Foreign Astral Sciences in China

From the Six Dynasties to the Northern Song
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-138-47759-9
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 520 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 453 g

Reihe: Needham Research Institute Series

This book explores the history of foreign astral science in China from the unique viewpoint of the knowledge introduced to the Middle Kingdom by monks, travellers, and merchants from different parts of Eurasia throughout the first millennium CE.

By comparing the extant works in Chinese with parallel materials in their original languages, including texts in Sanskrit and Pali for the Buddhist materials, and in other languages for works by the Nestorians, Zoroastrians, and Manicheans, this book fills a lacuna in the understanding of the role foreign scientific ideas played in Chinese and East Asian societies.

Including full English translations of a number of Chinese texts of foreign origin for the first time, together with commentaries and the critically edited original Chinese texts, this book will appeal to students and scholars of the history of science, and Chinese history.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

M. Mak, Bill

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Buddhismus
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Stadt- und Regionalsoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Regionalwissenschaften, Regionalstudien

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction  Part 1: History  2. Early Transmission and Reception 3. Indian Astronomical Knowledge during Sui and Tang 4. Exotic Planetary Lore in China from Mid-Tang to Northern Song 5. Interaction of foreign astral science with indigenous systems from Tang to Northern Song  Part 2: Texts  6. Early Vedic and Buddhist Astral Texts 7. Sino-Indian astronomical texts during Sui and Tang 8. Planetary treatises across Eurasia 9. Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

Bill M. Mak is Professor of History of Science at the University of Science and Technology of China and Research Associate at the Needham Research Institute, Cambridge, U.K.