國立清華大學歷史研究所乙組 碩士論文 Fettering the Stars: Islamic Navigational Knowledge in Ming China 牽星術：明代中國的伊斯蘭導航知識 研究生: 林筱倩 (Hsiao-chien Lin) 學號: 101043513 指導教授: 王憲群 (Hsien-chun Wang) 中華民國一○四年六月 摘要 宋元以來，伊斯蘭世界與中國之間，藉由成熟的海洋技術而有著頻繁貿易的往來， 不同文化之間的交流亦隨之興起。在中國航海史上著名的航海家鄭和（1371‐1433），曾 在十五世紀初期帶領著船隊七次下西洋，航程遠至非洲東岸。歷史材料提及鄭和船隊可能 利用一種名為「牽星術」的導航技術，並使用一種名為「牽星板」的導航儀器。藉由這樣 的儀器，導航員可在夜晚中測量星體和地平線的仰角，並以「指」為測量單位，了解船隻 的位置，以成功達到越洋航行的目的。本論文主旨即在探討這種導航技術與儀器背後的多 文化語言與天文知識的基礎。 我發現在遠洋航行中，水手必須熟練於時間的掌握及方位的辨識，他們藉由觀察星 體的運行來解決這兩個問題。而在印度洋及阿拉伯海之中，使用泰米爾及馬拉姆語的水手 們，便相當善於運用這樣的導航技術。這樣的技術藉由星體仰角的高度來判斷時間，並以 zām 為單位。zām 是一種古代印度計算時間的方式，主要使用特定亮星及月亮做為觀測 同樣為手指的意思。配合 zām 的計時方，(إصبع) 的依據，測量出 「指」，阿拉伯語為 isba 式，得以在汪洋大海中了解航行所花費的時間。水手們更利用在黃昏或清晨時分，藉由亮 星於海平面的位置，來判斷方位。除此之外，在儀器的使用上，類似「牽星板」的航海儀 器有著多種形式的存在。例如，水手在測量的時候，可以使用相同的板子但運用不同的結 點，或者使用不同大小的板子，但繩長不變，亦或是板子大小不同且同時隨結點改變。在 中國史料中，明代李詡《戒庵老人漫筆》等材料顯示，牽星板是一組由十二塊大小不同的 木板組成，顯示華人地區所使用之「牽星板」為板子多塊的類型。而在中國的歷史材料 《武備志》中，除了記載此項航海技術的遺跡，也標示著稱為「針路」的中國傳統航海方 式。此種特殊的繪圖方式，即說明多種文化的導航知識存在於這條航線上。另一方面，我 們亦可從使用方式和儀器的名稱上窺見知識的流動，例如「牽星」一詞在阿拉伯語中為 同為牽引的意思，為一種記憶天體相對位置的特定記憶方法。令人驚喜的，(تكبيل) al‐qaid 是，更多語言關連如同「牽星」和「指」的例子，隨著航海技術的達發而存在於此條航線 中。綜合以上而言，不論從史料或是語言翻譯上，都可以看出跨文化知識傳遞的軌跡。 i 最後，我根據《前聞記》的航程記載，逐步說明鄭和越洋航行之時所使用的導航知 識。發現船隊利用季風做為動力，於冬季利用東北季風出發，並順著夏季的西南季風回程。 此外，從《武備志》裡「過洋牽星圖」的記載中，了解船隊主要仰賴現今北極星、昴宿星 團、北河三、南河三、老人星和南十字星，以確認船隻在固定緯度的航線之上。與此同時， 導航員利用「牽星板」等相似儀器，除了確認船隻所處緯度，更測量星體在天空仰角的變 化，搭配 zām 這種計時方式而得知航行時間。 因此，本論文認為，此類航海技術的發展非一蹴可及，鄭和並非第一位於此條航線 上航行之人，鄭和下西洋所使用的導航技術，乃是一個多文化交流之下的成果，包含著伊 斯蘭、印度、與中國等不同文化的導航技術。因此，鄭和的壯舉，其實是多文化交流之下 的結果。 ii Abstract Beginning from the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Muslim and Chinese ships frequently sailed the south China coast, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, and the Persian Gulf, trading goods and cultures. The Chinese naval commander Zheng He 鄭和 (Cheng Ho, 1371‐1433) lead seven expeditions along these sea routes, sailing as far as the east coast of Africa in the early 15th century. Historical sources mention that Zheng He used a navigation method called qianxing shu 牽星術, which employed a particular instrument named qianxing ban 牽星板. Navigators could use this instrument to measure the angle between stars and horizon to find units of zhi 指. They used this technique to understand the location of their ships while sailing in the open‐sea. This thesis discusses the linguistic connections between different cultures and the astronomical knowledge behind that technology. Time and direction were essential to this maritime technology, and this technology united these two issues by observing stars. This technique relied on the altitudes of stars and horizon to define time. Moreover, it used zām, which was a special time‐measurement system in ancient India, as a unit of time and measured the specific bright stars and the moon in terms of in Arabic. Both words mean “finger.” Also, navigators observed (إصبع) zhi 指 in Chinese and isba the bright stars on horizon in dawn and dusk to understand directions. This technique employed the instrument qianxing ban, which can be classified in different types: those with knotted strings and a single board, those with unknotted strings and boards of different sizes, and those with both knotted strings and different sizes of boards. By the seventeenth century, a treatise on armament technology reported that Chinese sailors carried magnetic‐needle routes marked with gen 更. These maps were typical of traditional Chinese maritime technology, but also contained information about the stars in terms of the unit zhi which was familiar to most sailors in the Indian and Arabic Oceans. Thus, these sea‐charts prove the cultural interactions on this sea‐route. Finally, Zheng He’s voyage is reconstructed. Zheng He’s fleet exploited the power of the monsoon. They relied on the northeast wind to depart in winter, then followed the southwest iii wind to return to China in summer. Moreover, Zheng He’s navigators relied on the altitudes of Pole Star, Pleiades, Pollux, Procyon, Canopus and Southern Cross for directions. In this way, sailors could keep on the right route. Meanwhile, they used qianxing ban to measure the angle of stars. They also used the zām time‐measurement system to measure time. In conclusion, the qianxing shu and qianxing ban were the result of centuries of cultural communications between China, India, and the Islamic world. iv Contents Introduction……………………………………………………1 Navigational Skill and Lunar Mansions………………7 Introduction…………………………………………………………………7 History of Navigation…………………………………………………….8 Chinese Navigation……………………………………………………….9 Arabic Navigation……………………………………………………….14 Isba and Zām…………………………………………………………..….17 Navigation methods…………………………………………………...23 Qiyas………………………………………………………………………………….….23 Fettering…………………………………………………………………………….….25 Abdāl…………………………………………………………………………..…………26 v Navigational Miscellany………………………………………………..……….27 Monsoon……………………………………………………………………28 Monsoons of the Arabian Sea………………………………………………..28 Monsoons of the Indian Ocean………………………………………………28 Lunar Mansions………………………………………………………….32 Definition of Lunar Mansions……………………………………..32 Simple Astronomy………………………………………………………………….33 Development of Astronomy……………………………………………..…...35 Lunar Mansions in different cultures………………………….45 Astronomy: Mansions mark day of month……………………………..51 Connection of Lunar Mansions to Navigational Astronomy……53 Use of Lunar Mansions in Time‐Keeping…………………………….….54 Conclusions…………………………………………………………….….55 How to Use Lunar Mansions………………………………………………….55 Relationship with Navigation……………………………………………..….56 Instruments………………………………………………..…..60 vi Introduction………………………………………………………….……60 Compass Rose and Magnetic Compass…………………….…62 A. Magnetic Needle Compass (Chinese)…………………………….…..64 B. Zām compass (India, Arabic)………………………………………….…..68 Astrolabe……………………………………………………………….…..75 History, Greek to Arabic…………………………………………………….…..75 Parts of the Astrolabe…………………………………………………………...76 Uses of Astrolabe…………………………………………………………….…….83 Results, latitude, and time…………………………………………………..…88 About Qianxin ban and Liangtian chi …………………….…..89 The Liangtian chi……………………………………………………..…90 What is the Qianxin ban……………………………………………..94 A. Knots………………………………………………………………………………...95 B. Different sizes………………………………………………………….……..101 C. Different Sized Boards with Knots……………………………..…….101 Conclusion……………………………………………………….……..102 vii Zheng He……………………………………………………….105 Introduction……………………………………………………….….…105 Background………………………………………………………….…..106 How Did Zheng He Succeed in His Voyage?.................112 Linguistic Connections………………………………………………125 Development of Instruments……………………………………127 Conclusion……………………………………………………………….131 Conclusion…………………………………………………….135 Reference………………………………………………………141 viii Introduction In the fifteenth century, the Ming Dynasty eunuch admiral Zheng He 鄭和(1371‐1433) commanded seven expeditionary sea voyages to southeast Asia, South Asia, and even eastern Africa. Historians hail the voyages as China’s greatest achievement in overseas exploration. Actually, though, this sea‐route had developed generations before Zheng He’s voyage. For example, Faxian 法顯 (337‐422) had traveled in search of classical books on Buddhism. In Faxian’s account, he described the sea route by reporting locations and the number of days of travel between them. The sea‐route he described streched from Sri Lanka to the strait of Malacca and back to Guanzhou 廣州. 1 This last location, Guanzhou, was an important harbor which had been developed in Southern Song Dynasty by foreign merchants.2 As the account by Faxian illustrates, this sea route had been traveled for several generations before the Ming Dynasty. Nevertheless, historians are unable to explain how, in terms of navigation, admiral Zheng and his mariners managed to sail across the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea. They often mention a technique called “star‐fettering” (qianxing 牽星) but cannot agree how it worked. Clearly, this star‐fettering technique demands further research and, given the Western destinations of Zheng He, a possible coordination with Islamic origins. Until the Ming Dynasty, the great Zheng He expedition represented the high point of maritime technology. However, because such voyages had been possible for several generations, it is more interesting to ask what kind of conditions could produce these voyages. Ming Dynasty mariners might have used the stars as a guide. According to a twelfth century record of China’s maritime trade, the Phingzhou Table‐Talk (Pingzhou Ketan 萍洲可談, 1191), mariners certainly used the stars as a guide: “Navigators know geography. [They] observe the stars at night and the sun in the daytime, and [they] use the compass on cloudy days. (夜則觀星，晝則觀日，陰晦 1 Ding, Qian 丁謙, 1971, p.10B‐11A. 2 Kuwahara, Jitsuzo 桑原騭藏, 1971, p.30. ‐ 1 ‐ 則觀指南針).” 3 Unfortunately, this passage does not provide any practical information about how the stars could be used as a guide and whether any instruments were involved. Slightly more information, especially about Zheng He’s voyages, can be found in a seventeenth century military treatise, Treatise on Armament Technology (Wubei zhi 武備志, 1621). This book contains a set of schematic charts showing Zheng’s routes from Nanjing, the administrative stronghold in east China, to Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. The term zhi (finger 指) appears next to the dotted lines after certain digits, indicating that it is a navigational unit.4 (Figure 1) The treatise also includes a set of four diagrams entitled “the Chart of Sea‐ Crossing by Fettering Stars (Guoyang qianxin tu 過洋牽星圖, 1621), which show how constellations could have guided Zheng He’s fleet from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and Calicut