神农与大火──史前华夏的天文故事(待续)

Shennong and the Star of Big Fire ──A Story of Astronomy in Prehistoric China

神农是华夏文明史前期的一位半人半神始祖。神农氏以大德王,被后世尊号为炎帝,早于轩辕黄帝。神农时期在天文方面已奉祀大火。神农炎帝与大火,应为天文、人文始祖或文明萌始的标志。据今约在12000-25000年前。史前期的考古实践表明,学界对前人活动能量估计偏低,因而,对史前文化与文明突破性进展或发现,仍是有希望的。

Shennong, a semi-human and semi-god in the perhistoric civilization of China, was among the first ancestors of the Chinese. His reign was symbolized by the power and benevolence of fire and he was respected as Yandi (Emperor Yan- 'Yan'means scorching or blazing hot) by his later generations 3 earlier than Xuanyuan was respected as Emperor Huang. From the time of Shennong, the Star of Big Fire (probably the ancient Chinese name for Pleiades) was worshipped by Chinese people. That was about 12000-25000 years ago. It may he concluded that the time of shennong and the worship of the Big Fire marked the beginning of the civilization and astronomical studies in China. The archaelogical studies of the prehistoric period show that the evaluation of our ancestors' abilities by the academic circles is on the low side. Therefore, breakthrough progress and discoveries are hopefully to be made in the studies of the perhistoric culture or civilization.