GEOLOGY AND REVELATION: OR THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE EARTH, CONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF GEOLOGICAL FACTS AND REVEALED RELIGION

By N. FANAL

CONTENTS ANCIENT CHINESE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION AND CALENDAR OBSERVE THE CELESTIAL PHENOMENA AND PROVIDE THE TIME SERVICE: THE ANCIENT CHINESE CALENDARS AND THEIR PROPERTIES AND FUNCTIONS LIU XIN AND ANCIENT ASTRONOMICAL CHRONOLOGY THE ANCIENT CHINESE TIMEKEEPING INSTRUMENTS HYDROLOGIC AND HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING SURVEY IN ANCIENT CHINA PAN JIXUN AND THE ANCIENT GOVERNANCE PLAN OF THE YELLOW RIVER THE CONCEPT OF EARTH-CENTER IN ANCIENT CHINA ZHANG HENG’S SEISMOGRAPH: EARTHQUAKE MEASURING AND FORECASTING IN ANCIENT CHINA OVERVIEW OF ANCIENT GEOSCIENCE AND VIEWS OF GEOLOGICAL DISASTERS AND ABNORMALITIES THE ANCIENT CHINESE THOUGHTS ON WORLD GEOGRAPHY THE ANCIENT CHINESE THOUGHTS ON MILITARY GEOGRAPHY SURVEYING AND DRAWING OF MAPS IN ANCIENT CHINA DUJIANGYAN IRRIGATION SYSTEM: A HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING PROJECT BEARING CULTURAL CHARM AND CREATIVITY CHINA GRAND CANAL PROJECTS AND THEIR SCIENTI?C AND TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENTS TRANSLATOR’S POSTSCRIPT THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION OF THE ANCIENT ASTRONOMY THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION THE WAYS OF SOLVING THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION THE GEOMETRICAL MODEL IN ANCIENT GREECE THE PERIODICAL MODEL OF BABYLON THE PERIODICAL-DIGITAL MODEL OF CHINA THE MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE AND THE COORDINATION SYSTEM OF THE CELESTIAL SPHERE EVALUATION OF SEVERAL MODELS OF THE UNIVERSE COORDINATES OF THE CELESTIAL SPHERE THE COORDINATE SYSTEM FOR THE CELESTIAL SPHERES OF THE 28 CHINESE CONSTELLATIONS AND ITS ORIGIN THE PROPERTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF ANCIENT CHINESE CALENDARS CALENDAR CHRONICLE ALMANAC ANCIENT CHINESE CALENDAR: MATHEMATICAL ASTRONOMY AS A TOOL OBJECTIVES SOUGHT BY CALENDAR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CALENDAR AND AGRICULTURE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CALENDAR AND ASTROLOGY ABSTRACT THIS CHAPTER GIVES MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION AND CALEN- DAR IT LET US NOT ONLY KNOW THE MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE AND THE COORDINATION SYSTEM OF THE CELESTIAL SPHERE, COORDINATES OF THE CELESTIAL SPHERE, THE PROPERTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF ANCIENT CHINESE CALENDARS, RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CALENDAR AND AGRI- CULTURE AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CALENDAR AND ASTROLOGY, BUT ALSO INTRODUCES US TWO BOOKS: THREE SEQUENCES CALENDAR AND GREAT DERIVATIVE CALENDAR THE PERIODICAL MODEL OF BABYLON THE ANCIENT BABYLON HAD A WELL-DEVELOPED MATHEMATICAL ASTRONOMY THROUGH LONG PERIODS OF OBSERVATION, BABYLONIAN ASTRONOMERS ACCUMULATED PRECISE DATA, WITH WHICH THEY CONSTRUCTED A SERIES OF PERIODIC FUNCTIONS SUPERIMPOSING THESE FUNC- TIONS, THEY WERE CAPABLE OF FAIRLY PRECISELY CALCULATING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, THE MOON, AND THE ?VE PLANETS ON THE CELESTIAL SPHERE AT ANY TIME EVALUATION OF SEVERAL MODELS OF THE UNIVERSE IN ANCIENT CHINA, THERE WERE SIX DOCTRINES OF THE UNIVERSE THREE OF THEM HAD THEORETICAL OUTLINES, NAMELY THE THEORY OF SPHERE-HEAVENS, THE THEORY OF CANOPY- HEAVENS, AND THE THEORY OF EXPOUNDING APPEARANCE IN THE NIGHT SKY AMONG THESE THREE THEORIES, THE THEORY OF EXPOUNDING APPEARANCE IN THE NIGHT SKY HAS ALWAYS BEEN HELD IN HIGH ESTEEM, STARTING WITH DR JOSEPH NEEDHAM IN HIS WORK SCIENCE AND CIVILISATION IN CHINA, VOLUME ON STUDY OF HEAVEN, NEEDHAM SETS A SPECIAL SECTION TO DEAL WITH THE “THEORY OF EXPOUNDING APPEARANCE IN THE NIGHT SKY ” HE APPRAISES THIS MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE ENTHUSIASTICALLY: “THE OPENNESS AND PROGRESS IN THIS VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE IS NOT INFERIOR TO ANY OF ITS COUNTERPARTS IN GREECE THE CHINESE VIEW THAT SPARSE CELESTIAL BODIES ARE ?OATING IN THE IN?NITIVE SPACE IS FAR MORE ADVANCED THAN THE EUROPEAN CONCEPT OF A CRYSTAL BALL ” FOR HISTORICAL MATERIAL ON THE THEORY OF EXPOUNDING APPEARANCE IN THE NIGHT SKY, REFER TO BOOK OF JIN ANNALS OF ASTRONOMY ALL THE BOOKS PUBLICIZING THE THEORY OF EXPOUNDING APPEARANCE IN THE NIGHT SKY WERE LOST, EXCEPT A HEARSAY WHICH WAS RECORDED BY XI MENG, ASSISTANT IN THE PALACE LIBRARY IN THE HAN DYNASTY IT IS RECORDED THAT “THE SKY HAS NO TEXTURE WHEN YOU LOOK UP AT THE SKY, IT SEEMS HIGH, REMOTE AND LIMITLESS YOU HAVE BLURRED VISION AND FEEL DIZZY YOU ARE EXHAUSTED, SO THE SPACE SEEMS TO BE VAST AND BOUNDLESS IT IS JUST LIKE WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE YELLOW HILLS FAR AWAY, THEY APPEAR GREEN, AND WHEN YOU LOOK DOWN THE DEEP VALLEY, IT APPEARS DARK THAT GREEN COLOR IS NOT THE TRUE COLOR; THAT DARKNESS IS NOT THE APPEARANCE OF ANYTHING REAL THE SUN, THE MOON AND THE STARS ?OAT IN THE VACANT SPACE NATURALLY, AND THEY MOVE OR STOP DEPENDING ON THE ATMOSPHERE THEREFORE, THE BIG DIPPER SEEMS NOW CLEAR, NOW VAGUE, SOMETIMES IN DIRECT MOTION, SOMETIMES IN PROGRADE MOTION; CONCEALING AND APPEARING ARE IRREGULAR, PROGRESSING AND REGRESSING DIFFER IN THE ORBIT BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT ROOTED TOGETHER OR TIED TO EACH OTHER, THEY BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY THUS STELLA POLARIS IS ALWAYS AT THE ?XED PLACE, THE BIG