氣를 통해 하늘을 보다: 동아시아 전통 천문학에서 기의 역할

Abstract

Although science is often seen as the pursuit of universal knowledge, it also has different aspects depending on the view of nature which has become its background. Such aspects can also be found in astronomy, which is a field of science that was developed earliest in ancient civilization. The traditional astronomy in East Asia has developed very differently from that of the Western world, and in its background there is view of nature inherent to East Asia. This paper aims to examine how qi 氣, which is the core concept of the view of nature in East Asia, was reflected concretely in the traditional astronomy in the region. Ancient people in East Asia considered that qi was born first after the cosmos came into being. Afterwards, qi played an important role in forming the myriad things including heaven, earth, and human. In this case, diverse celestial structure theories were presented depending on how the heavens and the earth were established. In the belief that since humans and the natural world were made up of qi, it followed that they influenced one another and the movements and changes in various celestial bodies in the heavens directly influenced humans. Thus the astronomical work that carefully examined the celestial bodies with great interest was considered very important, and the astronomical system, which was interpreted in connection with human conditions, was established. The qi played an important role in the unique form of astronomy in East Asia.