Heaven and Earth in Early Han Thought: Chapters Three, Four and Five of the Huainanzi

404 Pages·1993·11.293 MB·English

by  John S. Major

HEAVEN AND EARTH
IN EARLY HAN THOUGHT
SUNY Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture
David L. Hall and Roger T. Ames, editors
HEAVEN AND EARTH
IN EARLY HAN THOUGHT
Q/S
Chapters Three, Four, and Five
of the hfuainanzi
VS
John S- CMajor
'With an c Appendix by Christopher Cullen
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
The translation of Huainanzi Chapter 3 in this book is based in part on a draft translation by
the late Dr. Herbert Chadey> obtained through the ^ood offices of Dr. Joseph Needham and
used with the kind permission of Dr. Chadey’s daughter, Mrs. Theo Simmons.
Appendix A of this book, “A Chinese Eratosthenes of the Flat Earth,” by Dr. Christopher
Cullen, is reprinted by permission of the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
(London).
Pencil drawing of the funerary banner from Mawangdui Tomb #1 and of the Changsha Silk
Painting by Sandra Smith-Garcès, copyright © 1991, 1992 by John S. Major. All rights
reserved.
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 1993 State University of New York
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Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Major, John S.
Heaven and earth in eariy Han thought: chapters three, four, and
five of the Huainanzi / John S. Major ; with an appendix by
Christopher Cullen •
p. cm. — (SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-1585-6. — ISBN 0-7914-1586-4 (pbk.)
1. Huai-nan tzu 2. Cosmology I. Huai-nan tzu. English.
Selections. 1993. II. Title. III. Series.
BL1900.H824E5 1993
523.1—dc20
92-27071
CIP
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Tor Valerie

Contents
Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Preliminary Considerations 1
A General Introduction to Early Han Cosmology 23
Huainanzi Chapter 3: Tianwenxun
The Treatise on the Patterns of Heaven
Translation and Commentary 35
Huainanzi Chapter 4: Dixingcun
The Treatise on Topography
Translation and Commentary 141
Huainanzi Chapter 5: Shicixun
The Treatise on the Seasonal Rules
Translation and Commentary 217
aA Chinese Eratosthenes of the Flat Earth:
A Study of a Fragment of Cosmology in Huainanzi”
by Christopher Cullen 269
The Heavenly Stems, the Earthly Branches
and the Sexagenary Cycle 291
Technical and Textual Notei 293
Reference Notes 323
Bibliography 347
Index 377

Illustrations
Fig. 2.1. The equinoctial and solsticial nodes define the square earth. 33
Fig. 2.2. Twelve chronograms, eight directions, four hooks: a square
within a circle. 34
Fig. 2.3. “Mountain Mirrors” of the Late Warring States Period (after
Hunan Provincial Museum, “Hunan Changde Deshan Chumu fajue
baogao,” Kaogu 1963.9:473.) 35
Fig. 2.4. A Han chariot, showing the characteristic round canopy
above a square carriage body. Line drawing after a relief carving in stone
from the Han tomb at Yinan, Shandong (from Zeng et al., Ytnan gu
huaxiang shimu fajue baogao, Plate 102). 36
Fig. 2.5. Fivefold Heaven and Fivefold Earth. 37
Fig. 2.6. Ninefold Heaven and Ninefold Earth. 38
Fig. 2.7. Drawing of the back of a Han TIV mirror (from Gong nong
kaogu jichu zhishi, p. 163.) 41
Fig. 2.8. Shi cosmograph from the tomb of the second Marquis of Ju
Yin, Anhui Province, ca. 165 b.c.e. (from Yan Dunjie, “GuanyuXi Han
chuqi de shipan he zhanpan,” Kaogu 1978.5: 340). 42
Fig. 2.9. The funerary banner from Mawangdui Tomb #1. Pencil
drawing by Sandra Smith-Garcès. 50
Fig. 3.1. The ruler as the fulcrum of the “vibrating dipole” of heaven
and earth. * 68
Fig. 3.2. Diagram of the nine fields and their assigned lunar lodges. 71
Fig. 3.3. The Chinese celestial sphere, showing the five celestial
palaces in relation to the celestial equator. 72
IX
Illustrations
Fig. 3.4. Diagram showing the correlations between the winds,
directions, yin and yang, and the five phases: the regulators of seasonal
behavior. The phase earth occupies the center, where yin and yang come
together harmoniously. It plays no active role in this diagram and is not
correlated with a wind or a season. 79
Fig. 3.5. The twenty-four seasonal nodes, with associated pitch pipes. 93
Fig. 3.6. The Dipper, which acts as a celestial pointer in its daily
angular motion of ld, is conceived of in this stone relief carving from the
Wu Liang Shrine as the chariot of a celestial deity. Cf. 3.XXVII.1: “The
Celestial Thearch stretches out over the four weft-cords of heaven.” (From
Zheng Wenguang, Zhongguo tianwenxueyuanliu, p. 133.) 108
Fig. 3.7. Diagram of the Xia sequence civil months and their
associated pitch pipes. (Roman numerals in parentheses = die order of
months as given in 3XXVII and in Huainanzi 5, the “Treatise on the
Seasonal Rules.”) 109
Fig. 3.8. The pentatonic scale, and the generation of the chromatic
scale (after Chen, “The Generation of Chromatic Scales in the Chinese
Set-Bells of the -5th Centuiy,” p. 178). 113
Fig. 3.9. Diagram of the twelve chronograms, the twelve Jovian Years,
and their associated lunar lodges. 123
Fig. 3.10. Diagram of the^tems, branches, lunar lodges, and five
phases, from Huainanzi 3:31a. 138
Fig. 4.1. The peaks of Mt. Kunlun, resting on the back of a dragon
and topped by the throne of the Queen Mother of the West, as depicted on
a relief carved stone pillar from the Latter Han tomb at Yinan, Shandong
(from Zeng et al., Yinan gu huaxiangshimu fajue baogao> Plate 66). 153
Fig. 4.2. The Fusang tree, as depicted on a stone relief carving from
the Wu Liang Shrine. Xihe hitches her dragon-horse to the sun chariot at
the base of the tree; above. Archer Yi takes aim at the sun-crows. (After
Chavannes, Mission archéologique dans la Chine septentrionale, vol. 2, plate
51, no. 107). Courtesy of Princeton University Libraries. 160
Fig. 4.3. The cycle of yin, yang, and the five phases associated with
the directions. In each case, the noncardinal direction (or, in the case of
x