Could China See the Sun Go Dark on Good Friday?

31°46′44″N 35°13′32″E, the coordinates of Jerusalem. Let's keep 31°46′44″N as it is.

3 hours = 1/8 of the nychthemeron (of the 24 hours).

365° / 8 = 182° 30' / 4 = 91° 15' / 2 = 45° 37' 30"

So, at the end of the three hours darkness, the Sun was at 10° 23' 58" W.

180° - 10° = 170° E
169° 60' - 23' = 169° 37' E
169° 36' 60" - 58" = 169° 36' 02" E.

That's South of Sakhalin, basically, that the Sun was in nadir at the end of the Cross Death.

However, it's below horizon 90° to either side of that.

79° 36' 02" E is pretty close to Qangzê, which historically is in Tibet, not China.

However, let's recall the beginning, at 12 noon. Then the Sun was 45° 37' 30" further East.

045° 37' 30"
079° 36' 02"
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124° 73' 32" = 125° 13' 32"

When the Sun went dark, the Sun was setting at a place a bit East of China, and the Jerusalem latitude is a bit South of Western Korean Peninsula.

So, supposing the Sun went dark at one specific time, in relation to any place not under the horizon, in China, it would have been observed as going dark a bit before normal sunset, which would have been at / near 6 PM.

How far East was Luoyang?

34°37′11″N 112°27′14″E

125° 13' 32"
112° 27′ 14″
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012° 46' 18" (less than 15° = c. 1/24 of 365°)

So, grosso modo, in Luoyang, the time when Jesus was nailed to the Cross and the Sun went dark, 12:00 in Jerusalem, would have been 17:00 (or actually, less than an hour before sunset, later than astronomical 17:00).

More than 2 of the three hours would have been after sunset. What if Beijing had been the capital?

39°54′24″N 116°23′51″E

125° 13' 32"
116° 23′ 51″
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008° 49' 41" (little more than 15° / 2)

That is just 8~9° West of the "sunset" meridian for noon in Jerusalem. In Beijing, one would have seen it for a little more than 30 minutes, not for 3 hours.

I've contacted Prof. Emer. Christopher Cullen, an expert on Ancient Chinese astronomy, we'll see if he answers.

Hans Georg Lundahl
Paris
St. Matthias Apostle
24.II.2026

In Judaea natalis sancti Matthiae Apostoli, qui, post Ascensionem Domini ab Apostolis in Judae proditoris locum sorte electus, pro Evangelii praedicatione martyrium passus est.

I wonder if Laramie Hirsch permitted himself an April Fools joke on April 1 2021, even if it was Maundy Thursday that year, in the post Historical World Accounts of the Crucifixion’s Darkness The parts of Thallus and Julius Africanus is however genuine. But the citation from Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound apparently isn't from an F-search in ÆSCHYLUS' PROMETHEUS BOUND AND THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES.

PPS, wonder what time it was in Ulster (Emain Macha) when it was 12:00 in Jerusalem? 54°20′53″N 6°41′50″W

06° 41′ 50″ W
35° 13′ 32″ E
41° 54' 82" = 41° 55' 22", pretty close to 45° 37' 30"

It would have been from about 9 AM to 12 that the Sun went dark over Emain Macha./HGL