In some costume film and television dramas, the word Qin Tianjian often appears, what explains visions, calculates auspiciousness, divinates the future, etc., so Qin Tianjian is often associated with Taoist metaphysics, which historical real Qin Tianjian looks like?
The name Qin Tianjian only appeared in the Ming Dynasty, and its main duties were to observe celestial phenomena, compile calendars, and observe solar terms, somewhat like the current observatories and meteorological bureaus.
Successive dynasties and dynasties have similar departments, and it is said that in the Xia and Shang dynasties, there was the official position of Taishi, and during the Zhou Dynasty, Taishi also undertook important duties such as historical officials, in charge of classics, and sacrifices. "The great affairs of the country are in the ancestral and military", which shows the importance of the position of Taishi at that time, which can be called the position of the three secretaries. In the Qin and Han Dynasties, Taishi Ling replaced Taishi, weakened his power, and was only responsible for compiling history and astronomical calendars. The Three Kingdoms and two Jin Dynasties further weakened their power and controlled only the astronomical calendar, a position that was completely far removed from the core department of the imperial court, called the technical department. In the Sui Dynasty, it was called Taishijian, and in the Tang Dynasty, it was renamed many times, such as Hun Tianjian, Si Tiantai, etc., and the Song Dynasty was called Si Tianjian until the Ming and Qing dynasties, called Qin Tianjian.
Although the Qin Tianjian is far from the core of the right, its technical and professional requirements are relatively high, so from ancient times to the present, there are many big men emerging in the Qin Tianjian.
Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty, the author of the "Records of History", was a famous historian, and at the same time his achievements in astronomical calendars were also very high, he served as a Taishi Ling, and wrote the "Book of Heavenly Officials" and "Almanac".
Zhang Heng in the Eastern Han Dynasty also served as a Taishi Ling and was a big man in the scientific circles of the mainland.
Zhang Heng and ground motion instrument
Li Chunfeng, a legendary Taoist priest during the Tang Dynasty, was a famous astronomer and mathematician who served as Taishi Ling and improved the armillary celestial sphere, and his most famous work is "Push back map", known as the first strange book in ancient China, which is rumored to have been written by Tang Taizong to calculate the fortunes of the country.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo was hailed as "the most outstanding figure in the entire history of science in China". His masterpiece "Mengxi Pen Talk", rich in content, has been called "a milestone in the history of Chinese science", and has also mentioned Si Tianjian.
Shen Kuo
Guo Shoujing of the Yuan Dynasty made outstanding achievements in astronomy, calendar, water conservancy and mathematics, and formulated the "Chronological Calendar", which became the most advanced calendar in the world at that time, and its officials were Taishi Ling and ZhitaiShi Yuanshi, known as "Guo Taishi".
Guo Shoujing
The Most famous Qin Tianjian in the Ming Dynasty was Liu Bowen, and in the Qing Dynasty, the Qin Tianjian supervisor was mostly served by foreigners, such as John Tang and Nan Huairen.