Portrait of Zhang Heng
First, Zhang Heng's life
Zhang Heng (78–139), courtesy name Pingzi, a native of Xi'e, Nanyang Commandery (present-day Shiqiao Town, Nanyang, Henan), was a great astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, writer, and famous scholar of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He successively served as The Prince of Taishi ling and the king of Hejian. It has made indelible contributions to the development of astronomy, mechanical technology and seismology in China, and has also made brilliant achievements in literature. Because of his outstanding contribution, the United Nations Astronomical Organization named asteroid 1802 in the solar system "Zhang Hengxing".
Zhang Heng was from a prominent family, and his father served as the Taishou of Shu Commandery (蜀郡, in modern Chengdu, Sichuan). Zhang Heng has been eager to learn since childhood, and began to study abroad very early. After completing his study tour in the Sanfu area, he came to the capital Luoyang and entered the highest school at that time, Taixue. In Taixue, Zhang Heng systematically studied the Confucian classics, known as the "Six Arts". Although Zhang Heng is talented, he is not good at showing off himself, especially not making friends with worldly people. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the learning style was relatively free, and the students' learning life was also very relaxed. In Taixue, Zhang Heng made extensive friends with outstanding scholars gathered in Luoyang, laying a broad foundation for his later academic research. It was in Luoyang's Taixue that Zhang Heng and Cui Yan became close friends. Cui Is a student of the famous scholar Jia Kui and is also proficient in the study of astronomical calendars. Zhang Heng was particularly fond of Yang Xiong's Taixuan of the Western Han Dynasty, and he once expressed his appreciation for Taixuan to Cui Yan.
Although Zhang Heng was outstanding in learning, he did not easily become a master. After completing his Taixue studies, in the twelfth year (100) of the Han and Emperor Yongyuan, Zhang Heng returned to his hometown of Nanyang (present-day Nanyang, Henan) to serve as the chief bookkeeper of Nanyang Taishou Baode, responsible for some clerical work. After Balder left office, Zhang Heng returned to his hometown and immersed himself in the study of astronomical calendars and other aspects. He repeatedly refused to be called by the imperial court, and it was not until the fifth year of Yongchu (111) that he entered the capital at the request of Emperor An of Han and worshiped as Langzhong. In the second year of the first century (115), Zhang Heng was appointed Taishi Ling, later transferred at one time, and finally appointed as Taishi Ling. Zhang Heng served as Taishi Ling for fourteen years, responsible for the formulation of the astronomical calendar and the observation of celestial phenomena. Many of Zhang Heng's important scientific achievements were accomplished during this period.
In the second year of emperor Yang Jia of Han shun (133), Zhang Heng was appointed as a servant, a position that could be closer to the emperor. Zhang Heng took advantage of his frequent approach to the emperor and often made some suggestions to Emperor Shun of Han. For example, Zhang Heng repeatedly pointed out its falsehood to the more popular Wei Wei during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Zhang Heng wrote to the emperor that It was not an ancient book, and it was gradually spread after the Han Cheng Emperor and the Han Lai Emperor at the end of the Western Han Dynasty. These absurd things, such as "painting, evil and ghostly, honesty is difficult to form, and hypocrisy is not endless." (Book of the Later Han Dynasty, p. 1912) Once the emperor asked Zhang Heng what was the scourge of the people today. The eunuchs at the emperor's side quickly made eyes at Zhang Heng and threatened Him Heng. Zhang Heng was photographed by their obscenity and did not dare to speak freely. Even so, the eunuchs were still uneasy about Zhang Heng staying with the emperor, so under their supervision, Zhang Heng was transferred out of Luoyang to serve as the minister of Liu Zheng, the king of Hejian. Liu Zheng, the king of Hejian, was arrogant and lawless, and the powerful clans in the feudal country often violated the law and discipline and oppressed the good. After Zhang Heng took office, he straightened out the law and discipline, cracked down on the strong and powerful, and the people's lives gradually became peaceful. Three years later, Zhang Heng requested retirement, but the imperial court recruited him to Luoyang to serve as Shangshu. Shangshu's rank was lower than that of The River King, but closer to the center of power. It is likely that the imperial court intended to further appoint Zhang Heng, but soon after, Zhang Heng died of illness in the fourth year of Yonghe (139) at the age of sixty-two.
Zhang Heng's tomb is located 25 kilometers north of Nanyang City, Henan Province, 20 meters west of Shiqiao Town, South Xiaoshiqiao Village, about 250 meters north of the tomb, there is a Pingzi reading platform, the ancient Erhe River Old Road spans its north, and the Echeng Temple Pagoda stands to its east. According to relevant historical records, the han dynasty cemetery was built magnificently, with Weng Zhong and stone beasts opposing each other, and the ancestral temple was magnificent. In the Han Dynasty, Cui Yan once had a zhang pingzi stele, and Xiahou Zhan of the Jin Dynasty also wrote a stele for it, and the Tang Dynasty poets Luo Binwang, Zheng Gu and others once left poems for Zhang Heng here. After the war, the past victories were gone. In 1956, the Zhang Heng Cemetery and the Pingzi Reading Desk were rebuilt. The cemetery covers an area of more than 12,000 square meters, and the burial chamber is 8 meters high and has a circumference of 79 meters. Pines are planted around the tall tombs. The Ming and Qing stone stele in front of the tomb was covered with a stele. And a monument in front of the tomb. The site of the reading platform on the north side of the tomb was also rebuilt.
II. Zhang Heng's "Lingxian"
Zhang Heng's theory of astronomy is mainly embodied in his book Lingxian . The Lingxian is also a reflection of the level of development of astronomy in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The original book of Lingxian has been scattered, but mainly because it was quoted by Liu Zhaozhu in the Book of Later Han and Astronomical Records.
In Lingxian, Zhang Heng systematically and comprehensively expounded his astronomical views. Regarding the origin of the universe, the Lingxian believes that the universe was originally an invisible and colorless essence, quiet and lonely, which contained "Dao root". Later, in the taisu stage, Daogen was launched, resulting in the "Daogan". After having the Dao gan, the Yuan Qi began to differentiate and began to form heaven and earth. He believed that the qi is turbid, and the pure one is heaven on the outside, and the turbid one is the earth on the inside. After having heaven and earth, it enters the stage of Taiyuan. In this stage, the "Dao Reality" is biochemically produced by the Dao Gan. Dao Shi biochemically produces an infinite number of things. Although Zhang Heng tried to reveal the formation process of the universe, he also emphasized that the scope of human cognition is very limited, and the universe outside this range has no starting point of time and the boundary of space, "the surface of the universe is infinite, and the end of the universe is infinite." (Book of the Later Han Dynasty, p. 3216)
In Lingxian, Zhang Heng imagines heaven as an ellipsoid: "The dimension of the eight poles, with a diameter of 232,300 miles." North and south are shorter than a thousand miles, and east and west are increased by thousands of miles. ...... If you pass through it, you will be muddy. "There is an arctic in the sky, and the pivot star is right in this position. The sun, the moon, and the five stars all revolve around it. There is also an Antarctic in the sky, which is underground and invisible to man. The surface of the earth as seen by the human eye is flat, in the middle of heaven, "from the earth to the heavens, half to the eight poles, then the depth of the earth is also the same." (Book of the Later Han Dynasty, p. 3216) In his mind, the heavens and the earth were still the pattern of "heaven and earth level.")
Zhang Heng believes that the heavens and the earth are still, the heavens and the earth are united, and everything happens because of this. The movement of heaven and earth has also prompted the change of the four seasons. And the whole heavenly court corresponds to the earth. In particular, the stars are born of the essence, "the body is born of the goblins, and it becomes in the heavens." (Book of the Later Han Dynasty, p. 3216) The arrangement of the stars in the sky is also orderly, "The Purple Palace is the residence of the Emperor," Taiwei is the court of the Five Emperors, the room of the Ming Hall, the big horn has a seat, and the heavenly city has a seat. The dragon is curled up on the left, the white tiger is fiercely on the right, the suzaku is in the front, the spirit turtle circle is in the back, and the yellow god Xuanyuan is in the middle." They symbolize everything in the world.
Zhang Heng conducted a study of the sun, moon and stars in the Lingxian. Zhang Heng proposed that the angular diameter of the sun and moon is "one-hundred-thirty-sixth" of the day of the week, which is converted into a modern angular unit, that is, 29 ′21", which is only about 2′ compared with the average angular diameter values of the sun and the moon obtained by modern astronomical measurements of 31′59" and 31′5". In terms of the observation conditions of two thousand years ago, Zhang Heng's measurements can be so accurate, which is indeed valuable. Before Zhang Heng, people had studied solar and lunar eclipses, but there was no clear explanation for the causes of lunar eclipses. Zhang Heng first pointed out that the moon itself does not emit light, the lack of the moon is due to the rotation of its light surface, and the lunar eclipse is due to the obscuration of the earth. He also gave the shadow of the earth a name called "Min Void". He said, "The moon is born of the light of the sun; the light is born of the sun." The day is bright, and the sun is light. The stars are illuminated by the water. The rush of the day, the light is often incompatible, hidden in the earth, is false. In the stars micro, the moon eclipses. (Book of the Later Han Dynasty, p. 3216)
Zhang Heng believes that the changes in the stars in the sky indicate the misfortunes of the world, the Big Dipper indicates the fortunes of the emperor, and the twenty-eight stars scattered in all directions are all related to the blessings and misfortunes of the world, and are all manifestations of the will of the heavens. He believes that the stars in the sky are "twenty-four in a hundred, three hundred and twenty in the name, and two thousand five hundred in stars." (Book of the Later Han Dynasty, p. 3217) In addition, there are eleven thousand five hundred and twenty "micro stars" in the sky that no one can see. This number is of course Zhang Heng's speculation, he believes that these "MSI" symbolize all sentient beings in the world.
Zhang Heng believes that the star bucket in the sky also has a life cycle, and when the star bucket is in its vigorous period of life, "it is like a pearl and jade, the god keeps the essence, and the beautiful duty is proclaimed." And when the essence of the Star Dou was exhausted and died, "then there was a meteorite." (Book of the Later Han Dynasty, p. 3217) These meteorites eventually fell to the ground and became stones. Of course, Zhang Heng's statements are not scientific, but under the conditions at that time, he was able to explain the meteorite phenomenon more reasonably. Moreover, Zhang Heng's conjecture about the period of the stars also has similarities with the theories of contemporary astronomical science.
Zhang Heng believes that the five stars of the sun and moon do not move on a sphere shell, they run between heaven and earth, and the speed is different, near the earth is fast, far is slow, correspondingly near the sky is fast, far sky is slow. He also divided the five stars of the sun and moon into two categories, one attached to the moon, which is yin, including Mercury and Venus, and appears at dusk. Another type, attached to the sun, is yang, including Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and appears in the early morning. Leaving aside the yin, yang, sun and moon, Mercury and Venus are both inland planets, and Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are all outside the Earth, and Zhang Heng's classification has a certain truth.
There are still many deficiencies in the Lingxian and are also greatly influenced by astrology, of course, which is due to the limitations of the times. In short, although the Lingxian has some shortcomings, its significance in the history of astronomy cannot be erased, and the important achievements of the Lingxian are still worthy of high recognition. Therefore, Liu Zhao of the Liang Dynasty praised Zhang Heng as "the wonder of astronomy, the crown of a generation". (Book of the Later Han Dynasty, p. 3215)
Luoyang Lingtai ruins
Third, the ground motion instrument
The great scientist Zhang Heng is not only a theoretician who thinks deeply, but also a clever inventor. One of his most important inventions was the weathering ground motion instrument. In the first year of Yang Jia (132), Zhang Heng invented the earliest seismometer in Luoyang, called the weather wind ground motion instrument. It has eight orientations, each with a dragon with a copper bead in its mouth, and a toad corresponding to it under each dragon. If an earthquake occurs on either side, the copper beads contained in the dragon's mouth in that direction will fall into the mouth of the toad, and the direction of the earthquake can be measured. After the ground motion instrument was made, the copper bead in the mouth of the dragon in the northwest direction fell. At that time, there was no slightest feeling in the capital Luoyang, people thought that Zhang Heng's weather wind ground motion instrument was just an unreliable decoration, but they did not expect that a few days later, the news of the earthquake in the northwest region reached Luoyang through the station, and it turned out that a very serious earthquake had occurred in Longxi. Only then did people realize the subtlety and magic of Zhang Heng's ground motion instrument. This predates the history of earthquakes recorded by Western countries with instruments more than a thousand years ago.
The ground motion instrument restored by later generations
Zhang Heng's ground motion instrument has long been destroyed in the war, and posterity has never seen it again, and can only guess its appearance according to the records of the Book of Later Han. The Book of the Later Han Dynasty calls the ground motion instrument a circular structure, eight feet in diameter, shaped like a wine bottle, "there are capital pillars, eight roads, and a shiguan hair machine." However, the "Book of later Han" also does not record the structure of the ground motion instrument in detail, but only says: "Its teeth are skillfully made in the zun, and the coverage is meticulous." (Book of the Later Han Dynasty, p. 1909) Since the 19th century, there have been attempts to use modern scientific and technological knowledge to restore this great invention of Zhang Heng according to the records of the Book of later Han. By the 1950s, Mr. Wang Zhenduo had "restored" Zhang Heng's ground motion instrument, which was considered scientific and even widely included in primary school textbooks. In recent years, people have been skeptical about Testing Mr. Wang's replicas, and relatively speaking, the model proposed by Feng Rui of the National Seismological Administration may be closer to the historical truth after testing.
4. Armillary celestial sphere
Zhang Heng's important contribution to astronomy, as well as the invention of the "water transport armillary sphere". The Book of Sui records that in the seventh year of Yanxi (164)[1] Zhang Heng invented the armillary celestial instrument, "more made of copper, with four points and one degree, and Zhou Tian was four feet six inches and one point." It is also turned around in the chamber of secrets with a leak, so that the one who is in charge of it is closed and sings, so as to tell the celestial spectator of the spiritual platform, added by Xuanjie, a certain star has begun to see, a certain star has been in the middle, and a certain star is now gone, all as if it were in harmony." (Book of Sui, p. 517) The Book of Jin also records an inscription written by Zhang Heng's friend Cui Zhen for Zhang Heng's Armillary Heavenly Sphere: "Counting the heavens and the earth, making the creation of the world, making great talents, and in harmony with the gods." (Book of Jin, p. 281, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1974)
The armillary sphere of later generations
The water transport armillary sphere is also known as the water leakage armillary sphere, referred to as the armillary sphere. It is a kind of water transport hun elephant, with a diameter of more than four feet of copper ball, the ball is engraved with twenty-eight houses, Chinese and foreign star officials, as well as the yellow equator, the north and south poles, the twenty-four solar terms, the constant apparent circle, the constant hidden circle, etc., into a hun elephant, and then use a set of rotating machinery to combine the hun elephant and the leaky pot. The mullion is controlled by the leaky pot of water, so that it rotates synchronously with the celestial sphere to show the sunday visual movement of the starry sky, such as the appearance of stars and the middle sky. It also has an affiliate, the Ruilun Meditation Dish, which is a mechanical calendar, connected by a transmission device and a hun elephant, from the beginning of each month, one leaf per day, and one leaf every day after the half of the month. The two-stage leak pot it uses is the earliest known record of a two-stage leaky pot. The water leakage and armillary celestial instrument had a great influence on China's later astronomical instruments, and since the Tang and Song dynasties, more complex and perfect astronomical performance instruments and astronomical clocks have been developed on the basis of it.
Zhang Heng also wrote a special article "Zhang Heng Leaking Water Turning Armillary Celestial System" to introduce the water transport armillary celestial instrument, but this article has been scattered, thanks to Liu Zhao of the Southern Dynasty Xiao Liang, who partially quoted it when he made a note to the "Book of Later Han and Astronomical Chronicles", so that posterity can glimpse its outline. In Liu Zhao's note, the text is titled "Zhang Heng Hun Yi". Liu Zhao quoted, recent people have proved that it should be Zhang Heng's original work.
The balance in the stamp
The part cited by Liu Zhao generally contains three parts. The first part deals with the interrelationship and degree of separation between the celestial pole, equator and ecliptic in the armillary theory and the armillary celestial sphere. The second part deals with the so-called method of finding the yellow equatorial difference and the law of change of this difference. This is the largest portion of this fragment. The third part talks about the twenty-eight distances of the ecliptic and the location of the ecliptic at the winter and summer solstice points.
A closer look at this fragment yields two important points of information. First, the text introduces the method of directly comparing the amount on the celestial globe to obtain the degree of the ecliptic. Second, the so-called variation of the ecliptic gradient is given in the text. The Huang equatorial difference later played a very important role in the calculation of the Chinese calendar, and Zhang Heng, as the initiator, made an indelible contribution.
In addition to this passage quoted by Liu Zhao, a passage entitled "Notes on Armillary Celestial Instruments" is quoted in Ge Hong's words quoted in the "Astronomical Records" of the Book of Jin and the Book of Sui. In the first volume of the Tang Dynasty's Kaiyuan Zhanjing, there is a paragraph entitled "Notes on Zhang Heng Armillary Instruments" and a paragraph entitled "Notes on Zhang Heng Armillary Instruments". In the Kaiyuan Zhanjing volume 26 "Filling in the Stars", there are also three small paragraphs entitled "Armillary Instruments"; in the small note entitled "Tianshi Yuanzhan" in Volume 65, there is a sentence entitled "Zhang Heng Armillary Instrument". These four passages are also not found in Liu Zhao's quotations. However, in these texts, there may be cases of later generations being mixed or commented on.
Imagine the internal structure of the ground motion instrument
Unfortunately, the specific situation of the power and transmission device in Zhang Heng's armillary celestial instrument has not been recorded in the history books. Zhang Heng's article on armillary spheres only retains fragments, and there is no mention of power and transmission. In recent decades, people have used modern mechanical technology knowledge to make some explorations of this device. Originally, it was thought that a water wheel drove a set of gear systems. Later someone came up with a completely different design. They roped the float in the leaky pot around the celestial globe and connected it to a counterweight. When the leaking pot is subject to water, the amount of water in the pot increases, the float rises, and the balance hammer at the other end of the rope drops. At this time, the rope pulls the polar axis of the celestial sphere, creating a rotation. Regardless of the reality of Zhang Heng's power and transmission system, in short, he uses a mechanical system to achieve a mechanical movement that is synchronized with the rotation of the celestial sphere in nature. This practice is unprecedented in China. From this point on, we have a tradition of making water transport instruments that seek to use mechanical motion to accurately reflect the Sunday rotation of the celestial sphere. Until the invention and adoption of atomic clocks in the second half of the 20th century, all mechanical clocks were based on the rotation of the earth, that is, the Sunday rotation of the celestial sphere. Therefore, the Chinese tradition of water transport instruments is the originator of mechanical clocks in later generations.
Judging from the description of people at that time, Zhang Heng's armillary celestial instrument can be coordinated with the rotation of the natural celestial sphere in every detail, which shows that the stability of the rotation speed of the armillary celestial sphere is quite high. The armillary sphere is based on the operation of the engraving. It can be seen from this that Zhang Heng's engraving and leakage technology is also very clever.
Statue of Zhang Heng
V. Zhang Heng's Literary Achievements
The great scientist Zhang Heng is also an important literary scholar in the history of the two Han dynasties, especially an important writer who has made great contributions to the development of Han Fu and has made epoch-making contributions. Throughout his life, he made endowments, studied with an open mind, and comprehensively inherited the various endowments and expression methods of the previous generations of fu family. Dafu Yuan succeeded Sima Xiangru in "Zi Xuan Fu" and created "Erjing Fu" in the near future ban gu "Two Capital Fu"; "Sao Fu" in The Upper Qu Yuan's "Departure from The Sorrow" and the lower trace Ban Gu's "Youtong Fu" and created the "Si Xuan Fu"; the Seven Body Step Piece multiplied by "Seven Hairs" and Fu Yi's "Seven Radicals", and created the "Seven Debates"; Wen Fu created "Ying Jian" based on Dongfang Shuo's "Answering Guest Difficulties" and Ban Gu's "Answering Guest Drama". Others were inspired by Yang Xiong's "Shu Du Fu" to write "Nan Du Fu"; followed Fu Yi's "Dance Fu" and then made "Dance Fu" and so on. Although the above examples are all simulations, and the achievements are high and low, they all show artistic creativity to varying degrees. For example, "Ying Jian", although it traces Dongfang Shuo's "Difficulty in Answering Guests" and Ban Gu's "Answering Guest Drama", it is not like Dongfang Shuo's rhetoric, which is spicy and sharp to vent the indignation that was not encountered at the time, nor is it like Ban Gu vaguely expressing the unbalanced resentment of the second talent and the position of Lang. The "Ying Jian" says that some people did not move to Taishi Ling for six years, and once changed his official position to Sima Ling, a relatively powerful bus who was close to the emperor, and then reinstated as TaiShi Ling, which was "disambiguous" and "non-enterprising", and then responded, focusing on showing that he adhered to the noble and pure ethics. The "YingJian" said: "Shortcuts are evil, I can't bear to throw steps; I can't bear to be stubborn (coercive) to the shoulders." ...... Obey the tun and keep the faithful; gain endlessly (beauty), do not receive stinginess (shame). Although he is not understood by the world, he is not depressed, he is in a lower position without worry, and he is single-mindedly "a special skill in the world, and he is a lonely person." In the position of Tai Shi Ling, he devoted himself to the intensive study of astronomy and science and technology, and did not care about the official position at all. After such a wide range of learning and inheritance, Zhang Heng integrated and penetrated, and creatively realized the transformation of the main body of Han Fu from the chī (ஷ, laying Chen) text, The Hong Yan Giant Extravagance, and the Heavy Body, to the fresh and refreshing, short and concise, and the situational life, and opened the era of lyrical Xiaofu creation. Zhang Hengfu's representative works have always been recognized as "Erjing Fu", "Si Xuan Fu" and "GuiTian Fu".
"Erjing Fu" is a representative of Zhang Hengfu's work. "Erjing Fu" includes two parts: "Xijing Fu" and "Tokyo Fu". Erjing refers to the Western Capital Chang'an and Luoyang, the western capital of the Han Dynasty. The Book of the Later Han Dynasty and the Biography of Zhang Heng says: "When the world has been in peace for a long time, from the prince below, there is no extravagance." Heng Nai proposed Ban Gu's "Two Capitals" as "Erjing Fu", because of irony. "Erjing Fu" completely imitates the "Two Capital Fu" in terms of structural planning, and "Xijing Fu" and "Tokyo Fu" constitute the upper and lower parts. "Erjing Fu" is a work that Zhang Heng spent ten years painstakingly to complete, from the eighth year of Han he Yongyuan (96) Zhang Heng was nineteen years old, until Zhang Heng was thirty years old in the first year of Emperor Yong of Han 'an (107) when he was in office in nanyang.
"Xijing Fu" describes the extravagance of Chang'an, "Tokyo Fu" describes luoyang's frugal virtue and the grandeur of etiquette, as a contrast; singing the praises of the Eastern Han Dynasty is to ask the rulers to learn the lessons of the Western Han Dynasty and repent and change it. The system of these two endowments is more grand, more detailed, and more distinctive than the ones of Bangu. In addition to writing about all the things in the east, west, south, and north, as well as palaces, animals and plants, and so on, as it did before, it also wrote many folk customs. "Xijing Fu" writes about Shang Jia, Rangers, Knights, Debaters, and Horns and HundredSly Acrobatic Illusions, while "Tokyo Fu" writes about nuó and Fang Xiang, which exorcise the plague ghosts, all of which have extremely vivid, specific, and colorful descriptions. Therefore, You (mí) Heng Hang Zhang Hengwen called it "embroidery under the pen, raise your hand and fly". The long Han Fu developed to Zhang Heng and has reached the extreme.
"Erjing Fu" prominently shows the characteristics of galloping imagination, lyrical body, extravagant and exaggerated, longer in length, more gorgeous in rhetoric, and richer in content. For example, in "Tokyo Fu", the magnificent grandeur of Luoyang's palaces, flying pavilions, pavilions, and lake gardens is described, and the grandeur is vast, it is really a majestic country, the city is prosperous, the commerce is developed, the products are abundant, the first floor of the ten steps, the five steps and one pavilion, the palace is majestic, the costumes are luxurious, the lakes and mountains are colorful, the strange trees and fruits are described, and the picture of the extreme luxury and exquisite craftsmanship is described. Depicting the palatial, exquisite and profound, moving in the quiet, still in the quiet, a little face, sound and color, it is a panoramic Danqing long scroll. Write scenes, lifelike, birds chirping, jumping on the paper. And the gathering is scattered, the layers are clear, the language is fresh, and the words are concise, showing a high degree of achievement in artistic skills. From these descriptions, it can be seen that the capital city and court architecture of the Han Dynasty have reached a very high level, and it also objectively reflects the richness of material resources and the strength of the national strength caused by the further development of material production in the Han Empire after a long period of rule. Another example is the description of "Horns to Hundred Plays" in "Xijing Fu", writing about the scene of Tianzi watching the performance, vividly describing that the acrobatic art of the Han Dynasty has developed to a very high level, and the program is wonderful and ever-changing.
Zhang Heng's "Erjing Fu", while praising the prosperity of the Han Dynasty's state and society, contains a strong atmosphere of "compassion for the people". He spoke out in a righteous manner, accusing the bureaucrats and gentry of being faint and decaying, revealing the pain and hatred of the people. His irony is extravagant and lascivious, implying that it is necessary to be polite. Listening to his words and looking at his deeds, Zhang Heng showed with his own practical actions that he is a person who knows and acts. "Erjing Fu" is a social analysis using literary techniques, including political irony, description of social affairs, reflection on history, philosophical implications, expression of feelings, imagination of artistic conception, the emergence of various scenes, the fountain of literary thought, the sprinkling of foreign affairs, and the grand view. The spread of "Erjing Fu" made Zhang Heng's reputation greatly enhanced. In addition to its elegant writing and informative materials, it also changes the bad habit of rhetorical dedication and opens up a new generation. Later, he was included in the Anthology of Literature by Xiao Tong, the prince of Xiao Liang Zhaoming of the Southern Dynasty.
Zhang Heng also left a lot of poetry works, the most famous of which is the "Four Sorrows Poem", in which "the beauty gave me the wrong knife, why repay the Ying QiongYao", which was widely praised by posterity.
Zhang Heng not only has outstanding literary achievements, but also made achievements in historiography. As early as the early years of Emperor Yong of Han, when Liu Zhen, a servant of the Gurudwara, And Liu Junhu (táotú), a school secretary, were engaged in writings in Dongguan and wrote the Records of the Eastern Han Dynasty, they proposed to the emperor that Zhang Heng be invited to participate in it. Unfortunately, Liu Zhen and others died of illness soon after, and the matter was not resolved. Zhang Heng deeply regretted this and always wanted to have the opportunity to complete the writing of the "Book of Eastern Han". Later, when Zhang Heng was serving as an attendant, he made a request to the emperor to go to the Eastern Temple to compile a history book. During his term of office, he wrote to the emperor, pointing out the shortcomings and deficiencies in the works of Sima Qian, Ban Gu and others, and also put forward his own opinions on the writing of some specific historical events. Regrettably, however, none of Zhang Heng's writings have survived.
Zhang Heng also had a deep knowledge of Confucian classics, and he once wrote a book called "Zhou Guanxun" and planned to write a study of "Zhou Yi", but in the end he could not complete it. The Book of later Han records Zhang Heng's works as follows: "Thirty-two poems, fu, inscriptions, seven words, Lingxian, Yingjian, Seven Debates, Patrol Commentaries, and Hanging Figures." (Book of the Later Han Dynasty, p. 1940) Later generations edited Zhang Heng's works into the Zhang Heng Collection, which gradually became dispersed after the Tang and Song dynasties. From the Ming Dynasty, people began to compile and organize Zhang Heng's works. Thirty-eight articles by Zhang Heng were collected in yan Kejun's Quan Han Wen of the Qing Dynasty, and the contemporary Lu Qinli collected Zhang Heng's poetic works.
[1] The Book of Sui certainly records this era as wrong, as Zhang Heng died as early as 139 AD.