textbooks tell us that in terms of understanding the shape of the earth, Ancient Greek came to the forefront, Pythagoras believes that the circle is the most perfect, so he believes that the earth is round, Aristotle summarizes three scientific methods to prove Earthy earth round, but China has always believed that "the sky is round and the place is round". It was not until the end of the Ming Dynasty that the earth is round from Western missionaries.
However, what is little known is that the textbooks are not accurately described. The ancient Chinese explored the shape of the earth very early. After thousands of years of hard exploration, they were clearly visible step by step. Finally, when Yuan Dynasty was discovered that the earth was round. More importantly, the "earth round theory" argued by the ancient Chinese is far more scientific and credible than the ancient Greeks!
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Chinese already had the concept of "the sky is round and the place", but "the sky is round and the place is round and the place" is not the "the theory of earth and flat", nor is it the "the ground is flat and the sky is a huge pot of " as mentioned in the seventh grade geography textbook, but it is a reflection of the theory of Yin and Yang.
Confucius A disciple in his later years Zeng Zi said: "If the sky is round and the place is the four corners that cannot be covered." In other words, if the sky is really round and the earth is square, then the four corners cannot be covered.
So, Zeng Zi explained: "The way of heaven is called round, the way of earth is called square, and the way of square is called quiet and round is called bright." Therefore, the round sky and place explores the way of heaven and earth, and explores the natural laws of the universe. Among them, "round sky" refers to the "time of heaven" like 60 Jiazi , and "place" refers to the "four directions" concept of "southeast, southwest and northwest" describing direction.
during the Warring States Period, Chinese astronomy was further developed, and the most famous representative figures were Wei State Shishen and Qi people Gande . They drew the oldest star list in the world, recording the names of 800 stars in total, and measuring the directions of 120 stars. They also mentioned that solar eclipses and lunar eclipses were the phenomenon of celestial bodies covering each other's food. During the Han Dynasty, the achievements of the two were compiled into the "Ganshi Star Classic".
star table is very important. It not only provides a research system, but also leaves behind a star position map of Warring States during the Warring States Period, which has a profound impact on later generations and also leaves precious astronomical observation data for later generations.
Eastern Han Dynasty period, the Chinese people's understanding of the shape of the earth further. Eastern Han Dynasty Zhang Heng proposed " Huntian Sayings ". He recorded in "A Note on Armillary Sky": "Huntian is like a chicken. The earth is like yellow in an egg, living alone inside, the sky is big and the earth is small." Among them, "the earth is like yellow in an egg" means the earth is like yellow in an egg. (The picture below, Zhang Heng armillary sphere )
Of course, whether it is textbooks or various professional books, it is believed that Zhang Heng embroidery theory does not clearly realize that the earth is round. Objectively speaking, Zhang Heng did not give a reason for the Earth's round statement, so the Huntian theory cannot be used as evidence that "the earth is round."
During the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, the ancient Chinese reached their peak in their understanding of the earth and finally discovered that "the earth is round."
Astronomical records of the new and old Tang books, Tang Dynasty monks and their men were ordered to formulate "Dayan Li ", the height of North Star was observed at 13 points. The southernmost end was in Linyi (now Vietnam), and the northernmost section was in Tiel (now Russia). It was found that the difference between the two was more than 30°, and thus the latitude was discovered.
" Yuan History " records that when Guo Shoujing was ordered to formulate " Time Calendar ", the height of the North Star was observed at 27 points. The southernmost end was in the South China Sea and the northernmost end was in the North Sea . It was found that the difference between the two was 50°, and the height of the North Star at different places was different. Therefore, it was confirmed again that latitude existed.
confirms the difference in latitude, which is not enough to prove that the earth is round, but the Yuan Dynasty also had an astronomical observation, namely the observation of longitude, which confirms that the earth is round.
"The History of Yuan Dynasty" records that in order to formulate the "The Yuan Calendar of Gengwu in the Western Expedition", Yelu Chucai measured the lunar eclipse of Xunsigan City and Kaifeng City at the same time. found that the lunar eclipse of Xunsigan City was about 1 and a half earlier than that of Kaifeng , and thus the existence of longitude was discovered.There are differences in longitudes and dimensions. Combined with other phenomena, it is theoretically enough to prove that the earth is round. This is also the most scientific verification method before the empirical "earth round theory" of Magellan traveling around the earth.
Zhao Guangyi thirteenth descendants Zhao Youqin (see the picture below) pointed out in the "New Book of Ge Xiang" that " measures the height and the bottom of the earth (latitude difference) from the North Pole, as well as the morning and evening of the lunar eclipse in the east and west (longitude difference), are all round earth bodies, and the earth's degree corresponds to the heaven's degree. " Among them, " earth bodies are round ", which is not the "earth round theory" and what is it!
Based on this, the Yuan Dynasty made the world's first globe. "History of Yuan Dynasty" records: "Its system consists of wood as a ball, seven parts as water, three parts as land, and white. The painting is made of rivers, lakes and seas, and the veins run through it. The painting is a small square well, which measures the vastness of the circle and the distance of the road."
Perhaps the Yuan Dynasty globe is still relatively primitive, but it is indeed the first globe in the world!
Above is the process of the Chinese exploring the shape of the earth. It has been thousands of years, running through several dynasties, consuming countless manpower and material resources, step by step. More importantly, the Chinese achieved the argument of the earth circle by determining the difference between latitude and longitude, which was obviously more scientific than that of ancient Greece.
The main achievements of ancient Greek civilization's argument on earth round came from Aristotle. He summarized three scientific methods to prove that the earth is spherical: "The mast proves that the earth is round", "The more you go north, the higher the North Star, the lower the North Star", and "The lunar eclipse proves that the earth is round, that is, the shadow reflected on the moon is curved ".
Among them, "the mast proves that the ground is round" is not credible. Shanghai TV has conducted relevant experiments because people have limited vision and it is difficult to see the mast in the distance. Moreover, Zhao Youqin of the Yuan Dynasty also pointed out that this method is unreliable. Therefore, Aristotle's theory of "mast proves the earth's roundness" is very likely to be a fabrication by Westerners after the telescope was invented.
As for the latter two methods, it is actually impossible to be sure that the earth is round. The reason is very simple. If the earth is a cylinder, these two phenomena will also occur. Therefore, China's argument for the theory of earth circle is obviously more scientific than that of ancient Greece.
What is puzzling is that in latitude exploration, the Tang and Yuan dynasties appointed top scientists, which consumed a lot of manpower and material resources, and used many precision instruments of the time to discover the differences in dimensions. The heights of the North Stars in different regions are different, but Aristotle could find the difference in heights of the North and South Polestars in a short time with a pair of ordinary people's eyes? Who, when, where, and where to observe, and where is the observation data? In addition, more than 2,000 years ago, how did the ancient Greeks know that "the lunar eclipse is caused by the shadow of the earth"?
In short, the conclusion of Aristotle's argument is not problematic, but the process is full of mystery, as if it is a pieced together argument process after seeing the answer. In comparison, the ancient Chinese argued that the difference between latitude and longitude through the difference between latitude and longitude is undoubtedly more credible and scientific.
Finally, the author believes that although the mainstream view of ancient China has long been "the sky is round and the place", it has indeed argued the theory of earth-round, and the method is more scientific than that of ancient Greece. Therefore, when introducing humans to explore the shape of the earth, relevant content should be added instead of allowing the West to enjoy the honor of the theory of earth-round.
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