Throughout history, objects and places have been named after leading inventors, explorers and scientists, in honor of their contributions to mankind. Believe it or not, the same holds true with the craters on the moon.
And a number of famous Chinese figures are on that select lunar list. The first to have had one of the moon’s craters named after him was Zu Chong-zhi, a Chinese mathematician who lived in the 5th century. He accurately calculated the constant Pi, which is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, to six decimal places.
The second Chinese to be immortalized on the moon’s pockmarked surface is Wan Hu, an official from over 600 years ago who wanted to be the first man into space. Legend goes he strapped himself to a chair equipped with 47 small rockets and two small kites.
Sadly, he was killed in the ensuing explosion. Next to receive the lunar honors were Cai Lun, the man who invented paper, and Bi Sheng, who came up with the movable type printing press. But, of all the Chinese figures to have craters named after them, none can surpass the Goddess Chang’e. Though Chinese myth says the Goddess resided on the moon with her rabbit for thousands of years, she was only given her own crater in 1976.
Source:CCTV
