Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T16:53:25.387Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The cosmic center in Early China and its archaic resonances

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2011

David W. Pankenier
David W. Pankenier*
Affiliation:
Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, Lehigh University, 9 West Packer Ave., Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA email: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Study of the role of astronomical alignments in shaping the built environment suggests that centuries before establishment of the Empire in 221 BCE, the Chinese had already developed practical, geometrical applications of astronomical knowledge useful in orienting high-value structures. The archaeological record clearly shows this fundamental disposition was already firmly established by the formative period of Chinese civilization in the early 2nd millennium BCE. The cosmological identification of the imperial center with the celestial Pole and an intense focus on the circumpolar ‘skyscape’ are manifested in the highly symbolic orientation of early imperial capitals. Certain features of this cosmological world-view may have emerged as early as the Neolithic.

Keywords

Qin DynastyHan Dynastyastronomical alignmentaxis mundiNeolithicYangshaoPuyang
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 7 , Symposium S278: “Oxford IX” International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy , January 2011 , pp. 298 - 307
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

References

Ban, D.-W. (Pankenier, D. W.) 2008, Ziran kexueshi yanjiu 27 (3), 281.Google Scholar
Chen, C.-Y. & Xi, Z.-Z. 1993, in Ruggles, C. L. N. & Saunders, N. J. (eds), Astronomies and Cultures, University Press of Colorado, Niwot, p. 32.Google Scholar
Feng, S. 2007, Zhongguo tianwen kaoguxue, Zhongguo shehui kexue, Beijing.Google Scholar
Hotaling, S. J. 1978, Toung Pao 64 (1–3), 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Q.-Z. 2007, Early China 31, 113.Google Scholar
Major, J. S. 1993, Heaven and Earth in Early Han Thought, State University of New York Press, Albany.Google Scholar
Needham, J. 1959, Science and Civilisation in China, Vol. 3: Mathematics and the Science of the Heavens and the Earth, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Nienhauser, W. H. (ed.) 1995, Ssu-ma Ch'ien. The Grand Scribe's Records, Vol. 1: The Basic Annals of Pre-Han China, Indiana University Press, Bloomington.Google Scholar
Pankenier, D. W. 1995, Early China 20, 121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pankenier, D. W. 2004, Journal of the American Oriental Society 124 (2), 211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pankenier, D. W. 2005, in Fountain, J. W. & Sinclair, R. M. (eds), Current Studies in Archaeoastronomy: Conversations across Time and Space, Carolina Academic Press, Durham NC, p. 499.Google Scholar
Pankenier, D. W. 2009, Locating True North in Ancient China. Cosmology Across Cultures 409, 128.Google Scholar
Pankenier, D. W. 2011, Astronomy in the Age of Dragons. In Proceedings of SEAC 17 (2009), British Archaeological Reports, Archaeopress, Oxford.Google Scholar
Sanfu huangtu 1782, Sanfu huangtu (Yellow Plans of the Three Capital Commanderies, ca. 3rd to 6th century), Siku quanshu, 1782 edn.Google Scholar
Sima, Q. 1959, Shiji (The Grand Scribe's Records), Zhonghua shuju, Beijing.Google Scholar
Sun, X.-C. & Kistemaker, J. 1997, The Chinese Sky during the Han: Constellating Stars and Society, E. J. Brill, Leiden.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taiping yulan 1975, Taiping yulan, 1975 rpt., Pingping chuban she, Taipei.Google Scholar
Tambiah, S. J. 1985, Culture, Thought and Social Action: an Anthropological Perspective, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Z.-S. 1984a, Han Civilization, Yale University Press, New Haven.Google Scholar
Wang, Z.-S. 1984b, Handai kaoguxue gaiyao, Zhonghua, Beijing.Google Scholar
Wheatley, P. 1971, The Pivot of the Four Quarters: a Preliminary Enquiry into the Origins and Character of the Ancient Chinese City, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Wu, H. 1997, Monumentality in Early Chinese Art and Architecture, Stanford University, Stanford.Google Scholar
Xiong, V. C. 2000, Sui-Tang Chang'an: a Study in the Urban History of Medieval China, Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, W.-M. 2000, Qin ducheng yanjiu, Shaanxi renmin jiaoyu, Xi'an.Google Scholar