Other
Scientific paper
Sep 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007pnaoc...4..301l&link_type=abstract
Astronomical Research and Technology. Publications of National Astronomical Observatories of China (ISSN 1672-7673), Vol. 4, No.
Other
Archaeology, Observatory Relic, Solar Calendar
Scientific paper
At the town of Taosi, county of Xiangfen, Shanxi province the earliest (up to date about 4000 years ago) astronomical observatory and sacrificial altar relic was dug up, which consists of an observing site, some tamped soil columniations and slits between those columniations. This construction was used to observe the variations of the sunrise azimuth and determine the tropical year length in order to constitute the calendar. It is indicated from the simulated observations that the two slits located in the southeast and the northwest could be precisely used to determine the dates of the Winter Solstice and the Summer Solstice. Between those two slits there are 10 columniations which could indicate that the visual Sun moving from one columniation to another is a solar term. It implies that in the Emperor Yao time the calendar was the solar calendar in which one year was divided into 20 solar terms. The Yin-Yang five-element calendar, a 10-month calendar, in the very ancient time was based on this calendar.
Chen Jiu-Jin
Li Wei-Boa
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