Pacing the Void: T'ang Approaches to the Stars

by Edward H. Schaefer

In the author's own words, this work attempts to recreate, for the 20th-century reader, the sky and the apparitions that ornament it as they were conceived, imagined, and reacted to by the men of T'ang-dynasty China-that is, to suggest what the medieval Chinese . . . thought they saw in the night sky, and how they treated those magic lights in their active lives, their private commitments, and their literary fabrications. Inevitably, this enterprise meant the exploration of the borderlands where science, faith, tradition, invention, and fantasy overlap. Armed with the new awareness that this fascinating work provides, we can better understand the great legacy of art and literature of this greatest period of cultural flowering in Chinese history.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edward Schafer work is some of the most interesting studies of Chinese poetry in the Tang and this volume analyzes the role of astronomy: the stars, sun, moon, and planets in Chinese poetry, particularly of the Tang.

He seems like a polymath, making references to Islamic and Western astronomy. So this book is a bit heavy reading. It is also very heavy with Taoism, which can be very interesting.

Schafer's work can be very interesting for those with a scientific and proto scientific interest.