Measuring the Shadow: The Connection between Astrology and Political Legitimation in Medieval China

Abstract

Yijing, the eminent monk who was known for his pilgrim to India during the Tang Dynasty, in his A Record of the Buddhist Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago said that the length of the shadow differed owing to different situation of places. In Luoyang, there fell no shadow, and the case was different in other places. It has been conventionally accepted that the theory of no shadow at noon on the summer solstices in Luoyang reflected the conflict between domestic Chinese tradition and Indian Buddhist tradition, focusing on which is the center of the world. This article argues that the main reason lies in the connection between astronomical measurement and political legitimation. Since the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, Luoyang has been described as the center of the world and the place that should have been the capital for a legitimate Chinese ruler. Such a theory was based on Confucian classics, Chenwei prophecy texts, and traditional astronomy and astrology. Political legitimacy was usually built up on the base of the knowledge that was broadly acknowledged and this is an important aspect of the intellectual and political history of medieval China.

Keywords

Luoyang / measuring the shadow / Yijing / center of the world

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Higher Education Press