中国天文学史上的地中概念

THE CONCEPT OF THE CENTER OF THE EARTH IN CHINESE ASTRONOMICAL HISTORY

地中概念是中国古代宇宙结构理论的重要组成部分。古人认为地是平的 ,而且其大小是有限的 ,由此导致了地中概念的产生。有关地中位置的说法很多 ,其中对天文学有较大影响的是盖天说“北极之下为天地之中”的主张以及浑天说的洛邑地中说和阳城地中说。地中概念在帮助浑天说战胜盖天说方面发挥了一定作用。对地中概念的关注 ,促成了中国天文学史上一些重要事情的发生。一直到明代 ,地中概念仍在发挥着作用。地中概念的终结 ,是由于西方传教士带来的地球学说被广泛接受的结果。

The concept of the center of the earth is an important integral part of the theories concerning cosmic structure in ancient China Ancient people thought that the earth was flat and that its size was limited,so the concept of the earth′s center emerged naturally There were lots of accounts about the exact location of the center of the earth as a result of applying different theories The theory of “c anopy heavens”and the theory of “sphere heavens”were the two most important ones,and exerted great influence upon the development of astronomy The school of canopy heavens claimed that the earth′s center was right underneath the heavenly north pole,while the school of sphere heavens asserted that the earth′s center was in no other place than Luoyang or Yangcheng The concept of the center of earth played a certain role in helping the theory of sphere heavens to prevail over the theory of canopy heavens The close attention paid by people to the concept of the earth′s center stimulated some important events in the history of Chinese astronomy The concept of the earth′s center continued until the Ming Dynasty Its abandonment was brought about by the general acceptance of the new theory introduced into China by Western missionaries that the earth is a ball