Shi Shen (,
fl.
''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...
4th century BC) was a Chinese
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either o ...
and astrologer. He was a contemporary of
Gan De
Gan De (; fl. 4th century BC), also known as the Lord Gan (Gan Gong), was an ancient Chinese astronomer and astrologer born in the State of Qi. Along with Shi Shen, he is believed to be the first in history known by name to compile a star catalo ...
born in the
State of Wei, also known as the Shi Shenfu.
Observations
Shi is credited with positioning the 121 stars found in the preserved texts. Shen also made the earliest surviving deliberate sunspot observation, sometimes erroneously credited to Gan De. He assumed that these spots were
eclipse
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
s that began at the center of the sun and spread outward. Although he was wrong, he recognised the spots for what they were – solar phenomena.
His works included the 8-volume ''The rocks of Space'', the one-volume ''Celestial Map'' and the one-volume ''Star Catalogue of Shi''. The latter two are now believed to be written by his school followers. Most of his works did not survive intact, but a few of his crucial writings were preserved in the ''
Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era''.
Books
Shi Shen wrote the ''Astronomy'' (石氏天文, ''Tianwen''), later known as ''Shi's Classic of Stars'' (石氏星經, ''Shishi Xingjing'').
Influence
Gan De
Gan De (; fl. 4th century BC), also known as the Lord Gan (Gan Gong), was an ancient Chinese astronomer and astrologer born in the State of Qi. Along with Shi Shen, he is believed to be the first in history known by name to compile a star catalo ...
and Shi Shen are widely quoted across a number of astronomical texts after their time, though they should not be confused with other books sharing similar names that were not written by them. One example is the ''Star Manual of the Masters Gan and Shi'' (甘石星經, Gan Shi Xingjing), which was actually compiled by
Ma Xian (馬顯) circa 579 AD as an appendix to a calendar treatise.
[Kistemaker, Jacob. Sun, Xiaochun. 997(1997). ''The Chinese Sky During the Han: Constellating Stars and Society''. BRILL publishing. .]
The crater
Shi Shen on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...
is named after him.
See also
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Chinese star maps
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Galileo Galilei
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He w ...
*
Hipparchus
Hipparchus (; el, Ἵππαρχος, ''Hipparkhos''; BC) was a Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician. He is considered the founder of trigonometry, but is most famous for his incidental discovery of the precession of the equ ...
*
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulat ...
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shi, Shen
4th-century BC Chinese people
Ancient astrologers
Ancient Chinese astronomers
Chinese astrologers
Zhou dynasty people