革命与星命 清末乱局中的彗星

Astrological Interpretation of Comets before the Chinese Revolution of 1911

1907年出现的彗星引起了国人关注,正在就清末新政进行论战的革命派和立宪派,巧妙地借助彗星抒发各自的政治主见。1910年,哈雷彗星的回归再次引发双方围绕彗星的交锋。革命派趁机散播彗星谶语,意图制造混乱,立宪派随即回应,但最终未能阻止谣言的愈演愈烈。本文即在晚清西学东渐和清末乱局的时代背景下,分析革命派与立宪派围绕彗星的一次政治交锋,进而探讨西学大量涌入时期,人们依然无法舍弃传统彗星占的原因。

At the end of the 19th century, imperialist aggression entered a new and climactic stage which created an unprecedented atmosphere of crisis in China. This atmosphere contributed to the transformation of the elites that gradually divided into two groups, the Revolutionaries and the Constitutionalists. In 1907 Comet Daniel appeared and caused wide public concem. However, the corresponding astrological interpretation of this comet terrified the Qing court. In order to urge the Qing Government to focus on constitutional reform, the constitutionalists spared no effort in criticizing the absurdity of astrology. To the contrary, the revolutionaries seized the chance to hint at a relationship between apocalyptic cometary predictions and violent actions. In 1910, mass attention was paid to the retum of Halley＇ s Comet, which gave the revolutionaries another chance to predict that the Qing Empire would be destroyed with the arrival of the comet. The constitutionalists tried to prevent these rumors from spreading, but they failed to do so. Consequently, the character of apocalyptic prognostication shifted from mere prediction to concrete advice on how to act and, ultimately, pursue revolutionary agitation. This paper will review the recurrence of ancient cometary prognostication in the early 20th century, but will go further and discuss why people cannot abandon cometary divination even though modem knowledge of comets is widespread in China