He Chengtian (何承天)

Overview

He Chengtian was a Liu Song official, scholar, astronomer, and calendar reformer.

Life and dates

Attested activity

AD 447 二十四年
Dated from the passage context · Book of Song 66, passage 173
AD 424 to AD 453 元嘉
Dated from the passage context · History of Liao 44, passages 7-8
c. AD 443 何承天作歷法時代
Dated from the passage context · Book of Northern Qi 49, passage 45
AD 424 to AD 453 元嘉
Directly stated · Book of Song 55, passage 222
AD 420 to AD 447 兼左丞何承天彈呂萬齡
Strongly inferred · Book of Southern Qi 39, passage 131
AD 420 to AD 479 宋
Dated from the passage context · History of Song 76, passage 63

Show 1 more source-backed claim

AD 504 梁武帝天監三年
Directly stated · History of Liao 42, passage 220

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Imperial Censor 御史中丞
AD 447 二十四年 · Held
Dated from the passage context · Book of Song 66, passage 173
Concurrent Left Assistant 兼左丞
Held
Directly stated · Book of Southern Qi 39, passage 131

Places and affiliations

Polity Id liu-song · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · History of Liao 44, passage 7; Book of Southern Qi 39, passage 131; Book of Song 66, passage 173
Polity Id liu-song · Relation Served
Directly stated · History of Song 76, passage 63

Works and attributed material

He Chengtian's calendar 何承天歷
Relation Author
Directly stated · History of Liao 42, passage 220
History of Song 宋史
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Liang 30, passage 38
Yuanjia Calendar 元嘉曆
Relation Author
Directly stated · History of Liao 44, passage 7

Events and relationships

Agreed with shangzhi
AD 447 二十四年 · Policy debate · Supporter · With He Shangzhi (何尚之)
Dated from the passage context · Book of Song 66, passage 173
Erected gnomon found Jingchu lag
Scholarly · Observer
Directly stated · History of Song 76, passage 63
Placed solar eclipses on month-end or month-begin and required seven intercalary months in every era
Scholarly · Calendar author · Formulated eclipse and intercalation rules
Directly stated · History of Liao 44, passage 8
Impeached Lü Wanling
Legal · Accuser
Directly stated · Book of Southern Qi 39, passage 131
Relation Impeached · Person Lü Wanling (呂萬齡)
Directly stated · Book of Southern Qi 39, passage 131
Relation Methodological counterpart of · Person Zu Chongzhi (祖沖之)
Directly stated · History of Liao 44, passages 7-9

Assessments and attributes

Assessment calendar-erroneous-and-unusable · Mode named-source-report Speaker Heng (恒)
Directly stated · History of Liao 42, passage 220

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · History of Liao 44, passage 7

References in the histories

Search passages

History

9 passages

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 49Volume 49 Biographies 41: Arts · 1 passage

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芳又私撰歷書，名為《靈憲歷》，算月有頻大頻小，食必以朔，證據甚甄明，每云：「何承天亦為此法，不能精，靈憲若成，必當百代無異議。」 His private Spiritual Constitution Calendar tracked the moon’s varying size and fixed eclipses at new moon with rare clarity. “He Chengtian tried this but lacked precision,” he said; “finish this calendar and posterity will not quarrel.”

Book of Liang, Chapter 30Volume 30: Pei Ziye; Gu Xie; Xu Chi; Bao Quan · 1 passage

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初，子野曾祖松之，宋元嘉中受詔續修何承天《宋史》，未及成而卒，子野常欲繼成先業。 Earlier, Ziye's great-grandfather Pei Songzhi, in the Yuanjia era of Song, had received an edict to continue He Chengtian's History of Song, but died before finishing it; Ziye had long wished to complete his ancestor's work.

History of Liao, Chapter 42Volume 42 Treatises 12: Celestial Phenomena 1 · 1 passage

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梁武帝天監三年，沖之子恒上疏，論何承天歷乖謬不可用。 In Tianjian 3 (504), during the reign of Emperor Wu of Liang, Zu Chongzhi's son Heng memorialized that He Chengtian's calendar was erroneous and unusable.

History of Liao, Chapter 44Volume 44 Treatises 14: Celestial Phenomena 3 · 2 passages

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遼初用《乙未元曆》，本何承天《元嘉曆》法，後用《大明曆》，本祖沖之《甲子元曆》法。 The Liao first adopted the 《Yiwei Origin Calendar》, derived from He Chengtian's 《Yuanjia Calendar》, and later the 《Daming Calendar》, derived from Zu Chongzhi's 《Jiazi Origin Calendar》.

承天日食晦朏，一章必七閏； He Chengtian placed eclipses on month-end or month-begin and required seven intercalary months in every era;

Book of Southern Qi, Chapter 39Volume 39 Biographies 20: Liu Huan, Di Jin, Lu Cheng · 1 passage

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兼左丞何承天彈呂萬齡。 Concurrent Left Assistant He Chengtian impeached Lü Wanling.

History of Song, Chapter 76Volume 76 Treatises 29: Measures and Calendar 9 · 1 passage

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宋何承天始立表候日景，十年間，知冬至比舊用《景初曆》常後天三日。 Under the Song, He Chengtian first erected a gnomon to observe solar shadows; within ten years he found that winter solstice by the old Jingchu Calendar regularly lagged the heavens by three days.

Book of Song, Chapter 55Volume 55 Biographies 15: Zang Dao, Xu Guang, F Long · 1 passage

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臧燾、徐廣、傅隆、裴松之、何承天、雷次宗，並服膺聖哲，不為雅俗推移，立名於世，宜矣。 Zang Dao, Xu Guang, Fu Long, Pei Songzhi, He Chengtian, and Lei Cizong all devoted themselves to the sages, were not swayed by fashion, and won renown in their age — as was only fitting.

Book of Song, Chapter 66Volume 66 Biographies 26: Wang Jinghong, He Shangzhi · 1 passage

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吏部尚書庾炳之、侍中太子左衛率蕭思話、中護軍趙伯符、御史中丞何承天、太常郗敬叔並同尚之議。 Minister of the Civil Service Yu Bingzhi, Palace Attendant and Left Commander of the Heir Apparent's Guard Xiao Sihua, General of the Central Guard Zhao Bofu, Imperial Censor He Chengtian, and Minister of Ceremonies Xi Jingshu all agreed with Shangzhi's view.