Wake Forest University
Patrick Edwin Moran
Traditional:
天 運 不 息 ， 晝 夜 輾 轉 ， 故 地 搉 在 中 間 。 使 天 有 一 息 之 停 ，
則 地 須 陷 下 。 惟 天 運 轉 之 急 ， 故 凝 結 得 許 多 渣 滓 在 中 間 。
地 者 ， 氣 之 渣 滓 也 ， 所 以 道 「 輕 清 者 為 天 ， 重 濁 者 為 地 」
。 道 夫 。
Simplified:
天 运 不 息 ， 昼 夜 辗 转 ， 故 地 榷 在 中 间 。 使 天 有 一 息 之 停 ，
则 地 须 陷 下 。 惟 天 运 转 之 急 ， 故 凝 结 得 许 多 渣 滓 在 中 间 。
地 者 ， 气 之 渣 滓 也 ， 所 以 道 「 轻 清 者 为 天 ， 重 浊 者 为 地 」
。 道 夫 。
big5:
B A ] A G a | b C @ A
h a U C B A G o \ h b C
a A ] A H D u M A B a v
C D C
GB:
Ϣ ҹ շ ת ȶ ʹ һ Ϣ ֮ ͣ
Ω ת ֮
֮ Ҳ Ϊ Ϊ
Heaven moves on without rest. It turns day and night, and so Earth is buffeted in the center. Should Heaven rest for a moment, then Earth must fall down. It is only the haste with which Heaven revolves that causes a great deal of dregs to consolidate in the center. Earth is just the dregs of qi, so it is said that "the light and clear portions become Heaven, and the heavy and turbid portions become Earth."
Dao-fu
Commentary:
The real-world phenomenon that Zhu Xi seems to have in mind is the behavior of some kind of debris in a cylindrical container of water. If the water is allowed to come to a complete stop, then the debris will settle out. But if the water is caused to move in a circular way in the container, then the debris will congregate in the center. Zhu Xi can see the stars moving in a circular path across the nighttime sky, and he can see how our atmosphere reaches down to the ground, and even below the ground.
One of the driving forces behind this analysis is probably the desire to explain complex phenomena on the basis of relatively simple components and/or principles. It at least sounds simpler to say that the air and similarly ethereal things, and rocks and similarly dense objects are all made of different fractions of the same basic substance. The alternative would be, for instance, to say that a human being's spirit and breath are one kind of substance, and a human being's flesh and bones are a fundamentally different kind of substance. Then the question would be how fundamentally different kinds of things are to be understood to interact. In the West, the question of how matter and space are related has been a very important one. That question does not suggest itself so readily in the context of Zhu Xi's thought.
-- PEM