Escribe una PREreview

This paper argues that the Chinese Gai Tian (Heavenly Canopy) cosmology was an applied science, materialized through a sophisticated astronomical instrument. This argument is grounded in Cullen's (2017) systematic reconstruction of ancient Chinese astronomical systems, which establishes the Gai Tian as an operationally viable mathematical model rather than mere speculation1.Moving beyond textual analysis, we reconstruct the “Seven Circuits Instrument” (Qi Heng Yi) not as a device for generating the “Seven Circuits Diagram” (Qi Heng Tu), but as its physical instantiation—a multi-functional analog computer that operationalized the cosmic model for precise measurement.Here, we employ the term "operationalized" in a spirit aligned with Ian Hacking's core epistemological principle that intervening precedes representing2. The Qi Heng Yi’s primary function was not to represent a pre-existing theory but to provide a physical interface for user intervention and cosmic measurement, wherein knowledge is produced through the very act of measurement.​This instrument embodies a distinct epistemological mode. Extending Daston and Galison's (2007) historical epistemology of objectivity, we identify in the Qi Heng Yi a form of "operational objectivity"—a reliability grounded in the calibrated harmony between instrumental practice and cosmological principle, rather than in mechanical self-registration or the elimination of human intervention3.Adopting the contrastive approach to the history of science championed by Lloyd (1996), this study juxtaposes the Greek tradition of geometric abstraction with the Chinese path of operative instantiation4. This comparison aims not to judge superiority but to bring into sharper relief the distinctive features of the "co-emergent instrument and principle" (Qi Li Gong Sheng) epistemology through systematic contrast.Through a synthesis of the mathematical principles in the Zhoubi Suanjing, a re-evaluation of Liangzhu-era Neolithic material culture, and the medical chronobiology of the Shanghan Lun, we demonstrate how this instrument enabled the direct determination of solar terms, timekeeping, and orientation. Our analysis reveals: 1. The Qi Heng Yi was the three-dimensional, operative realization of the two-dimensional Qi Heng Tu cosmogram.2. Liangzhu cong (jade tubes, c. 3300–2300 BCE) with their precise square-in-circle geometry and axial rotations, provided a material and conceptual prototype for this instrument-mediated cosmology.3. The Shanghan Lun’s “six-meridian resolution times” exhibit a kinematic correspondence with the sun’s paths in the Qi Heng system, illustrating the translation of instrumental astronomy into clinical principles.4. A continuous lineage exists from this instrument to later devices like the luopan (geomantic compass), which inherited its core cosmographic operating logic.This study proposes a “Diagram-to-Instrument” (Tu → Qi) paradigm, articulating the Chinese epistemology of “co-emergent instrument and principle” (Qi Li Gong Sheng) to challenge Eurocentric narratives of pre-modern science.This study further argues that the Qi Li Gong Sheng paradigm reached its most radical expression in the internalization of the instrument onto the human body itself, transforming the individual into a personalized, operational microcosm for celestial measurement and embodying a profound operational truth based on calibrated practice rather than external representation.