Ancient astrology

In the eyes of modern people, astrology and astronomy are obviously fundamentally different things: the former is superstition and the latter is science. However, in history, this is not the case. Until the Renaissance and later, astrologers and astronomers were indistinguishable-they were always the same person. In Latin, they are called astrologers; ; Their profession is called astrology, which comes from the Greek α σ τ ο λ ο γ? Alpha means astrology, which is astrology. Astrology is often translated into astrology or astrology in Chinese. The word "astrology" is used uniformly here, because the suffix -ology in Latin is translated into "learning" by convention.

The word "astronomy" has a history of more than two thousand years in China. The original usage of this word remains in the Book of Changes. "Fun Book" said:

Observing astronomy is to observe the changes of time; Look at humanity and turn it into the world.

"Yi copulative" say again:

Look up at astronomy and look down at geography.

"Astronomy" here refers to astronomical phenomena, that is, the scenes presented by various celestial bodies in the sky, which is called "Wen". However, the ancients looked up at the astronomical phenomena, and their purpose was not to explore the mysteries of nature, but to see the good and bad in the world from the astronomical phenomena-this is the fundamental purpose of astrology. Therefore, in ancient China, the word "astronomy" usually refers to the knowledge of knowing people's good or bad by looking up at the astronomical phenomena, that is, astrology.

According to the ancient meaning mentioned above, the word "astronomy" should be used to translate astronomy, but now it is used to translate Saturn. Of course, the convention has been established for a long time, and we have to continue to use it. However, for those who intend to study the history of astrology and astronomy, the difference in this respect cannot be made clear.

Astronomy and astronomers, to a great extent, are a group of modern concepts, while in ancient times there were only astrology and astrology. We say that ancient astrologers and astronomers are a kind of people, mainly because astrologers do have astronomical knowledge (only a small part of modern astronomical knowledge, mainly in astrometry)-this is an indispensable tool for them to engage in astrological activities. Unfortunately, a large number of propaganda books in the past have caused deep-rooted misunderstandings among the general public. It seems that a large number of "astronomers" in ancient times are engaged in scientific activities of the same astronomical nature today, which is not a historical fact. Even in the ancient astrologer's own subjective consciousness, he regarded his activities as the great mystery of seeking "the time between man and nature" and predicting the good and bad fortune in the future; This is by no means the so-called "scientific research" imposed on them by many modern reading materials.

Others compare the feeling of astrology and astronomy to the relationship between alchemy and modern chemistry, which is also inappropriate. Alchemy declined with the rise of modern chemistry, which generally showed that the latter replaced the former; However, after astronomy became independent and developed rapidly, astrology did not decline. In fact, astrology is still widely spread in Europe and America. For example, some newspapers publish horoscopes every day, and occasionally readers will protest if they don't publish them every day; For example, a few years ago, there was a rumor that Ronald Reagan, then president of the United States, "acted according to astrology", which made a lot of noise in the newspaper. In addition, there are those who publish astrology magazines, those who run astrology schools, those who use various tricks, and so on.