Clarity,
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This is not at all the same thing as merely getting a new idea about it. Concepts give us something new to think about; stories give us a new way to think, and that transforms our experience. There’s a reason why religions spring from stories not rulebooks, and why wise teachers tell parables.
The way to study the past is not to confine
oneself to mere knowledge of history but, through application of this
knowledge, to give actuality to the past. - Wilhelm commentary, hex. 26
...
The past treasures within the mountain are broader and deeper than the period of time and place that the Yijing was written. So are the parables of wise teachers.
The story is of King Wu, the ‘martial king’ of the Zhou: how at the garrison city of Feng, with his father Wen recently dead, he had to assume the military and spiritual leadership and determine whether he yet had Heaven’s Mandate to march on the Shang – or whether he should retreat into the three years of mourning required by tradition. He looked to the skies and received portents that justified his decision to march out. (Marshall thought the lines described a total solar eclipse, but in fact they speak of reading patterns of sunspots.)
"Sunspots are temporary phenomena on the photosphere of the Sun that appear visibly as dark spots compared to surrounding regions. They correspond to concentrations of magnetic field that inhibit convection and result in reduced surface temperature compared to the surrounding photosphere."
"Chinese astronomers recorded solar activity around 800 B.C. and astronomers in both China and Korea frequently observed sunspots."
[...] "This description of sunspots, and the earliest known drawing of sunspots, appears in John of Worcester’s Chronicle recorded in 1128.
On the night of 13 December 1128, astronomers in Songdo, Korea, witnessed a red vapour that “soared and filled the sky” from the northwest to the southwest. A delay of five days is the average delay between the occurrence of a large sunspot group near the center of the Sun – exactly as witnessed by John of Worcester – and the appearance of the aurora borealis in the night sky at relatively low latitudes. Chinese accounts state “there was a Black spot within the Sun” on March 22, 1129, which “died away” on April 14th. This may well have been one of the sunspots Worcester had observed 104 days earlier, on the other side of the world."
I understand, because of his background, Field's word is certainly to be taken here that the lines in 55 describe sunspots not eclipse. How do you think this difference between sunspots and eclipse ( as we have so far thought) changes interpretations of 55 in readings ? Maybe not so different just less dramatic ?
When I first read about this, I wondered about naked eye observation of sunspots. Could you see them, and wouldn't you go blind shortly afterwards if you did? The answer seems to be that you can observe them at dusk when the sun's low, and you can observe them through mist or dust, as for instance sandstorms (Field suggests one blowing in from the Gobi desert). They're also clearly visible with a simple camera obscura - a dark chamber with a small hole in one wall will project a clear inverted image on the opposite wall. Same principle as a pinhole camera, but on a larger scale. Goodness knows if these existed in Zhou times, but Mozi wrote about them. The lines refer to different kinds of screen or filter at Feng.Reading sunspots without filters would render the viewer blind in short order. Maybe there's a lesson there. Myths allow us to see the blinding light by observing the shadows.
Yes - and from chasing up the references in his bibliography. See the links in WikiWing!I'm also wondering (and surprised) about the sunspots vs. eclipse. Did that part come from Stephen Field's book? You said your post was based on the book, but I don't want to make assumptions that everything in it is from there...
I've never paid the slightest attention to sunspots...could they cause the sorts of things described in hexagram 55, darkness such that the stars can be seen at noon?
(Incidentally, even a total solar eclipse almost certainly doesn't make it dark enough to see any of the Dipper, and definitely not fainter stars like the Milky Way.)
When I first read about this, I wondered about naked eye observation of sunspots. Could you see them, and wouldn't you go blind shortly afterwards if you did? The answer seems to be that you can observe them at dusk when the sun's low, and you can observe them through mist or dust, as for instance sandstorms (Field suggests one blowing in from the Gobi desert). They're also clearly visible with a simple camera obscura - a dark chamber with a small hole in one wall will project a clear inverted image on the opposite wall. Same principle as a pinhole camera, but on a larger scale. Goodness knows if these existed in Zhou times, but Mozi wrote about them. The lines refer to different kinds of screen or filter at Feng.
Maybe part of the point in 55 is that only a skilled observer can read these signs and not be blinded.
Yes - Field and his sources, Pankenier and other scholars with redoubtable backgrounds. Much as it would simplify my life to keep the eclipse, I don't think we can.
...
Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).