Lunar Eclipse Records in the Vietnamese

Historical Source Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư

Akira Okazaki
Gunma University,
Taguchi-machi 1355-4, Maebashi,
Gunma 371-0048, Japan.
E-mail: okazaki@gunma-u.ac.jp

Abstract: We present a list of 55 lunar eclipse records found in Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư (including its
sequel), which is one of the most important historical sources in Vietnam. We examined these records
by comparing with simulated calculation results. Our main results are as follows: (1) of these 55 lunar
eclipses, 44 were observable in Hanoi on the date described in the text, and two were penumbral, (2) of
six eclipses described as total or almost total, five were found to be actually total, (3) of 46 records which
were total, partial or penumbral in Hanoi, 36 were recorded in China, 24 in Korea and 37 in Japan. We
also discussed the beginning of a day in Vietnam within the period covered by these lunar eclipse
records. Our conclusion is that, as far as the period from mid-15th through mid-18th century is
concerned, the beginning of a day would be midnight until early 17th century and dawn afterwards in
Vietnam.

Keywords: Astronomical record, Vietnam, Lunar eclipse, The beginning of a day

1 INTRODUCTION

It is well known that many astronomical records are found in Chinese, Korean and Japanese historical
sources. Although less known, considerable number of astronomical records are also found in some
Vietnamese historical sources, including Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư (大越史記全書, Complete Annals of
Great Vietnam), which is the official historical text of the Later Lê dynasty compiled by royal historians
from 15th through 17th centuries. It covers a period from ancient times to AD1675. In addition, there is
another text entitled Đại Việt Sử Ký Tục Biên (大越史記續編, Sequel of Annals of Great Vietnam), which
covers a period from AD1676 to AD1789 (the end of the dynasty). This text, compiled by later royal
historians, is considered literally as the sequel of the above text. Hereafter, a combined text of the above
two will be referred to as “TT” and the former text alone as “TT without the sequel.”
Lunar eclipse records in Vietnamese historical sources were first listed up by Ho Peng-Yoke (1964), who
surveyed natural phenomenon records in TT without the sequel and found 34 lunar eclipse records. On
the other hand, Okazaki and Yokoo (1984) and Tanokura and Okazaki (2011) found no lunar eclipse
records in Việt Sử ư (越史略, Abridged Chronicles of Vietnam) and Đại Nam Thực Lục Tiền Biên (大
南寔錄前編, Early Volumes of Veritable Re ords of Đai Nam), respectively. They are another two
important Vietnamese historical sources, whose period coverages are included by that of TT.
In this study, being based on our recent studies (Tanokura and Okazaki, 2011; Okazaki, 2013) and also
our further investigations, we will present a list of lunar eclipse records found in TT, which were obtained
from our survey of the collated version of TT by Chen Chingho (1984-86). We will examine these
records with simulated calculations for lunar eclipses. We will discuss the reliability of these records, the
existence of Chinese, Korean and Japanese records of the eclipses described in TT and whether these
records are of observation or of prediction. Finally, we will discuss the beginning of a day in Vietnam
within the period covered by these lunar eclipse records.

2 LUNAR ECLIPSE RECORDS IN TT

2.1 LIST OF RECORDS

We found 55 lunar eclipse records in TT. 38 of them are those found in TT without the sequel, from
which Ho Peng-Yoke (1964) listed 34 lunar eclipse records. On the other hand, Tanokura and Okazaki
(2011) listed 52 records in TT, lacking three.
Table 1 lists all the lunar eclipse records in TT. The first column gives the sequential number of the
record. Original text of the individual record and its translation are presented in next subsection.
The second column yields the recorded date of eclipse converted from Vietnamese or Chinese calendar
into Julian/Gregorian calendar in yyyy.mm.dd format. The conversion was made according to Lê Thành
Lân’s (2007) table, in which, for the period before AD1544, Vietnamese calendar is simply assumed the

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same as Chinese one because no informative materials of Vietnamese calendar in those days have been
available. Converted dates in parentheses are those for the records which only say “望(vọng, full Moon
day)” about the eclipse date. In such a case, we cannot define a date exactly but roughly estimate it as
someday around 15th day of the lunar month. For convenience in later discussion, we tentatively
converted a date by assuming that “full Moon day” is simply 15th day of the month.
The third through the fifth column indicates the converted dates of the record of the same lunar eclipse if
they exist in Chinese, Korean or Japanese historical sources.
The sixth through the ninth column presents the results of simulated calculation of lunar eclipse. 6th:
calculated date in Hanoi in yyyy.mm.dd format, 7th: local true solar time and the Moon’s altitude in Hanoi
at the beginning of the eclipse, 8th: time and altitude at the greatest eclipse together with its magnitude
and, in the case of totality, the time duration of total eclipse in parentheses, 9th: time and altitude at the
end of the eclipse. Simulated calculations of these lunar eclipse were made using Lmap developed by
Takesako (http://www.kotenmon.com/star/lmap/index.html). Concerning the date and the time used in
this study, it is noted that date remains unchanged after midnight and time is expressed according to the
clock of more than 24 hour. Local true solar times presented in these columns are considered to have an
uncertainty of a few minutes due to some effects such as those of less precise coordinate of the
observation point and those related to the estimation of the Earth irregular rotation.
The tenth through the twelfth column lists the catalogue numbers of Oppolzer’s (1887) and Watanabe’s
(1979) canon of eclipses and Ho Peng-Yoke’s (1964) lunar eclipse list number, respectively.
Table 1 includes a few records which say “日食 (nhật thực, solar eclipse)” rather than “月食 (nguyệt thực,
lunar eclipse).” We regarded these records as those of lunar eclipse because their occurrence date is
someday around 15th day of the lunar month and also because the characters “日 (the Sun)” and “月 (the
Moon),” similar to one another, are occasionally confused in some historical sources.

2.2 REMARKS ON EACH RECORD

In this subsection, we provide original text and its translation of the individual lunar eclipse record listed in
Table 1. In addition, we make a few remarks on the individual record. In the translation, for stems and
branches specifying the day, Chinese name is also given in parentheses.

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(1) 政隆寶應七年，春三月望，月蝕 (13 April, 1169)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
7th year of the Chính Long Bảo Ứng reign period, spring, 3rd month, full Moon day, there was an
eclipse of the Moon.
According to the simulated calculation, this was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.60 at greatest. The
eclipse started after midnight. The eclipse was recorded in China, Korea and Japan as well. Chinese
record mentions that the eclipse occurred in “2nd month,” one month earlier than “3rd month.” Ho
Peng-Yoke (1964) remarked that the month in TT might have been “2nd month” and not “3rd month.”
But it should be remembered that, for records before AD1544, our date conversion was made using
Chinese calendar. Hoàng Xuân Hãn (1982) suggested that calendar procedures employed in
Vietnam and China would be different one from another before 14th and after mid-17th century. Thus
one-month discrepancy in this record may be explained by a possible different insertion of intercalary
month in the year between both countries’ luni-solar calendars, as found in records Nos.42 and 49.

(2) 興隆十四年，秋九月十五日，戌時，月触 (22 October, 1306)

14th year of the Hưng Long reign period, autumn, 9th month, 15th day of the month, there was an
eclipse of the Moon in the hour of tuất (xu, 19:00 – 21:00).
This was a total eclipse. The eclipse started at 19:03 and ended at 22:22. The totality started at
20:25 and ended at 21:00. Thus the eclipse time mentioned in TT is roughly consistent with the
simulated calculation results. The eclipse was also recorded in Korea and Japan. This eclipse is not
included in Tanokura and Okazaki’s (2011) list.

(3) 昌符十二年，冬十月望，月食既 (13 November, 1388)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
12th year of the Xương Phù reign period, winter, 10th month, full Moon day, there was a total eclipse
of the Moon.
This was actually a total eclipse. The eclipse ended before midnight. The totality lasted for 1h17m.
The eclipse was recorded in China and Korea, both of which mention that it occurred on “十月丙辰
(10th month, day bing-chen, or 14 November). The full Moon day of the month may be regarded as
“16th” rather than “15th,” if we take account of our understanding of a dating way for lunar eclipse in
those days which will be discussed in subsection 3.4.

(4) 紹平四年，三月…乙巳，月有食 (20 April, 1437)

4th year of the Thiệu Bình reign period, 3rd month… day ất-tỵ (yi-si), there was an eclipse of the
Moon.
Day ất-tỵ (yi-si) corresponds to 15th day of the month. This was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.15 at
greatest. The eclipse ended before midnight. The eclipse was also recorded in China, Korea and
Japanl. This eclipse is not included in Tanokura and Okazaki’s (2011) list.

(5) 紹平六年，秋七月望，月有食之 (24 August, 1439)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
6th year of the Xương Phù reign period, autumn, 7th month, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of
the Moon.
This was a total eclipse. The eclipse ended before midnight. The totality lasted for 1h20m. The
eclipse was also recorded in China, Korea and Japan.

(6) 大和元年，夏四月…望，月有食之 (12 June, 1443)* Assumed the day as 15th of 5th month. See below.
1st year of the Đại Hòa reign period, summer, 4th month… full Moon day, there was an eclipse of the
Moon.
This eclipse was total. The totality lasted for 1h47m. The eclipse ended before midnight. The eclipse
was recorded in China, Korea and Japan as well. In the collated version of TT by Chen Chingho
(1984-86), referred to by us, the above text appears in the passage: "夏四月，…，五日，地震，望月
有食之 (summer, 4th month, …, 5th day, there was an earthquake, full Moon day, there was an
eclipse of the Moon)." We find, however, that most of other versions of TT, including the one which
was referred to by Ho Peng-Yoke (1964), give the passage "夏四月，…，五月，地震，望月有食之
(summer, 4th month, …, 5th month, there was an earthquake, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of
the Moon)," using "五月 (5th month)" instead of "五日 (5th day)." Then, we adopted "5th month", as
shown in Table 1, according to most of other versions of TT.

(7) 大和二年，冬十月…，月食 (24 November, 1444)* Assumed the day, not given in TT, as 15th of the month.
2nd year of the Đại Hòa reign period, winter, 10th month…, there was an eclipse of the Moon.
This was a penumbral eclipse, which is hardly observable. The penumbral eclipse started after
midnight. The eclipse was not recorded in China, Korea or Japan.

(8) 大和六年，八月…，時亨妄奏是月十六日卯時月食，…月不見食 (13 September, 1448)

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 6th year of the Đại Hòa reign period, 8th month…, Thì Hanh (a royal astronomer) dedicated an
absurd prediction (to the King) that there would be an eclipse of the Moon in the hour of mẹo (mao,
29:00 – 31:00) on 16th day of the month, … The eclipse of the Moon was not seen.
This is a prediction record. According to TT, Thì Hanh was judged by the Imperial Court to have
made a serious mistake by dedicating such an absurd prediction, and he was dismissed. As a matter
of fact, however, a partial eclipse (magnitude 0.09 at greatest) occurred at low altitude (16° – 1°) in
Hanoi during 28:50 – 29:55, as predicted almost exactly by Thì Hanh. The eclipse was not recorded
in China, Korea or Japan. This eclipse was not included in Ho Peng-Yoke’s (1964) list or Tanokura
and Okazaki’s (2011), although the latter mention it in text.

(9) 光順六年，三月十六日，月食既 (11 April, 1465)

6th year of the Quang Thuận reign period, 3rd month, 16th day of the month, there was a total eclipse
of the Moon.
This eclipse was actually total. The eclipse ended before midnight. The totality lasted for 1h13m. The
eclipse has also recorded in China and Japan.

(10) 洪徳七年，春二月…十六日，月食既 (11 March, 1476)

7th year of the Hồng Đức reign period, spring, 2nd month…, 16th day of the month, there was a total
eclipse of the Moon.
This eclipse was actually total. Although the eclipse ran over midnight, the totality started after
midnight, lasting for 1h13m. The eclipse was recorded in China, Korea and Japan as well.

(11) 洪徳七年，八月十六日，夜五更初刻，月蝕全分 (3 September, 1476)

7th year of the Hồng Đức reign period, 8th month, 16th day of the month, there was an eclipse of a
full magnitude (a total eclipse) of the Moon at initial mark of the 5th watch of the night (approximately
27:10).
This is the only record which describes time in the five night watch system. “初刻 (initial mark)” is
somewhat unusual expression for the five night watch system. We assumed here that it would be
equivalent to “一点 (1st point)” which was widely used in the five night watch system in those days.
This eclipse was actually total. The eclipse started at 27:54 and the totality started at 28:59. The
Moon set at 29:54 before the totality ended. Thus the eclipse time mentioned in TT is a few hours
earlier than the simulated calculation results. The eclipse was also recorded in China and Korea.
This record is not included in Ho Peng-Yoke’s (1964) catalogue.

(12) 洪徳八年，十二月十五日，月食既 (18 January, 1478)

8th year of the Hồng Đức reign period, 12th month, 15th day of the month, there was a total eclipse of
the Moon.
This eclipse was not total. This was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.03 at greatest. The eclipse
started after midnight. The eclipse was recorded in China and Japan as well.

(13) 洪徳九年，十二月十六日，月有食之 (8 January, 1479)

9th year of the Hồng Đức reign period, 12th month, 16th day of the month, there was an eclipse of the
Moon.
In Hanoi, the Moon rose in the evening after the eclipse ended (after the last contact with the umbra)
and before the last contact with the penumbra. Thus, in Hanoi, this was a penumbral eclipse, which is
barely observable in general. The eclipse was also recorded in China and Japan, where the Moon
rose after the totality started.

(14) 洪徳十三年，九月十五日，戌時，月蝕 (26 October, 1482)

13th year of the Hồng Đức reign period, 9th month, 15th day of the month, there was an eclipse of the
Moon in the hour of tuất (xu, 19:00 – 21:00).
This was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.89 at greatest (at 23:58). The eclipse started at 22:20 and
ended at 25:37. Thus the time described in TT is a few hours earlier than the simulated calculation
results. The eclipse was recorded in China and Japan as well.

(15) 統元四年，夏六月…十五日，月食 (5 July, 1525)

4th year of the Thống Nguyên reign period, summer, 6th month…, 15th day of the month, there was
an eclipse of the Moon.
This was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.21 at greatest. The eclipse started after midnight. The
Moon set at 29:26 before the eclipse ended. The eclipse was recorded in Japan as well.

(16) 統元四年，十二月…十七日，月食 (30 December, 1525)

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 4th year of the Thống Nguyên reign period, 12th month…, 17th day of the month, there was an
eclipse of the Moon.
This was a total eclipse. The eclipse started after midnight. The totality lasted for 1h50m. The
eclipse was also recorded in Japan.

(17) 統元五年，三月十五日，月食 (26 April, 1526)

5th year of the Thống Nguyên reign period, 3rd month, 15th day of the month, there was an eclipse of
the Moon.
This record is doubtful because no lunar eclipse occurred anywhere on the Earth in the month
mentioned in TT

(18) 光興十年，八月壬申望夜，月食 (17 September, 1587)

10th year of the Quang Hưng reign period, 8th month, day nhâm-thân (ren-shen), full Moon day, there
was an eclipse of the Moon on the night.
Day nhâm-thân corresponds to 15th day of the month. This was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.76 at
greatest. The eclipse started after midnight. The eclipse was recorded in China as well.

(19) 光興十二年，七月十六日，丑時，月食在北方，過半復圓 (26 August, 1589)

12th year of the Quang Hưng reign period, 7th month…, 16th day of the month, there was an eclipse
of the Moon in the hour of sửu (chou, 25:00 – 27:00) in the north. The Moon, eclipsed more than half,
restored to fullness.
The Moon was eclipsed less than half (magnitude 0.24) at the greatest. The eclipse started at 24:46
and ended at 26:30. Thus the eclipse time mentioned in TT is consistent with the simulated
calculation results. The Moon was seen, in Hanoi, at a zenith distance of ~40° toward southwest.
The eclipse was also recorded in China and Japan.

(20) 光興十四年，五月望丙戌，月食巽方殆盡，一箇時復圓 (5 July, 1591)* Assumed the day as 15th of the month.
14th year of the Quang Hưng reign period, 5th month, full Moon day, day bính-tuất (bing-xu), there
was an almost exhausted eclipse (an almost total) of the Moon in the southeast. The Moon restored
to fullness after one double-hour.
Day bính-tuất corresponds to 22nd day of the month, which is inconsistent with a full Moon day
(around 15th day of the month). We consider that, in this case, the day given by stems and branches
would be incorrect. This eclipse was total. The eclipse started at 21:34 and ended at 25:12. The
totality started at 22:37 and ended at 24:13, lasting for 1h36m. The Moon was seen, in Hanoi, at a
zenith distance of ~45° toward southeast through south during the totality. Thus the simulated
calculation results show that, in Hanoi, the total lunar eclipse was seen in roughly same way as
described in TT, implying that our understanding of the date would be appropriate. The eclipse was
recorded in China and Japan as well.

(21) 光興十七年，三月望，月食，天大雨 (4 May, 1594)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
17th year of the Quang Hưng reign period, 3rd month, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of the
Moon. But it was very rainy.
This was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.68 at greatest. The eclipse ended before midnight. The
eclipse was recorded in China and Korea as well.

(22) 光興十九年，夏四月…望，月食 (11 May, 1596)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
19th year of the Quang Hưng reign period, summer, 4th month, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of
the Moon.
This record is doubtful because no lunar eclipse occurred anywhere on the Earth in the month
mentioned in TT. This record is not included in Ho Peng-Yoke’s (1964) catalogue.

(23) 光興二十二年，六月…十六日，酉時，月食 (6 August, 1599)

22nd year of the Quang Hưng reign period, 6th month…, 16th day of the month, there was an eclipse
of the Moon on the night in the hour of dậu (you, 17:00 – 19:00).
This eclipse was total. The Moon rose at 18:26 after the totality started. The totality ended at 19:14
and the eclipse ended at 20:18. Thus the eclipse time mentioned in TT is roughly consistent with the
simulated calculation results. The eclipse was also recorded in Korea and Japan. This record is not
included in Ho Peng-Yoke’s (1964) catalogue.

(24) 弘定三年，夏，四月…是月望，月有食 (4 June, 1602)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
3rd year of the Hoằng Định reign period, summer, 4th month…, full Moon day of the month, there was
an eclipse of the Moon.

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 This eclipse was total. The eclipse ran over midnight. The totality started after midnight and lasted
for 1h45m. The eclipse was recorded in China and Korea as well.

(25) 弘定十四年，五月望，月有食之 (2 July, 1613)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
14th year of the Hoằng Định reign period, 5th month…, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of the
Moon.
This record is doubtful because no lunar eclipse occurred anywhere on the Earth in the month
mentioned in TT. Ho Peng-Yoke (1964) remarked that “5th Moon” should probably read “3rd month”
in which a lunar eclipse occurred. One of the versions of TT, to which referred by Ho Peng-Yoke
(1964), uses the character “日 (the Sun)” instead of “月 (the Moon).” However, “the Sun” is obviously
inadequate here because the eclipse occurred on the full Moon day.

(26) 弘定十四年，秋七月望，月有食之 (30 August, 1613)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
14th year of the Hoằng Định reign period, autumn, 7th month, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of
the Moon.
This record is doubtful because no lunar eclipse occurred anywhere on the Earth in the month
mentioned in TT. Ho Peng-Yoke (1964) remarked that “7th Moon” should probably read “9th month”
in which a lunar eclipse occurred.

(27) 弘定十七年，春正月二十六日，月有食之 (3 March, 1616)

17th year of the Hoằng Định reign period, spring, 1st month, 26th day of the month, there was an
eclipse of the Moon.
“26th day of the month” is obviously inadequate to a day for a lunar eclipse. The contradiction can be
resolved if we assume that one character "二 (two)" has been added erroneously and that “26th day”
should be read “16th day.” Ho Peng-Yoke (1964) also remarked that “26th day” must be a misprint for
“16th day.” Then, we adopt “16th day” for this record. This was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.94 at
greatest. The eclipse ended before midnight. The eclipse was recorded in China and Japan as well

(28) 弘定十八年，春正月望，月有食之 (20 February, 1617)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
18th year of the Hoằng Định reign period, spring, 1st month, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of
the Moon.
This eclipse was total. The eclipse ended before midnight. The totality lasted for 1h32m. The eclipse
was also recorded in China and Japan.

(29) 弘定十八年，秋七月…十六日，月有食之 (16 August, 1617)

18th year of the Hoằng Định reign period, autumn, 7th month…, 16th day of the month, there was an
eclipse of the Moon.
This eclipse was total. The eclipse started after midnight. The totality lasted for 1h24m. The eclipse
was also recorded in China, Korea and Japan.

(30) 弘定十九年，春正月望，月有食之 (9 February, 1618)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
19th year of the Hoằng Định reign period, spring, 1st month, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of
the Moon.
This was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.18 at greatest. The eclipse ended before midnight. The
eclipse was recorded in China and Japan as well.

(31) 徳隆二年，冬十月…十七日壬戌，月有食之 (20 November, 1630)

2nd year of the Đức Long reign period, winter, 10th month, 17th day of the month, day nhâm-tuất
(ren-xu), there was an eclipse of the Moon.
This was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.71 at greatest. The eclipse started at 28:04. The Moon set
at 30:34 before the eclipse ended. The eclipse has been recorded in China and Japan as well.

(32) 徳隆三年，夏四月…十六日己未，月食，適風雨晦冥不見 (16 May, 1631)

3rd year of the Đức Long reign period, summer, 4th month, 16th day of the month, day kỷ-mùi (ji-wei),
there was an eclipse of the Moon. But it was windy, rainy and dark by chance. (The eclipse was) not
seen.
This eclipse was total. The eclipse started after midnight. The totality lasted for 1h41m. The eclipse
has been recorded also in China, Korea and Japan.

(33) 徳隆三年，十月…望，月有食之 (8 November, 1631)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
3rd year of the Đức Long reign period, 10th month…, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of the Moon.
This eclipse was total. The eclipse started at 28:11 and the totality started at 29:33. The Moon set at
30:27 before the totality ended. The eclipse was recorded in Japan as well.

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(34) 徳隆四年，三月十六日，酉時，月食 (4 May, 1632)
4th year of the Đức Long reign period, 3rd month, 16th day of the month, there was an eclipse of the
Moon in the hour of dậu (xu, 17:00 – 19:00).
This is a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.57 at greatest. The Moon rose at 18:23 after the eclipse
started. The eclipse ended at 20:36. Thus the eclipse time mentioned in TT is roughly consistent with
the simulated calculation results. The eclipse was also recorded in Japan.

(35) 徳隆四年，秋九月望，卯時，日食 (28 October, 1632)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
4th year of the Đức Long reign period, autumn, 9th month, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of the
Moon in the hour of mẹo (mao, 29:00 – 31:00).
The character “日 (the Sun)” in this text should be read “月 (the Moon),” because the eclipse occurred
on the full Moon day. This was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.41 at greatest. The eclipse started at
29:04. The Moon set at 30:21 before the eclipse ended. Thus the eclipse time mentioned in TT is
roughly consistent with the simulated calculation results. The eclipse was not recorded in China,
Korea or Japan.

(36) 徳隆六年，春二月望，月食 (14 March, 1634)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
6th year of the Đức Long reign period, spring, 2nd month, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of the
Moon.
This was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.87 at greatest. The eclipse started after midnight. The
eclipse was recorded in China, Korea and Japan as well.

(37) 景治四年，五月…甲午望，月有食之 (16 June, 1666)

4th year of the Cảnh Trị reign period, 5th month, day giáp-ngọ (jia-wu), full Moon day, there was an
eclipse of the Moon.
Day giáp-ngọ (jia-wu) corresponds to 14th day of the month. This was a partial eclipse of magnitude
0.18 at greatest. The eclipse started after midnight. The eclipse was also recorded in China and
Japan. According to Chen Chingho (1984-86), one of Vietnamese historical materials related to TT
uses the character “日 (the Sun)” instead of “月 (the Moon)” for this eclipse. “The Sun” is obviously
inadequate here because the eclipse occurred on the full Moon day. Ho Peng-Yoke (1964) gave the
converted date which is one day earlier than the correct date.

(38) 景治五年，冬十月丙戌望，月有食之 (30 November, 1667)

5th year of the Cảnh Trị reign period, winter, 10th month, day bính-tuất (bing-xu), full Moon day, there
was an eclipse of the Moon.
Day bính-tuất (bing-xu) corresponds to 15th day of the month. This eclipse was total. The eclipse
ended before midnight. The totality lasted for 1h45m. The eclipse was also recorded in Japan.

(39) 永盛三年，秋九月乙丑，月有食之 (11 October, 1707)

3rd year of the Vĩnh Thịnh reign period, autumn, 9th month, day ất-sửu (yi-chou), there was an
eclipse of the Moon.
Day ất-sửu (yi-chou) corresponds to 16th day of the month. This eclipse was total. The Moon rose at
17:50 after the totality started. The totality ended at 18:30 and the eclipse ended at 19:28. The
eclipse was recorded in China, Korea and Japan as well. According to Chen Chingho (1984-86), one
of Vietnamese historical materials related to TT uses the character “日 (the Sun)” instead of “月 (the
Moon)” for this eclipse. “The Sun” is obviously inadequate here because the eclipse occurred on the
full Moon day. The material also says “七月 (7th month),” in which there was no lunar eclipse, instead
of “九月 (9th month).”

(40) 永慶二年，六月…壬子，日食 (29 July, 1730)

2nd year of the Vĩnh Khánh reign period, 6th month, day nhâm-tý (ren-zi), there was an eclipse of the
Moon.
The character “日 (the Sun)” in this text should be read “月 (the Moon),” because day nhâm-tý (ren-zi)
corresponds to 15th day of the month, on which lunar eclipse occurred. In fact, according to Chen
Chingho (1984-86), one of Vietnamese historical materials related to TT uses “月 (the Moon)” for this
eclipse. This was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.31 at greatest. The eclipse ended before midnight.
The eclipse was also recorded in China and Japan.

(41) 永慶三年，十一月甲戌望，月食 (13 December, 1731)

3rd year of the Vĩnh Khánh reign period, 11th month, day giáp-tuất (jia-xu), full Moon day, there was
an eclipse of the Moon.

8
 Day giáp-tuất (jia-xu) corresponds to 15th day of the month. This was a partial eclipse of magnitude
0.41 at greatest. The eclipse ended before midnight. The eclipse was recorded in China and Japan
as well. According to Chen Chingho (1984-86), one of Vietnamese historical materials related to TT
uses the character “日 (the Sun)” instead of “月 (the Moon)” for this eclipse. “The Sun” is obviously
inadequate here because the eclipse occurred on the full Moon day.

(42) 永慶四年，閏四月望，月食 (7 June, 1732)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
4th year of the Vĩnh Khánh reign period, intercalary 4th month, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of
the Moon.
This eclipse was total. The eclipse ended before midnight. The totality lasted for 1h35m. The eclipse
has was recorded in China, Korea and Japan as well. In Chinese calendar, the month was named
“5th month” because of a different insertion of intercalary month in the year from Vietnamese one.
According to Chen Chingho (1984-86), one of Vietnamese historical materials related to TT uses the
character “日 (the Sun)” instead of “月 (the Moon)” for this eclipse. “The Sun” is obviously inadequate
here because the eclipse occurred on the full Moon day.

(43) 永慶四年，秋八月望，月食 (3 October, 1732)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month
4th year of the Vĩnh Khánh reign period, autumn, 8th month, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of
the Moon.
This record is doubtful because no lunar eclipse occurred anywhere on the Earth in the month
mentioned in the text. According to Chen Chingho (1984-86), one of Vietnamese historical materials
related to TT uses the character “日 (the Sun)” instead of “月 (the Moon)” for this eclipse. “The Sun” is
obviously inadequate here because a solar eclipse never occur on the full Moon day. The material
also says “七月 (7th month),” in which there was no lunar eclipse either, instead of “八月 (8th month).”

(44) 龍徳元年，冬十月戊辰望，月食 (1 December, 1732)

1st year of the Long Đức reign period, winter, 10th month, day mậu-thìn (wu-chen), full Moon day,
there was an eclipse of the Moon.
Day mậu-thìn (wu-chen) corresponds to 14th day of the month. This eclipse was total. The eclipse
started at 27:04. The totality started at 28:02 and lasted for 1h40m. The eclipse ended at 30:39
around moonset. The eclipse was also recorded in China, Korea and Japan. According to Chen
Chingho (1984-86), one of Vietnamese historical materials related to TT uses the word “朔 (sóc, new
Moon day)” instead of ”望 (full Moon day)” for this eclipse. “New Moon day” is, however, inconsistent
with 14th day of the month. It may be noted that, In the year of this record, Vietnamese era name
was changed in late 8th month from “永慶四年 (4th year of the Vĩnh Khánh reign period)” to “龍徳元年
(1st year of the Long Đức reign period).” Thus, this record and record No.43 are of the same year.

(45) 永祐三年，春二月甲戌，月食 (16 March, 1737)

3rd year of the Vĩnh Hựu reign period, spring, 2nd month, day giáp-tuất (jia-xu), there was an eclipse
of the Moon.
Day giáp-tuất (jia-xu) corresponds to 14th day of the month. This was a partial eclipse of magnitude
0.56 at greatest. The eclipse ran over midnight. The eclipse was recorded in China, Korea and
Japan as well. According to Chen Chingho (1984-86), one of Vietnamese historical materials related
to TT provides the record “…，春正月朔，日食 (…, spring, 1st month, new Moon day, there was an
eclipse of the Sun)” instead of the above record,

(46) 永祐四年，六月庚寅，月食 (25 July, 1738)

4th year of the Vĩnh Hựu reign period, 6th month, day canh-dần (geng-yin), there was an eclipse of
the Moon.
This record is doubtful because Day canh-dần (geng-yin) corresponds to 9th day of the month, on
which neither lunar nor solar eclipses should expected to occur. If we assume that the day canh-dần
(geng-yin) would be a misprint and also that it would be the full Moon day of the month, we find that,
in Hanoi, there was a penumbral eclipse of the Moon, which is barely observable in general. On the
other hand, according to Chen Chingho (1984-86), one of Vietnamese historical materials related to
TT uses the character “日 (the Sun)” instead of “月 (the Moon)” for this eclipse. If we assume that the
day would be the new Moon day of the month, we find that there was no solar eclipse anywhere on
the Earth.

(47) 景興十四年，春正月…望，月有食之 (17 February, 1753)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
14th year of the Cảnh Hưng reign period, spring, 1st month, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of
the Moon.
This record is doubtful because no lunar eclipse occurred anywhere on the Earth in the month
mentioned in TT.

9
(48) 景興二十三年，九月望，月食 (31 October, 1762)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
23rd year of the Cảnh Hưng reign period, 9th month, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of the Moon.
This was a partial eclipse of magnitude 0.60 at greatest. The eclipse started after midnight. The
eclipse was recorded in China, Korea and Japan as well.

(49) 景興二十六年，春正月壬辰望，月食 (7 March, 1765)

26th year of the Cảnh Hưng reign period, spring, 1st month, day nhâm-thìn (ren-chen), full Moon day,
there was an eclipse of the Moon.
Day nhâm-thìn (ren-chen) corresponds to 16th day of the month. This eclipse was total. The eclipse
ended before midnight. The totality lasted for 1h41m. The eclipse was also recorded in China and
Japan. In Chinese calendar, the month was named “2nd month” because of a different insertion of
intercalary month in the year from Vietnamese one.

(50) 景興二十七年，春正月丙戊，月食 (24 February, 1766)

27th year of the Cảnh Hưng reign period, spring, 1st month, day bính-tuất (bing-xu), there was an
eclipse of the Moon.
Day bính-tuất (bing-xu) corresponds to 16th day of the month. This was a partial eclipse of
magnitude 0.34 at greatest. The eclipse started after midnight. The eclipse was recorded in China,
Korea and Japan as well. According to Chen Chingho (1984-86), one of Vietnamese historical
materials related to TT uses the word “望 (full Moon day)” instead of “丙戊 (day bính-tuất)” for this
eclipse.

(51) 景興二十九年，十一月望，月食 (23 December, 1768)* Assumed the full Moon day as 15th of the month.
27th year of the Cảnh Hưng reign period, 11th month, full Moon day, there was an eclipse of the
Moon.
This eclipse was total. The eclipse ended before midnight. The totality lasted for 1h39m. The eclipse
was also recorded in China, Korea and Japan.

(52) 景興三十二年，九月癸丑，月食 (23 October, 1771).

32nd year of the Cảnh Hưng reign period, 9th month, day quý-sửu (gui-chou), there was an eclipse of
the Moon.
Day quý-sửu (gui-chou) corresponds to 14th day of the month. This was a partial eclipse of
magnitude 0.37 at greatest. The eclipse ran over midnight. The eclipse was recorded in China,
Korea and Japan as well. According to Chen Chingho (1984-86), one of Vietnamese historical
materials related to TT provides the record “…，秋九月朔，日有食之 (…, autumn, 9th month, new
Moon day, there was an eclipse of the Sun).” instead of the above record.

(53) 景興三十三年，二月庚辰，月食 (18 March, 1772)

33rd year of the Cảnh Hưng reign period, 2nd month, day canh-thìn (geng-chen), there was an
eclipse of the Moon.
Day canh-thìn (geng-chen), corresponds to 15th day of the month. This record is doubtful because
there was no lunar eclipse anywhere on the Earth in the month mentioned in TT. This record might
be considered as an erroneous duplicate of record No.54 in transcription process from older versions
because sentence expression in the two records is very similar one to another with only two character
(二/三 and 辰/戌) difference.

(54) 景興三十三年，三月庚戊，月食 (17 April, 1772)

33rd year of the Cảnh Hưng reign period, 3rd month, day canh-tuất (geng-xu), there was an eclipse of
the Moon.
Day canh-tuất (geng-xu) corresponds to 15th day of the month. This eclipse was total. The eclipse
ran over midnight. The totality, lasting for 1h39m, ended before midnight. The eclipse was also
recorded in China, Korea and Japan. For this record, Okazaki’s (2013) list gives the incorrect day “庚
辰 (canh-thìn),” which should be read “庚戊 (canh-tuất).”

(55) 景興三十三年，九月丁未，日食 (11 October, 1772)

33rd year of the Cảnh Hưng reign period, 9th month, day đinh-mùi (ding-wei), there was an eclipse of
the Sun.
The character “日 (the Sun)” in this text should be read “月 (the Moon)” because day đinh-mùi (ding-
wei) corresponds to 15th day of the month, on which lunar eclipse occurred. According to Chen
Chingho (1984-86), one of Vietnamese historical materials related to TT uses the word “望 (full Moon
day)” instead of “丁未 (day đinh-mùi)” for this eclipse. This eclipse was total. The totality ran over
midnight. The totality lasted for 1h44m. The eclipse was also recorded in China, Korea and Japan.

10
3 DISCUSSION

3.1 RELIABILITY OF RECORDS

By comparing with the simulated calculation results, we found that, of 55 lunar eclipse records mentioned
in the previous section, 44 eclipses were observable in Hanoi on the date given in TT or on the date
corrected under some reasonable assumptions. On the other hand, we found that eight records (Nos.17,
22, 25, 26, 43, 46, 47 and 53) are obviously doubtful because there were no eclipses in the month
described in TT. Of the remaining three eclipse records, two of them (Nos.7 and 13) correspond to a
penumbral eclipse, which is barely observable in general, while one record (No.1) shows one-month
discrepancy in eclipse date with that of the simulated calculation results. The latter may be explained by
a possible different insertion of intercalary month in the year between Vietnamese and Chinese
calendars, as found in records Nos.42 and 49. Therefore, at least 80% (44/55) of the records in TT are
reliable. It is noted that one of the doubtful records (No.46) could be of solar eclipse because one of
Vietnamese historical materials related to TT says “solar eclipse” and also because the date given in TT
is far from a full Moon day.
Now we consider eight records describing lunar eclipse time. Among them, six records (Nos.2, 8, 19, 23,
34 and 35) give the time which is roughly consistent with the simulated calculation results. Two records
(Nos.11 and 14) give the time a few hours earlier than the simulated calculation results. Hence, 75%
(6/8) of the records are found to describe consistent time for the eclipse.
Finally, we consider six lunar eclipse records which say that their eclipse is “既 (total),” “全分 (of full
magnitude)” or “殆蓋 (almost exhausted)”. Among them, five records (Nos.3, 9, 10, 11 and 20) are of
actually total eclipse according to the simulated calculation results while one record (No.12) is of partial
eclipse of small magnitude (0.03 at greatest). Thus 83% (5/6)of the records are of actually total eclipse.

3.2 CHINESE, KOREAN AND JAPANESE RECORDS

In order to find Chinese, Korean and Japanese records of the same lunar eclipses as recorded in TT, we
surveyed some catalogues, materials and websites; Zhongguo Gudai Tianxiang Jilu Zongji (中国古代天
象记录总集, Ancient Chinese Records of Celestial Phenomena: General Collection) by Zhuang Weifeng
and Wang Lixing (1988), Goryeosa Cheonmunji (高麗史・天文志, Treatise on Astronomy of the History
of the Goryeo Dynasty), websites for Joseon Wangjo Sillok (朝鮮王朝實錄, The Annals of the Joseon
Dynasty, http://sillok.history.go.kr/main/main.jsp) and for Seungjeongwon Ilgi (承政院日記, The Daily
Records of Royal Secretariat of Joseon Dynasty, http://sjw.history.go.kr/main/main.jsp) operated by
National Institute of Korean History, Nihon Tenmon Shiryo ( 日 本 天 文 史 料 , Historical Astronomical
Materials of Japan) by Kanda (1933) and Kinsei Nihon Tenmon Shiryo (近世日本天文史料, Historical
Astronomical Materials of Early-Modern Japan) by Osaki (1994). Our survey was made for 46 lunar
eclipses which were total, partial or penumbral in Hanoi. Our findings are as follows: (1) 18 eclipses
were recorded in all three countries (China, Korea and Japan): (2) four in both China and Korea: (3)
twelve in both China and Japan: (4) two in both Korea and Japan: (5) two in China only: (6) five in Japan
only: (7) three (Nos.7, 8 and 35) in none of the three countries. In other words, 78% (36/46) of the
eclipses recorded in TT are recorded in China as well, 52% (24/46) in Korea and 80% (37/46) in Japan.

3.3 OBSERVATION RECORDS OR PREDICTION ONES

Saito (1995) suggested, from his analyses of solar and lunar eclipse records in ancient East Asia such as
China and Japan, that considerable number of these eclipse records would be those predicted based on
calendar calculation rather than those actually observed. On the other hand, Zhang Pei-yu (1993)
examined Chinese lunar eclipse records with time and magnitude from 3rd through 17th century and
concluded that most of them would be reliable observation records.
Concerning the lunar eclipse records in TT, No.8 is taken from an episode of a royal astronomer who
was judged by the Imperial Court to have made a false lunar eclipse prediction. Another two records
(Nos.21 and 32) should be predictions because they describe the situation that the (expected) eclipse
was not seen due to bad weather. As mentioned in subsection 3.1, four eclipses (Nos.7, 11, 13 and 14)
were not seen in Hanoi in the same way as described in TT: Two of them were penumbral, and another
two have discrepancy in the eclipse time mentioned in the text. Such a certain degree of discrepancy in
the records of these eclipses may imply that they would be prediction records if the texts have been free
from any misprints. As for the other records, however, it is difficult to distinguish between observation
and prediction because they do not contain enough information to make such an assessment.

11
3.4 THE BEGINNING OF A DAY

3.4.1 DATE GIVEN IN LUNAR ECLIPSE RECORDS

Date given in the lunar eclipse records of TT will provide us some idea of the beginning of a day in
Vietnam in those days, if we adopt such an approach as employed by Zhang Pei-yu (1993) and Ahn and
Park (2004), who made use of historical lunar eclipse records in their studies. For this purpose, we
concentrate on the lunar eclipse records where date is specified by day number of the month or by stems
and branches.

Figure 1: Observable time of thirty lunar eclipses of the records with date specified by day number of the month or by stems and
branches. The eclipse time, represented by horizontal bars, is of the simulated calculation results. Narrow bars show partial
eclipse time and broad bars total eclipse one. Filled bars correspond to a record dated the same day as the evening while shaded
bars are the day following the evening. Time is expressed according to the clock of more than 24 hour. See subsection 3.4

12
Figure 1 illustrates the start and the end time, obtained by the simulated calculation, of such 30 lunar
eclipses. In the figure, the eclipse records dated the same day as the evening (hereafter, the same day)
are shown by filled horizontal bars while those dated the day following the evening (hereafter, the
following day) are indicated by shaded bars. As seen in the figure, all the eclipses which ended before
midnight are dated the same day. As for those eclipses which started after midnight, however, some of
them are dated the same day while the others are dated the following day.
Here, we focus on lunar eclipses before early 17th century (before No.37). We find that seven of the
nine lunar eclipses which started after midnight are dated the following day while two of them (Nos. 11
and 29) the same day. Of the latter two, No.11 describes its eclipse time with the five night watch system.
It is noted that, in this time keeping system, time was counted successively all through the night, so that
the system should be incompatible with a date change midway through the night. Thus No.11 should be
regarded as a particular case. On the other hand, we have no such reasonable explanation for the use
of the same day in record No.29. Then, we find that 88% (7/8) of these eclipses are dated the following
day, excluding No.11.
Before No.37, there are also three eclipses which started before midnight and ran over midnight, and one
of them is dated the following day. On the other hand, from early 17th century (from No.37), all eclipses
which started after midnight (three) and which ran over midnight (four) are dated the same day.
We have to keep in mind two things here. Firstly, for the period before AD1544, one-day discrepancy in
the converted date could arise due to possible differences in arranging 29-day and 30-day months in a
year between unknown Vietnamese and Chinese calendars employed in this study. But the probability of
such a case is considered to be very low because there is no such a case in 20 lunar eclipse records
with specified date from AD 1544 (from No.18). Secondarily, our discussion about the beginning of a day
is based substantially on the records of the lunar eclipses which started after midnight. This means that
we are dealing with the period from mid-15th century (No.8) through mid-18th century (No.50), as seen in
Figure 1.
In conclusion, we suggest that the beginning of a day would be midnight until early 17th century and
dawn afterwards in Vietnam as far as the period from mid-15th through mid-18th century is concerned.

3.4.2 COMPARISON WITH CHINA, KOREA AND JAPAN

Now we compare the beginning of a day in Vietnam with those in China, Korea and Japan in those days.
In China, the beginning of a day was dawn according to Kiang (1980) and Zhang Pei-yu (1993), who
analyzed historical records of occultation and lunar eclipse, respectively, from ancient times through mid-
17th century (the end of Ming dynasty). In Korea, the beginning of a day would be dawn as well according
to Saito (1980a) and Ahn and Park (2004). They examined historical records of occultation and lunar
eclipse, respectively, from early 3rd through mid-18th century. On the other hand, in Japan, the beginning
of a day would be 27:00 or 3:00 AM according to Saito (1980b), who investigated historical occultation
records from mid-7th through late 16th century.
Thus, the beginning of a day in Vietnam would be different from that in China, Korea or Japan as far as
the period from mid-15th through early 17th century is concerned.

4 SUMMARY

This paper describes the results of our study on lunar eclipse records found in the Vietnamese historical
source Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư and its sequel.
We listed up these 55 records in Table 1 and remarked on each of them. We examined these records by
comparing with simulated calculation results and our findings are as follows:
(1) Of 55 lunar eclipses found in TT, 44 were observable in Hanoi on the date described in the text or on
the date corrected under some reasonable assumptions, eight were doubtful, two were penumbral. The
remaining one shows one-month discrepancy with the simulated calculation result in its recorded date,
which may be explained by a possible difference between Vietnamese and Chinese calendars.
Therefore, at least 80% (44/55) of the records found in Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư and its sequel are
reliable.
(2) Of eight records describing lunar eclipse time, six give the time which is roughly consistent with the
simulated calculation results. Two records give the time a few hours earlier than the simulated
calculation results. Hence, 75% (6/8) of the records are found to describe consistent time for the eclipse.
(3) Of six records which say that their eclipse is “既 (total),” “全分 (of full magnitude)” or “殆蓋 (almost
exhausted),” five were actually total while one was partial with small magnitude. Thus 83% (5/6) of these
records are of actually total eclipse.
(4) Of 46 lunar eclipses which were total, partial or penumbral in Hanoi, 78% (36/46) are recorded in
China as well, 52% (24/46) in Korea and 80% (37/46) in Japan. Three eclipses were recorded in none of

13
these three countries.
(5) Three records in TT are considered to be prediction ones. Another four are implied to be prediction
ones as well. As for the other records, it is difficult to distinguish between observation and prediction
because they do not contain enough information to make such an assessment.
(6) From our examination of 30 lunar eclipse records with specified date, we suggest that the beginning
of a day would be midnight until early 17th century and dawn afterwards in Vietnam as far as the period
from mid-15th through mid-18th century is concerned.

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