Books by David W Pankenier
Les origines de l'astronomie chinoise, 2024
An Annotated Book of Changes 易經, 2023
Ramblings from a Vanished World, 2015
中国上古史实揭秘:天⽂考古学研究 (Revealing the Secrets of Ancient Chinese History: Research in Archaeoastronomy), 2008
Papers by David W Pankenier
Archaeological Baltica 10, pp. 141-48, 2008
The Taosi late Neolithic site is located in Shanxi Province in north-central China. Three decades... more The Taosi late Neolithic site is located in Shanxi Province in north-central China. Three decades of excavation have unearthed storage pits, dwellings, and many artifacts, identified as the Taosi culture type (4300 to 3900 BP). Recent excavations led to the discovery of the tombs of chiefs of the Early Taosi period, and the largest walled-town in prehistoric China. A semicircular foundation built in about 4 100 BP along the southern wall was also discovered. The design of the raised terrace within it would have permitted observations of sunrise at specific dates along the eastern horizon. Here we report on what has been learned about this fascinating site, and analyze its astronomical features and function.
Kadath, 2024
En résumé : Le fait est bien connu que les anciennes archives écrites chinoises constituent une s... more En résumé : Le fait est bien connu que les anciennes archives écrites chinoises constituent une source inestimable de renseignements historiques concernant l’astronomie, la technologie, l’économie et le climat. Certaines d’entre elles remontent au deuxième millénaire avant l’ère chrétienne. De nombreuses études ont établi que les conséquences de l’éjection dans l’atmosphère d’aérosols volcaniques est susceptible d’avoir un impact majeur sur le climat de toute la planète. Les éléments de preuve, d’origine chinoise, d’une anomalie climatique de ce type dans les années 530 sont d’abord examinés ici. Ces éléments, principalement tirés de carottes de glace et d’anneaux de croissance d’arbres prélevés sur l’ensemble du globe, indiquent plus d’une éruption volcanique massive au cours de cette décennie, bien qu’on ne sache pas encore de façon sûre quel volcan en a été le lieu. De manière plus sévère encore qu’en 1815, « l’année sans été » due à l’éruption du Tambora, en 536-537 des gelées
estivales et des chutes de neige se produisirent en Chine et causèrent une
sécheresse de plusieurs années, de mauvaises récoltes et une famine désastreuse. L’étude de textes de l’époque pré-impériale confirme l’hypothèse selon laquelle au milieu du deuxième millénaire avant l’ère chrétienne, un déchargement massif dans l’atmosphère d’aérosols volcaniques provenant de l’éruption de Théra (Santorin) aurait pu causer la spectaculaire dégradation climatique du seizième siècle AEC. Une datation des événements fondée sur des archives vérifiables ayant consigné des phénomènes astronomiques suggère que cette calamité, qui resta longtemps dans les mémoires, aurait pu être causée par l’éruption à Théra, en Méditerranée orientale. Cette date de référence peut nous aider à établir une chronologie fiable des royaumes de cette région, à cette époque. Mots-clés : chronologie / anomalies climatiques / début de l’histoire chinoise / Théra / éruptions volcaniques / années sans été
Astrology and Cosmology in Early China
In Victor Mair’s self-published monograph In and Outside the Square (3 vols., Sino-Platonic Paper... more In Victor Mair’s self-published monograph In and Outside the Square (3 vols., Sino-Platonic Papers 192: 2009), author John Didier makes claims which have, and will be, interpreted as alleging impropriety on my part, based on the fact that ideas appearing in previous publications of my own, parallel Didier’s. Examples of the objectionable assertions include Victor Mair’s statement: “key components of his [Didier’s] research being appropriated before . . . he was able to publish them himself” (Mair, “Foreword”, iii). The implication will be obvious to anyone. Didier’s “could only have originated” amounts to a charge of plagiarism. In what follows I will substantiate that these are not only reckless and patently false allegations, but I will also show that by his own admission John Didier was
deeply influenced by my own work and is heavily indebted to it.
Astrology and Cosmology in Early China
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, Jun 1, 2021
Bulletin of the Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology (BJAS) , 2023
Having previously uncovered several instances in Chinese history when planetary astrology signifi... more Having previously uncovered several instances in Chinese history when planetary astrology significantly influenced events on the ground, the present essay takes a slightly different tack. Explored here are two instances when strikingly similar astral signs involving mystical revelations may or may not have had epochal repercussions. The first has to do with a planetary portent during the early Han 漢 dynasty that evokes the same or similar associations as previous epochal dynastic omens, but which was most inopportune given the political developments on the ground. The second has to do with the famous hierophany involving the “unicorn” or lin 麟 , the mystical creature that has captured the Chinese imagination for millennia. Concerning the lin, its origins and history are obscure, bordering on inaccessible. Nevertheless, an attempt is made to assemble the available evidence into a suggestive, if not quite definitive account of that iconic creature’s historical role.
Errata:
p. 206: for “周文王 (1152–1056 BCE)” — read “(1099–1050)”
p. 214: for “in 481 which” — read “in 481, which”
p. 221: for “the Dark Warrior” — read “Dark Warrior turtle”
p. 225: for “seasonal nexus processed” read — “seasonal nexus precessed”
Asiatische Studien — Études Asiatiques, 2023
It is well known that ancient Chinese written records are an invaluable source of historical info... more It is well known that ancient Chinese written records are an invaluable source of historical information on astronomy, technology, economy, and climate, dating back in some cases to the second millennium BCE. Numerous studies have established that the climatic consequences of the ejection of volcanic aerosols into the atmosphere can have a major impact on the climate worldwide. Here, the Chinese evidence of such a severe climatic downturn during the decade of the 530s is first reviewed. A preponderance of the evidence from ice cores and tree rings worldwide points to more than one large volcanic eruption during the 530s, although which volcano was responsible has not yet been conclusively established. Whatever their source, in north China the eruptions caused a severe multi-year drought, crop failures, and catastrophic famine. Even more severe than 1815 the “year without a summer” in New England due to the eruption of Tambora, in 536-7 summer frosts and snowfall occurred in China. Study of the earliest Chinese chronicle gives reason to believe that in mid-second millennium BCE an even more massive loading of the atmosphere with volcanic aerosols from the eruption of Thera (Santorini) may have been the cause of dramatic climatic anomalies in the sixteenth century BCE. Dating of the that Chinese record of a severe multi-year drought based on verifiable astronomical records suggests that the calamity was likely caused by the eruption of Thera in the eastern Mediterranean. This benchmark is useful in establishing a secure chronology of contemporary eastern Mediterranean kingdoms.
Asia Major, 3d ser. Vol. 36.1: 137-192, 2023
Aspects of ancient Chinese cultural astronomy have survived in an etiological myth about feuding ... more Aspects of ancient Chinese cultural astronomy have survived in an etiological myth about feuding brothers. The myth encodes early-Bronze Age astral lore and calendrical science. In Zhou-dynasty (1046–256 bc) texts, it is a tale of sibling rivalry, but also the seasonal stars. The rivalry encodes two competing cultural traditions with distinct origins. One evolved into the mainstream lunisolar scheme familiar from the classical canon. The other survives only in unique calendrical practices still found among ethno-linguistic groups of China’s southwest like the Yizu 彝族 and Naxizu 納西族. Their astronomical traditions and calendrical practices are traceable to the ancient Qiang–Rong 羌戎 people, millennia-long highland neighbors and adversaries of both the Shang (1562–1046 bc) and Zhou, from the mid-second millennium bc through to the Han (i.e., ca. 481 bc–221 ad). The present study illustrates how the classic theme of sibling rivalry may be read not merely as a didactic myth about ancient seasonal stars, which it certainly was, but also as an allegory of the millennia- long relations between Central Plains and highland polities.
Archaeoastronomy and cultural astronomy, two facets of the historical anthropology of astronomy, ... more Archaeoastronomy and cultural astronomy, two facets of the historical anthropology of astronomy, have contributed important new insights. Much material has recently been published which has demonstrated the near ubiquity of a preoccupation with the sky among ancient civilizations. This has opened new windows on previously unappreciated aspects of the spiritual and conceptual lives of those ancient sky-watchers. Site reports from excavations in East Asia, particularly from China, generally provide only sketchy information on the orientation of sites. Even when such data is published, no information is provided on measurement or observational error. A central purpose of this presentation is to illustrate certain kinds of telltale features which should alert archaeologists to the possibility that a particular site or complex may possess astronomical significance. When such features are present, recording precise data on alignments of structures, dimensions of structural elements, angular arrangement, and the like is crucially important to archaeoastronomers in order analyze the astronomical significance.
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 2011
Study of the role of astronomical alignments in shaping the built environment suggests that centu... more Study of the role of astronomical alignments in shaping the built environment suggests that centuries before establishment of the Empire in 221 BCE, the Chinese had already developed practical, geometrical applications of astronomical knowledge useful in orienting high-value structures. The archaeological record clearly shows this fundamental disposition was already firmly established by the formative period of Chinese civilization in the early 2nd millennium BCE. The cosmological identification of the imperial center with the celestial Pole and an intense focus on the circumpolar ‘skyscape’ are manifested in the highly symbolic orientation of early imperial capitals. Certain features of this cosmological world-view may have emerged as early as the Neolithic.
Astrology and Cosmology in Early China
T’oung Pao, 2015
The deployment of weaving/netting metaphors in ancient Chinese socio-political thought has been n... more The deployment of weaving/netting metaphors in ancient Chinese socio-political thought has been noted, but the degree to which those metaphors may have prefigured cosmo-political thought in the earliest period has not been explored. This essay traces the crucial role of weaving technology in providing a fertile source for the constitutive image schema nearly ubiquitous in early cosmo-political discourse.
Le déploiement des métaphores faisant intervenir le tissage ou le maillage dans la pensée socio-politique de la Chine ancienne a bien été remarqué, mais on n’a pas exploré le degré auquel ces métaphores peuvent avoir préfiguré la pensée cosmo-politique des périodes les plus reculées. Cet essai retrace le rôle crucial de la technologie du tissage dans la formation du schéma constitutif de représentation pratiquement omniprésent dans le discours cosmo-politique fondamental.
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Books by David W Pankenier
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Papers by David W Pankenier
estivales et des chutes de neige se produisirent en Chine et causèrent une
sécheresse de plusieurs années, de mauvaises récoltes et une famine désastreuse. L’étude de textes de l’époque pré-impériale confirme l’hypothèse selon laquelle au milieu du deuxième millénaire avant l’ère chrétienne, un déchargement massif dans l’atmosphère d’aérosols volcaniques provenant de l’éruption de Théra (Santorin) aurait pu causer la spectaculaire dégradation climatique du seizième siècle AEC. Une datation des événements fondée sur des archives vérifiables ayant consigné des phénomènes astronomiques suggère que cette calamité, qui resta longtemps dans les mémoires, aurait pu être causée par l’éruption à Théra, en Méditerranée orientale. Cette date de référence peut nous aider à établir une chronologie fiable des royaumes de cette région, à cette époque. Mots-clés : chronologie / anomalies climatiques / début de l’histoire chinoise / Théra / éruptions volcaniques / années sans été
deeply influenced by my own work and is heavily indebted to it.
Errata:
p. 206: for “周文王 (1152–1056 BCE)” — read “(1099–1050)”
p. 214: for “in 481 which” — read “in 481, which”
p. 221: for “the Dark Warrior” — read “Dark Warrior turtle”
p. 225: for “seasonal nexus processed” read — “seasonal nexus precessed”
Download from the link:
https://www.lulu.com/shop/david-pankenier/the-origins-of-chinese-astronomy/ebook/product-w4e28p7.html?page=1&pageSize=4
https://www.amazon.com/Ramblings-Vanished-World-G%C3%B6ran-Malmqvist/dp/1329506707/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=malmqvist&qid=1571450453&s=books&sr=1-13
estivales et des chutes de neige se produisirent en Chine et causèrent une
sécheresse de plusieurs années, de mauvaises récoltes et une famine désastreuse. L’étude de textes de l’époque pré-impériale confirme l’hypothèse selon laquelle au milieu du deuxième millénaire avant l’ère chrétienne, un déchargement massif dans l’atmosphère d’aérosols volcaniques provenant de l’éruption de Théra (Santorin) aurait pu causer la spectaculaire dégradation climatique du seizième siècle AEC. Une datation des événements fondée sur des archives vérifiables ayant consigné des phénomènes astronomiques suggère que cette calamité, qui resta longtemps dans les mémoires, aurait pu être causée par l’éruption à Théra, en Méditerranée orientale. Cette date de référence peut nous aider à établir une chronologie fiable des royaumes de cette région, à cette époque. Mots-clés : chronologie / anomalies climatiques / début de l’histoire chinoise / Théra / éruptions volcaniques / années sans été
deeply influenced by my own work and is heavily indebted to it.
Errata:
p. 206: for “周文王 (1152–1056 BCE)” — read “(1099–1050)”
p. 214: for “in 481 which” — read “in 481, which”
p. 221: for “the Dark Warrior” — read “Dark Warrior turtle”
p. 225: for “seasonal nexus processed” read — “seasonal nexus precessed”
• “Heavenly quantities” (tian shu)
• Hemerology in Huainanzi (139 BCE)
• “Popular” hemerology & astromancy
• “Celestial Offices” tianguan shu (100 BCE) astrology
• The new astrological paradigm
• Examples of general astrology