A recent study has rekindled debate over the origins of the world’s earliest star chart by pinpointing an ancient Chinese manuscript as its precursor. The “Star Manual of Master Shi” is now dated to around 355 BCE, placing it over two centuries earlier than previously thought and solidifying its position as the oldest known star catalog.
Researchers employed a cutting-edge artificial intelligence technique called the Generalized Hough Transform to analyze digital images of the manuscript. This method allowed them to compare ancient star positions with modern-day coordinates, accounting for distortions caused by Earth’s axial precession and positional inaccuracies in ancient recordings.
Historians have long been puzzled by discrepancies in star positions within the Star Manual, which appeared to span centuries. However, the new study suggests that these inconsistencies were not errors of observation, but rather periodic updates. The catalog is believed to have originated in the 4th century BCE, with a comprehensive update made around CE 125, possibly during the reign of Zhang Heng.
Zhang Heng, a renowned Eastern Han astronomer and inventor of the armillary sphere, may have incorporated new data into the catalog, resulting in a composite manuscript representing two distinct eras: 4th-century BCE and 2nd-century CE. This layered history explains the temporal spread of star positions recorded in the chart.
The discovery has sparked both praise and criticism within the scholarly community. While the significance of the find is widely accepted, debates about dating persist. The Star Manual’s cultural impact cannot be overstated, as it confirms China’s foundational contribution to humanity’s quest for knowledge about the universe.
If confirmed, this ancient star chart predates its Greek and Babylonian counterparts both in form and layout, solidifying China’s position as a pioneer in astronomical research.
Source: https://archaeologymag.com/2025/05/chinese-star-chart-may-be-the-oldest-ever