论邵雍的“天圆而地方”

ON SHAO YONG’S COSMOLOGICAL IDEA: THE HEAVEN IS A SPHERE AND THE EARTH A SQUARE

邵雍(1011—1077)在《皇极经世》中把他的宇宙学说概括为'天圆而地方'。本文通过对《皇极经世》和明代黄畿的《皇极经世书传》有关引文的分析,提出:(1)邵雍的'天圆而地方',实际上是浑天说,即天圆地平说;(2)邵雍的地平说来自浑天说的地方性,即把地球的局部当作整体,因而把局部地区的直觉印象当作世界性规律。

Shao Yong (1011-1077) put forward in his Huang Ji Jing Shi the cosmological idea that the heaven is a sphere while the earth a square. But the earth described in the book was actually a circular plane. Therefore, Shao's universe was the same as the one in the ancient theory that the sky was like an egg-shell and the earth a yolk, i.e., a spherical heaven with a plane earth. The reason why he had such an idea was that what he thought to be (?)he whole world was merely a very small part of it, thus taking local impressions for universal patterns.