The ancient Chinese conception of the universe was described by the late British scholar Joseph Needham as having a horizontal orientation (see "From Immortal Paradise to Popular Fairyland"). In his view, early Chinese culture did not include concepts of heaven or hell, nor of a god-creator or an afterlife, unlike the cultures of India or the Christian and Islamic peoples.
古代中國宇宙觀就被已故的英國學者李約瑟先生視為「水平向度」（參看「從不死樂園到漁樵仙境」一文），他認為中國早期文化並無天堂或地獄的想法，也沒有創世的上帝與彼世觀念，與印度、基督教、伊斯蘭民族不同。