Many of the earliest-known human records of eclipses come from ancient China. Credit: NASA/Gopalswamy
One of the earliest recorded eclipses is found in the Shijing, a collection of ancient poetry whose compilation is credited to Confucius. The eclipse in question occurred during the Zhou dynasty. Though the exact date is uncertain, some astronomers have pointed to the total eclipse of June 4, 781 B.C.E. (though this would have only been a partial eclipse in Zhou territory). Another candidate is the eclipse of Nov. 30, 735 B.C.E., which was annular in the Western Zhou capital of Hao, near modern-day Xi’an.
Michael E. Bakich is a contributing editor for Astronomy magazine. With degrees in astronomy and planetarium education, he has led many eclipse tours, published several books on observing, and logged thousands of hours at the eyepiece.
