Re-Discussion on the Philosophical Concept of “Number” and the Mathematical Principles of Early Chinese Cosmology

Abstract

In early China, the concept of “number” was often linked with cosmology and the view of time and space, embodying profound philosophical implications. The Qin bamboo-slip text “Lu Jiuci Asks Chen Qi about Numbers” posits that “all things under Heaven involve numbers,” substantiating the perspective that “all things have numbers.” This idea resonates with the notion that “the number is the origin of all things,” illustrating the universality of numbers. Both “Harmony and Measurements” of Records of the Historian and “Treatise on the Pitch-Pipes and Calendar” of History of the Former Han recognize the philosophical existence of “number.” The statement “Heaven is three and Earth is four” (or “Yang is three and Yin is four”) represents the mathematical principles of the Theory of Canopy-Heaven, rooted in the concept that “the circle is derived from the square” as articulated in Mathematical Classic of the Zhou Gnomon. The mathematical principles of the Theory of Sphere-Heaven are demonstrated through the division of a day into 81 sections inspired by the capacity of a standard Huangzhong pitch pipe, which is one yue, approximately 810 fen, and by the centrality of the numbers five and six. The ancients sought to unify all mathematical principles, identifying the “numbers of Heaven and Earth” as the foundation of numbers. Early Chinese cosmology highlighted the philosophical concept of “number,” as exemplified in notions such as “Dao gives birth to the One” and “The One gives birth to the Two,” while underscoring the profound implications of the numeral “one.”

Keywords

number / cosmology / the numbers of Heaven and Earth / Qin bamboo-slip text / Chen Qi

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Higher Education Press