..续本文上一页re matter, and can be transmitted through empty space. He negated the existence of ether. He also proved that there are areas where Newtonian physics cannot be successfully applied. The validity of the theory of relativity suggests that absolute vacuum does not exist.

　　中国春秋战国以前(公元前七七六以前)，在西周时就以壶漏测时，以圭表测 影，以定方向、定节气，人们对宇宙万物本源，作了最初的探索。提出了「五行」说，认为宇宙万物是由「金、木、水、火、土」五种基本元素构成的；

　　Prior to the Warring States era and the Spring and Autumn period in China, during the Western Zhou dynasty before 776 b.c., time was measured using a leaking vessel. In order to determine the wind”s direction and the twenty-four periods of the lunar year the Chinese used a sundial, measuring the shadow cast by a jade tablet with a square base and a pointed top. These instruments are examples of some of the early methods of investigation people used in order to penetrate the origin and source of the myriad things in the universe. Also in China, the theory of the five elements was proposed, suggesting that the myriad things in the universe were formed from the five basic elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth.

　　提出了「阴 阳」说，以阴与阳的矛盾运动解释种种自然现象；还有八卦说，以线段「－」和「－」来表示阴阳，每三个一组，组成基本符号，各代表一定属性的事物(如「¡ 」代表水)，即八卦，又以它们的排列组合形成64卦，384爻，以此解释自然现象的千变万化。

　　The theory of yin and yang was also formulated in China. This theory used the contradicting and opposing motion of yin and yang to explain all kinds of phenomena and events in nature. A theory concerning the hexagrams of the Yi Jing (Book of Changes) was also formulated. The broken and unbroken lines in these symbols denote yin and yang. In groups of three, the lines form trigrams, basic symbols that represent the occurrence of specific events. For example ( ) represents water. The combinations and permutations together give a total of sixty-four gua (hexagrams) and three hundred and eighty-four yao (the inpidual lines in the hexagrams) which are used to explain the ever-changing phenomena in nature.

　　管子在《管子水地篇》中说，水是万物统一的本源。公元前四世纪的宋钘和尹文 提出宇宙万物－于「气」的学说。在中国以后的历史时期，「元气」说有了发展。

　　In the Water and Earth Chapter of Guan Zhi”s treatise it is said that water unites the source of myriad things. (Guan Zhi was also known as Guan Zhong, (d. 644 b.c.), the prime minister of the state of Qi during the Spring and Autumn period.) In the fourth century b.c., Song Yan and Yin Wen proposed the theory of energy (in Chinese, qi), which stated that energy unites the myriad things in the universe. This theory had its impact on the development of the theory of primal energy that was developed later in China.

　　墨翟所著《墨经》，记载了时空观念和机械运动《经上》分别用「弥异时」、 「弥异所」来定义时间和空间，即综合具体的「时」与「所」，形成「时间」(久)与「空间」(宇)的观念，墨子认为「运动」，就是物体位置迁移；「静止」 (止)就是物体在某处停留有一定的时间。由于有了类似于「瞬时」(无久)的观念，因此对运动的分析比较深刻，他阐明了物体运动，时间有密切联系。《墨经》 中还有原始的元素论与物质不灭的朴素思想。

　　In the book Mo Jing by Mo Zi, the concepts of time and space as well as a dynamic of mechanics were recorded, in which time and space were defined as “mi dao time” and “mi dao place.” Thus a definite time and place were synthesized, and the concepts of time (jiu) and space (zhou) were formulated. Mo Zi was of the opinion that motion refers to a change in the positions of objects, while stillness (zhi) refers to objects remaining stationary at a certain position for a certain period of time. Mo Zi carried his in-depth analysis on motion further in discussing the concept of “an instant” (wu jiu) He explained that there is an intimate relationship between the motion and time of objects. In Mo Jing, Mo Zi also suggests that matter cannot be destroyed. An early version of the theory of elements was also proposed here.

　　亚里士多德，古希腊哲学家「形式逻辑」的创始人(公元前三八四至前三二二 年)，他主张物质空间与时间的联续性，反对存在「真空」的观点；他认为感性知觉通过理性活动，可以一下子到达普通抽象的顶点。他列举出物质的运动变化有 「四因」：形式因、目的因、原料因和动力因。一切物体都具有某种天赋的目的或「自然的本性」，天体永围地球这一宇宙中心作匀速圆周运动，组成地上物体四种 基本元素(水、火、气、土)，「趋向于自己特有的空间」，具有寻找自己「天然处所」并停留在那里的本性，从而形成重者向下，轻者向上的「天然运动」(因本 性运动)。

　　The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 b.c.), the founder of formalistic logic, suggested the continuity of space and time for matter. He disagreed with the concept of vacuum and postulated that through intellectual reasoning and activity sense perception can reach the peak of ordinary abstract ideas. Four factors that influence changes in the motion of physical bodies are: the apparent cause, the teleological cause, material, and momentum. All matter is endowed with a certain aim or “natural substance” Heavenly bodies constantly orbit around the earth at constant velocities (earth being the center of the Aristotelian universe) and form the four basic elements of water, fire, air, and earth, which contitute all matter on earth. Inclining towards or converging at a specific space belonging to it, matter finds its state of equilibrium and tends to dwell at that location. Thus according to their natural motion, heavy substances sink and light ones rise; this motion is due to their inherent nature.

　　俄国化学家门捷列夫，最早比较完整的于一八六九至一八七一年，根据「元素周 期表」六十三种元素的原子量顺序排列的表中，他还预言了三个空位所代表的，尚未发现的元素的性质，这些元素分别是类铝(镓)类硅(锗)，不久它们都先后发 现了，测得化学与物理性质和门捷列夫预言的基本一致，现已由人工合成了108和109号元素。

　　Between 1869 and 1871, the Russian chemist Dmitri I. Mendeleyev was the first one to comprehensively arrange the periodic table. Based on the ascending order of the atomic numbers of the sixty-three elements, he predicted the properties of three undiscovered elements. These elements were isotopes of aluminum and curium, which were discovered later. The actual measured chemical and physical properties basically agree with Mendeleyev”s prediction. They have been artifficially fused together as element 108 and element 109.

《试论绝对的真理 Discussions on the Absolute Truth》全文阅读结束。