First built in 1442 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Ancient Beijing Observatory is located off the Chang'an (Everlasting Peace) Avenue near the Beijing Railway Station. Renovated in the early 1980s and reopened to the public in April 1983, it is one of the oldest observatories in the world.
After successfully overthrowing the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) in 1227, the Jin rulers moved the astronomical instruments in the capital at Bianliang (today's Kaifeng, central China’s Henan Province) to Beijing (then called Zhongdu, meaning Central Capital) and installed it in the Jin Chief Astronomer's Observatory. In 1279, when the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) defeated the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), it established its capital in Beijing and built a new observatory just north of the site of the present-day structure. The instruments of the observatory were designed by Wang Xun and Guo Shoujing and built by Nepalese craftsman Arniko. For the last 500 years, they served virtually unchanged as the basis of astronomical work.
In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Ming Emperor, moved the capital to Nanjing, and brought these astronomical instruments with him. In 1403, the third Emperor of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Di took power. And he moved the capital back to Beijing later in 1420. He did not dare to move these instruments because the tomb of the first Ming Emperor was in Nanjing. Instead he sent some artisans to the city in 1437 to make wooden copies of the Song armillary sphere and the Yuan guibiao (a type of sundial) and abridged armilla (a simplified form of the armillary sphere). A new set of bronze instruments was then cast in Beijing modeled after these wooden copies.
At the same time, a new observatory was constructed on the site of the water tower to the southeast of the old capital. It was during that period that the Ancient Beijing Observatory took on its present scale and layout and was equipped with such traditional instruments as the armillary sphere, the abridged armilla , and the celestial globe on the observatory platform, as well as the guibiao and the water clock below the platform.
During the period from 1662 to 1722, Ferdinand Verbient, a Belgian missionary, was put in charge of introducing European astronomical measurements and instrumentation in the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. Between 1669 and 1673, he supervised the construction of a celestial globe, an equatorial theodolite, a zodiac theodolite, an altazimuth, a quadrant, and an ancient sextant. Later another altazimuth and an armilla were built in 1715 and 1744 respectively.
In 1900, when the Allied Forces of Eight Powers invaded Beijing, everything was looted at the observatory. The French troops shipped the equatorial armilla, the ecliptic armilla, the azimuth theodolite, the quadrant and the abridged armilla to the French Embassy to China in Beijing. Two years later in 1902, under the pressure of public opinion, these astronomical instruments were returned to China. The Ming made armillary sphere, and Qing made armillary sphere, and Qing made celestial globe, armilla, azimuth theodolite, and the sextant were taken away by the Germans to Beriin. It was not until 1921 that these instruments were sent back to Beijing after World War I in compliance with the Versailles Peace Treaty.
Nowadays, if you climb it from right to left on the platform of the Ancient Beijing Observatory, you will see many astronomical instruments, such as an armilla, a quadrant, a celestial globe, an ecliptic armilla, an altazimuth, an azimuth theodolite, a sextant and an equatorial armilla. The brick terraced observatory is consisted by a 17-metre high platform. The top of the platform is 23.9 meters from west to east and 20.4 meters form south to north.
Travel Tip
How to Get to Beijing Ancient Observatory
Chinese name: 北京古观象台 (Beijing Ancient Observatory)
Tel: 010-65242202
Entrance fee: CNY20
Opening time: 9:00-17:00(stop selling tickets at 16:30) Close at every Monday
Add: No.2, Dong Biaobei Hutong,southwest of Jianguomen overpass, Dongcheng District, Beijing
By Bus: Take No.1, 4, 9, 10, 20, 29, 37, 39, 52, 120, 122, 403, 420, 728, 729, 802 or No.938 to the Beijingzhandong or Beijingzhankoudong
By Subway: Take Line 1 or Line 2 to Jianguomen then choose the Exit C