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1. Early Chinese Work on the Physics of Motion
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
- Chapter
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Early Chinese Work on the Physics ofModon 無動而不變,無時而不移. Zhuãng Zì' . Qiü Shuì' ((莊子﹒秋水》 (The Book of Master Zhuãng) The direct physical experience of man in his immediate environment is predominantly mechanical. Ever since the dawn of civilization, humanity has been fascinated by the phenomenon of motion. They not only studied it but made ingenious use of it. But not until the phenomenon of motion was analyzed in terms of its general features and its relationship to force did the study of motion begin to take shape as a branch of physical science known as mechanics. 1.1 The Conceptualizations of Space and Time T0 describe motion, it is necessary to have an understanding of space and time. The early Chinese conceptualization of space and time is best stated in the Mò lïng ((墨經)) (The Mòhist Canon) .1。可le have: 宇,彌異所也. 久,彌異時也. Space is that which extends to different positions. Time is that which extends to different moments. 11 10. The Mò-Jîng which contains two canon sections and two sections on canon exposition was compiled in the early -4th centu叮﹒ The canon section contains a number of Mò Zi's own teaching of the -5th century. The book, as we now have 祉, also contains the work oflater Mòhists down to the -3rd century. 11. The translations in this work are made in consultation with earlier translations whenever they are available. Every effort has been made to retain their original Z Early Chinese Work on the Physics ofMotion The space and time as defined by these statements are the general continuum space and continuum time extending without bounds. These concepts are theoretical abstractions of bounded space and finite time intervals. The Mòhists, Mò Jiã 墨家, were well aware of the fact that time cannot be perceived directly through our five senses. In the Mò~]ïng, it is stated: 知而不以五路,說在久. There are things that we know but cannot be perceived by the five paths (i.e. our five senses). An example is time. The Mòhists must have also deduced this concept of time from observations of changes. This is obvious from the word jiu 久 adopted to represent time, since it is a borrowed term which, according to the Shuδ~Wén]話~Zì ((說文解宇)) (Analytical Dictionary of Characters) of 121, means originally ‘blocking' and, in the course of time, took on the connotation ‘long duration' associated with the length of the blocking action. It was through such connections that the word was borrowed to represent the abstract concept of time. In the Mò~]ïng, we find also discussions on the concept of a point in space and an instant in time. As a specific example of an instant in time, the Mòhists considered the instant of onset by defining the term shz 始: 始,當時也. 始,時或有久,或無久,始當無久. The onset~instant is an instantaneous moment in time. Time sometimes has duration and sometimes not, the onset~instant has no duratíon. Here we see that the concept of an instant in time is visualized as an instantaneous moment ( dãng shí 當時) with no duration. Further insights on Mòhist interpretations of space and time can be found in the ‘exposition' section of the Mò~}ïng. We have the following elucidation of the definitions of space and time: 宇,東西家南北. 久,古今且莫. Space extends to the east, west, south and north [from] a jiã 家 (center) . Time extends to the past, the present, the moming and the evening. meaning and writing style. For the convenience of the reader, the Chinese writings are reproduced with their English translations, with supplied interpretations given in square brackets [ ] and explanations given in parentheses. The reader is urged to also consult translations by Joseph Needham and his collaborators in the Science and Civilisation in China. [3.238.142.134] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 14:24 GMT) TheConceptua1izations 01 Space and Time 3 Here space is illustrated in terms of directions and time in terms of durations. It is significant that the concept of direction is introduced in the exposition of space. The character jiã 家, adopted to represent the centre from which the directions are specified, means literally ‘home' and is defined only with respect to an individual and thus, its location can be arbitrarily chosen. This is indeed a remarkable anticipation of the concept of coordinates (see Fig. 1). 西 West (a) ~G North F金, Horne 南 South 東 East (b) 南 South 主 Up + τ Down 東 East Figure 1. An illustration of space as descríbed in (a) the ‘exposition' section of the Mò~]ïng > and (b) the Shï zr >. The Mòhist...