《易经》震卦对地震的认识

ON THE SEISMOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THEEARTHQUAKE DIVINATIONS IN THE BOOKOF CHANGES

通过对《易经》六十四卦中的震卦辨析,证明成书于公元前十二世纪的《易经》是世界上最早的描述地震的文献。中华民族研究地震的历史至少可追朔到商朝末年。震卦的自然科学内容是地震。震卦六爻隐含了商代四级烈度观。

Through analyzing 64 earthquake divinations in the Book of Changes, it is testified that the book is the earliest in the world which carries earthquake records despite that it had been written as early as in the 12th century B. C. Therefore, the history of the Chinese people studying earthquakes can be dated back at least to the late Shang dynasty. The study of earthquakes by the earthquake divinations consists of its main concepts in the natural sciences, and the 6 Yaos used in the earthquake divinations have hinted the view-point of a 4-intensity classification of earthquakes in the Shang dynasty.