遠古天文知識與大範圍地理測量之關係淺探

A Probe of the Relationship between Ancient Astronomy Knowledge and Large-scale Geographic Survey

歐陽亮(Liang Ouyang)

《中華科技史學會學刊》 25期 (2020/12) Pp. 30-37

摘要

以四海來稱呼中國古文明所在地區，具有大陸被四邊海洋所包圍的概念。然而中國的西方與北方皆山脈與荒漠，古人如何得知四海這種概念？若從上古時期的古籍中可發現，步測四海的數值若透過合理的假設、進而轉換為現代的公里後，竟然大致符合亞洲實際長寬。本文探討遠古步測可能具備的天文星座知識與觀測方法、若欲步測求得如此程度的數據所需面對的困難、以及可能產生的誤差，並概略計算其可行性，從而發現結果並不如現代人想像般需時甚久或無法達成。因此古籍的數據暗示了古代中外知識的交流超乎想像地活躍，或許可為中國古天文知識是否含有外來成份的爭議提供一點線索。

關鍵字

亞洲大小 ； 四海 ； 步測 ； 中國古天文 ； 北極星 ； 立竿測影

並列摘要

The area where the ancient Chinese civilization is called the Four Seas has the concept that the continent is surrounded by the sea on all sides. However, there are mountains and deserts in the north and west of China. How did the ancients know the concept of the Four Seas? If we briefly explain the size of the Four Seas in ancient Chinese books of the ancient times, we can find that if the values of pacing the Four Seas are converted into kilometers through reasonable assumptions, they roughly correspond to the actual length and width of Asia. This article discusses the astronomical constellation knowledge and observation methods that the ancients may have in the ancient times, and the difficulties and possible errors if they want to obtain such a level of data, and finally calculate the feasibility. We can find that the pacing time is no need too long and can be reached. Therefore, the data in ancient books imply that the exchange of knowledge between China and foreign countries might be extremely active in ancient times, and may provide a clue to the dispute about whether Chinese ancient astronomical knowledge contains foreign elements.

並列關鍵字

Length and Width of Asia ； Four Seas ； Pacing Method ； Ancient Chinese Astronomy ； Pole star ； Ancient Gnomon

參考文獻

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