Litilüe 曆體略

Litilüe 曆體略 is a book on calendric calculations written during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Wang Yingming 王英明, courtesy name Zihui 子晦, from Kaizhou 開州 (today's Kaixian 開縣, Chongqing). Of his life, nothing is known apart from that he owned the juren degree.

The book is divided into 3 juan. It discusses the celestial bodies and their relation to terrestrial topography, the Three Luminaries (sanyao 三曜, i.e., sun, moon, and stars), the Five Planets (wuwei 五緯), the Lunar Mansions (chenci 辰次), the Extreme Limits of Timekeeping (kelou jidu< 刻漏極度) and water clocks, the "Polar Palace" (jigong 極宮), astronomical configurations (xiangwei 象位), the Milky Way (tianhan 天漢), celestial bodies and measurements (tianti didu 天體地度), differences in degree and distance (duli zhi cha 度里之差), planetary latitudes (weiyao 緯曜), ecliptic and lunar mansions (jingxiu 經宿), ecliptic zodiac boundaries (huangdai gongjie 黃道宮界), equatorial latitude encounters (chidao weichan 赤道緯纏), seasonal timekeeping and water clocks (qihou kelou 氣候刻漏).

The first two juan introduce traditional Chinese astronomical knowledge, demonstrating that the theory of a spherical Earth existed in ancient China. These fascicles discuss concepts such as the Earth and latitude and longitude, while also criticising the theory of a flat, square Earth and astrology. The third juan introduces Western astronomical knowledge and includes a section on solar and lunar eclipses, explaining the movements and interactions of the Sun, Moon, and the Five Planets. These parts are copied from the books Hungai tongxian tushuo 渾蓋通憲圖說 and Tianwenlüe 天問略.

The book was first printed in 1612, then in 1638, and reprinted in 1646 by the author's son Wang Yang 王懩, who also added five maps of the starry sky at the beginning of the book. It is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書.