Ma Yize


Ma Yize was a Muslim Hui Chinese
astronomer and astronomer of Arab origin who worked as the chief official of the astronomical observatory for the Song dynasty. According to Chinese sources, his origin lies in an area in Northeast Yemen, 60 kilometers South of Mecca and belonged to a family which descended from a certain companion of Prophet Muhammad.
In the early 10th century, the Chinese emperor of the Song dynasty encouraged the advancement of the study of astronomy and its related disciplines. In 961, the Emperor Taizu appointed Ma Yize as the chief official to take charge of the government observatory.
Ma Yize assisted Wang Chuna in compiling several important astrological works, including the Yingtianli. His job was to provide observation, and computation of the regularities in celestial phenomena, using the Islamic methods. His findings were used by Wang Chuna in the compilation of Yingtianli, which was completed in 963. The calculation, based on a 7-day week system similar to that in the Islamic calendar, was first adopted in this document, which was the most important occurrence in the Chinese history of calendrical methods.
Ma Yize might have consulted many works of Islamic mathematical astronomy into Chinese, including:
It is possible that Ma was influenced by Al-Battani and Al-Hamdani. Owing to Ma's contribution to the compilation of 'Yingtianli', Ma was made a hereditary noble and his sons later succeeded his position with the Imperial Observatory.