The Role of Astronomy in Society and Culture Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 260, 2009 D. Valls-Gabaud & A. Boksenberg, eds. c International Astronomical Union 2011 doi:10.1017/S174392131100319X Ancient Chinese constellations Junjun Xu Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Room 424, Apartment 20, No. 37 Xueyuan Street, Beijing, China email: [email protected]Abstract. China, a country with a long history and a specific culture, has also a long and specific astronomy. Ancient Chinese astronomers observed the stars, named and distributed them into constellations in a very specific way, which is quite different from the current one. Around the Zodiac, stars are divided into four big regions corresponding with the four orientations, and each is related to a totem, either the Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Bird, the White Tiger or the Murky Warrior. We present a general pattern of the ancient Chinese constellations, including the four totems, their stars and their names. Keywords. China, constellations, mansions 1. Introduction Three enclosures, four symbols and twenty-eight mansions characterise the ancient Chinese constellations. This division of the starry sky began to appear in China before the Zhou and Qin dynasties. The three enclosures refer to three areas around the North celestial pole: the Purple Forbidden enclosure, the Supreme Palace enclosure and the Heavenly Market enclosure. The four symbols are distributed near the ecliptic Zodiac and the lunar orbit and are represented by four totems: the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermillion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West and the Black Tortoise of the North. Every symbol was divided into seven sections which were know as mansions. There are twenty eight mansions in this system and the Moon goes through approximately a mansion every day, reflecting the lunar month. The twenty eight mansions† were named Horn, Dipper, Legs, Well, Neck, Ox, Bond, Ghosts, Root, Girl, Stomach, Willow, Room, Emptiness, Hairy head, Star, Heart, Rooftop, Net, Extended net, Tail, Encampment, Turtle beak, Wings, Winnowing-basket, Wall, Three stars, Chariot, as show in Fig. 1. 2. Tables of star names The following tables are a comparison list of star names both in traditional Chinese characters and in English. They are classified in seven tables according to the three enclosures and the four animal images which they belong to‡. 3. Implications Ancient Chinese astronomy has taken an important rˆ ole in both the Chinese culture and the world astronomical culture. Chinese ancestors divided the constellations and de- nominated the stars in a quite different way as the Greeks did. It will be an interesting † see also http://baike.baidu.com/view/17723.htm?fr=ala0 1 1 ‡ http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Space/Research/StarName/c research chinengstarzone b.htm 107 https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174392131100319X Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 65.21.228.167, on 09 Nov 2021 at 08:12:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
The Role of Astronomy in Society and CultureProceedings IAU Symposium No. 260, 2009D. Valls-Gabaud & A. Boksenberg, eds.
Abstract. China, a country with a long history and a specific culture, has also a long and specificastronomy. Ancient Chinese astronomers observed the stars, named and distributed them intoconstellations in a very specific way, which is quite different from the current one. Around theZodiac, stars are divided into four big regions corresponding with the four orientations, andeach is related to a totem, either the Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Bird, the White Tiger or theMurky Warrior. We present a general pattern of the ancient Chinese constellations, includingthe four totems, their stars and their names.
Keywords. China, constellations, mansions
1. IntroductionThree enclosures, four symbols and twenty-eight mansions characterise the ancient
Chinese constellations. This division of the starry sky began to appear in China beforethe Zhou and Qin dynasties. The three enclosures refer to three areas around the Northcelestial pole: the Purple Forbidden enclosure, the Supreme Palace enclosure and theHeavenly Market enclosure. The four symbols are distributed near the ecliptic Zodiacand the lunar orbit and are represented by four totems: the Azure Dragon of the East,the Vermillion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West and the Black Tortoise ofthe North. Every symbol was divided into seven sections which were know as mansions.There are twenty eight mansions in this system and the Moon goes through approximatelya mansion every day, reflecting the lunar month. The twenty eight mansions† were namedHorn, Dipper, Legs, Well, Neck, Ox, Bond, Ghosts, Root, Girl, Stomach, Willow, Room,Emptiness, Hairy head, Star, Heart, Rooftop, Net, Extended net, Tail, Encampment,Turtle beak, Wings, Winnowing-basket, Wall, Three stars, Chariot, as show in Fig. 1.
2. Tables of star namesThe following tables are a comparison list of star names both in traditional Chinese
characters and in English. They are classified in seven tables according to the threeenclosures and the four animal images which they belong to‡.
3. ImplicationsAncient Chinese astronomy has taken an important role in both the Chinese culture
and the world astronomical culture. Chinese ancestors divided the constellations and de-nominated the stars in a quite different way as the Greeks did. It will be an interesting
† see also http://baike.baidu.com/view/17723.htm?fr=ala0 1 1‡ http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Space/Research/StarName/c research
chinengstarzone b.htm
107
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174392131100319XDownloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 65.21.228.167, on 09 Nov 2021 at 08:12:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at
Figure 1. Ancient Chinese constellations. Artwork by Zuojing Guanxing.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174392131100319XDownloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 65.21.228.167, on 09 Nov 2021 at 08:12:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at
Table 1. The First Enclosure: Purple Forbidden Enclosure
Purple Forbidden Enclosure
Northern pole Left wall Right Wall
Crown prince Left pivot Right pivot Threeexcellencies
Emperor Second premier Second chiefjudge
Prime minister
Son of Concu-bine
First minister First minister Judge fornobility
ImperialConcubine
Second minister Second minister Guard of theSun
Celestial pivot First imperialguard
First imperialguard
Royals
Four Advisors Second Imperialguard
Second imperialguard
Celestial prison
Curved Array Second primeminister
First primeminister
Eunuch
Great Emperorof Heaven
Second premier Celestial GreatOne
Administrativecentre
Celestial Pillar First minister Frist Great one Inner steps
Maids-in-waiting
Second minister Inner kitchen Three topinstructors
Female protocol First imperialguard
Northern dipper Eight kinds ofcrops
Official of royalarchives
Second Imperialguard
Celestial pivot Guest house
Royal secretary Second primeminister
Celestial rotatingjade
Celestialkitchen
Celestial bed Celestial shiningpearl
Celestial flail
Chief judge Celestial balance
Hidden virtue Jadesighting-tube
Six Jia Opener of heat
Interior seats offive emperors
Twinklingbrilliance
Canopy of theemperor
Assistant
CanopySupport Sombre lance
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174392131100319XDownloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 65.21.228.167, on 09 Nov 2021 at 08:12:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at
Table 2. The Second Enclosure: Supreme Palace Enclosure
Supreme Palace Enclosure
Seats of thefive emperors
Left wall Right wall
Crown prince First premier Right lawadministrator
Upper step
Retinue First easternminister
First westerngeneral
Middle step
Officer ofhonour
Second easternminister
Secondwesterngeneral
ower step
Five feudalkings
Second easterngeneral
Secondwesternminister
Emperor’sbodyguard
Nine seniorofficers
First easterngeneral
First westernminister
Junior officers
Threeexcellencies
First premier Captain of thebodyguards
ong wall
Official ofimperial guard
Astronomicalobservatory
Imperialguards
Cosmologicaltemple
Three steps Usher of thecourt
work to carry out a comparison between these two systems. Ancient Chinese constella-tions were rooted in a strong belief of harmony among the heaven, the Earth and humanbeings. By studying the stories behind the the names of the stars, one learns ancientChinese astronomy and also Chinese history and philosophy as well.
ReferencesChen, J. 2005, Ancient Chinese Constellations Decoding (Beijing: Qunyan Publisher)Sun, X. & Kistemaker, J. 1997, The Chinese sky during the Han: Constellating Stars and Society
(Leiden: Brill)
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174392131100319XDownloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 65.21.228.167, on 09 Nov 2021 at 08:12:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at
Table 3. The Third Enclosure: Heavenly Market Enclosure
Heavenly Market Enclosure
Emperor’sseat
Left wall Right wall
Astrologer WEI HEZHONG CelestialDiscipline
Eunuch official ZHAO HEJIAN Woman’s bed
Dipper forliquids
JIUHE JIN Coiled thong
Dipper forsolids
Celestial spear ZHENG Sevenexcellencies
Jewel market QI ZHOU
Commoditymarket
WUYUE QIN
Municipaloffice
XU SHU
Official forroyal clan
DONGHAI BA
Official ofReligiousCeremonies
YAN IANG
Patriarchalclan
NANHAI CHU
Textile ruler SONG HAN
Butcher’sshops
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174392131100319XDownloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 65.21.228.167, on 09 Nov 2021 at 08:12:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at
Table 4. Seven Mansions which belong to Azure Dragon
Horn Mansion NeckMansion
RootMansion
RoomMansion
HeartMansion
TailMansion
Winnowing-basket
Mansion
Horn Neck Root Room Heart Tail Winnowingbasket
Flat road Great horn Boats andlake
Lock Group ofsoldiers
Changingroom
Zhongshan
Celestialfarmland
Left lawadministrator
Mattress ofthe emperor
Door bolt Celestialriver
Pestle
Tripod of theZHOU
Leftconductor
Celestiallance
Punishment FUYUE
Recommendingvirtuous man
Executions Twinklingindicator
Eastern door Fish
Celestial gate Trials Celestial milk Western door Tortoise
Judging Gate ofYANG
Celestialspokes
Sun
Arsenal Battlechariots
Retinue
Pillars Chariots andcavalry
Railings Chariot andCavalrygeneral
Southern gate Imperialguards
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174392131100319XDownloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 65.21.228.167, on 09 Nov 2021 at 08:12:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at
Table 5. The Seven Mansions which belong to Vermilion Bird
Well MansionGhosts
MansionWillowMansion
StarMansion
ExtendedNet
Mansion
WingsMansion
ChariotMansion
Well Fourchannels
Ghosts Willow Star Extendednet
Wings Chariot
Battle axe Palace gate Cumulativecorpses
Bannerof wineshop
Celestialpremier
CelestialTemple
DONGOU Leftlinchpin
Official forirrigation
Market forthe soldiers
Beacon fire Celestialcereals
Rightlinchpin
Celestialwine cup
Wildcockerel
Outerkitchen
Xuanyuan Changsha
Five feudalkings
Celestialwolf
Judge toestimatethe age ofanimals
Maids-in-waiting
Greenhill
North river Grandfather Moon Highjudge
MilitaryGate
Accumulatedwater
Son Celestialdog
Masterof Con-
struction
Pile offirewood
Grandson Celestialearth god’s
temple
House forMusicalInstru-ments
Water level Old man
South river Bow andarrow
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174392131100319XDownloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 65.21.228.167, on 09 Nov 2021 at 08:12:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174392131100319XDownloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 65.21.228.167, on 09 Nov 2021 at 08:12:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174392131100319XDownloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 65.21.228.167, on 09 Nov 2021 at 08:12:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at