Shi Shen

Shi Shen (, fl. 4th century BC) was a Chinese astronomer and contemporary of Gan De born in the State of Wei, also known as the Master Shi Shen (Shi Shenfu).There were variant courtesy name given to him; in Hanshu 30 his name was listed as Shi Shenfu (石申夫), Shi Shenfu (石申甫) as in Jiu Tangshu 51, and Shi Shenfu (石申父) under a commentary in Hou Hanshu 100. Though he was simply known as Shi Shen under Shiji 27.

Observations

Shi is credited with positioning the 121 stars found in the preserved texts.The first dated record of sunspot came from Hanshu 27 which was observed on 10 May 28 BC. of sunspot observation, which is sometimes erroneously credited to Gan De. He assumed that these spots were eclipses that began at the center of the sun and spread outward. Although he was wrong, he recognised the spots for what they were – solar phenomena.

His works included the 8-volume Astronomy, the one-volume Celestial Map and the one-volume Star Catalogue of Shi.Suishu 34 listed three of his works together, the Tianwen (天文), Huntian Tu (浑天图) and Shishi Xingbu Jingzan (石氏星簿经赞)...
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