On 9 December 2011, SAW team member Agathe Keller co-organised together with Matthias Hayek a workshop
Using calendars and almanacs in Asia (India, China, Japan)
This workshop was related to two previous SPHERE seminars on the uses of calendars and almanacs in Asia, and addressed this topic from new perspectives. Three themes were especially important :
♦ First, the differentiation between almanacs and calendars: Are they always different texts under separate names? How are they used? If they are distinct, are they used jointly or not? How are they made? Are they made in relation to one another?
♦ Second, the articulation of astronomical computations and observations with magical and divinatory practices, including fate computations: How are they mutually integrated? Is this always the case?
♦ Third, the circulation of computational techniques for calendars and cosmological systems between India, China, and Japan: Can we trace a transmission of those systems in Asia, and how were they received ?
Specifics of each system were presented in its original context, in order to understand how calendars and almanacs were transmitted, adapted, and used in different contexts. Special attention was paid to how almanacs and calendars were used and perceived by non-experts.
Programme
9:30 – Matthias Hayek (CRCAO) and Agathe Keller (SPHERE, CNRS & Université Paris Diderot)
Introduction Outline
10:00 – Alain Arrault (EFEO)
Des traités hémérologiques aux almanachs en Chine
Reply by Marc Kalinowski (EPHE)
13:30 – Michio Yano (Kyoto Sangyo University)
Traditional Indian Calendar – living and changing Abstract
Reply by Agathe Keller
15h30 – Gerhard Leinss (University of Cambridge)
Calendars and almanacs in Japan (689 to 1884): formats, contents, users Abstract
Reply by Matthias Hayek