The Ancient Beijing Observatory was built in the 15^th century on the east side of Beijing and is one of the oldest astronomical observatories in the world.

Despite the drastic measures to combat pollution, Beijing's night sky offers few opportunities to admire the constellations. Yet China was at the forefront of the astronomical field. For proof, look no further than the Ancient Observatory located on the east side of the capital and said to be one of the oldest in the world.

The Ming Court built the Ancient Observatory in 1442 so that scientists could examine the stars more closely. Standing at 40 meters tall, it was one of the tallest buildings at the time. Its surprising two-level architecture in purely traditional Chinese style is enclosed by gray brick walls.  

Bronze study instruments, some taller than a man, are the site's main attraction and are arranged on the Ancient Observatory's terrace. The earth, the stars and the galaxies are all present. Although these are reproductions, they are impressive. You can find the originals in Nanjing, one of China's ancient capitals. 

In the 17^th and 18^th centuries, Jesuit missionaries brought copper and brass instruments such as the armillary sphere, which is used to measure the exact coordinates of the stars. There is also a theodolite that locates the stars on the celestial sphere using their azimuth and their elevation. There are more treasures to go through like the sextant, the quadrant and the inescapable celestial globe that shows the exact position of the stars at any time of day.

A historical interest

The ground floor consists of two main wings that extend over less than fifty square meters. The first houses sundials and lunar stones. The Chinese attached a lot of importance to the measurement of time for scientific purposes but more importantly for agricultural purposes. They could plan the best periods for planting and harvesting.

The Chinese had already established that a year was 366 days long by 2000 BC. This is one of the many things you can learn in the museum which occupies the second wing. The exhibition presents the evolution of astronomy in China. You can also see the relationship between the Eastern and Western scientists and the latters' contributions to the development of the science in China.

If the visit of the Ancient Observatory presents an undeniable historical interest, there is not much to see as you will need less than an hour to go around. Another drawback: the explanations about the study instruments remain too short and there are no demonstration of their use. In addition, English is still shunned even though some captions are good. Consequently, large parts of an already small exhibition will be completely beyond the understanding of those unfamiliar with Chinese.

No documentation is available. And those who would have wanted to fall back on the souvenir shop, located next to the museum will be disappointed. It was closed during our visit and nobody has been able to tell us when it would reopen...

Practical Information:
Ancient Beijing Observatory (古观象台): Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9AM to 4PM.  2 Dongbiaobei Hutong (southwest of the bridge rainbow of Jianguomen). 东城区建国门东裱褙胡同2号. Tel: 65.24.22.02. Admission: 10 RMB (5RMB for students).

Text: Edouard Beauchemin
Photos: Wang Zhuo
March 2008