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He Chengtian
Liu Song scholar-official whose revised calendar was adopted in 445 as the Yuanjia calendar and who argued against Buddhist retribution in his essay Penetrating Nature
On an observatory terrace at night, a large bronze armillary sphere stands on a stone base while two people stand with their backs turned facing the view; stars are joined into constellation lines overhead, and a sundial and tiered dripping water vessels stand at the right.
Also known as Donghai Tanren
He Chengtian came from Tan in Donghai; his father died when he was five, and his mother, an educated sister of the scholar Xu Guang, taught him as a child. He entered office as an adjutant under the Eastern Jin and served as magistrate of Liuyang and Qiantang and as an erudite of the Imperial Academy; under the Liu Song he became a court gentleman in the Department of State Affairs, compiled the dynastic history as assistant editorial director, and rose to vice-censor-in-chief. In 443 he presented a revised calendar, which after debate at court was put into use in 445 as the Yuanjia calendar. In an essay titled Penetrating Nature (Daxing lun) he disputed the Buddhist doctrine of karmic retribution in an exchange of letters with Yan Yanzhi. In 447 he was dismissed for leaking an imperial appointment before it was announced, and he died the same year aged seventy-eight. Zu Chongzhi's later Daming calendar was built by revising his system.
Life and times
Dates 370 CE–447 CE