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Cosmographical Discussions in China from Early COSMOGRAPHICAL DISCUSSIONS IN CHINA FROM EARLY TIMES UP TO THE T1ANG DYNASTY by CHRISTOPHER CULLEN, M.A. (Oxon.) Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 1977. ProQuest Number: 10672707 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672707 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 2 ABSTRACT Cosmography is the study of the shape, size, disposition and other properties of the large-scale com­ ponents of the physical universe. The following survey assembles and discusses available Chinese material on this subject from early times up to-the rise of the T ’ang dynasty in A.D, 6l8 , after which Chinese interest in the topic seems to have diminished. Part I discusses evidence front texts dating < before 250 B.C. A cosmography involving a number of mythical elements is thus reconstituted; heaven is a solid vault over a flat square earth. Geographical speculations about the existence of several continents are discussed. Part II describes the Kai t 1ien theory according to the Chou pei, a book possibly compiled in the first century B.C.; an umbrella-like heaven rotates over a similarly shaped earth. The dimensions of this universe are linked to astronomical observations made with a gnomon. Parts III, IV and V follow the general discussion of cosmography from 250 B.C. to the close of the survey. The Kai t * ien theory was repeatedly criti­ cised on empirical grounds, and by about 100 A.D. had been replaced by the Hun t1ien theory, which involved a spherical heaven rotating about an inclined axis and enclosing a flat earth. Within the conteX't of this scheme there was much discussion of points of detail, including 3 the cause of the luminosity of the heavenly bodies and the mechanism of eclipses. Considerable efforts were made to establish the dimensions of the Hun t 1ien universe, but were vitiated by lack of an adequate geometry. A number of other original but less important theories were proposed. It appears that the ancient Chinese never conceived of the earth as spherical; implications of this are discussed in the Introduction. 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My first debt of gratitude is naturally to my supervisor, Professor D. C. Lau, whose unfailing helpful­ ness and encouragement made this survey possible. Other members of the Department of the Far East at SOAS, principally Professor A. C. Graham, were kind enough to discuss various points with me. All errors and omissions are of course my responsibility alone. Jenny Goodliffe bravely converted a somewhat chaotic manuscript to orderly typescript. I would like to thank the University of London Computer Centre for their aid in the investigation des­ cribed in Appendix (vi). CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................... .............. X ACKNQ 1/LED GEMENTS ..... *........ If INTRODUCTION (a) The subject of cosmography . ,........... 1 (b) Sources ...... ........20 (c) The choice of epoch . 2.G (d) Aims and methods ....... "S! (e) The main features of ancient Chinese cosmography ............ ......... tpo (f) Some conclusions and conjectures ...... £0 I : SOME ARCHAIC NOTIONS (1 ) The importance of a background GJ (2 ) The world of the T ’ ien Wen .....'.........63 o (a) Origin and nature of the w o r k ...... 6>3 (b) Extracts and comments.......... (c) Summary of conclusions ..........77 (3) Tsou Yen : the beginning of theory .... 7</- (a) Life and work of Tsou Yen .........7T (b) Tsou Yen’s cosmographical thought : two accounts ................... *76 (c) The significance of Tsou Yen’s theory ................ 7 ^ II : CHOU PEI SUAN CI-IING (1) The importance of the work .............. 81 (2) Techniques of observation and calculation .......... .................. $3 (a) The gnomon and the shadow-principle ................. 33 (b) The theorem of Pythagoras ...... 8S (c) The sighting-tube ................... j?7 (3) The cosmography of the Chou Ppi ......... tfo (a) The basis of the cosmography . tfo (b) The pole and the dimensions of the solar paths .......... (c) The shape of heaven and earth ..... ^3 (d) Problems of solar illumination : day, night, polar conditions, the hsilan chi '.................... (e) The nature of the heavenly bodies ......... .V......... \ol (f) Chatley’s version of the Chou pel's cosmography , ........ | o<\ (g) The Kai t 1ien theory in pre Ch’in times ,........................ | IT (h) A retrospect on the Kai t'ien ..... III : COSMOGRAPHY IN THE HAN DYNASTY (1) Introduction ............................. |22 (2) The Huai nan tzu ....... .................. 123 (a) An early Western Hancompendium ...)23 (b) Heaven and earth ............. j2S’ ( c ) The sun .............................. )2 8 (d) Quantitative cosmography : the square of gnomons ...... ]3& (3) Lo-hsia Hung and the beginning of the Hun t 1 ien ........................... \%7, (a) The T'aiCh'u calendar r e f o r m ...... 13'2- (b) A link with the Hun t 1 ien ? ..... 123 (c) The early development of Hun t 1ien armillary instruments ........... 12 $ (d) The connection between the Hun t 1ien theory and the development of armillary instruments ......... | ^3 (e) Did lluan T 1 an connect Lo-hsia. Hung with the Hun t 1 ien instrument V . l*fS ( f) Summary ........................ | T# (4) Yang Hsiung and Huan T'an (a) Yang Hsiung1s conversion to the Hun t 1 ien . ........ |$0 (b) Yang Hsiung's eight objections to the Kai t 1 ien . ... I S3 (5) Some problems about the heavenly bodies ......... 1^*1 (a) Ching Fang on the moon, stars, . and eclipses ..................... I 5^} (b) Confucius and the two boys • ...... 11>I (c) Kuan Ping’s attempt at an explanation ........... ...........I b3 (6 ) Wang Ch’ung - first and last polemicist for the Kai t 1 ien . .................. (a) Introduction ..................... IbS (b) Wang Ch'ung and •the Kai t ’i e n ..... | (c) Wang’s view of the physical nature of heaven ................ It® ' (d) Sun, moon and stars ........... ] (e) The extent of the world : Wang C h ’ung and Tsou Yen ............ Ill (f) On eclipses : rejection of a correct theory ................... |“7 (g) On Yin-Yang theories of day, night, and the seasons ............... (h) Further notes on the sun, moon and stars ...... 1^3 (i) Three theories about heaven . ISV' (j) Comments on an archaic account of heaven ......................... )'&1 (it) Who were ’’the literati” ? A note on the Po hu t ’ung i ......I?? (7) Chang Heng and the first full account of the Hun t ’ien ......... M2. (a) General features of Chang Heng’s cosmographical writing.. ......... Ml (b) The origin of the universe ....... (c) Earth, heaven, and beyond ...... (d) Sun, moon and stars ...... i q v (e) The planets : an attempt at celestial mechanics .......... ?.<?!> (f) The horizon effect : an optical illusion ...............2 0 f (8) Ts'ai Yung (a) The first summary of the cosmographical controversy ...... 2.o\> (b) Some notes on the Hun t 1ien ....... (9) The problem of the Hsdan yeh : is heaven a vault or a vapour ? ...... HI (a) The account attributed to Ch'i Meng ............................. 1H (b) The origin of the Ch'i Meng material ..........................112 (c) Theories of infinite space and the insubstantiality of he a v e n .......Z\ f (d) Theories related to the Ch'i Meng fragment .......................... 2.1 ' (10) The moving earth and related theories ,.7.7.3 (a) Introduction .......... IXb (b) The It1 ao Ling Yao fragments ......... 22 T (c) Cheng Hstlan's commentary on the It1 ao Ling Yao ................. 'Z'M (d) A note on the T'ang subcommentators .................. 23^ (e) The possibility of a rotating earth in Chinese cosmography .... If} (f) Texts suggestive of terrestrial rotation .......................... IV) IV : COSMOGRAPHY IN WEI-CHIN TIMES (1) Introduction ........................ 25* (2) TheHun t 1ien in the third century ...... 2 ST (a) Lu Chi's claim for the antiquity of the Hun t ' ien ................ 2 T 9 (b) Wang Fan's account of the Hun t 'ien 1T9 (c) Wang Fan and the dimensions of the universe ....................... 261 (d) The problem of measuring the Hun t ' ien : Liu Iiui .......... 2(>5 (e) Shu Hsi and the horizon illusion .. Z 6^ (3 ) Yang Ch' tlan1 s Yin-Yang cosmography ...... 222. (a) Some notes on controversies ....... 2 H (b) The Yin and Yang in cosmography ... 2.23 9 (k) Hsd Cheng and a legendary cosmogony .... (a) The story of Pan Ku — ............... 21k (b) General remarks...................... (5) Yao Hsin and his Hsin t 1 ien theory ..... 2-2° (a) Objections to orthodoxy ...........2?t> (b) A theory of the oscillation of heaven 4, , ....................... ZS2 (6) Liu Chih : a universe in harmony ..... 2S£ (a) Cosmographical theories ............ 2SS“ (b) Yin~Yang interaction and the cause of eclipses .......... Z'27 (c) Liu's criticism of the "dark space" theory of lunar eclipses ..... 1 ^ 0 (7) Two theories from the Yd family ...... 2 %3> (a) Heaven supported pneumatically .... 2^1 (h) Yd Iisi's theory of the fixity of heaven ..........................2 4 S (c) Yii Hsi on cosmographical theories . M6 (8) Ko Hung ....................................Z*l% (a) On the Hun t'ien and the hexagrams ...................... .2^jt (b) The attack on Wang Ch'ung .......... %o) (c) The tides and the motion of h e a v e n ...... 3 ^ (9) Chiang Chi .................................3C>7 (a) The fiun t 1ien and Kai t 1ien ........ 3^7 (b) The sun and moon : eclipses ....... (c) On the horizon illusion .............11^ (d) Motion of earth and heaven .......
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