Research Article
Transmission and Assimilation of the Islamic Calendrical Astronomy, from Arab to Joseon Korea
1 Yonsei University, 2 Konkuk University, 3 Independent Researcher
Published: April 2018 · Vol. 40 No. 1 · pp. 29-58
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36092/KJHS.2018.40.1.29
Full Text
Abstract
In the thirteenth century, there were extensive astronomical exchanges between the Islamic world and Yuan China. Particularly, Islamic calendar system based on the Greek astronomy was first introduced into Yuan China, and a Persian Zij by new observations was compiled by the Muslim astronomers who were active in Beijing observatory equipped with the Arabic instruments. In the next Ming dynasty, the Chinese version of Islamic calendar, Huihui lifa 回回曆法, originated from the Persian Zij, was compiled by the contributions of the Chinese and Muslim Astronomers, and it was transmitted to Joseon Korea during the King Sejong period (1418-1450). However, Korean astronomers found the serious mistakes in the epoch and the date conversion method of the Huihui lifa, and they compiled a newly revised version of Chinese-Islamic calendar, Chiljeongsan oepyeon 七政算外篇. In this paper, we examine the transmission of Islamic calendrical astronomy from Arab to Joseon Korea via China. Through the study of the Islamic Zijes and literatures related with the Huihui lifa, we trace the inter-relation among them. As well, we try to get the information and clues such as their origins and the years or places of the observations, from the analysis of astronomical tables in the Huihui lifa and Chiljeongsan oepyeon.