HEAVENLY SIGNS IN THE CHINESE PICTURE OF THE WORLD (A TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY OF A SECTION OF THE MONUMENT “YOU XUE QIONG LIN”)

The work is a translation with commentary of the section “Heavenly Signs” from the monument “You Xue Qiong Lin”, which has become a popular teaching tool, encyclopedia, and initial guide to China’s cultural world. In view of the lack of a translation into Russian, the author has undertaken to introduce it into scholarly circulation in the hope that it may be useful for solving research problems. Despite the fact that the work dates to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), it remains relevant in modern Chinese society as it still contributes to common cultural understanding in the Chinese world. An important role in this process is played by idioms from the work that have become part of the modern Chinese language.
This historical material reveals the Chinese idea of celestial space, its perception of celestial bodies and phenomena as well as how they are expressed in language. A picture with a complex composition made up of intertwined mythological, metaphysical and historical forms of vision emerges. In this regard, the sky, from the Chinese point of view, is not inaccessible, but tangible, not separated from the earth by some border, but only dialectically opposed to it, allowing people to determine whether the law of harmonious coexistence and development (the Dao) functions or not.