Astronomy and mathematics in ancient China : the Zhou bi suan jing / Christopher Cullen.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-235) and index.

The background of the Zhou bi -- The Zhou bi and its contents -- The origins of the work -- The later history of the Zhou bi -- Zhou bi suan jing: translation -- The preface of Zhao Shuang. The book of Shang Gao. The book of Chen Zi. The square and the circle. The seven heng. The shapes of heaven and earth; day and night. The xuan ji; polar and tropical conditions. The graduated circle and north polar distance. The shadow table. Lunar lag. Rising, setting and seasons. Calendrical cycles -- Appendix 1 Zhao Shuang and Pythagoras' theorem -- Appendix 2 Zhao Shuang and the height of the sun -- Appendix 3 Zhao Shuang and the diagram of the seven heng -- Appendix 4 The old shadow table.

This is a study and translation of the Zhou bi suan jing, a Chinese work on astronomy and mathematics which reached its final form around the first century AD. The author provides the first easily accessible introduction to the developing mathematical and observational practices of ancient Chinese astronomers and shows how the generation and validation of knowledge about the heavens in Han dynasty China related closely to developments in statecraft and politics. The book will be of equal interest to historians of science and those studying the history of Chinese culture.

Local access dig. pdf. [Cullen-Zhoubi.pdf]

Online borrowing at the Internet Archive

Zhoubi suanjing 周髀算經, see E. Wilkinson, Chinese history, a manual, pp. 470, 670, 789. For English translation and study, see C. Cullen, Astronomy and Mathematics in Ancient China, 1996.