Prof. Amri Wandel
Chinese astronomy is one of the two most ancient mappings of the sky (the other being Mesopotamian), and certainly the most long-lasting. The earliest recorded eclipse of the sun was noted in China, in 2136 BC. Chinese astronomical observations are uninterrupted for the last three millennia. The Chinese calendar is nearly four thousand years old, and like the Hebrew calendar it is a combination of lunar and solar calendars, based on precise astronomical observations. Chinese astronomers did not register just regular phenomena, but also rare events such as comets and super-novae, one of which was the famous supernova in the Crab Nebula in 1054, which was not mentioned in European sources.
Whilst in the dark ages the development of European astronomy was halted by the church, it blossomed in China, and later on in Korea and Japan. In the current age of space exploration, China and Japan play an important role. In 2003, China became the third state to send humans into space, with the Shen Zu spacecraft series. Its ambitious space programme aims to build a space station and explore the moon, amongst other things. Japan ran two of the most successful X-ray satellite telescopes in the 1990s - Ginga and ASCA. Japanese astronomers discovered many comets, (including the famous Hyakutake comet). And finally, the link between Japan, Astronomy and Esperanto - "Night of the Galactic railway", a well known novel by the famous Japanese writer (who was also an Esperantist and an amateur astronomer) Kenji Miyazawa. Having a basis in astronomy, this collection of fables introduced astronomy to many Japanese youngsters and future astronomers. In its film version, the language of the fantasy world is Esperanto.