According to the theory, the heaven was higher in the north and lower in the south, revolving around a north-south axis. The east-west axis, vertical to the north-south one, was the heavenly equator. The plane to which the equator is tilted 24°was the ecliptic, and the sun moved along the plane.
The theory of sphere-heavens played an important part in the history of Chinese astronomy, exerting significant influence on the design and manufacture of ancient astronomic instruments, such as the armillary sphere, as well as on the explanation of relevant astronomic theories.
The Theory of Expounding Appearance in the Night Sky
As a legend goes, during theWarring States Period(475-221BC), a man from the Qi State, having known that the heaven was constituted of gas, in which the moon and stars floated, feared the heaven might collapse one day. Thinking that he would have nowhere to go by then, the man became deeply worried, and lost his appetite.
One of his friends brought him to a wise man that helped him to put the things in the right perspective by saying, "The sun, moon, and stars are also composed of gas. Even if they drop from the heaven, it would mean a collision between gas, and no harm will be caused."
In the previously two cosmic theories, the sun, the moon, and the stars all had a shell, meaning there was no reason for them to fall from the heaven. Later, however, the ancient people found the celestial bodies moved freely from one place to another at a fast or slow speed, and sometimes, they might not move at all, hence giving rise to the new theory of expounding appearance in the night sky.
The advocators claimed the heaven was composed of boundless gas with no shape. They said the reason that people felt themselves so small was that the heaven was too far away from earth. The celestial bodies floated in the gas with no support, following their own movement rules. The theory broke the boundary of heaven, exhibiting a boundless universe.
Author: Jessie
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