1st Edition
Foreign Astral Sciences in China From the Six Dynasties to the Northern Song
By Bill M. Mak
Copyright 2026
484 Pages
73 B/W Illustrations
by
Routledge
484 Pages
73 B/W Illustrations
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
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 Pāli for the Buddhist... Read more
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
Biography
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, UK.
