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A triangle is a special geometric shape, and there is no direct triangle in nature, so it must be an artificial shape.
According to Western historical narratives, the triangle originated in ancient Egypt (and some sources say that it originated in Babylon) and that the Nile River needed to redistribute the land after the annual flood, giving rise to geometry, in which the right triangle originated from the stretching rope used to mark the corners of each field.
In short, the earliest triangle in the traditional narrative has nothing to do with China, China belongs to the latecomers, and it is possible that the triangle originated independently, and it is possible that the triangle knowledge came from the West.
However, with the deepening of Chinese archaeology, more and more discoveries have rewritten history, among which the origin of triangles, Chinese archaeological discoveries have overturned traditional cognition, and it turns out that China is the first country to discover triangles!
The earliest triangular shape in China can be traced back to 9,000 years ago, that is, the three-legged basin-shaped tripod of charcoal red pottery at the Jiahu site in Wuyang, Henan. As the name suggests, it is a three-legged supporting utensil, we are most familiar with the three-legged tripod, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences scholar Gao Dalun pointed out: "In the world's several ancient civilizations, the richness of the three-legged instrument is unique to the Chinese civilization." ”
After that, it is the three-legged instrument of Hebei Cishan culture. Below, the red pottery three-legged bowl of Cishan culture, the clay strip plate construction method, is collected in the Palace Museum.
Cishan culture is one of the sources of Yangshao culture, that is, one of the sources of the Chinese people. In the Yangshao culture period, three-legged instruments were more popular, three-legged mustaches, three-legged mustaches and so on. In the later period, the number is more and the shape is diverse, such as the three-legged tripod, the three-legged bronze jue, etc., which is a grand view.
The triangle has the characteristics of stability, stability, firmness, and pressure resistance, and the ancient Chinese must have known this, so they made a three-legged device according to this principle. It can be seen that the world's earliest triangle did not begin in ancient Egypt or Babylon, but in China!
Isosceles triangles and right-angled triangles are both special triangles, among which the right-angled triangle originated in China is more in line with cognitive logic.
One of the Chinese astronomical traditions is the "standing watch", when used to observe the season or time: first, to "set up a watch" to ensure that the "watch" is impartial, secondly, to place a ruler perpendicular to it, and thirdly, to observe the length of the shadow of the sun at noon on the ruler, so as to judge the season or time.
In this way, the three "table", "gui", and "sun shadow" form a right triangle. Among them, the Zhou Ji Sutra records that "the hip (thigh bone) is also the thigh." Therefore, the "table" is the "strand", and the shadow of the sun "hooks" the length on the ruler, so there is the "Pythagorean theorem".
Therefore, the Chinese right triangle and the Pythagorean theorem must have originated from the vertical meter measurement. The question is: when did the Chinese vertical meter measurement begin?
From the perspective of today's archaeology, 7,000 years ago, the Liulinxi site in Hubei Province and the Shuangdun site in Anhui Province have conclusive evidence of standing table measurement, that is, the two sites have unearthed the "two rope maps". In addition to measuring the time, the vertical meter can also distinguish the square position, that is, determine the space. Regarding this point, the author has explained a lot in previous articles, so I will not say more here.
Since then, the site of Tao Temple (below) is generally believed to be "Yaodu Pingyang", and the "wooden tire lacquer painting ruler" has been unearthed, which proves that there was a mature vertical surface imaging technology 4,300 years ago.
It can be seen that as early as 7,000 years ago, the ancient Chinese may have had the cognition of a right triangle, and after a long period of exploration, they finally discovered the law of hooking three strands, four strings and five.
Ancient Egypt invented the right triangle because of the need to redistribute the land, and it appeared relatively suddenly, lacking a process of origin or exploration, and you can't always know the right triangle by nature, and you won't find it easy to find the right triangle. In contrast, in the long process of vertical surface measurement, China will naturally discover the right triangle and its laws, which is undoubtedly more in line with the logic of historical cognition.
There are three other points worth thinking about the topic of this article:
First of all, from an archaeological point of view, the Chinese discovered the world's earliest triangle, the evidence is conclusive, but in the historical narrative is ancient Egypt, it seems that any invention and discovery, must find a Western source, or the West is earlier than China to take it for granted.
Secondly, in addition to triangles, the so-called "geometry" may also be the first to appear in China, because geometry will inevitably develop geometry, at least compared with the geometry developed by ancient Egyptian geodesy, the development of geometry in Chinese astronomy is more logical.
Thirdly, Western archaeology is very magical, and it is incomprehensible that clay tablets and papyrus documents that record advanced knowledge, including triangles, have been immortalized for thousands of years and can always be preserved, but cultural relics that use advanced knowledge cannot be preserved.