上古中国人的星辰大海

The Sea and Stars of Ancient Chinese People

《汉书·艺文志》所著录的六种以“海中”为名的星占书,主要流传在汉代到唐代,是中国古代天文书的一个特殊品种。从今存约470条佚文看,它们是在阴阳五行等流行观念影响下,经由观察、形成理论、提出预测、加以验证等步骤形成的,一度对社会风尚产生影响。鉴于华夏人的“四海”概念产自齐国,“海”一名出自齐语,其内涵联系于商代人的“玄冥”观念,可以判断,上古中国人对于“海”有两个基本认识:其一认为海是连天之水,因而陆续建立“盖天”“浑天”“宣夜”等宇宙意识,并在齐宣王、闵王时期形成“大九州”学说;其二认为“海”代表“晦暗”的神秘世界,因而产生了强烈的探索愿望,并在战国至汉初形成海上仙山传说和海上求仙风气。《海中占》是在这一背景上产生的,所以其占卜素材以殷周之际、秦汉之际为前后两界。考察《海中占》的来历,有助于揭示上古华夏人海洋观念和星占学的发展过程,以及齐国作为“海王之国”的文化贡献,进而理解上古华夏人面向星辰、大海而展开的知识追求的文化特质。

The six astrology books named Hai Zhong(海中,in the sea),recorded in Hanshu Yiwenzhi(《汉书·艺文志》,History of the Han Dynasty),has echoed down centuries from the Han to the Tang dynasty.The books represented a particular variety of work on ancient Chinese astrology.It could be seen from about 470 lost scripts that they were influenced by the prevalent concepts such as Yin and Yang and the Five Elements,formed through a process of observation,theory formation,prediction and verification,and had an impact on social customs at one time.As we know,the concepts of Hai(海,the sea)and the Si Hai(四海,the Four Seas)were originated from the Qi(齐)State,both of which were connected with the Xuan Ming(玄冥,the god of water)concept of the Shang people.Hai Zhong Zhan(《海中占》,the Divination in the Sea)came into being in this context,hence its divination materials were derived from the Yin to Zhou Dynasties and Qin to Han Dynasties respectively.The observation and research on Hai Zhong Zhan will contribute to revealing the development of ancient Chinese astrology and their view of the sea,as well as the cultural contribution from Qi as a“Kingdom of the Sea”,thereby reaching an understanding of the cultural characteristics of ancient Chinese people's pursuit of knowledge facing the sea and stars.