Read a lesson on meteorites and answer the questions.

5. In terms of astronomy, there is a record about the Changzhou meteorite. The content is as follows: "In the first year of Zhiping (1064 AD), at sunset in Changzhou, a burst of thunder suddenly came from the sky. A star almost the same size as the moon in the sky appeared in the southeast of the sky. Soon, people heard a "boom" and the star fell. The location was in the garden of a family named Xu in Yixing County. , people from far and near saw the light shining in the sky, and it was on fire, burning the fence of Xu's garden. After the flames extinguished, they found a hole in the ground the size of a cup, which went deep into the ground. When I looked down, , and found that the star was inside, and the fire was shining brightly. It took a long time to gradually dim, but it was still too hot to get close. After a long time, when the star stopped being hot, the hole was dug, and a piece of ground was found more than three feet deep. A round stone, about the size of a fist, slightly sharp at one end, as dark as iron, and as heavy as iron."

A short record that records the time, place, process, and shape of the meteorite. A complete and scientific description of the specific gravity is also a rare and excellent record in the history of world astronomy.

Archaeological excavations and ancient documents show that my country is one of the earliest countries with developed astronomy. Starting from primitive society, our ancestors gradually accumulated astronomical knowledge by observing celestial phenomena, determining directions, determining seasons, and reporting farming hours in order to meet the needs of gathering, hunting, and agricultural and animal husbandry activities, and the astronomy of ancient my country originated and developed.

As early as six or seven thousand years ago, in the Xi'an Banpo site belonging to the Yangshao Culture, the doors of houses, tombs and the heads of human skeletons all faced south. The Dadunzi Cemetery in Pi County, Jiangsu Province covers an area of ??five There are layers of tombs, with the later ones stacked on the earlier ones, but the directions are still roughly the same. ①This consistency shows that they can recognize the direction. For the ancients who worked at sunrise and rested at sunrise in primitive times, the only basis for determining direction was changes in celestial phenomena, especially the sun.

The sun brings light to the earth and warmth to people. There are utensils decorated with the sun on the pottery unearthed in the Neolithic Age. On the painted pottery unearthed from the Yangshao Culture in Dahe Village, Zhengzhou, Henan, there is a red circle center with colored rays around it, showing the image of the sun; on the gray pottery unearthed from the Longshan Culture in Dawenkou, Shandong, there is a painting of the sun rising over a hill. The pattern of the sun rising above the clouds on the hills is probably the pictogram of the character "Dan". The later document "The Book of Songs" contains the poem "The scene is a hill, and its yin and yang are related"②, indicating that one can watch the sun and shadow on the hill to determine the direction. Another article "Beifeng·Dingzhi Fangzhong" says: "Kui "Using the sun, I wrote it in the Chu Dynasty." These descriptions of observing the sun to determine the direction are the remnants of ancient customs.

The rising and setting of the sun not only indicate the direction, but also form the cycle of day and night. The alternation of day and night gave people the concept of day. Day, night and the sun are both represented by the word "日". Day is obviously associated with the sun. In order to calculate the passage of days, many methods appeared in primitive times. Some ethnic minorities who were still in primitive society before and after the liberation of our country tied knots on ropes, carved on bamboos, and put stones in bamboo tubes. These diary-keeping methods are obviously very primitive. The unearthed oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin and Shang dynasties have a complete method of recording the day with stems and branches. The stems are A, B, B, D, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui. The names of the emperors in the late Xia Dynasty have already adopted the names of the ten stems. Certain characters, such as Kongjia and Lugui, indicate that they may have originated earlier. The branches are the twelve characters Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai. By matching the ten stems with the twelve branches, we get the names of sixty stems and branches such as Jiazi, Yichou, Bingyin...Guihai. They are used to record the day in a cycle of sixty days. This method of recording the day has continued to this day. There is an ox blade from the Wuyi period (about 13th century BC) with sixty branches completely engraved on it, which may have been the calendar at that time. There is also the word "Xun" in the oracle bone inscriptions, and the Yin people called ten days "one ten days". This name has been passed down to this day.

The waxing and waning of the moon is the most obvious celestial change that may be seen at night, from the full moon (looking) to the full moon, or from the first sight (朏) to the next sight, or It takes almost thirty days from the time the moon disappears (darkly) to the next time it disappears. The change of the moon's waxing and waning gave rise to the concept of "moon". The Axi people's moon dancing and the Tibetan calendar's fixation are all leftovers from the primitive times. Wang, Shuo and Hui were recognized earlier than Shuo, and the earliest word "Shuo" was found in the Book of Songs.

Although the seasons and years are longer than the daily and monthly cycles, their emergence is not too late. Because it may be more important than the sun and the moon. The coming and going of cold and summer, the withering of vegetation, agricultural harvests, and the reproduction of animals are all closely related to it. The development of agricultural and animal husbandry production requires an accurate grasp of the seasons, and there is an inevitable correlation between the cyclic changes in celestial phenomena and phenology. Seasonal and annual changes can be determined by observing celestial phenomena. Observation and timing are not only necessary for production, but also the earliest astronomical activity. There is an ancient legend recorded in the literature: "The decline of the Shaohao family led to the chaos of Jiuli's morality. ...Zhuanxu accepted it and ordered Nanzheng to supervise the sky to belong to the gods. He ordered Huozheng to Lisi and the earth to belong to the people. ... The latter three Miao obeyed the virtues of Jiuli, so the two officials were dismissed from their posts, and Meng Zuo died in the intervening years. Dian Zhi, and established the official position of Xihe. If the Ming Dynasty is upright, the yin and yang will be balanced, the wind and rain will be prosperous, and the people will not suffer from early diseases." ① This account says that there was a special official position of "Huozheng" in Zhuanxu's time, responsible for observing. The bright red star Antares is used to judge the seasons.

Later, due to clan wars, the observation was stopped. As a result, the seasons could not be controlled, causing great chaos. In the era of Emperor Yao, the official of "Huo Zheng" was restored, allowing him to be upright at all times, resulting in a situation of smooth weather and peaceful life. . The record of the ninth year of Duke Xiang in "Zuo Zhuan" confirms this legend: "Tao Tang's Huo Zhenglan Bo lived in Shangqiu and worshiped the fire, and the fire was sacrificed at the right time!" Tao Tang was Emperor Yao.

Yao not only restored the fire, but also appointed Xihe as an official, and ordered Xizhong, Xishu, Hezhong and Heshu to go to all directions to observe the sun, moon and stars to tell the farming season. "Shang Shu·Yao Dian" says: "The order is Xihe, the Qin is like Haotian, the calendar resembles the sun, moon and stars, and it is respectful to teach people the time. It is divided into Xizhong, Zhaiyi and Yanggu. Yinbin rises and the sun rises, Pingzhi In the east, the star bird in the sun is in the middle of the Yin Dynasty,... Deuteronomy Xishu, the house is in the south, Pingzhi is in the south, paying tribute to the sun and the sun, in the middle of the summer,... Valley, Yinxin Nari, Pingzhixi Cheng, the star is empty in the evening, it is Yin Zhongqiu,... Shen Minghe Shu, Zhai Shuofang,... The sun is short and the star is in the middle of winter,... There are six in the period of three hundred. There are six days in ten days, and the four o'clock is determined by the leap month. "Although "Yao Dian" was not written during the Yao period (scholars mostly believe that it was written at the beginning of the Warring States Period or earlier), it may record events from an earlier era. The four middle stars pointed out in this document mean that different stars reach the southern sky at dusk in different seasons. According to modern astronomy calculations, the era when the four stars Bird, Fire, Xu, and Pleiades arrived in the southern sky at dusk at the spring equinox, summer solstice, autumnal equinox, and winter solstice was about 2,000 BC, which is equivalent to the legendary Yao period. Therefore, the description in "Yao Dian" may be exactly the situation of observing time in ancient times.

As for the description of "there are six days in three hundred and sixty days, and the leap month is used to determine the four o'clock in the year", it further illustrates the germination of the calendar. The establishment of the concepts of year, month, and day is the basis for the creation of the calendar. The identification of 366 days in a year and the establishment of leap months to coordinate the relationship between seasons and equinoxes are major advances in astronomy. The oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin and Shang Dynasties already have names for twelve months, and there are also a large number of records of thirteen months. This is proof that "the leap month is used to determine the age of four o'clock". It can be inferred from the fragmentary records of oracle bone inscriptions that the calendar of the Yin Dynasty has reached a certain level. It generally records the day based on the stems and branches, the month based on the cycle of the moon's waxing and waning, and the year based on the cycle of cold and warm. There are 12 months in a year, and the months have different sizes. The big month has 30 days, the small month has 29 days, and there are 13 months in leap years. This tradition of combining the lunar and yang calendars has been passed down to this day and has become an important feature of my country's ancient calendar.

From the Yin and Zhou Dynasties to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, each vassal state used different calendars, including Xia, Yin, Zhou, Lu, and Huang

The difference lies in the year of the year, Huangdi, Zhou, In the Lu San calendar, the first month of the year (Zi month) is called Jianzi. In the Yin calendar, the first month of the year (Chou month) is called Jian Chou. In the Xia calendar, the first month (Yin month) is called Jian Yin. , this is the theory of "three righteousness". In addition, there is also the Zhuanxu calendar with Xiaoyue (Hai month) as the beginning of the year, called Jianhai. At present, due to lack of data, the details of these calendars are not clear yet.

The development of astronomy and calendar is based on astronomical observation. my country’s ancient astronomical observation records are recognized as the oldest and most systematic in the world. The book "Xia Xiaozheng" records the relationship between celestial phenomena and phenology by month. For example, "In the first month of the year,...the ginseng is in the middle of the first twilight, and the handle of the bucket is hanging down." "The moon,... the first dusk in the fire" and so on. Although the book was written relatively late, these celestial phenomena records faithfully reflect the celestial phenomena three or four thousand years ago. "He Guanzi" also records that "when the bucket handle points to the east, the world is spring; when the bucket handle points to the south, the world is summer; when the bucket handle points to the west, the world is autumn; when the bucket handle points to the north, the world is winter." This was three to four thousand years ago. The celestial phenomena before.

The oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin Ruins contain more records of celestial phenomena. From the records of solar and lunar eclipses from the 12th to the 14th century BC, the dates can now be roughly determined for four solar eclipses and five lunar eclipses. Undoubtedly the earliest in the world. Oracle records that a new star appeared near the fire was more than a thousand years earlier than the first new star (134 BC) recorded by Hipparchas (second century BC) in ancient Greece. There are a large number of Western Zhou lunar phase records in bronze inscriptions that are later than the oracle bone inscriptions, such as Chuji, Jishengba, Jiwang, Jideba, etc. Although there is still debate on whether their meaning refers to a certain day or a certain part of the month. But there is no doubt that it is related to the changes in the moon phases. The records of celestial phenomena in the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period are also reflected in the Book of Songs. The famous poem "Binfeng·July" records the relationship between celestial phenomena and phenology, as well as the calendar knowledge at that time; "Xiaoya·The Turn of October" The records of solar and lunar eclipses have aroused great interest among researchers. According to research by Chinese and foreign scholars, the solar eclipse of Xinmaoshuo in October and the immediately following lunar eclipse may have occurred on September 6 and August 776 BC. 21, but others think it was November 30 and December 15, 735 BC, because the previous solar eclipse passed within the Arctic Circle and could not be seen in the Yellow River Basin of China. The description of the stars in the "Book of Songs" includes the names of the ten constellations in the 28 nights, as well as the different names of Cowherd, Weaver Girl, Milky Way and Venus - Qiming and Changgeng.

There are 37 records of solar eclipses in the annals of the Spring and Autumn Period. Most of them are reliable and can be verified by modern calculations and provide reference for the study of the earth's rotation. In the 14th year of Lu Wengong (613 BC), the record of "a star entering the Beidou" is the earliest record of Halley's Comet. In the 7th year of Lu Zhuanggong (687 BC), "Xinmao night in April in summer, the star disappeared. "Stars fall like rain in the night." This is the earliest record of the Lyen meteor shower.

The famous astronomers Gan De and Shi Shen (first author Shi Shenfu) during the Warring States Period identified and observed a large number of stars, determined the positions of more than 120 stars, and compiled the world's earliest star catalog "Shi's Star Catalog". In 1978, the complete names of the 28 constellations were found on the relics of the Warring States Period (444 BC) unearthed in Suixian County, Hubei Province, and were connected to the Beidou image. These astronomical observation records and astronomical achievements have attracted worldwide attention.

At the same time that astronomy and astronomy emerged from primitive society, people also developed a primitive religious awareness of the sky and nature. After entering the slave society, religious thoughts and views on nature have undergone great changes. The worship of natural gods has been exploited by the slave-owning class. Personalized gods who dominate everything have emerged. The monarchs of the human world are also appointed by heaven. People's confusion about sky phenomena, especially the emergence of abnormal celestial phenomena, gave rise to astrology. This is why many ancient celestial records were entangled with astrological superstitions.

① Nanjing Museum: "Excavation Report on the Dadunzi Site in Sihu Town, Pi County, Jiangsu Province", "Acta Archeologica Sinica", Issue 2, 1964.

② "The Book of Songs·Daya·Gong Liu".

① "Historical Records·Almanac".

Section 3 Meteorology

Meteorology and astronomy were collectively referred to as astronomy in ancient my country. In fact, there is a difference between the two. Meteorological phenomena occur within the earth’s atmosphere, and are the research objects of astronomy. is outside the atmosphere. Meteorology is closely related to people's daily life and production activities. In order to survive, people went through the process of adapting to the natural climate, and developed from living in caves in the wild to living in camps. They opened the doors of their houses to the south, and sewed clothes with animal skins and leaves to resist the wind and cold. Although people continue to accumulate meteorological knowledge, they know nothing about its causes, which leads to the worship of natural gods. "The Classic of Mountains and Seas: Great Wilderness Northern Classic" mentions that the reason why the south is rainy is that the rain master Yinglong lives in the south, and the reason why the north is dry is because the goddess of drought lives in the north of Chishui (now the great desert north of the Hexi Corridor). The ancients believed that wind, cloud, thunder and hail had their own gods, each performing their own duties. The legendary "Hou Yi shot the sun" reflected people's good wishes to overcome drought and heat.

The oracle bones of the Yin Shang Dynasty preserved a large number of records of weather phenomena, with names such as clear, cloud, overcast, haze, fog, rainbow, neon, frost, snow, thunder, lightning, rain, wind, and hail. There are weather records for ten consecutive days in the oracles of the Wen Ding period in the 13th century BC. This is one of the earliest weather records in the world and the forerunner of later traditional weather records. There are different names for wind and rain in oracle bone inscriptions. Rain includes heavy rain, light rain, and Yao (silk) rain (drizzle). Wind includes small wind, strong wind, wind (sudden wind), and hurricane (violent wind). It can be said that the wind power and rainfall The beginning of the hierarchical concept.

A large number of records related to weather and phenological phenomena appeared during the Yin and Shang Dynasties, revealing the changes in ancient and modern climates on mainland my country. The phenological phenomena more than 2,000 years ago were more than a week earlier than today. There were many bamboos, mulberry trees, rice plants, and elephants growing in the Yellow River Basin at that time, indicating that the climate in the Yellow River Basin at that time was warmer and wetter than now. Ancient meteorological historical data can be used as a reference for many modern research projects, and therefore are receiving more and more attention.

During the observation and timing stage, in order to use phenological phenomena to judge seasons, we often pay attention to observing meteorological changes, which promotes the understanding of meteorological laws. The phenological phenomena listed by month in "Xia Xiaozheng" are also accompanied by meteorological conditions, such as "In the first month of the year... the fish are steeply exposed to the ice,... there is sometimes a back wind, and the cold sun washes away the frost", "In March,... the more "Small drought", "In April, there will be severe drought", "In July, there will be rain from time to time", etc. There are similar phenological descriptions in the "Book of Songs", "Yue Ling" and other works. With the deepening of observation, perceptual knowledge increased, and some proverbs for weather forecasting were formed. "The Book of Songs·阘风·蝃■" says: "When the sun rises in the morning, if you see a rainbow in the west, it will rain soon. This proverb is still spread among the people in our country. "Xiaoya: The Stone of Graduality" also records: "The moon is leaving at the end of the month, and the waves are pouring!" It is said that when the full moon enters Bisu, it is the rainy season of Mengqiu, with continuous autumn rain. This is a long-term forecast. "The moon is separated from the Ji wind and the sand is blown" recorded in "Gu Wei Shu" has a similar meaning, which means that when the full moon enters Ji Su, it will enter a windy spring with flying dust. "Xiaoya Xinnan Mountain" "Shangtiantong (Shangtiantong)" "Tong) clouds, rain, snow, fog" means that the clouds are dense and heavy snow is coming.

The understanding of meteorological laws makes people doubt the sovereignty of God, and then think about the causes and nature of storms, thunder and rain. "Zhuangzi Tianyun" questions the theory that the wind is generated by the breath of God, "The wind blows from the north, one to the west and one to the east, and there is a hesitation on the top, which one is the breath?" Who lives with nothing to do and wears clothes on his face? "It points out that the wind is whirling around and blowing from east to west. Who has nothing to do to blow it? Song Yu's "Feng Fu" said: "The wind is the breath of heaven and earth, and it comes freely." "Guan Yinzi·Erzhu" "Chapter 2 says: "The spontaneous generation of Qi is like wind from shaking a curtain. It is not the Qi of the wind when it is shaken." It is proposed that wind is Qi, and the flow of air generates wind. If there is no wind, it is still Qi. "The Theory of Yin and Yang Yingxiang" says: "The clear yang is the sky, the turbid yin is the earth, the earth's atmosphere is the clouds, the weather is the rain, the rain comes out of the earth's atmosphere, and the clouds come out of the weather. "The relationship between rain and clouds is dialectically described here using the concepts of yin and yang and mutual transformation. From a phenomenon point of view, rain falls from the sky, clouds rise from the earth, and rain is formed by clouds, so in essence, rain still comes from the earth. There is light Yang Qi rising underground, and turbid Yin Qi descending in the sky, transforming into clouds and rain.

"Zhuangzi" believes that "the conflict between yin and yang becomes thunder", and "Spring and Autumn Period·Yuan Mingbao" says: "the excitement of yin and yang becomes electricity". They both believe that thunder and lightning are a phenomenon generated by the conflict between yin and yang. There is a summary sentence in "Book of Rites of the Great Day: Zengzi Tianyuan": "The qi of yin and yang each follow its own place, and then it is calm. If it is biased, it will be wind, if it is combined, it will be thunder, if it is combined, it will be lightning, if it is chaotic, it will be fog, and if it is harmonious, it will be rain." When Yang Qi prevails, it disperses into rain and dew; when Yin Qi prevails, it condenses into frost and snow. When Yang Qi prevails, it condenses into hail; when Yin Qi prevails, it turns into sleet. "In the academic atmosphere of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a hundred schools of thought contended. , these accounts strive to explain weather phenomena from nature itself, and have a materialistic tendency.

4.