THE HEIGHT OF HEAVEN IS 80,00 LI.
7th Beijing International Art Biennial, 2017
Metal, bamboo, wood, semi transparent film.
dimensions: 250 cm x 250 cm x 150 cm
The Zhou bi suan jing (The Arithmetic Classic of the Gnomon and the Circular Paths of Heaven) is a Zhou dynasty Chinese text on astronomy and mathematics, in which, the gnomon is an upright pole used for astronomical observations. Recording its shadow, was instrumental in discovering a calendar and served as a guide for human evolution. The Chinese recognized the gnomon as the most sophisticated math instrument for thousands of years, yet it was nothing more than a vertical stick in the ground. However, the Math of the gnomon was revered as the greatest foundation of Chinese philosophy. It helped humankind establish order over chaos and lead to evolution and prosperity.
The astronomy of the Zhou bi follows Gai Tian cosmology, which says that the earth is a flat plane and the heavens rotate above the earth. With this idea, the height of the sun and other heavenly bodies can be found using a gnomon and its shadow. When the sun is directly overhead, the gnomon casts no shadow, the further south the sun is, the longer the shadow. This idea is referred to as the shadow principle.