Over 2300 BC, our ancestors built the most advanced observatory in the world at that time. In the historical records excluding Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there have been a large number of solar eclipses, nearly 1000 times.
The earliest record of solar eclipse in China is "Zhongkang solar eclipse", which is the earliest solar eclipse recorded in historical documents, that is, "Zhongkang is the only place in the world ... this is the" new moon in season and autumn "in the Book of Songs. This is also the earliest record of solar eclipse in the world so far. The solar eclipse occurred during the reign of Zhongkang in the Xia Dynasty in the 2nd/kloc-0th century BC. There is such a record about this eclipse.
It is said that in the era of Zhong Kang, the fourth king of Xia Dynasty, the national situation had just recovered from the turmoil of Taikang era, and some new atmosphere began to appear inside and outside the court. This year's golden autumn, sunny weather, farmers are harvesting the fruits of a year's labor in the field. At noon, people suddenly found that the sun's light, which was originally high above, seemed to be weakening a little bit, as if a dark monster was devouring the sun a little bit-this is our legendary "Tiangou eats the sun"! However, people at that time regarded this sudden astronomical phenomenon as a dangerous astronomical phenomenon. Panic, get together and beat gongs and drums. According to the experience at that time, it is said that this can scare away the tengu.
Although there is no word "solar eclipse" in this record, this story clearly describes the phenomenon of solar eclipse, which is recognized as a solar eclipse record.
In addition, due to the complexity of the later spread of The Book of Songs, some people think that today's Shangshu was forged by later generations. Therefore, its solar eclipse record is still controversial in astronomy, but it is generally considered to be the earliest solar eclipse record. In fact, there is also a solar eclipse in the Shang Dynasty in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. So many people think that the earliest reliable documents should be unearthed in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Therefore, it can only be said that "Zhongkang solar eclipse" is the earliest solar eclipse record in the world in the literature records excluding Oracle Bone Inscriptions.