{"id":63960,"date":"2024-05-12T16:43:48","date_gmt":"2024-05-12T21:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=63960"},"modified":"2024-05-13T16:34:55","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T21:34:55","slug":"roman-dodecahedra-between-southeast-asia-and-england-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=63960","title":{"rendered":"Roman dodecahedra between Southeast Asia and England, part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

A little over a year ago, Frank Jacobs published this admirable survey of a mysterious object that has perplexed and preoccupied us for the past week — The Mysterious Dodecahedrons of the Roman Empire<\/a>, Big Think, Atlas Obscura<\/em> (5\/12\/23):<\/p>\n

The first of many of these puzzling objects was unearthed almost three centuries ago, and we still don\u2019t know what they were for.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The article also pictures an icosahedron, the sole exemplar of one such artifact of this type having 20 sides instead of 12 that has been discovered (it is preserved in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn, Germany).<\/p>\n

Aside from the larger number of sides, it essentially belongs to the same class of object as the\u00a0dodecahedra that we discussed at length in\u00a0this post<\/a>.\u00a0 Like them, it has knobs at the vertices (the endpoints of the edges) and holes in the faces, but the holes are much, much smaller and grouped in a pattern of one hole at the center of a triangle of three other holes, for a total of four holes per side.\u00a0 Each hole has concentric rings around it, the central hole having a series of such rings.\u00a0 Incidentally, there are also concentric rings around the holes of the dodecahedra, though usually only one or two. Moreover, some of the dodecahedra have dimples (ten or fewer in number) indented in a circle around the holes on each side, and each indentation has a ring surrounding it.\u00a0 Some of the holes of the dodecahedra have a single ring immediately surrounding them and one or two circles further away at the circumference.<\/p>\n

In sum, the overall arrangement of such apertures and markings gives the appearance of astral phenomena.<\/p>\n

Since the holes of the\u00a0icosahedron are much smaller, you can't really readily see into its interior the way you can with the dodecahedra.<\/p>\n

Another fascinating application of the dodecahedron that has come to my attention after part 1 was posted is that it seems to have been coopted by Daoist practitioners to meditate on control \/ circulation of the breath (q\u00ec \u6c23 [\"material \/ primal energy\"]; cf. Gk. pneuma [\"spirit\"] \/ Skt. pr\u0101\u1e47a [\"life force \/ vital principle\"]).\u00a0 In a comment to part 1 on the Gallo-Roman\u00a0dodecahedra, I promised that I would write further on their metaphysical twelveness.\u00a0 What follows is in partial fulfillment of that promise.\u00a0 Since it is in a different realm than the zodiacal implications of the dodecahedra, but still related, it requires a fair amount of philosophical and Yogic background about what it entails:<\/p>\n

In the history of Daoist meditation, several\u00a0Warring States\u00a0(c. 475-221 BC)\u00a0texts<\/a>\u00a0allude to or describe breath-control meditations, but none directly mention\u00a0xingqi<\/i><\/span>\u00a0(\u884c\u6c23 [\"circulation of the breath\"]<\/span><\/span>). Good examples are found in the\u00a0Zhuangzi<\/a><\/i><\/span>\u00a0and the\u00a0Guanzi<\/a><\/i><\/span>\u00a0Neiye<\/a><\/i><\/span>\u00a0(\"Inner Training\") chapter.<\/p>\n

One\u00a0Zhuangzi<\/i><\/span>\u00a0context criticizes breath exercises and\u00a0daoyin<\/a><\/i><\/span>\u00a0\"guiding and pulling\" calisthenics: \"Blowing and breathing, exhaling and inhaling, expelling the old and taking in the new, bear strides and bird stretches [\u718a\u7d93\u9ce5\u7533<\/span><\/span>]\u2014all this is merely indicative of the desire for longevity.\" (15, tr. Mair 1994: 145). Another context praises \"breathing from the heels: \"The\u00a0true man<\/a>\u00a0of old did not dream when he slept and did not worry when he was awake. His food was not savory, his breathing was deep. The breathing of the true man is from his heels [\u8e35<\/span><\/span>], the breathing of the common man is from his throat [\u5589<\/span><\/span>].\" (6, tr. Mair 1994: 52). The\u00a0Zhuangzi<\/i><\/span>\u00a0translator\u00a0Victor Mair<\/a>\u00a0notes the \"close affinities between the Daoist sages and the ancient Indian holy men. Yogic breath control and\u00a0asanas<\/i><\/span>\u00a0(postures) were common to both traditions,\" and suggests that \"breathing from the heels\" could be \"a modern explanation of the\u00a0sirsasana<\/a><\/i><\/span>\u00a0'supported headstand'\". (1994: 371).<\/p>\n

Neiye<\/i><\/span>\u00a0Verse 24 summarizes Inner Training breath control, which \"appears to be a meditative technique in which the adept concentrates on nothing but the Way, or some representation of it. It is to be undertaken when you are sitting in a calm and unmoving position, and it enables you to set aside the disturbances of perceptions, thoughts, emotions, and desires that normally fill your conscious mind.\" (Roth 1999: 116).<\/p>\n

\n

Expand your heart-mind and release it [\u5927\u5fc3\u800c\u6562<\/span><\/span>].
\nRelax your\u00a0qi<\/i><\/span>\u00a0and allow it to extend [\u5bec\u6c23\u800c\u5ee3<\/span><\/span>].
\nWhen your body is calm and unmoving,
\nGuard the One [\u5b88\u4e00<\/span><\/span>] and discard myriad disturbances.
\nYou will see profit and not be enticed by it.
\nYou will see harm and not be frightened by it.
\nRelaxed and unwound, and yet free from selfishness,
\nIn solitude you will find joy in your own being.
\nThis is what we call \"circulating the\u00a0qi<\/i><\/span>\" [\u662f\u8b02\u96f2\u6c23<\/span><\/span>].
\nYour awareness and practice appear celestial [\u610f\u884c\u4f3c\u5929<\/span><\/span>]. (24, tr. Komjathy 2003: n.p.).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Translating \"circulating the\u00a0qi<\/i><\/span>\" follows\u00a0Guanzi<\/i><\/span>\u00a0commentaries that interpret this original\u00a0y\u00fan<\/i><\/span>\u00a0(\u96f2<\/span><\/span>, \"cloud\") as a\u00a0variant Chinese character<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0y\u00f9n<\/i><\/span>\u00a0(\u904b<\/span><\/span>, \"transport; move\"), thus reading\u00a0y\u00f9nq\u00ec<\/i><\/span>\u00a0(\u904b\u6c23<\/span><\/span>, \"control the breath; move\u00a0q\u00ec<\/i><\/span>\u00a0through the body\").<\/p>\n

Besides the Warring States-era\u00a0received texts<\/a>\u00a0that mention breath circulation techniques, the earliest direct evidence is a\u00a0Chinese jade<\/a>\u00a0artifact known as the\u00a0Xingqi yupei ming<\/i><\/span>\u00a0(\u884c\u6c14\u7389\u4f69\u94ed<\/span><\/span>, Breath Circulation Jade Pendant Inscription) or\u00a0Xingqi ming<\/i><\/span>\u00a0(\u884c\u6c14\u94ed<\/span><\/span>, Breath Circulation Inscription). This 45-character rhymed explanation entitled\u00a0X\u00edngq\u00ec<\/i><\/span>\u00a0\u884c\u6c23<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\"circulating the (vital) breath\" was inscribed on a\u00a0dodecagonal<\/a>\u00a0block of jade, tentatively identified as either a knob for a staff or a pendant for hanging from a belt. While the dating is uncertain, estimates range from approximately middle 6th century BCE (Needham<\/a>\u00a01956: 143) to early 3rd century BCE (Harper 1998: 125). This\u00a0lapidary<\/a>\u00a0text combines nine trisyllabic phrases describing the stages of breath circulation with four explanatory phrases. The\u00a0Xingqi<\/i><\/span>\u00a0jade inscription says:<\/p>\n

To circulate the Vital Breath [\u884c\u6c23<\/span><\/span>]:
\nBreathe deeply, then it will collect [\u6df1\u5247\u84c4<\/span><\/span>].
\nWhen it is collected, it will expand [\u84c4\u5247\u4f38<\/span><\/span>].
\nWhen it expands, it will descend [\u4f38\u5247\u4e0b<\/span><\/span>].
\nWhen it descends, it will become stable [\u5247\u5b9a<\/span><\/span>].
\nWhen it is stable, it will be regular [\u5b9a\u5247\u56fa<\/span><\/span>].
\nWhen it is regular, it will sprout [\u56fa\u5247\u840c<\/span><\/span>].
\nWhen it sprouts, it will grow [\u840c\u5247\u9577<\/span><\/span>].
\nWhen it grows, it will recede [\u9577\u5247\u9000<\/span><\/span>].
\nWhen it recedes, it will become heavenly [\u9000\u5247\u5929<\/span><\/span>].
\nThe dynamism of Heaven is revealed in the ascending [\u5929\u5e7e\u8202\u5728\u4e0a<\/span><\/span>];
\nThe dynamism of Earth is revealed in the descending [\u5730\u5e7e\u8202\u5728\u4e0b<\/span><\/span>].
\nFollow this and you will live; oppose it and you will die [\u9806\u5247\u751f \u9006\u5247\u6b7b<\/span><\/span>] (tr. Roth 1997: 298)<\/p>\n

(Wikipedia<\/a>, with some modification and amplification by VHM)<\/p>\n

Here's a photograph of the pendant in question:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>)<\/p>\n

While this ancillary application of duodecimal thinking is interesting, let us return more directly to its origins in the zodiac.\u00a0 Once more, I quote Plato who, in the Theaetetus, stated, \"the god used [the dodecahedron] for arranging the constellations on the whole heaven\").\u00a0 In the comments following the previous post on\u00a0Gallo-Roman\u00a0dodecahedra, Brian Pellar provided irrefutable evidence of a direct connection between these artifacts and the zodiac.\u00a0 Brian has been working on the relationship between the zodiac and the alphabet since before 2009.\u00a0 It is appropriate that he has published seven scholarly monographs on this subject in\u00a0Sino-Plato<\/b>nic Papers<\/i>\u00a0(numbers 196, 219, 246, 263, 296, 328, 341).<\/p>\n

P.S.:\u00a0 Since writing the above, even more aspects of the Gallo-Roman dodecahedra have been called to my attention, so it is likely that I will write a \"part 3\" within a few days.<\/p>\n

Selected readings<\/b><\/p>\n