ne days
late. Twelve months are recognised; the first is called Tzu, the
second Chou, and the third Yin, and the rest respectively Mao, Chen,
Su, Wu, Wei, Shen, Yu, Hsu, Hai. But the calendar year, on the other
hand, begins just when the Emperor chooses to say it shall. He is like
the captain of a ship, who says of the hour, "Make it so," and it is
so. With great ceremony he issues a calendar ten months in advance,
fixing as he pleases all the important festive and lucky days of the
year. Various emperors have made New Year's Day in the fourth, third,
second, first, or twelfth month. It has now been fixed for many
centuries in the second astronomical month. I have mentioned above
that the ancient Greeks reckoned the New Year as beginning about the
end of September. But the reckoning differed in the different States,
and so did the names of the months. Although the Greek astronomers
determined the real solar year with remarkable accuracy, and proposed
very clever modes of correcting the calendar so as to use the lunar
months in reckoning, there was no general system adopted, no agreement
among the "home-ruling" States.

I have stated above that the official Chinese astronomers sometimes
get their heads cut off for not correctly foretelling an eclipse.
Illustrating this there is the following story of a visit paid about
forty years ago to the Observatory in Greenwich Park by the Shah of
Persia of that date. The Persians have many close links with the
Chinese, and share their view of astronomy as a sort of State
function, in which the Emperor has special authority. The Shah
accordingly made a great point of visiting the British State
observatory, in company with King Edward, who was then Prince of
Wales. Sir George Airy was the Astronomer Royal, and showed the party
over the building and gave them peeps through telescopes. "Now show me
an eclipse of the sun," said the Shah, speaking in French. Sir George
pretended not to hear, and led the way to another instrument. "Dog of
an astronomer," said the Shah, "produce me an eclipse!" Sir George
politely said he had not got one and could not oblige the King of
Kings. "Ho, ho!" said the Shah, turning in great indignation to the
Prince of Wales. "You hear! cut his head off!" Sir George's life was,
as a matter of fact, spared, but in the course of a year he retired,
and was succeeded by another Astronomer Royal. On his appointment that
gentleman was astonished at receiving a letter