The Notions of Numbers in Traditional Chinese Metaphysics and It’s Impact

Title

The Notions of Numbers in Traditional Chinese Metaphysics and It’s Impact

Author

Kat-Hung CHENG

Page

137-174

DOI

Abstract

　　The impact of the notions of numbers existed as a variety of forms in different schools and different texts in Chinese intellectual history. The numbers in the ancient divination recorded in the Yijing (The Book of Changes) may be the earliest origin. During the Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn) period, different schools of thought manipulated numbers to construct their cosmological order. Every being and substances were classified into categories and tagged with different numbers. At the late of the Warring State period, the notion of numbers merge into the “yinyang wuxing” theory (theory of the negative and positive power and the five phases) and were correspond with directions, seasons, colors and so forth.
　　In the Han period, mysticism arose and the notions of numbers turned to become even more complicated. The “gua-qi” thought (the natural order of the 64 hexagram corresponding to the 24 solar terms and 365.25 days) expanded the scope of the number system. Philosophers started to interpret the life length of the universe and the globe. Later when Buddhism was introduced into China, the idea of “emptiness” imposed great impact to Chinese philosophers who had been claiming the ultimate meaning of being. To respond to the idea of “emptiness”, Confucian philosophers of the Song period started to readjust their notions of numbers. On the one hand, they continued to classified every being within time and space and everything is countable, on the other they claimed that the classified universe is immense and uncountable. Some of them, like the great philosopher Shao Yong, absorbed the theory of the Han philosophers and derived a new theory of universal calendar.

Keyword

metaphysics, numbers, intellectual history, direction, Confucianism

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