Mainland Southeast Asia as a Crossroads of Chinese Astronomy and Indian Astronomy

Yukio Ôhashi ()

A chapter in Ancient Indian Leaps into Mathematics, 2009, pp 193-200 from Springer

Abstract: Summary In the traditional calendars of Mainland Southeast Asia (except for Vietnam), the sidereal year is usually used instead of the tropical year. Since these calendars are lunisolar calendars, a certain cycle of intercalation is needed, and the 19-year cycle is usually used. This cycle is harmonious with a tropical year, but is not with a sidereal year. This fact obliges us to suspect that the origins of the sidereal year and that of the 19-year cycle are different. There is almost no room to doubt the Indian origin of the sidereal year. However, the origin of the 19-year cycle is controversial. It is supposed that the Tai people in South China received the influence of the Chinese calendar. I suspect that the “modified Taichu calendar” (Eastern Han Dynasty) might have been the origin of the 19-year and 57-year cycles used in the Tai calendar and other Mainland Southeast Asian calendars.

Keywords: Mainland Southeast Asia; Indian Astronomy; Sidereal Year; Tropical Year; Chinese Calendar (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-0-8176-4695-0_13

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DOI: 10.1007/978-0-8176-4695-0_13

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