Title

Duyu's Changli and His Textual Research on the Dates in Chunqiu and Zuozhuan

Author

Ji-yi Gao

Genre

Article  

Pages

389-428    

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

Duyu, Changli, Zuozhuanjijie, textual research of dates in Chunqiu and Zuozhuan    

Abstract

 Changli (長曆) was arranged by Duyu according to the dates in  the Chunqiu and Zuozhuan. Its distinguishing feature was following these works' months, days, and solar eclipses in order to verify the dates of the new moon. Compared with the many calendars before Duyu's, Changli missed only thirty-three dates and four solar eclipse days and was mostly in accordance with the dates of Chunqiu and Zuozhuan. However, besides leaving out these thirty-three dates, Changli missed seven dates, which Duyu explained by congfu (從赴) (historians' recording of royal obituary notices). As his explanations for congfu were contradictory, we do not need to take at face value his argument regarding the missing seven dates. Through Duyu's explanations for congfu and intercalation, we know that the arrangement of Changli was affected not only by his textual research of the dates, but also by his interpretation of the classics. Comparing the classics and the calendar to each other should help us fully understand Duyu's studies of Zuozhzan.