Yoichi Isahaya

This article sheds light upon a “Chinese” calendar described in the Z?j-i ?lkh?n?. In previous studies, some characteristics of the calendar were ascribed to the “Uighurs” However, I will show that it was not originally associated with the Uighur. This “Chinese” calendar was brought to Iran by the Chinese Taoist Fu Mengchi who accompanied his ruler Hülegü. Fu Mengchi informed Nas?r al-D?n T?s? of the Chinese calendrical system, which T?s? described in his Z?j-i ?lkh?n?. Soon afterward, the calendar was included in the z?j of Muhy? al-D?n Maghrib?, because it was only used among the Mongol ruling class and their Buddhist servants, who were called Uighur. Muhy? al-D?n labeled the “Chinese” calendar the “Chinese-Uighur” calendar, and this title was repeated in subsequent z?jes. Therefore, modern scholars have regarded the calendar as a product of the Uighurs. However, the title “Uighur” attached to the calendar in later z?jes does not reflect the characteristics of the calendar, but rather the circumstances in which it was utilized.