plied by nine would give two hundred and twenty-five thousand square Li. Tsou Yen's figure1 may appear too high, but computation and a thorough investigation show us that, on the contrary, it is too low.2

The Literati say that heaven is air, and therefore not far from man. Consequently it immediately knows, whether they are right or wrong, and whether they possess secret virtues or vices, and also responds to them. This is regarded as a proof of its vicinity. But, if we examine the question critically, we find that heaven's body is not air.

Men are created by heaven, why then grudge it a body? Heaven is not air, but has a body on high and far from men. According to private traditions heaven is upwards of sixty-thousand Li distant from the earth.3 Some mathematicians reckon the entire circumference of heaven at 365 degrees. Thus the world all round is divided into degrees, and its height measures a certain number of Li. If heaven were really air, air like clouds and mist, how could then be so many Li or so many degrees? Besides we have the "twenty-eight constellations," which serve as resting-places to sun and moon, just as on earth the couriers lodge in postal stations. The postal stations on earth correspond to the solar mansions on heaven. Hence the statement found in books that heaven has a body is not baseless. To him who considers the question, as we have done, it becomes evident that heaven cannot be something diffuse and vague.

1 225,000 square Li (225 millions), which number is based on Tsou Yen's hypothesis that there are nine continents as large as China.

2 Wang Chung has calculated a million square Li (10,000 millions). The area of our Earth measures about 510 million square kilometer, not 2,500 millions (= 10,000 million square Li) as results from Wang Chung's calculation. 3 Huai Nan Tse says 50,000 Li.

17

Lun - Hêng.

CHAPTER XX.

On the Sun (Shuo-jih).

The Literati say that the sun, when he becomes visible in the morning, comes forth from darkness, and that, when he disappears in the evening, he re-enters darkness. The Yin fluid of darkness is obscure, they say, therefore the sun disappears in it, and becomes invisible.

In reality the sun neither leaves nor re-enters darkness, but how can we prove that?

1

Night is darkness; its fluid is also obscure. But if a fire is made during the night, its light is not extinguished by the night. The darkness of night is the darkness of the north. The setting sun, which rises in the morning, is the kindled fire. The light of a fire, kindled at night-time, is not extinguished, that shows that, when the sun sets in the evening, a fluid cannot be the cause of his disappearance.

Observing the sun-rise and the sun-set in winter, we remark that, in the morning, he rises in the south-east, and, in the evening, he sets in the south-west. The south-east and the south-west are not the region of the Yin or darkness.3 How then can it be said that the sun proceeds from and reverts to darkness? Furthermore, the stars notwithstanding their smallness remain visible, and the sun is extinguished in spite of his greatness? The reasoning of the scholars of to-day is thoughtless and shallow.

They again say that the shortness of the days in winter, and their length in summer are also brought about by the Yin and the Yang. In summer, the Yang fluid abounds, and the Yin fluid falls short. The Yang fluid shines with the same splendour as the sun. Consequently, when the sun comes forth, there is nothing to obscure him. In winter, the Yin fluid is dusky, and overshadows

1 Night is here taken as something positive, something like a black veil, or dark air, not as the absence of light, which does not cause the disappearance of the sun, but is its consequence.

2 The dark fluid of night.

3

According to Chinese symbolism the Yin principle of darkness corresponds

to the north.

the sun-light. Therefore, although the sun rises, he remains dark and invisible. Thus in winter the days are short. The Yin is paramount, and the Yang is scarce, just the reverse of what takes place in summer.

However, if we consider the question seriously, we will find that the Yin and the Yang are not responsible for the length or the shortness of the days. This is made evident by the northern stars. The Yin of the north is the Yin of the sun. The Yin of the north does not overshadow the sparkling of the stars, why then should the Yin in winter obfuscate the brightness of the sun? Hence those who speak about the Yin and the Yang miss the truth. As a matter of fact, in summer the sun stands in Gemini, in winter in Aquila.' Aquila is far from the pole, therefore the curve described by the sun is short. Gemini being near the pole, the solar curve is long then. In summer the sun proceeds northwards as far as Gemini, in winter southwards as far as Aquila. Therefore the extreme solar points in winter and summer are called "winter" and "summer limit." 112 Because in spring and autumn those extremes are not reached, one speaks of "vernal" and "autumnal division."3

Some people hold that in summer, when the Yang fluid abounds, it is in the south, and that in consequence heaven rises and becomes high. In winter the Yang fluid decays, and heaven sinks down, and becomes depressed. When heaven is high, the course of the sun increases in length, and the days are lengthened; when heaven is low, the solar curve decreases, and the days are short.

Now, if owing to the exuberance of the solar Yang fluid, heaven rises in the south, and the course of the sun is lengthened, the same increase ought to take place in regard to the moon. In summer, when the days are long, the sun rises in the north-east, but the moon in the south-east. In winter, when the days are short, the sun rises in the south-east, whereas the moon rises in the north-east. If in summer heaven were raised in the south, sun and moon ought equally to rise in the north-east, and, if in winter heaven were lowered, sun and moon should both rise in the south-east. It results from this, that in summer heaven does

1 Literally: Tung-ching, the "Eastern Well," and Chien-nu 4,

not rise in the south, and that in winter it is not depressed. On the contrary, in summer, when the days are long, the stars from which the sun rises are in the north, and in winter, when the days are short, these stars are in the south.

The following question may be raised. In summer, in the fifth moon, when the days are long, the sun stands in Gemini, which are near the pole, therefore the course of the sun is long. Now, we see that in the fifth moon the sun rises in the sign Yin1 and sets in Hsü.2 The solar curve being so long and far from men, how is it that we see the sun rise in Yin and set in Hsü? When the sun stands in Gemini, he is very near to men. Gemini are near the pole, hence, when the pole turns round, they ought to remain always visible.3 Provided that Gemini are by the side of the pole, ought we not to have no night, but continuous day?4

Some scholars assert that sun and moon have nine different courses, therefore, they say, the sun in his course is near or far, and day and night are long or short.-However, in the fifth month day-time makes up 11/16 and night-time 5/16, and in the sixth month the day is 10/16 and the night 16. From the sixth month to the eleventh month every month the day decreases by 16. That means that to the course of the sun every month 16 is added. In the lapse of a year the sun takes 16 different courses on heaven and not 9 only.

Another idea is that heaven is high in the south and depressed in the north. When the sun rises into the higher region, he becomes visible, and when he sets into the lower one, he disappears. Heaven is believed to be like a reclining umbrella, which is shown by the fact that the pole, as seen from us, is in the north. The pole is the centre of the world. Since it is north from us, heaven must evidently resemble a reclining umbrella.

If to illustrate the shining of the sun the analogy of a reclining umbrella be used, heaven must really have the shape of an umbrella. The polar star in the north of the upper part would correspond to the top of the umbrella, the south in the lower part would be like the stick of the umbrella, but where would that be? An umbrella reclining on the earth cannot turn round, but raise it straight, and it rotates. Now, provided that heaven revolves,

to Gemini.

This cyclical sign denotes ENEN on the compass and corresponds

4 The sun turning round the pole in Gemini and never disappearing.

its northern edge cannot touch the earth, for how could it revolve, if it knocked against the earth? We see from this that heaven cannot be shaped like a reclining umbrella, and that the sun rising or setting does not follow the elevation, and the depression of heaven.

Some people maintain that the northern edge of heaven sinks down into the earth, and that the sun following heaven enters into the earth. The earth being massive, obscures him, so that men cannot see him. But heaven and earth are husband and wife. They unite in one body, heaven is in earth, and earth joined to heaven. Their fluids mix and produce things. The north is Yin. When both are coupled, and their fluids mingle, it is in the north therefore, but does heaven revolve in the earth? If not, the earth in the north would be depressed,2 and not even.

Let us suppose that heaven really is revolving in the earth. On digging up the earth ten feet deep we find springs. Does then heaven revolving in the earth plunge into the water, and then come out again? If the north were depressed and not level, the Nine Streams ought to flow north without ever filling it up. In reality heaven does not revolve in the earth, nor does the sun become obscured, because he follows heaven. Heaven is quite as level as earth, and the sun rises, and sets, being turned round along with heaven.

Heaven appears to us in the shape of a bowl turned upside down. Therefore the sun rising and setting looks like coming from and entering into the earth. When the sun rises, he is near, when he sets, he is far, and becomes invisible, hence the term setting or entering. When in his rotation the sun appears in the east, he is near, hence we say that he is rising or coming out. But what proof have we? If you attach a moonlight pearl to the bow over a cart, and turn the cart round, the pearl will also turn.

To men heaven and earth seem to unite at a distance of no more than ten Li. That is the effect of the distance, for they do not come together in fact. When we behold the sun setting, he does not set either, it is also the distance. At the time, when the sun sets in the west, the people living there will perhaps say that he is culminating, and looking from the point, where the sun is setting, eastward to our world, heaven and earth may appear to

The north is Yin, which is synonymous with female, here the female organ.

2 Viz. by heaven knocking against it in its rotation.

3 The Nine Streams regulated by Yu. See Mayers Pt. II, No. 267.