Islamic Astronomy in the Service of Yuan and Ming Monarchs

A substantial dissemination and influence of Islamic astronomy was first seen in China during the Mongolian Yuan dynasty which ruled the country between 1260 and 1368. An observatory equipped with Arabic instruments and books in astronomy was set up exclusively for Muslim astronomers, who were charged with the responsibilities similar to their Chinese counterparts. With the establishment of the Ming dynasty in 1368, Muslim astronomers were recruited not only from the former capital of the Yuan, but also from the Arabic areas to
serve the new dynasty. Islamic section continued to exist and function in the official establishment of astronomy all the way to the mid-17th century, when Jesuit missionaries began to introduce European astronomy to the country. For the first time, Chinese astronomers were sent to study with Muslim astronomers, and books on Islamic astronomy and astrology were translated into Chinese and became an ever-lasting source of inspiration for Chinese astronomers. In the official establishment, Arabic astronomy was adopted as a reference system in parallel with the orthodox Chinese system of calendrical astronomy, and applied not only in the calculation of civil almanacs and astronomical ephemerides, but also in the prediction luni-solar eclipses and occultations of the moon and the five planets, two important categories of portents in Chinese astrology.