再谈《周髀算经》中的盖天说——纪念钱宝琮先生逝世十五周年

CONCERNING THE GAI TIAN SHUO (A THEORY OF HEMISPHERICAL DOME) IN ZHOU BI SUAN JING (ARITHMETICAL CLASSIC OF THE GNOMON AND CIRCULAR PATHS)

本文讨论并发展了钱宝琮先生在'盖夫说源流考'一文中的某些结论。认为,除了由于《周髀算经》作者认识上的局限性及其基本假设的错误外,该书中所以会出现许多矛盾的、非实测的数据,其主要原因是,《周髀算经》必须迁就浑天说的某些数据,这个情况表明,在《周髀算经》中的盖天说建立以前,已经有浑天说和浑仪存在着。本文亦分析了《周髀算经》中关于大地的概念。认为,虽然书中对大地的一些描述与地球的五带类似,但是,它们都不是建立在正确理论的基础上的。《周髀算经》中的大地不会发展出正确的地球概念,因此,这是一个没有前途的学说。

Discussing and developing some conclusions in Gai Tian Shuo Yuan Liu Kao (a historical research into the theory of hemispherical dome), which was written by Prof. Qian Baozong, this paper holds that besides due to limitations of knowledge on the part of its author and his mistakes on the fundamental hypothesis, the reason why there were many contradictory and non-practical surveying data in it was mainly because Zhou Bi Suan Jing must accomodate itself to some data of the celestial theory. This shows that the celestial theory and the celestial globe had existed before the Gai Tian Shuo was founded in Zhou Bi Suan Jing. The article also analyses the concept of the Land in Zhou Bi Suan Jing, and deems that though some of its descriptions for the Land were similar to rhose of the five zones of the Earth, they were not founded on the right theory and thus had no future.