688 
ality of these observations. It is truly 
astonishing also, that at so distant an 
epoch, such precise determinations, 
‘ which precede, by 400 years, the three 
Chaldean eclipses observed at Babylon, 
and. mentioned in the Algamesta of 
Ptolemy could be made. 
After these prelimmary considera- 
tions, we may decide on the credit to 
be given to the opinion of a cele- 
brated mémber of the Academy of 
Inscriptions, who pretended that the 
Chinese had acquired the principal part 
of their astronomical knowledge from 
Chaidea, and that the observations 
made in China, 720 years before the 
Christian epoch, were likely to be fic- 
titious, being borrowed from the Ba- 
bylonians, at a period which corres- 
ponds with the epoch of Nabonassar.* 
The proofs, however, which have 
_ been already offered relative to the ob- 
servations of Tcheon-Koung, are so 
much the more strong as they cannot 
apply to any other country than that 
where they were made. It is possible 
to transmit from one kingdom to ano- 
ther, the recollection of an eclipse, but 
it is impossible to transport thither the 
observations made by a gnomon only 
proper for a certain determined lati- 
tude. 
Te is not. until {000 years after 
Tcheon-K oung,and only 50 before the 
Christian wra, that we find other ob- 
servations made with snfficient exact- 
ness to be calculated. These also have 
been examined by M. Laplace.+ The 
obliquity of the ecliptic resulting from 
it, is equally conformable to the theo- 
ry: if only differs two mimutes from 
ihe real one. These are the last no- 
tices of this kind anterior to the Chris- 
tian zra; posterior to it, there were a 
great number, among which the chief 
are those of that excellent astronomer 
Cocheon-Kisg, who lived in ihe 49th 
century. The obseryations alluded to, 
were made with a gnomon of 40 feet, 
and with all imaginable precautions, 
aud they are mere exact than those of 
Hipparchus, or even Tycho-Brahe. 
They are indeed the best in existence be- 
fore the introduction of glasses, and 
even the bes: that can be made without 
the aid of tbiyiuvention: accdrdingly, 
*Mem.de M- De Guicngs; “Aead. des 
fnscrip. +073. 36. p- 172. 
4 iy . ° ° 
t in a Waucscipt memoir which its 
ilusivisus avihor. cor 
Bict, who wrote ilicae observations, 
oy Ra x 
4 
runicated to M, - 
Retrospect of French Literature--- History. 
M. Laplace has been at great pains to 
compare them with the present tables, 
which they confirm in the most satis- 
factory manner imaginable. These 
observations are posterior to the burn- 
ing of the Chinese books, and the re- © 
establishment of history. 
The calculations already mentioned, 
suppose the certainty of the Chinese 
chronology upto the epoch of Tcheon- 
Koung, who existed towards the- year 
1100 before our Christian era, a point 
of great consequence in itself, and 
which is confirmed by historical proofs ; 
nay, the greatest admirers of the Chi- © 
nese chronology have never contested 
it. What has produced so many con- 
troversies relative to the ancient ap- 
nals of China, and the state of that - 
empire from the earliest times, is the 
cruel persecution exereised in the year — 
213 before the epoch of Christianity, 
against both learned men and books, 
by the emperor Tsiu-Chi-Hoang. It 
was excited by the instigation of a 
minister who dreaded the study of his- 
tory, and the influence of literature. 
An order was issued throughout the 
whole empire, that within the space 
of 40 days, all the historical books 
should be transmitted, under the pe- 
nalty of death, to certain mandarins 
employed to receive them. From this - 
proscription were only excepted such 
as contained the history of the reigning 
family, and those that treated of as- 
trology, medicine, agriculture, and 
divination. This happily served as a 
pretext to preserve some ancient works, 
particularly the Yking, composed dur- 
ing the time of the first Chinese em- 
perors, and commented on by Confu- 
cius; but the greater number perished, 
for it proved the more difficult te con- 
cealthem, it being then customary to 
write on tablets of bamboo, so that 
the most trifling work occupied a con- 
siderable space. Rats 
The decrees of the emperor excited 
troubles, and produced the death of 
many men of letters. To this event, 
the Chinese attributed the loss of their 
early history, their astronomy, and 
other ancient monuments. After the 
death of Tsin-Chi-Hoang, his prede- 
cessors endeavoured to repair the evil 
which he had done. They accordingly 
searched for the ancient books with as 
much care as was formerly used in 
their proscription; they eyen collected 
thevery fragments. Itis also certain, 
according to P. Gaubil, that mee on 
_., the 
