Space-time Idea Contained In the Mysterious Figure

Of Primitive Era

Zhang Yu-kun, Professor, Doctorial Tutor

Li He-nan, Doctor

Li zheng, Doctor

School of Architecture, Tianjin University, China. damen8888@eyou.com

Abstract: The primitive mankind lives in concrete world, which is good at classifying but lack of the abstract concept. Therefore, the position of the body, or the frame of space-time usually expresses the figure in primitive era. Trace back to origin of the mysterious figure from the representation, we can find the figure concept of primitive era is not that a kind of independent thinking exists, but developing with understanding of time and space. In the primitive era, thinking of the figure, time and space can be seen as a whole. At the same time, the pictograph characteristic of Chinese words makes the space-time idea in the mysterious figure be kept maximally.

Through the textual criticism of the primitive pictograph correctly, this paper reveal the corresponding relation of primitive figure and the two-dimensional, three- dimensional space position and explain the course from odd to even in the Several lines of space, equal to the replacement and variability between entity to space. Thus it is a developing route of figure different from the decimal system on a pair of hands. The developing in harmony of human understanding of figure, time and space indicates the thinking evolution course of the mankind from chaos state to distinct state.

Key word: primitive figure, space-time ideal, space position, several lines of space

The figure is a kind of achievement, which indicates the human thinking developing into specific stage. In primitive era, mankind makes the worldview specify and through pictograph, so the pictograph figure has mysterious symbolic meaning. That thinking of the figure, time and space can be seen as a whole, which kind of thinking mode has important meanings to the development of the traditional architecture and inhabiting space in China.

First, space-time frame of the primitive figure

The modern children in two or three years old with normal development can already count on one's fingers basically, but in primitive era, the person who can count on one's fingers like modern children is probably an elite very much. Few people of Original inhabitant in Australia can discern figure 4. Bushman in South Africa can understand no other figures, except 1,2 and "large ".

Therefore, people often thought the primitive man really failed to have the consciousness of figure. Actually this is not so, the primitive man lives in concrete world, is good at classifying but lack of the abstract concept. The people of archipelago in Australia often count through the position of health, from the small finger of left hand, then turn into every finger, wrist, elbow, armpit, shoulder, upper collarbone, chest, and then turn to the end of small finger of right hand in opposite direction, by this way, they can count to 21. Then count to another 10 with the toe, adding up can count to 31. This kind of counting method has no a real number, but it is a kind of method that every part of body can be in accord with number to help memory.

The formulation of the abstract figure concept is very difficult. If mankind is lacking of abstract ability, figure can operation independently in brain except supporting by the external frame. In the thinking of primitive human, the body is seen as the most convenient way of counting and one of the external frame that the figure draws support from. However, the body isn’t the absolute frame certainty. Primitive mankind have a pair of hand as modern people, they should count from1 to 5 with one hand, then count from 5 to 10 with another hand easily, however to a lot of primitive mankind it is a great difficult to count more than 4 or 7.

Ernst Cassirer believes that mythology is the behavior formed basically in human thinking. On the basis of this kind of understanding, he investigates the relation of space intuition, time intuition and figure intuition. He recognizes the fact that space can be divided the south, the north, the east, the west, the upward, the downward and the middle and every direction has certain meanings.

The frame of space develops the meaning of time developed in parallel. At the beginning, time concept has not obvious difference from space concept. Some concrete intuitions, such as the light and dark, the daytime and nighttime, produced the foundation of the intuition of the primitive space intuition and primitive time at the same time. The division about direction and region on the space is parallel to the division about stage in the time：the sun walks at sky, which not only divide the north, south, east and west, but also divide day and night.

When people have grasped the law of space-time variation, the figure is being enclosed in the concrete and emotional space-time frame. Even in more advanced civilization, the figure concept has not broken away from the space-time frame. Two sacred figures in Rocky are 4 and 7, then figure 4 can be relate to east, north, west and south position and figure 7 still include upward, downward and middle. In the incantation of Rocky, the color belongs to each position. The East, the South, the West and the North are equivalent to red, white, black and blue respectively. Each kind of color has its symbolic meaning too, red specification strength, white specification peace, black specification death and blue specification fails.

In the primitive era, there are the pictures about Green Dragon, white Tiger, red bird and black in the grave of China. If we compare China's Square idea with American Indian's square idea, we can find out the similarity of the two ideas.

China's Square idea	American Indian's square idea
east - spring - blue- blue dragon	east - spring - red- butterfly
south - summer - red - red bird	south- summer- white - bear
west - autumn - white - white tiger	west - autumn- black- deer
north- winter - black –black tortoise and snake	north - winter- blue - beaver

Second, space-time idea contain in the mysterious figure idea

Trace back to its origin from the representation of the mysterious figure, we can find the figure concept of primitive era is not that a kind of independent thinking exists, but to develop with understanding of time and space and form integrative thinking. At the same time, the pictograph characteristic of Chinese words makes the space-time idea in the mysterious figure is kept maximally, not only express the meaning of the mysterious figure on representation, but also play an important pole in spread.

（1） Level two-dimensional space figure

The human consciousness of space position has gone through the long development course from two-position space to four-position space. At first, through observation to the running orbit of the sun, the mankind has known the east position of the sunrise and the west position of sunsets. However, the running direction of the sun is not always from east to west, but to pass three positions include the east, the south and the west in one year, according to the replacement of season. When the mankind observed the running orbit of the sun as to this kind of degree, four-position space consciousness developed gradually and replaced two-position space consciousness.

The primitive form of " four " is include the scope of the cross and square, which are closely related to observation the position. Until the Middle Ages in Europe, the cross faith of Christianity is still keeping its primitive symbolic meaning, namely regard every end of the cross as the sign of all directions separately.

From city to building, the traditional buildings of China often develop according to central axis and form the structure of symmetrical cross overall arrangement. If realize this phenomenon in terms of space position, we can think the cross structure of the building is the materialization to the space position of universe. That the structure position of building is identical to space position of the universe is useful to observe the position of sunrise and sunset, and then distinguish the position and moment. Due to lack of instrument in Ancient mankind, it is important to grasp the moment to cultivate and reap through observing the running orbit of the sun. Subsequence, cross structure of the building is not only an abstract two-dimensional space position concept, but also a kind of culture gradually.

Have defined the original meaning of figure four is all sides, then the original meaning of figure eight is very easy to explain. "Eight position" is a concept include southeast, southwest , northwest , northeast except "four position". In the pottery and spin wheel of primitive era, archaeologist find an octagonal pattern of structure in the center symmetrical, which is called as" octagonal-star pattern " and seen as the model of the "eight position" concept. (Fig. 1)

In studying from " east, south, west, north " word shape of inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells, we can’t find out that there is any connection between " octagonal-star pattern " and the space position, but other words, such as " mound "," third " and the symbol of sunrise and sunset, can prove that the pattern is exactly the position symbol.

In inscription on bones or tortoise shells, "mound" can be expressed in“”—the top of "Octagonal-star pattern". As the saying goes that" the human settlements are in the south of the mound " means that people regard one's own residence as center and " mound " as north. Similarly, " third", which is regarded as south , can be expressed in“”—the bottom of "Octagonal-star pattern". The symbol of sunrise and sunset can be expressed in“”,which is exactly both ends of the " octagonal-star design pattern". So expressing " mounds " of the north, " third " of the south, the symbol of sunset and sunrise make up one a whole one together " ".

"Octagonal-star design pattern" can be seen a primitive compass, which prove that mankind has already understood the accurate position of all directions as far as 6000 years before. Just as the symbol is so important, people use it on the pottery and spin wheel as decorate.

（2）Three-dimensional space figure

In primitive space consciousness, there are only four two-dimensional space positions, east, west, south and north at first, and added two space positions in the heaven and ground, which had just formed the space idea with three-dimensional space positions. "The figure of the space position might not be 4. In North American tribe, the number may be 5 (include zenith), 6 (include nadir), even 7 (include the position that person account for) ". In China's ancient books, " six " is another universe figure to express the space position except " four ".

" six " have the following several literary style of inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells: 。Then “宀”,which is a kind of symbols to make up Chinese’s words, have the following several literary style of inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells: 。to our surprise, a lot of words include“宀”are related with building, such as room , residence , house , space and so on.

Though " six " is the same as literary style of ancient body of "宀", no one has cleared up" six " as building construction. In the purpose to prove word" six " originate from house, we can compare the house section in the primitive with the literary style of "宀" and " six ", then find out the corresponding relation between the figure and space. (Fig. 2)

Fig.1 Octagonal-star pattern Fig.2 compare section of building to figure

“six” and symbol "宀"

In a word, the universe idea of Chinese is come from the residence, half a cave of a square. Intuition of Space and figure generate from the human body, construct to the building and spread to the universe. As to this, the anthropologist has made the following conclusion, "In the initial stage of mythical thinking, micro-universe and macro- universe would be explained like it, every part of world form the person, rather than every part of form the world ". Through the analysis on shape of figure in the primitive era, we can be clear of the corresponding relation between figures and space position.

（3）Space several lines of graphic presentation

From the study on the relation between figure and space, we can find 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 is the two-dimensional figure, 6, 7 turn into the three-dimensional figure, 8 go back to two-dimensional figure again ,9 is a two-dimensional figure adding a centre on the basis of 8, and 10 is a three-dimensional figure, divided into two sides from centre, through proving and infering briefly, several rooms less than 10 can be displayed by the following graphic presentation. ( Fig. 3)

Fig3. space several lines of graphic presentation less than 10

Here, we might as well call the even number to space figure, because their space is all vacancies, and call the odd number to entity figure, because their centre is all occupied. The variation from odd number to even number is to say the constant changing from entity to space. Human body, as figure" 1 ", implicit all ten number, or more numbers. No matter come from center to left or right, front or back and upward or downward, object 1 can generate object 2, and the end space of object 2 can be seen as another a whole space. Similarly, other space figures can generate the entity more than it only1, and the centre of the entity, as an initial 1, divide from centre to any two direction, so the entity number transform the space number again.

It is that a kind of totally different the decimal system develops the route with the decimal of a pair of hands or the vicenary system of a pair of hands and two feet to be said above. This kind of development route is not to conjecture subjectively, because some materials of anthropology and philology do the basis, but except ancient Chinese and American Indian develop according to relations of such space and figure summation, the other countries or the area can't be sure of doing so.The phenomenon, “permeation each other” between space-time and figure, must have influenced on the development of thinking of idea to prehistoric mankind deeply, but not mysterious. That developing in harmony of human understanding of time, space and figure takes marking the process of thinking evolution to the mankind from chaos state to distinct space-time and figure.

Explanatory Notes:

[1]Ye shu-xian, Tian da-xian, China's Ancient Mysterious Figure, the publishing house of Social Scientific Literature, the second edition of March of 1998, page 1.

[2]According to《Explication of China’s Words》:" Third, the south of the location ". Can know " Third " expresses in the South.

[3]Shao-hua, Chinese Ancestor Opens Up Virgin Soil in America, People's Press of the province of Heilongjiang, October of 1992, page 169.

[4]Yu sheng-wu, Historical Relic, the second issue in 1973, quote from Qing guang-shen, the New Origin Statement of “Bagua”, the publishing house of Hunan Normal University, January of 1993, page 205.

List of References:

[1] Ye shu-xian, Tian da-xian, China's Ancient Mysterious Figure, the publishing house of Social Scientific Literature, the second edition of March of 1998.

[2]〖France〗Levy Bruhl, Primitive Thinking, translated by Ding you, Commercial Press, November of 1986.

[3]〖Germany〗Ernst Cassirer, Mythical Thinking, translated by Huang long-bao and Zhou zhen-xuan, the publishing house of Social Science of China, March of 1992.

[4] Lin yao-hua edits, the History of Primitive Society, Chinese Press, August of 1984.