《玄览赋》与《樊逊传》:诗史互证识司南

A Study of“Sinan(司南)”in Xuanlan Fu and Fanxun Zhuan

“司南”又称“指南”,一词多义,歧说纷纭。545年萧绎所作《玄览赋》追述,他曾在灵台用司南占候。《北齐书·樊逊传》记载,554年樊逊曰:“五方易辨,尚待指南。”(要想五方容易辨别,还是要靠指南酌。)两者诗史互证,是6世纪使用司南占候术、观测磁偏角的明确证据。瓢针司南酌是针碗浮针的前身。由针碗浮针反推,可建立瓢针司南酌复原模型。

The Sinan,also known as Zhinan,has multiple meanings in Chinese history.In 545AD,Xiao Yi wrote a poem Xuanlan Fu,which recalled that he had used the Sinan for divining in the royal observatory.In 554,according to the Fanxun Zhuan in the History of the Northern Qi Dynasty,Fan Xun said“the Sinan is needed to facilitate the identification of the five directions”.Poetic and historical evidence in Xuanlan Fu and Fanxun Zhuan both prove that people applied the Sinan in divining in the 6th century and that magnetic declination was involved.The Sinan Zhuo,or Sinan scoop with a magnetic needle,evolved into a floating compass in a needle bowl.By tracing the development of the early Sinan,we can restore the model of the Sinan scoop with a magnetic needle.