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The Dunhuang map or Dunhuang Star map is one of the first known graphical representations of
''The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith''.
British Library Staff. Serindia Publications. . The map provides a graphical verification of the star observations, and are part of a series of pictures on one of the Dunhuang manuscripts. The astronomy behind the map is explained in an educational resource posted on the website of the International Dunhuang Project, where much of the research on the map has been done. The Dunhuang Star map is to date the world's oldest complete preserved star atlas.
International Dunhuang Project.bl.uk
One of the first public mentionings of this script in Western studies was from Joseph Needham's 1959 version of the book ''Science and Civilisation in China''. Since that time, only a few publications have been devoted to the map, nearly all being Chinese publications.
"Star Atlas: Translation"
by Imre Galambos, 2010, International Dunhuang Project. Astronomy in China British Library oriental manuscripts Chinese manuscripts Star atlases Dunhuang manuscripts
The Dunhuang map or Dunhuang Star map is one of the first known graphical representations of star
A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...
s from ancient Chinese astronomy
Astronomy in China has a long history stretching from the Shang dynasty, being refined over a period of more than 3,000 years. The Ancient China, ancient Chinese people have identified stars from 1300 BCE, as Chinese star names later categori ...
, dated to the Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
(618–907). Before this map, much of the star information mentioned in historical Chinese texts had been questioned.Whitfield, Susan. 004(2004)''The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith''.
British Library Staff. Serindia Publications. . The map provides a graphical verification of the star observations, and are part of a series of pictures on one of the Dunhuang manuscripts. The astronomy behind the map is explained in an educational resource posted on the website of the International Dunhuang Project, where much of the research on the map has been done. The Dunhuang Star map is to date the world's oldest complete preserved star atlas.
History
Early in 1900s (decade), a walled-up cave containing a cache ofmanuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
s was discovered by Chinese Taoist
Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...
Wang Yuan-lu in the Mogao Caves. The scroll with the star chart was found amongst those documents by Aurel Stein when he visited and examined the content of the cave in 1907.One of the first public mentionings of this script in Western studies was from Joseph Needham's 1959 version of the book ''Science and Civilisation in China''. Since that time, only a few publications have been devoted to the map, nearly all being Chinese publications.
Colors
The symbols for the stars are divided into three different groups. The groups are presented in three colors representing the ''"Three Schools of Astronomical tradition"''.See also
*Chinese star maps
Chinese star maps ( zh, s=星图, t=星圖, p=xīngtú) are usually directional or graphical representations of Chinese astronomy, Chinese astronomical alignments. Throughout the history of China, numerous star maps have been recorded. This page ...
References
External links
{{commons category, Dunhuang Star Atlas"Star Atlas: Translation"
by Imre Galambos, 2010, International Dunhuang Project. Astronomy in China British Library oriental manuscripts Chinese manuscripts Star atlases Dunhuang manuscripts