Xiao Ji 蕭吉 in the Sui Dynasty
(581-618) wrote his Great Meaning of the Five Elements 五行大義,
which is a manual on natural phenomena and classical Chinese metaphysics. It is an
important text as it provides in great detail how Chinese
civilization generally viewed both the physical world and cosmos in
this period. The text incidentally was lost in China, but fortunately preserved in Japan. This is actually the case for a good many other Classical Chinese texts as well.
Xiao Ji relies heavily on citations from numerous
classical texts and offers a balanced perspective in that he provides
differing views. It is written in a technical style, lacking a literary polish. In
my reading of the chapter on astronomy (chapter 16) I found two noteworthy things. The first is that Xiao Ji
recognizes that the luminosity of the moon is a result of sunlight:
月為陰精。體自無光。藉日照之乃明。猶如臣自無威。假君之勢。乃成其威。
The moon is of yin essence. Its
form itself is without light. It shines by means of sunlight illuminating it, just as
a retainer is without power. His power is achieved through the
influence of his lord.
Xiao Ji, like his predecessors,
readily perceives a hierarchy in nature and frequently draws similes
with court culture. Here the moon is accurately identified as lacking
its own luminosity. Another accurate statement relates to the
physical quality of astral bodies:
五星者。說文云。星者。萬物之精。或曰。日分為星。故其字日下生。史記云。星。金之散精。星隕為石。此金是也。春秋雲。隕石於宋。隕星也。又云。星者。陰精。金亦陰也。
The five stars [i.e., the five
visible planets of the solar system] – the Shuowen Jiezi
說文解字
states the stars are the essence of myriad phenomena. Some say
the sun is divided into stars, hence its character [in Chinese]
consists of the ideograph “birth” under the sun radical. The Shiji
史記 states stars are the
dispersal of the essence of the metal element. It is stone when a
star falls. This is the metal element. The Spring and Autumn
Annals 春秋
states that a stony
meteorite fell in the state of Song. It was a falling star. It is
also said that a star is the essence of yin.
The metal element is also yin.
The
inference here is that since observed meteorites are of stone and the
metal element, it follows that stars, specifically the five visible
planets of the solar system, should also be comprised as such.
Such
observations are noteworthy as it illustrates Chinese civilization in
this period had a degree of accurate astronomical knowledge, much of it traceable to at least the Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE). Xiao Ji
of course is mistaken about other things – for example, that
the sun is 1000
li
in diameter and 3000
li
in circumference, but
nevertheless his observations and conclusions are often based on
observations and reasonable inferences rather than mere revelation. This differs from the Buddhist approach to astral science which was based on the revelation of scriptures. For details on this see my post
here.
