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 ...

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 catal ...

born in the

State of Wei Wei (; ; Old Chinese: *') was one of the seven major states during the Warring States period of ancient China. It was created from the three-way Partition of Jin, together with Han and Zhao. Its territory lay between the states of Qin and ...

, 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 c ...

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 The ''Great Tang Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era'', also called the ''Kaiyuan Star Observations''Deng, Yinke. 005(2005). Chinese Ancient Inventions. (''Kaiyuan Zhanjing''),Needham, Volume 3, 109. is a Chinese astrology encyclopedia ...

''.

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

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 Year 997 ( CMXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 1 February: Empress Teishi gives birth to Princess Shushi - she is the first child of the ...

(1997). ''The Chinese Sky During the Han: Constellating Stars and Society''. BRILL publishing. . The crater

Shi Shen Shi Shen (, Floruit, fl. 4th century BC) was a Chinese astronomer and astrologer. He was a contemporary of Gan De born in the State of Wei, also known as the Shi Shenfu. Observations Shi is credited with positioning the 121 stars found in the pres ...

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 of ...

is named after him.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shi, Shen 4th-century BC Chinese people Ancient astrologers Ancient Chinese astronomers Chinese astrologers Zhou dynasty people

Observations

Books

Influence

See also

Notes

References