Song dynasty scholars typically owned astronomical instruments, and students had to study the subject. In The Complete Works of Zhu Xi, it is mentioned that the great scholar Zhu used the astrolabe in his home to teach his students the difference between the North Pole and the North Star.
宋代文人家裡不僅有天文儀器，學生也必須學習天文，《朱子大全》中就提到朱熹利用家裡的教具──渾儀，教授學生辨識北斗與北極星的不同。