双语科技百科(天文) 第1期:万物起源
The Origi of Things
The Theory of Five Elements
五行说The anaent Chinese people tended to refer to supematural power for an explanation of any natural phenomena that they could not understand or control.
中国古代先民对于无法理解和控制的自然现象，归诸于主宰万物的超自然力。
Such supernatural power had different names in different periods in Chi-nese history,
此超自然力量在中国不同历史时期有不同的称呼，such as Shang di ( God) in the Shang Dynasty (1600BC～1046) and Tian ( Heaven);in the Zhou Dynasty (1046BC一 256 BC).
商代（前1600～前1046）叫“上帝”，周代（前1046～前256）起改为“天”，The Tian, Zi ( Emperor)therefore was designated by the heaven to govem the world.
而所谓的“天子”则受天之命来统治人间。The Theory of Vitality
精气说In the middle of the Warring States Period (475BC～221BC) , Song Xing and Yin Wen, two famous philosophers at that time,brought forward the theory of vital-ity, explaining the world with the tiny primitive substance of Yuan Qi (vitality).
战国（前475～前221）中期，宋钎、尹文两位哲学家提出“精气”学说，以无法直接感受的精微原始物质“元气”解释世界。Ac-cording to them, Yuan Qi, invisible and untouchable, existed everltwhere, and when combined, gave rise to all things in the world.
元气看不见、摸不着，但存在于任何地方，聚集起来即可成万物。The Theory of Chaos
浑沌阴阳说As early as in the Warring States Period, there already existed philosophers who beiieved the heaven and earlh came into being as a result of the mutual effects of Yin and Yan,g.
战国时期，认为天和地是在浑沌中阴阳作用而诞生的见解已经存在。The book Hu,ai Ahn Zi , written by Liu An and so on during the Western Han Dynasty(206BC— AD24 ),was the earliest to elaborate on the ori-gin and evolvement of the hecwen, earth, and celestial bodies.
而最早明确论述天地和日月星辰起源和演化的，应推溯至西汉（前206～公元24）时期淮南王刘安等人写成的《淮南子》。
