4);1);"")
G2 =MOD(A2;19)+1
The number of leap years before the current year can be found with the
formula =TRUNC((A2*123+161)/334)
Since the length of a lunar month is known it should be possible to
find the date once the epoch is known.
Supposing the epoch is the new moon in February AD 1351 we can find its
Julian date.
Julian date of lunar epoch 1948440
Initial value at lunar epoch: 14/30=168/360
750 years: 750*10631/30=12*750*10631/360
11 months: (11*10631/30)/12=11*10631/360
Days elapsed from lunar
epoch:(168+12*750*10631+11*10631)/360=95796109/130=266100+109/360
Chinese New Year AD 1351: 266100+1948440=2214540
This date is two days after Calendrica's Chinese New Year because the
Islamic tradition requires that the new moon should be visible.
Besides, the day is the first day of the month, not the last day of the
previous month. This is probably a mistake in most of my formulas.
Starting from this day any Chinese New Year can be calculated with the
following Excel formulas.
A1 AD
B1 years elapsed from 1351
C1 Leap years from 1351
D1 JD
E1 JD in integers
F1 Golden number
A2 2009
B2=A2-1351
C2=TRUNC((B2*123+161)/334) [perhaps FLOOR is needed]
D2=B2*(10631/30)+C2*((10631/30)/12)+266100+109/360
E2=TRUNC(D2) [to be
pasted on Calendrica; perhaps FLOOR is needed]
F2=MOD(A5;19)+1
The golden number is useful for studying the cycles. I have checked the
years 2009–2028. All the dates are on the correct new moon, with
the Chinese dates usually two days earlier. Calendrica's arithmetic
Islamic new moons sometimes differ from the Ming formula.
A remarkable thing is that for the years AD 10000–10018 the
agreement is almost as good. The date is even better because it is
usually the same as the Chinese New Year. Only year 10001 (and 10020,
golden number 8) starts a month earlier according to the Ming formula.
The month in question is a leap 12th according to Calendrica while the
Ming formula places the leap month two months later.
This is not bad for a little formula from the Ming dynasty meant for
human computers who did their calculations on a sand board.
End
of excursus
[revised 7.9.2009]
加次法 置积日， 全积并
宫闰所得数。
减月闰内加三百三十一日， 己未春正前日。 以三百五十四 一年数
除之，馀数内减去所加三百三十一，又减二十三， 足成一年日数。 又减二十四， 洪武甲子加次。 又减一， 改应所损之一日。 为实距年 己未至今
得数。又法：以气积 宫闰并通闰为气积 内减月闰， 置十一，以距年乘之，外加十四，以三十除之，得月闰数。
以三百五十四除之，馀减洪武加次二十四，又减补日二十三，又减改应损日一，得数如前。 求通闰，置十一日，以距年乘之。求宫闰前见。
Calculating
the Epacts
Start with the total number of elapsed days (based on elapsed days and
solar
leap days). Subtract the number of
lunar leap days, add 331 to reach the beginning of the era (spring
equinox
of AD 599). Divide it with
354 (the number of days in a year). Subtract from the remainder the 331
that was previously added. Subtract 23 (to a full year). Subtract 24
[years]
to
attain the year 1384. Subtract 1 once more to compensate for the lost
day.
The result is the difference between AD 599 and the present day.
Another method: From the accumulated number of solar leap years and
general leap years subtract the number of lunar leap years.
(Take
11,
multiply it by the difference in years, add 14, divide by 30 and you
get the number of leap years.) Divide by 354. Subtract 24
[years],
the
addition to Hongwu jia-zi, then subtract 23 and subtract one for the
lost day. (To
calculate general leap days, take 11 and multiply it by the difference
in years. For calculating solar leap years, see above.)
This
passage is
unclear. Shi Yunli thinks
it is a
very confusing later
addition,
probably by Tang Shunzhi 唐顺之 while Tao Peipei thinks that the author is
Huang Baijia 黄百家, an editor of the Ming Histories. The passage is made
clear by the Nanjing manuscript.
What I translate（with
hesitation) as
‘epacts’ means something like ‘adding
instances’
and means the numbers that have to be added to the solar
year to get the lunar year. They resemble the epact in the Gregorian
calendar, but there are separate numbers for the year, month and day,
which are separately added to the solar date.
The formula for calculating the number of lunar leap years is clear:
=INT((11*YL+14)/30)
Shi Yulin gives the
corresponding function for solar leap years:
=INT((31*Ys+15)/128)
These refer to a period of years starting from the epoch. If the period
starts from another year, the remainder has to be adjusted. For
instance, if we want to count the number of lunar leap years
during the 24 years preceding and including 1 AH (with the remainder
14), we will have to find the remainder for the first year. We can use
the formula =MOD(14-11*23;30). The remainder is 1 and the number of
leap years is INT((11*24+1)/30)=8.
The formula in the
text
has strange numbers, 331, 23, 24 and 1. The Nanjing manuscript has an
example which
makes clear that the figure 24 refers to years, while the
other figures are days. The numbers are not really explained in Tao
Peipei's article, although
it is shown that the above formulas give a correct result. The number 8
is regarded as
an error and it is said that 331 is very close to 339. Tao
Peipei
points out that the lunar new year preceding the epoch of the solar
calendar is 339 before 1st
Aries 599 AD and the following one is 15 days later.
The other numbers have an explanation. 331+15=354, equal to a common
lunar year. Adding 331 moves the
beginning of the period to a date 8 days short of the previous lunar
new year (not the spring equinox as the text says). This will ensure
that the leap days
of the 24-year period are not counted twice. Then we move back to the
original beginning by subtracting the 331 again, and move forward 15+8
days to a point eight days after the lunar new year, again taking care
not to count the leap days twice.
Hopefully the following
arrangement will clarify the relations
between the times.
| 8 |
354 |
24
years |
| 8 |
331 |
23 |
| 339 |
15 |
8 |
| 354 |
8 |
However,
the period of
24 years has 9 leap years and the error is corrected at the end by
subtracting 1.
It is not clear why such a complicated procedure is followed. It may be
connected to a traditional algorithm.
Moving towards the preceding lunar year is totally unnecessary since at
this point lunar leap years are counted and the year in question is a
common year. The second method simply moves to the following lunar new
year, plus 8.
The example of the Nanjing manuscript shows how to calculate
the epacts corresponding to 21st March, 1629, the spring equinox
(Julian day
1948440).
The
procedure calculates the number of days up to the day preceding the
spring equinox. There are 1030 solar years (1629-599) containing
1030*365 days, plus 249 73/128 leap days, altogether 376199 73/128
days. Then the lunar leap days are calculated, first for 1030 lunar
years, resulting in 378 4/30 days.
Interestingly, the lunar leap days are subtracted in two stages. First
376199-378+331=376152, the total number of days from the lunar new year
prceding the solar epoch minus part of the lunar leap days. The
resulting number of days is divided by 354 to get the number of years
and remaining days, 1062 204/354 years. A preliminary epact is 1062
years 204 days – 331 days – 23 days – 24
years
– 1 day = 7 years 203 days (Tao Peipei 2003).
This is then corrected by removing the lunar leap days. The formula is
=MOD((Y-1)*11+14;30). This makes two days, so the correct epacts are 7
years 6 months 24 days. These are added to the spring equinox.
|
years |
months |
days |
| Spring
equinox |
- 1030
|
1 |
1 |
| epacts |
7 |
6 |
24 |
| date |
1037 |
7 |
25 |
In the example a date 93 days into the year is required. These days
have to
be separately added.
Proceding in two stages may be connected to the way the leap days in
the 24 lunar days are taken into account.
Durations
The duration of a period in years or days are easy to calculate when
the accumulated error and length of the year are known. The
accumulated error is
necessary to keep the leap years in the correct places. The formulas
are
not mentioned in the Ming dynasty history.
The number of days before the solar year Ys can be calculated
with the Excel
function =INT(((Ys-1)*(365+31/128))+15/128).
When the
leap constant and the length of the year is known, the leap year fall
in their correct places.
If DS is the number of
days, the number of full solar years before the current year can be
calculated from =INT((DS-15/128)/(365+31/128)).
The number of days in
the
lunar calendar before
year YL can be calculated
with the Excel
function =INT(((YL-1)*(354+11/30))+14/30).
If DL is the number of
days, the number of full lunar years before the current year can be
calculated from =INT((DL-14/30)/(354+11/30)).
Converting between the solar and lunar calendar
To convert between the Hui solar and Hijra calendar it is necesary to
calculate the
number of
days since the beginning of the calendars. If you start from the Hui solar
year, you can use the function
=INT(((Ys-1)*(365+31/128))+15/128). Then subtract the
difference of the Hui
solar and Hijra years from
the
total. The
difference between the solar and lunar calendars is 8520 days.
For an
example,
let's check 5th
December, 2006 (Julian day 2454075), full moon
according to
the Gregorian calendar around the time of the writing of these lines.
The year is
2006-598=1408.
The 1st of Aries
is Monday, 20st March ( Julian day 2453815),
the 79th day of the Gregorian
year (2*30+1-2+20=79; it
is easier
to count the days above or below 30
separately). The 5th of December is the 339th day of the Gregorian
year (11*30+6-2+5=339) and the 261st day of the Hui solar
year (339-78=261). Before
the
beginning of the year there have been INT((1407*(365+31/128))+15/128)=513895 full days and the 5th
of December is
the 513895+261=514156th day
from the epoch of
the solar calendar.
Using the formula YL=INT((DL-14/30)/(354+11/30)) we get
(514156-8520-14/30)/(354+11/30)=1426 full
years,
14/30+1426*(354+11/30)=505327 days. 505375-120-505327=309 days into the
year. Ten
lunar months make 10*10-5=295 days. You can also use the
function =TRUNC(309/29.5). Subtract
this from 309 to get the
14th
of the eleventh month, 1427 AH, and the day after full moon.
Checking this on the
Calendrical Calculations applet, we see that the
date is correct.
These formulas can be used to find the epacts that can be added to the
epoch of the solar calendar.
Julian days
If the Julian day is known, the following functions may be used to
convert to the Hui calendar.
A1 Julian Day
B1 elapsed full solar years
C1 elapsed full days
before the beginning of the solar year
D1
days in the solar year
B1=INT(((A1-1939919)-15/128)/(365+31/128))
preceding full years
C1=INT((B1*(365+31/128))+15/128)
D1=A1-C1-1939919 (for
epact D1=A1-C1-1939920)
E1 elapsed full lunar
years
F1 elapsed full days before the beginning
of the lunar year
G1
days in the lunar year
H1 day of the week
E1=INT(((A1-1948439)-14/30)/(354+11/30))
F1=INT((E1*(354+11/30))+14/30)
G1=A1-F1-1948439 (for epact
G1=A1-F1-1948440)
H1=MOD(A1+2;7)
Key dates
1939920 Thursday, solar epoch
1948440 Friday, lunar epoch
I have calculated the longitude with the following Excel formulas:
A1 Julian day
B1 mean longitude
C1 change of apogee
D1 apogee
E1 mean anomaly
F1 equation of centre
G1 true longitude
H1 day of the week
A2
1948440
B2
=MOD((A2-1948439)*(59/60+8,3304045/3600)+116+5/60+19/3600-1/60-4/3600;360)
C2=((A2-1948439)*(9/3600+51,5/216000)/60)-(10+40/60+28/3600)
D2 =89+21/60+C2
E2 =B2-D2
F2=DEGREES(-0,035135*SIN(RADIANS(E2)))/(SQRT(1+2*0,035135*COS(RADIANS(E2))+0,035135^2))
G2=B2+F2
H2 =MOD(A2-1948434;7)
The longitudes can be displayed in degrees, minutes and seconds by
dividing with 24 and displaying the result in hours, minutes and
seconds.
Summary
The History of the Ming Dynasty decribes two calendars from the 14th
century, a Persian mathematical solar clendar with the year starting on
Thursday,
the 1st of Aries, and a conventional
Islamic mathematical lunar
calendar starting 8520 days later on Fridayday, 16th July, 622 (Julian).
The solar calendar has years of 365 31/128 days and an accumulated
error of
15/128 days at the starting point of the calendar. There is a leap year
whenever the accumulated error reaches one full day. This can be
calculated from the Excel formula
=IF(MOD((YS-1)*159+15;128)>96;"leap";"common").
The weekday of the first day of year YS can be calculated
from the Excel
formula =MOD(INT(((YS-1)*159+15)/128)+5;7).
This places the
beginning of the first year on a Thursday. This is different from the
modern Persian calendar, which has the 1st of Aries on a Friday.
The lunar calendar has years of 354 11/30 days with an accumulated
error of 14/30 days at the starting point. There is a leap year
whenever the
accumulated error reaches one full day. This can be calculated from the
Excel formula =IF(MOD((YL-1)*131+194;30)>18;"leap";"common").
The weekday of the
first
day of year YL can be calculated
from the Excel
formula
=MOD(INT(((YL-1)*131+194)/30);7). This places the
beginning of the
first year on a Friday.
Links
and references
Aslaksen,
Helmer:
Fake Leap Months in the Chinese
Calendar:From the Jesuits to 2033.
http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/calendar/ichsea.pdf
Bär,
Nikolaus A. Iranische
Zeitrechnungen
http://www.nabkal.de/irankal.html
Nasir ed-Din Tusi has lists
of early leap years according to
the Maliki calendar. They reveal no pattern of cycles.
Birashk.
A Comparative Calendar of the Iranian, Muslim Lunar,
and
Christian Eras for Three Thousand Years. Persian Studies Series,
No. 15. Mazda Publishers,
1993.
This book may not be fully trustworthy. The 1925 law
says nothing about the 2820-year cycle, and the pre-1925 months were
astronomically determined (Roozbeh Pournader, personal communication).
Fitzpatrick,
Richard. A Modern Almagest: An
updated
version of Ptolemy's Almagest.
http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/syntaxis/Almagest.pdf
An excellent site which is reasonably close to the format of the
astronomical tables.
Heydari-Malayeri, M.: A
concise review of the
Iranian calendar
Ptolemy’s Almagest
(transl. and annotated by G. J. Toomer, London 1984)
Calendrical
Calculations applet
Some glitches with MacOS 10.2.3. With MacOS 10.4.11 Safari refreshes
the window three times before showing the result.
Colloquium
No. 6 - Fung Kam Wing - 香港科技大學圖書館善本書室開幕 ...
Chinese and Muslim contacts
Encyclopedia
Iranica: Calendars
A very detailed entry but not very clear on eras and early leap year
rules.
Iranian
Calendar -- from Eric Weisstein's World of Astronomy
Ma Zhaozeng. Converting between
the Islamic, Gregorian
and Chinese
Calendars
马
肇曾 回历、公历、农历的换算
This text uses decimal numbers for conversion.
There are numerous versions of this text, but I have not found one
which contains the original tables.
Ming History
明
史
There are numerous versions online. The text is from this one, but
because of the numerous mistakes the Academica Sinica version has also
been used. This version has no tables.
http://www.sinica.edu.tw/ftms-bin/ftmsw3
The Islamic calendar description is on pages 744–880 of this
version the Ming History. Starting from page 516 there is some history
and comparison of calendars. The tables start on page 775. The site is
hard to use.
Françoise
Aubin. Notule sur les
mathématiques et
l’astronomie islamiques en Chine
http://science-islam.net/article.php3?id_article=554&lang=fr
Bagheri,
Mohammad Books
I and
IV of Kūshyār ibn Labbān's Jāmic Zīj: An Arabic Astronomical Handbook
by an Eleventh-Century Iranian Scholar / - [S.l.] : [s.n.],
2006-
Doctoral thesis Utrecht University
http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dissertations/2007-0109-200521/
Jing Bing
Acceptance
of Chinese Calendars,
Sonmyong-ryok and Susi-ryok by Koryo Scholars
This has some traditional terms.
Shi,
Yunli. 2003.
The
Korean Adaptation of the Chinese-Islamic Astronomical Tables. Arch.
Hist. Exact Sci. 57 (2003) 25–60.
http://www.ihns.ac.cn/readers/2004/shiyunli1.pdf
This paper, a freely downloadable copy of which was found only after I
uploaded the first version of the page.
Tao Peipei. Study on the Huihui Lifa Collected by Nanjing Library.
Studies in the History of Natural Sciences, 2003
Vol.22 No.2 P.117-12
陶
培培∶南
京图书馆藏清抄
本《回回历法》
研究
The library copy
has a full description of the method to calculate the time
interval between the solar and lunar calendars. This paper can be
downloaded for a few cent from http://club.cqvip.com.
A short description which includes the Arabic names of the months
http://samuel.lamost.org/basic/dict/baike/twdbk28595.html
The same in a better format:
http://www.17348.com/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E6%96%AF%E5%85%B0%E5%8E%86%E6%B3%95
七政推步 Qi zheng tuibu (ISBN：
6669168055)
A fuller edition of the
calendar with astronomical tables.
Unfortunately this is a facsimile edition with many pages illegible.
回
回万年历 A modern Islamic calendar for sale.
Example pages.
http://www.islambook.net/shop/hhwyl.htm
中国天文史
http://www.ikepu.com/astronomy/astronomy_history/china_astronomy_total.htm
Mentions a few other names.
Yan
Linshan: Islamic observatories
阎林山：回回司天台
http://www.islamcn.net/article/list.asp?id=426
Chen Jiujin: A detailed explanation of the principles of the lunar and
solar eclipses in the Hui calendar
陈久金：回
历日月食原理
《自然科学史研究》-1990年9卷2期 -119-131页
Studies In The History of Natural Sciences, Vol. 9 No. 1 (1989),
119–131
Chen Jiujin: The calculation of the sun and the moon and geometric
models of their motions in the Hui calendar
陈久金：回历
日月位置的计
算及其运动的几何模型
陈久金
《自然科学史研究》1989
年8卷3期-219-229页
Studies
In The History of Natural Sciences, Vol. 8 No. 3 (1989),
219–229
Yang
Yi: A study on the geometrical model explaining the movement of
planets in Islamic calendar
杨怡：回历行
星运动几何模型之研究
《自然科学史研究》1991年10卷3期
Studies In The History of Natural Sciences, vol. 10 No. 3 (1991),
246–248
Time and Date of Vernal Equinox
http://aom.giss.nasa.gov/srver4x3.html
Hermetic Systems: Dates and Times of Equinoxes and Solstices
http://www.hermetic.ch/cal_sw/ve/ve.htm
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