Kao Ping-tse (; 23 December 1888 – 23 March 1970) was a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

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, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

. He was entirely self-taught in this field. The crater Kao 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 in his honor. Kao was born in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. His father was a revolutionary, a Jǔrén 舉人, and a key figure of the ''Nan Society'' (''South Society'', 南社) in the late

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. The Wayback Machine's might be helpful, but it appears as a mess of eight-bit characters. He worked at

Qingdao Observatory The Qingdao Observatory is located on the summit of Guanxiang Mountain in the Shinan District of Qingdao, China. The existing building complex was originally built in 1905. Qingdao Observatory was once an important scientific research institute in ...

, received from the Japanese after the

Washington Naval Conference The Washington Naval Conference was a disarmament conference called by the United States and held in Washington, DC from November 12, 1921 to February 6, 1922. It was conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations. It was attended by nine ...

in 1924. He then worked at the

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ...

Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics, one of the founders of

Purple Mountain Observatory The Purple Mountain Observatory (), also known as Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on the Purple Mountain in the east of Nanjing. Description The Purple Mountain Observatory was established in 1934 fun ...

. During World War II, he lived in Shanghai. He moved to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

in 1948, during the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

. He died in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

References

External links

In "Chinese Lunar Calendar FAQ"
* Chinese astronomers Taiwanese astronomers 20th-century astronomers 1888 births 1970 deaths Scientists from Shanghai Taiwanese people from Shanghai {{astronomer-stub