Geometrical Mind in Sky Charts

It is often said that there is little geometrical mind in Korean history. However, a method to project the surface of a sphere onto 2-dimensional plain was applied to the representative Korean star chart or Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido (天象列次分野之圖). The method, called the equi-distant polar projection, was explained in detail in ancient Chinese history book of the Tang dynasty, which was originated from older history. Another method of the Mercator projection was introduced by the famous engineer Su Song (蘇頌) of the Song dynasty. The description has quite geometrical thoughts, especially the concept of infinity or convergence appears, However, this type of sky projection method was not widely used in east Asia. When the European Jesuits came to China to evangelize the Chinese people, they found that the Chinese people paid much attention to advanced European astronomical knowledge. Thus, they introduced the European astronomical knowledges into China, and the star chart was one of them. The projection method of the new charts were quite different from the Chinese tradition. When the Koreans brought those new star chart from China, they must have known the geometrical description of the method. The method was described in detail in a volume of Chongzhen Lishi (崇禎曆書) or Xiyang Xinfa Lishu (西洋新法曆書). The explanation consists of three part. One is the quantitative way; another is a geometrical way using axiomatic systems; and the other is the practical method to draw star chart with the geometical projection. However, when we see the Honcheon Jeondo (渾天全圖) that is thought to be duplicated by Kim Jeongho (金正浩), the new geometrical method was not so widely known to the Koreans. I will discuss the reason why the geometrical minds have not been widely adopted in the Korean civilization.