Ming Armillary Sphere

Timeline

1. 1630–1633Beijing · BeijingIn 1630 the Chongzhen Emperor ordered Xu Guangqi and others to open a bureau for calendar compilation, reviving and improving traditional armillary spheres and other observational instruments to correct accumulated errors in the Datong Calendar with measured data, marking the beginning of the Ming dynasty's last large-scale calendar reform.
2. c. 1633–1638Huitongguan, Beijing · BeijingXu Guangqi collaborated with Johann Adam Schall von Bell and others, retaining the traditional armillary sphere ring structure while introducing Western astronomical measurement concepts, improving scale precision and installation calibration methods for joint observation of eclipses and planetary positions.
3. c. 1638–1640Beijing · BeijingIn the late 1630s, armillary sphere observation data were incorporated into the compilation system of the Chongzhen Lishu, supporting eclipse calculations and solar-term determinations for the new calendar, witnessing the last systematic application of Ming astronomical instruments at the dynasty's end.