...li. Taking the half of the sun's illumination at Yangcheng as the center, the body of Heaven is perfectly round. Seen through mathematical calculations of the gougu Pythagorean/right-triangle theorem. Luoshu Zhenyaodu Zhou: Heaven is 365 and one-quarter degrees. Since one degree is 1,932 li, Heaven is 178,500 li away from the Earth. Chunqiu Yuanmingbao: Yang reaches its limit at nine, so the circumference of Heaven is 810,000 li. Dongfang Shuo's Shenyijing: In the Kunlun Mountains, there is a copper pillar that rises into Heaven, called the Heavenly Pillar. Huanyuji: Qiongdou County experiences constant rain in autumn and winter, so it is called the "Leaky Heaven." In the Chu region, there are the Great and Small Li Mountains where it rains incessantly for the four seasons; the common people call them the "Great Leaky Heaven" and "Small Leaky Heaven." Fu Hou Gujin Zhu: In the third year of the Jianshi reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, at night, there was a blue-yellow-white vapor more than ten zhang long, whose light illuminated the earth. Some say this is Heaven splitting, or the Heavenly Sword. Nan Shi: In the second year of Taiqing of the Liang dynasty, in June, Heaven split in the northwest, ten zhang long and two zhang wide; its light was like lightning, and its sound was like thunder. In December, Heaven split in the northwest with light like fire. In the first year of Zhide of the Chen dynasty, on a winter night, Heaven opened from the northwest to the southeast; inside there were blue and yellow mixed colors, with a rumbling sound. Lang Ying's Qixiu Leigao: Ma Haolan once said that when he was young, traveling at night, he suddenly heard a sound in the sky like a crack. He saw a shape in the blue sky like a melon-peel boat, its color greenish-yellow, opening and closing. At dawn, he heard people say that Heaven had opened its eye last night. Yao Tongshou's Lejiao Siyu: On the last day of the ninth month in the Jihai year, I went to Jiahe at dawn. The morning star was still in the treetops when suddenly the southwestern sky split for several hundred zhang. The light and flames were like fierce fire, illuminating the wilderness. The village dogs all barked, and the roosting birds cried out. I observed the place where it split; it moved undulatingly, and in the middle, it was brightly illuminated, like gold melting in a furnace. After a while, it closed. The boatman said to me, "This is Heaven opening its eye." Dong Zhongshu's Chunqiu Fanlu: The energy of Yin and Yang pressing upward becomes rain; pressing downward it becomes fog. Wind is its exhaling; clouds are its vapor. Thunder is the sound of them clashing; lightning is the light of them striking. In an era of great peace, the wind does not break the branches, the rain does not break the soil clumps, thunder does not startle people, lightning does not dazzle the eyes, and snow does not...

Mirror of Scientific Origins

Volume 1