Islamic_Astronomy_in_China.pdf

Institut Pengajian China SIRI KERTAS KERJA WORKING PAPER SERIES ICS Working Paper No. 2008-4 Islamic Astronomy in China: Spread and Development Isa Ziliang Ma Institute of China Studies University of Malaya 50603 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA .my/ ICS Working Paper No. 2008-4 Islamic Astronomy in China: Spread and Development Isa Ziliang Ma Email: maziliang@.my March 2008 All Working Papers are preliminary materials circulated to promote discussion and comment. References in publications to Working Papers should be cleared with the author(s) to protect the tentative nature of these papers. 1 Islamic Astronomy in China: Spread and Development + Isa Ziliang Ma * Abstract In the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties in Chinese history, Islamic astronomy was advancer comparatively than other parts of the worlds, with the expansion of Islamic culture to the Far East Asia, Islamic astronomy also spread to China and influenced the development of Chinese astronomy very much, and this article discusses how Islamic astronomy spread to China and what impact that Islamic astronomy brought to Chinese civilization and science of astronomy. Keywords: Islamic astronomy, Chinese astronomy, Islamic calendar and Chinese calendar 1. Introduction (1) Ma Yize(马依泽)1 : the front runner of Islamic Astronomy in China Generally, Chinese scholars believe that Islamic astronomy (回回天文学) spread to China in the early period of the North