The Record of Artificers and The Astronomy

The Artificers’Record

The Artificers’Record is the first important book recording the official handicraft industry and technical standards in ancient China.It is a detailed record of the major handicraft industry in the last part of the Spring and Autumn Period.This oldest known writing that discusses Chinese traditional crafts and artisans includes a passage on artifact restoration.

With more than 7，100 characters，it records 30 types of work in six categories，namely carpentry，metalwork，leather，dyeing，scraping and pottery，reflecting the technology andcraftsmanship of that time in China.The book also sums up knowledge and experience of mathematics，geography，mechanics，acoustics，architectonics and so on.

Astronomy

In the field of astronomy，the Chinese were one of the earliest peoples to keep systematic records of their observations of the heavens.Records of constellations go back over forty centuries.The Chinese observed sunspots，eclipses，novae，supernovae，comets and meteorites，and they called the latter four”guest stars”. They also observed rare events such as the splitting of comets and meteor showers. The earliest account of the latter exists in Zuo’s Commentary on Spring and Autumn Annals，which took place in 687 BC.The Chinese were also one of the earliest people to make star maps: Gan De of the Qi State and Shi Shen of the Wei State in the 4th century BC，respectively catalogued their observations of the heavens，either of which consists of eight volumes.Later，people combined their books into The Gan and Shi Book of the Stars，which is the earliest astronomical work in the world.

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