The Universe of Ancient China
Prepared by Sun Xiaochun (Institute for the History of Natural Science, the Chinese Academy of Sciences)
The word “universe” is expressed as yu zhou 宇宙 in modern Chinese. The term yu zhou dates back to the Warring States Period (481—221 B.C.). Its literal meaning has two components: yu 宇means the “extension” of the four quarters and above and below; zhou 宙means the “duration” from the past to the present. According to these definitions, the Chinese rendition of “universe” is the equivalent of “space and time”. However, the universe, means much more. It also means all matter and energy included in space and time, regarded as a whole. For the wholeness and inclusiveness of the universe, the Chinese language has many other terms, such as wan wu 万物 (the myriad things) and tian di 天地 (heaven and earth). The Chinese also use yu zhou to translate “cosmos”, which means the universe as an orderly, harmonious whole. Order and harmony are two of the most important characteristics of the ancient Chinese conception of universe. The Chinese envisage a universe in which everything – heaven, earth, humans, and a myriad of other things – is correlated. They not only correspond with each other but also resonate with each other. The universe is permeated with the cosmic qithat acts as a sort of medium for the correspondence and consonance of innumerable things.
Cosmology of Heaven and Human Beings
Perhaps the most salient feature of the ancient Chinese cosmology was the correlation and interaction between heaven and human beings. The Chinese perceived the universe as an organic entity with correspondence and consonance among aspects of various realms of the cosmos, such as the human body, the body politic, and the heavenly bodies. Chinese myths of the creation of the universe may provide indications of this idea. According to a Chinese creation myth, Pan Gu 盘古,the Giant Creator, created the univers. In the beginning the universe was a primordial egg, dark and chaotic. Pan Gu was gestating in the egg but was not content with its chaotic state; he proceeded to create heaven and earth by chiseling out a space in the egg. As heaven and earth were separating, he used his own body to support heaven. He grew bigger and bigger as heaven became higher and higher. Suddenly he died. His body parts became the contents of the universe. His eyes became the sun and the moon, his skull formed the dome of the sky; his flesh formed the soil; his bones became rocks; his blood created rivers and seas, and his hair became the stars in the sky. In a universe created in such a way, the correlation and interaction between heaven and humans seemed to follow as a matter of course.
Correlative thinking was the basic mode of thinking in Chinese cosmology and became the foundation for the Chinese invention of the macrocosm-microcosm relation between the universe and humans, as shown in the Huangdi neijing 黄帝内经 (Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor):
A year has 365 days; human beings have 365 joints. The earth has high mountains; human beings have shoulders and knees. The earth has deep valleys; human beings have armpits and depressions in the back of their knees. The earth has twelve principal watercourses; human beings have twelve primary circulation tracts. … Stars in heaven are arranged in constellations; human beings have their teeth. … These are the correspondences between human beings and heaven and earth (Huangdi neijing: Ling shu, ch. 71.).
In developing this notion of correlative relations, the Chinese incorporates basic principles such as the yin-yang 阴阳and wu xing 五行 (five phases) to form an all–encompassing cosmological picture. Everything in the universe was correlated with each other and formed a consonant cosmological system. This universe had an overall rhythm of existence generated from the harmony of all of its parts, including humans. The key to this all-embracing rhythm lay in the sky or in the periodic motions of the sun, the moon, and other celestial bodies. Therefore, calendar making was essential for explaining the heavenly cycles and integrating them into the rhythm of the universe. A text quoted from the Lüshi chunjiu 吕氏春秋(Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals) of the 3rd century B.C. clearly illustrates this cosmology:
During the first month of spring, the sun is at the asterism House, the highest star in the evening is Triad and, in the morning, Tail. The corresponding heavenly stems [for counting the days] are jia 甲and yi 乙. The divine ruler is tai hao 太昊; its god is gou mang 勾芒; its creatures are scaly; its musical notes are jiao 角; its pitch pipe is tai zhu 太簇; its number is eight, its taste is sour, its smell is goatish; and its sacrifice is at the inner door where one first offers the spleen of the victim. The ice begins to thaw in the wind from the east, and hibernating creatures begin to be active. Otters will eat fish. Wild swans will return from the south. The son of heaven will live in the apartment to the left of the bright green hall. He will carry green flags and ride in a chariot adorned with bells and pulled by dark green horses. He will wear green clothes decorated with green jade. He will eat wheat and mutton. His vessels will be open so that they represent emergence.…If the ruler performs summer rituals during the first month of spring, then the wind or rain will not come in its season; trees and grass will soon dry up; and the country will be fearful. … (Lüshi chunjiu, ch. 1)
Everything—god, ruler, number, sound, taste, smell, creature, pitch pipe, sacrifice, type of apparel, and imperial observances and prohibitions—is associated with the right time of year. Humans must act in accordance with the seasons. If activities occur at the wrong time, a natural disaster would ensue. Therefor, a good and accurate calendar was crucial for maintaining harmony in the universe. This is why calendar-making was extremely important in Chinese society; it was not a trivial task but a matter of ensuring harmony in the state and the universe.
Cosmological Theories of the Physical Universe
Astronomical calendar-making involves the observation and measurement of celestial objects. The practice of astronomy required a basic understanding of the structure of the physical universe. The Chinese developed three major theories that dealt with from this perspective cosmology. They were the theories of gai tian 盖天 (the sky as a cover) , hun tian 浑天(the spherical sky ) and the xuan ye 宣夜 (the infinite darkness).
The gai tian theory is probably the oldest of the three. Its basic tenet is that the sky is like a round canopy covering the square earth. A book called Zhou bi 周髀 (literally, circle and gnomon), which was written by an anonymous author around the 1st century B.C. elaborated this theory. The thinking is that the sky is a round disc that arches into a dome in the central area. The earth is like an inverted plate which also rises up in the center. The sky-disc and the earth-plate parallel each other with a fixed distance between them. The sky-disc pivots around its center, near the position of the pole star. It rotates once daily above the stationary earth, carrying the pole star, the sun, and, by implication, the other heavenly bodies with it. When the rotation of heaven carries the sun over a particular region of the earth, it is daytime there. When heaven moves away from that region, night falls. The annual change of the sun’s distance from the axis of heaven causes the seasons. At the winter solstice the sun is at the furthest distance from the axis of heaven, and hence will be furthest away from the central regions of the earth. Therefore daytime is the shortest then. The opposite situation prevails at the summer solstice.
This mathematical construction of the gai tian theory was based on two hypotheses. One concerned the shadow cast by the projecting piece of a sundial (the gnomon). The belief was that the shadow length of the 8 chi 尺 high gnomon would increase 1 cun 寸for every 1000 li 里north of the Yangcheng 阳城, the supposed center of the universe, and would decrease by the same amount for every 1000 li south. The other hypothesis was the notion that paralleled each other earth and sky. Although they were based on some empirical observations both hypotheses were erroneous. Nevertheless, the gai tian cosmology provided a basic framework for Chinese astronomy.
The hun tian theory of cosmology was developed in the period roughly between 100 B.C. and 100 A.D. During this period astronomical observations changed significantly. The primary instrument used for past observations was the gnomon; shadow length was measured to determine the seasons. A water clock measured the time difference between meridian transitions of stars to determine the widths of the lunar lodges used for calendrical calculation. Then came the adoption of new instruments which consisted of combinations of graduated rings with adjustable sights, making up what are now called armillary spheres. Astronomers came to perceive the heavens as a vast rotating sphere with themselves at the center. The armillary spheres were miniatures of the heavenly spheres. Astronomers made their calculations by using the sight to aline the macro-spheres with the micro-spheres and then reading off measurement from the graduated rings. The hun tian theory emerged from this observational revolution.
Zhang Heng’s 张衡（78-139）Hun yi zhu 浑仪注 (Notes on the Armillary Spheres) describes the hun tian theory in detail. It says, “The heavens are like a hen’s egg; the earth is like the yolk of the egg and lies alone in the center. Heaven is large, and earth is small. The lower part of the heavens contains water. Qi supports the heavens, and the earth floats on the water.” Then it proceeds to depict the heavens as the celestial globe currently used by astronomers. The circumference of the heavens is divided into 365 1/4 degrees; half of it, 182 5/8 degrees, is above the earth, and the other half is below. The two extremities of the heavens are the North and South Poles. The North Pole is exactly 36 degrees above the earth, so a circle with a diameter of 72 degrees encloses all the stars that are perpetually visible. A similar circle around the South Pole encloses stars that are never seen. The heavens rotate around the axis through the North and South Poles. The hun tian theory is somewhat unclear about the shape of earth and its position, but its description of the heavens is precisely what an observer would see at the latitude of 36 degrees. The hun tian theory also introduced concept of the ecliptic, the plane of the earth’s orbit relative to the celestial; it intersects the equator with an axial tilt of about 24 degrees. The seasons could easily be explained by the annual movement of the sun along the ecliptic, without the complication of assessing the gnomon’s shadow lengths.
Xuan ye, the third cosmological theory, concerned the immensity and emptiness of the universe. According to the description included in the Jin shu gog晋书 (History of the Jin Dynasty), the xuan ye theory says that the heavens are absolutely empty and void of substance. The sky appears blue because of its great distance, just as a deep valley of a thousand fathoms in depths appears profoundly dark. The sun, the moon, and the stars float in empty space, and there was no regularity to their movements. Although this theory contained accurate speculations about the infinite universe, it provided no mathematical schema for describing the movements of celestial bodies. Consequently, it had little effect on the study of mathematical astronomy. Overall, the xuan ye theory was less influential than the gai tian and hun tian theories.
Cosmology Reflected in the Chinese Constellations
The Chinese constellations clearly exemplify the influence of Chinese correlative cosmologies. Based on the notion of the interaction between heaven and humans, the ancient Chinese developed a form of astrology that we may call “portent astrology”. According to portent astrology, celestial events and human affairs, especially state matters and politics, mutually influence each other. Abnormal celestial phenomena, such as solar eclipses, comets, and supernovae could be interpreted either as the result of bad state administration or as the timely anticipation of disasters for the monarch or the nation. The astrological interpretations were not as arbitrary as they seemed to be; they relied on a certain framework of correlation between celestial events and different aspects of human and state affairs. Their bases were the correspondences between the cosmic and political realms, or natural and human worlds, or the macrocosm and microcosm. The Chinese constellations supported that framework.
Practitioners of portent astrology first spot omens in the form of celestial events. Then they correlate these heavenly portents with events in terrestrial society. Since celestial phenomena occur against a background of the starry firmament, and the stars and constellations mark celestial movements and events, Chinese astrologers simply designed the sky as a counterpart to terrestrial society; they named the stars and constructed the constellations to resemble the earthly world. The sky was like a stage on which all kinds of events occurred. The positions of stars and constellations governed astrological interpretations of celestial events, stars and constellations became a basic correspondence framework for Chinese portent astrology.
The earliest extant book that systematically described constellations in the whole sky is the Tianguan shu 天官书(Treatise on Celestial Officials) by Sima Qian 司马迁 (145 – 87 BC). It mentions about ninety constellations, including the twenty-eight lunar lodges (xiu 宿). The sky was divided into five palaces (gong宫). The central palace marked the area surrounding the celestial North Pole (Beiji 北极), which held the most exalted position in Chinese cosmology since all other stars in the sky orbited around it daily. This area symbolized the Chinese imperial palace, the site of the imperial court that governed the provinces and states; star names like emperor, queen, prince, concubine, eunuch, and those for all kinds of court officials reinforced the symbolic association. The other four palaces were formed around the four cardinal stars along the ecliptic. These palaces were called the East, South, West and North Palaces, each of which represented one of the four seasons of the year as well as a temporary imperial palace corresponding to the season. The twenty-eight xiu (lunar lodges) were divided into four groups of seven, each of which represented a palace.
The movement of the constellation Beidou 北斗 demonstrated the extent of imperial power. “Beidou ( Northern Dipper, Ursa Major ) is the chariot of Di 帝, the emperor. It maintains control over the four quarters of the world by moving around its center; separates yin from yang; regulates the four seasons; maintains equilibrium between the Five Phases; regulates the movement of celestial objects; and determines the epochs of all periodic evolutions and the calendar. This construction of the sky as a celestial empire functioned in the same way as the worldly imperial state. Therefore, the constellations were called Celestial Officials (Tianguan).
The Chinese sky displays its culture and society in their entirety. The names of stars include royal courts and clans; imperial government and its administration; palaces and temples; tombs and shrines; shops and markets; farmers and fields; armies and weapons; hunting and harvesting; traffic and transportation; rituals and ceremonies; philosophical and religious concepts; myths and legends; and states and provinces. Everything is presented with order and harmony. The royal family and imperial officials are located in the north polar area, which is the most distinguished place in the sky, while peasants and garrison troops are placed in the far southern area, very low to the horizon. Constellations are organized into groups representing images of daily and social life, which are then associated with the season; for example the autumn sky shows harvesting and the winter sky depicts hunting.
Epilogue
The universe may be the same everywhere, but the perceptions of it differ. The Chinese presented a picture based on correlative thinking, fundamental Chinese cosmology. It configured the universe as a harmonious whole with correspondences that united heaven, earth and humans. The Chinese cosmology of the physical universe was not as elaborate as that some others like the Greek Ptolemaic cosmology. Nevertheless, correlative cosmology has had profound and enduring influences not only on Chinese astronomy but also on its culture. Their emphasis on the interaction between heaven and humans led the Chinese to organize the stars in groups that were projections of human society in the sky. This principle is essential to understanding Chinese perception of the stars.
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