The legend said the astronomical observatories were already in the ancient China in the Xia Dynasty. The astronomical observatories at that time were called Qingtai. And they were called Shentai in Shang Dynasty and Lingtai in Zhou Dynasty. From thousands years ago, the emperors considered themselves as the son of the Heaven and were bestowed to rule the world since the emperors thought only they could know the will of the Heaven. Thus, the city where the emperors lived in was qualified to build the astronomical observatories.

Many foreign students who went China and continued to learn Chinese in Yunnan might know that the ancient astronomical observatories in early years were used as the places for sacrifice ceremonies instead of observing the astronomical phenomena. Through years, the astronomical observatories gradually were used as the places for astronomical observation while the sacrifice ceremonies were held in the temples and fanes. Currently there were four top ancient astronomical observatories in China.

The first astronomical observatory was the Dengfeng Shadows Measuring Platform in Henan. It was one of the ancient astronomical observatories in China and was located in Dengfeng County in Henan province. It was designed by the astronomer Guo Jingshou in 1279 in Yuan Dynasty. The spot was rebuilt in Ming Dynasty and was preserved by now. The spot was used to measure the length of the shadow of the sun on which the seasons of a year was divided.

The second was the Lingtai in Luoyang. It was constructed in Eastern Han Dynasty and was located in the south in the ancient Luoyang city. Many Chinese learning students might hear of Zhang Heng when they had the chance to study Mandarin in Yunnan. Zhang Heng was a great scientist in Eastern Han Dynasty and shouldered the responsibility of astronomical research and observation work. The observatory in Luoyang had been in use for more than 250 years and had made great contribution to the development astronomical observation.

The third was the Beijing ancient astronomical observatory. It was designed and built by Guo Jingshou in Yuan Dynasty. The spot was rebuilt in Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was regarded as the most perfect astronomical observatory in the world at that time. It created the record in the world that it kept observing for 500 years constantly from year 1436 to year 1929. It reflected the development of the ancient astronomical observation.

The fourth was the Nanjing Jimingshan astronomical observatory. It was built in the Ming Dynasty. The devices and equipment on the observatory were complete and perfect. There were people on duty day and night. From year 1668, it was removed to Beijing.