The Eclipse Of Chung K'ang

Abstract

IN China an eclipse of the sun is, and has in all ages been, considered as a bad omen. Indeed anything which disturbs the regularity of the movements or appearances of the heavenly bodies is so considered. “On the first day of the last month of autumn the sun and moon did not meet harmoniously in Fang.” This passage occurs in the ancient classic, the “Shu Ching,” in the “Yin Cheng” one of the books of the Hsia dynasty. Chinese commentators say that this passage refers to an eclipse of the sun in Fang, the fourth of the Chinese twenty-eight constellations. The last month of autumn, according to the Hsia Calendar, is the ninth month, the month after that month which contains the autumnal equinox.