I gave a talk in Japanese yesterday. I'd like to highlight an interesting point. There were multiple "nakṣatras" in Japan. The horoscope of 1113 displays the twenty-eight Chinese lunar stations, which generally are equated to Indian nakṣatras, but they are different. 1/5 The Chinese lunar stations (right), which were also used in Japan, are of uneven dimensions and were originally divisions of the celestial equator, although a system of ecliptic-based stations emerged around 721-727. They divide 365.25 degrees, rather than 360 degrees. 2/5

In 719, the Yabghu of Tukhāra sent the Chinese court a senior Manichean priest (a mōzak) who was "knowledgeable about astronomy." 獻解天文人大慕闍. Around the same time, the Gautamas at court were translating Indian astronomy into Chinese, such as the *Navagraha-karaṇa 九執曆. Navagraha-karaṇa gives a tabulated latitude value of 35° (Chang’an is at 34°16). Latitude is 隨方眼法 (“method according to the location of the observer”), which is a semantic translation of the Sanskrit sva-deśa-akṣa. This is first instance of the concept of latitude in China.