Traditional

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 ...

has a system of dividing the

celestial sphere In astronomy and navigation, the celestial sphere is an abstract sphere that has an arbitrarily large radius and is concentric to Earth. All objects in the sky can be conceived as being projected upon the inner surface of the celestial sphere, ...

into asterisms or

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

s, known as "officials" ( Chinese ''xīng guān''). The Chinese asterisms are generally smaller than the constellations of Hellenistic tradition. The

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

(13th-century) Suzhou planisphere shows a total of 283 asterisms, comprising a total of 1,565 individual stars. The asterisms are divided into four groups, the

Twenty-Eight Mansions The Twenty-Eight Mansions (), also called or , are part of the Chinese constellations system. They can be considered as the equivalent to the Zodiac, zodiacal constellations in Western astronomy, though the Twenty-eight Mansions reflect the move ...

(, ''Èrshíbā Xiù'') along the ecliptic, and the Three Enclosures of the northern sky. The southern sky was added as a fifth group in the late

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

based on European star charts, comprising an additional 23 asterisms. The Three Enclosures (, ''Sān Yuán'') include the

Purple Forbidden Enclosure The Purple Forbidden enclosure ( Zǐ wēi yuán) is one of the San Yuan ( Sān yuán) or Three Enclosures. Stars and constellations of this group lie near the north celestial pole and are visible all year from temperate latitudes in the Northern ...

, which is centered on the north celestial pole and includes those stars which could be seen year-round,Needham, J.
Astronomy in Ancient and Medieval China
. ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London''. Series A, ''Mathematical and Physical Sciences'', Vol. 276, No. 1257, ''The Place of Astronomy in the Ancient World'' (May 2, 1974), pp. 6782. Accessed 9 Oct 2012. while the other two straddle the celestial equator. The Twenty-Eight Mansions form an

ecliptic coordinate system In astronomy, the ecliptic coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system commonly used for representing the apparent positions, orbits, and pole orientations of Solar System objects. Because most planets (except Mercury) and many small So ...

used for those stars visible (from China) but not during the whole year, based on the movement of the Moon over a

lunar month In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month. Variations In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Euro ...

History

The Chinese system developed independently from the Greco-Roman system since at least the 5th century BC, although there may have been earlier mutual influence, suggested by parallels to ancient

Babylonian astronomy Babylonian astronomy was the study or recording of celestial objects during the early history of Mesopotamia. The numeral system used, sexagesimal, was based on 60, as opposed to ten in the modern decimal system. This system simplified the ca ...

. The system of twenty-eight lunar mansions is very similar (although not identical) to the Indian ''

Nakshatra Nakshatra () is the term for Lunar mansion in Hindu astrology and Buddhist astrology. A nakshatra is one of 27 (sometimes also 28) sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to a prominent star or asterisms in or near the respective s ...

'' system, and it is not currently known if there was mutual influence in the history of the Chinese and Indian systems. The oldest extant

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 ...

date 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 ...

. Notable among them are the 8th-century '' Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era'' and Dunhuang Star Chart. It contains collections of earlier Chinese astronomers ( Shi Shen, Gan De and Wu Xian) as well as of

Indian astronomy Astronomy has a long history in the Indian subcontinent, stretching from History of India, pre-historic to History of India (1947–present), modern times. Some of the earliest roots of Indian astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus Valle ...

(which had reached China in the early centuries AD). Gan De was a

Warring States The Warring States period in Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and struggles for gre ...

era (5th century BC) astronomer who according to the testimony of the Dunhuang Star Chart enumerated 810 stars in 138 asterisms. The Dunhuang Star Chart itself has 1,585 stars grouped into 257 asterisms. The number of asterisms, or of stars grouped into asterisms, never became fixed, but remained in the same order of magnitude (for the purpose of comparison, the star catalogue compiled by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

in the 2nd century had 1,022 stars in 48 constellations). The 13th-century Suzhou star chart has 1,565 stars in 283 asterisms, the 14th-century Korean Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido has 1,467 stars in 264 asterisms, and the celestial globe made by Flemish Jesuit Ferdinand Verbiest for the

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 165420 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign of 61 ...

in 1673 has 1,876 stars in 282 asterisms. The southern sky was unknown to the ancient Chinese and is consequently not included in the traditional system. With European contact in the 16th century,

Xu Guangqi Xu Guangqi or Hsü Kuang-ch'i (April 24, 1562– November 8, 1633), also known by his baptismal name Paul or Paul Siu, was a Chinese agronomist, astronomer, mathematician, scholar-bureaucrat, politician, and writer during the late Ming dynasty ...

, an astronomer of the late

, introduced another 23 asterisms based on European star charts. The "Southern Asterisms" () are now also treated as part of the traditional Chinese system.

Terminology

The Chinese word for "star, heavenly body" is . The character originally had a more complicated form: , a phono-semantic character () whose semantic portion, , originally depicting three twinkling stars (three instances of the "sun" radical ). The modern Chinese term for "constellation", referring to those as defined by the IAU system, is (). The older term () is used only in describing constellations of the traditional system. The character 's main meaning is "public official" (hence the English translation "officials" for the Chinese asterisms), it historically could also meant "official's residence". The generic term for "asterism" is (, lit. "group of stars").

Three Enclosures

The Three Enclosures are the

Purple Forbidden enclosure The Purple Forbidden enclosure ( Zǐ wēi yuán) is one of the San Yuan ( Sān yuán) or Three Enclosures. Stars and constellations of this group lie near the north celestial pole and are visible all year from temperate latitudes in the Northern ...

(, ''Zǐ Wēi Yuán''), the Supreme Palace enclosure (, ''Tài Wēi Yuán'') and the Heavenly Market enclosure (, ''Tiān Shì Yuán''). The Purple Forbidden Enclosure occupies the northernmost area of the night sky. From the viewpoint of the ancient Chinese, the Purple Forbidden Enclosure lies in the middle of the sky and is circled by all the other stars. It covers the Greek constellations Ursa Minor, Draco, Camelopardalis, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Auriga, Boötes, and parts of Ursa Major, Canes Venatici, Leo Minor and Hercules. The Supreme Palace Enclosure covers the Greek constellations Virgo, Coma Berenices and Leo, and parts of Canes Venatici, Ursa Major and Leo Minor. The Heavenly Market Enclosure covers the Greek constellations Serpens, Ophiuchus, Aquila and Corona Borealis, and parts of Hercules. The Three Enclosures are each enclosed by two "wall" asterisms, designated ''yuán'' "low wall, fence; enclosure" (not to be confused with the lunar mansion " "Wall" ): *Purple Forbidden Left Wall (Cassiopeia / Cepheus / Draco) *Purple Forbidden Right Wall (Draco / Ursa Major / Camelopardalis) *Supreme Palace Left Wall (Virgo / Coma Berenices) *Supreme Palace Right Wall (Leo / Virgo) *Heavenly Market Left Wall (Hercules / Serpens / Ophiuchus / Aquila) *Heavenly Market Right Wall (Serpens / Ophiuchus / Hercules)

The Twenty-Eight Mansions

The Twenty-Eight Mansions are grouped into Four Symbols, each associated with a compass direction and containing seven mansions. The names and determinative stars are:

The Southern Asterisms

The sky around the south

celestial pole The north and south celestial poles are the two points in the sky where Earth's axis of rotation, indefinitely extended, intersects the celestial sphere. The north and south celestial poles appear permanently directly overhead to observers at ...

was unknown to ancient Chinese. Therefore, it was not included in the Three Enclosures and

system. However, by the end of the

introduced another 23 asterisms based on the knowledge of European star charts. These asterisms were since incorporated into the traditional Chinese star maps. The asterisms are:

Chinese star names

Ancient Chinese astronomers designated names to the visible stars systematically, roughly more than one thousand years before Johann Bayer did it in a similar way. Basically, every star is assigned to an asterism. Then a number is given to the individual stars in this asterism. Therefore, a star is designated as "Asterism name" + "Number". The numbering of the stars in an asterism, however, is not based on the apparent magnitude of this star, but rather its position in the asterism. The Bayer system uses this Chinese method occasionally, most notably with the stars in the

Big Dipper The Big Dipper (American English, US, Canadian English, Canada) or the Plough (British English, UK, Hiberno-English, Ireland) is an asterism (astronomy), asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major; six of them ar ...

, which are all about the same magnitude; in turn, the stars of the Big Dipper, in Chinese, are numbered in Chinese astronomy in the same order as with the Bayer designations, with

Dubhe Dubhe is a multiple star system in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. It is formally designated Alpha Ursae Majoris, Latinised from α Ursae Majoris, Despite being designated "α" (alpha), it is the second-brightest object ...

first in both cases. For example,

Altair Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila (constellation), Aquila and the list of brightest stars, twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinisation of name ...

is named in Chinese. is the name of the asterism (literally the Drum at the River). is the number designation (two). Therefore, it literally means "the Second Star of the Drum at the River". (Bayer might have called Altair "Beta Tympani Flumine" if he had been cataloguing Chinese constellations.) Some stars also have traditional names, often related to

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

. For example,

is more commonly known as or (the Star of the Cowherd) in Chinese, after the mythological story of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl. These designations are still used in modern Chinese astronomy. All stars for which the traditional names are used in English are routinely translated by their traditional Chinese designations, rather than translations of their catalogue names.

By modern IAU constellation

The following is a list of the 88 IAU constellations with the Chinese translation of their names. Each linked article provides a list of the (traditional) Chinese names of the stars within each (modern) constellation. * Andromeda () *Antlia () *

Apus Apus is a small constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere, southern sky. It represents a bird-of-paradise, and its name means "without feet" in Greek language, Greek because the bird-of-paradise was once wrongly believed to lack feet. ...

() * Aquarius () * Aquila () * Ara () * Aries () * Auriga () *

Boötes Boötes ( ) is a constellation in the northern sky, located between 0° and +60° declination, and 13 and 16 hours of right ascension on the celestial sphere. The name comes from , which comes from 'herder, herdsman' or 'plowman' (literally, 'o ...

() *Caelum () *

Camelopardalis Camelopardalis is a large but faint constellation of the northern sky representing a giraffe. The constellation was introduced in 1612 or 1613 by Petrus Plancius. Some older astronomy books give Camelopardalus or Camelopardus as alternative form ...

() *

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

() * Canes Venatici () *

Canis Major Canis Major is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere. In the second century, it was included in Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and is counted among the 88 modern constellations. Its name is Latin for "greater dog" in contrast to C ...

() *

Canis Minor Canis Minor is a small constellation in the Celestial sphere, northern celestial hemisphere. In the second century, it was included as an Asterism (astronomy), asterism, or pattern, of two stars in Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and it is counte ...

() *

Capricornus Capricornus is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for "horned goat" or "goat Horn (anatomy), horn" or "having horns like a goat's", and it is commonly represented in the form of a sea goat: a mythical creature that is hal ...

() *

Carina Carina may refer to: Places Australia * Carina, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane * Carina Heights, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane * Carina, Victoria, a locality in Mildura Serbia * Carina, Osečina, a village in the Kolubara District ...

() *

Cassiopeia Cassiopeia or Cassiopea may refer to: Greek mythology * Cassiopeia (mother of Andromeda), queen of Aethiopia and mother of Andromeda * Cassiopeia (wife of Phoenix), wife of Phoenix, king of Phoenicia * Cassiopeia, wife of Epaphus, king of Egy ...

() *

Centaurus Centaurus () is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the 88 modern constellations by area, largest constellations, Centaurus was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one ...

() * Cepheus () *

Cetus Cetus () is a constellation, sometimes called 'the whale' in English. The Cetus (mythology), Cetus was a sea monster in Greek mythology which both Perseus and Heracles needed to slay. Cetus is in the region of the sky that contains other water- ...

() * Chamaeleon () * Circinus () *

Columba Columba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey ...

() * Coma Berenices () * Corona Australis () * Corona Borealis () *

Corvus ''Corvus'' is a widely distributed genus of passerine birds ranging from medium-sized to large-sized in the family Corvidae. It includes species commonly known as crows, ravens, and rooks. The species commonly encountered in Europe are the car ...

() *

Crater A crater is a landform consisting of a hole or depression (geology), depression on a planetary surface, usually caused either by an object hitting the surface, or by geological activity on the planet. A crater has classically been described ...

() *

Crux CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system ...

() * Cygnus () * Delphinus () *

Dorado Dorado (, ) is a constellation in the Southern Sky. It was named in the late 16th century and is now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the mahi-mahi (''Coryphaena hippurus''), which is known as ''dorado'' ("golden") in Sp ...

() * Draco () * Equuleus () * Eridanus () *

Fornax Fornax () is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere, partly ringed by the celestial river Eridanus (constellation), Eridanus. Its name is Latin for furnace. It was named by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1756. Forna ...

() * Gemini () * Grus () *

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

() * Horologium () * Hydra () *

Hydrus Hydrus is a small constellation in the deep Southern Celestial Hemisphere, southern sky. It was one of twelve constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman and it first ap ...

() *

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the dis ...

() * Lacerta () * Leo () * Leo Minor () *

Lepus Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The genu ...

() *

Libra Libra generally refers to: * Libra (constellation), a constellation * Libra (astrology), an astrological sign based on the star constellation Libra may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Libra'' (novel), a 1988 novel by Don DeLillo Musi ...

() *

Lupus Lupus, formally called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Common ...

() *

Lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

() *

Lyra , from ; pronounced: ) is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the modern 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Lyra was often represented on star ...

() *Mensa () *

Microscopium Microscopium ("the Microscope") is a minor constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere, one of twelve created in the 18th century by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille and one of several depicting scientific instruments. The name ...

() *

Monoceros Monoceros ( Greek: , "unicorn") is a faint constellation on the celestial equator. Its definition is attributed to the 17th-century cartographer Petrus Plancius. It is bordered by Orion to the west, Gemini to the north, Canis Major to the s ...

() * Musca () *Norma () *

Octans Octans is a faint constellation located in the deep southern celestial hemisphere, Southern Sky. Its name is Latin for the eighth part of a circle, but it is named after the octant (instrument), octant, a navigational instrument. Devised by kingd ...

() *

Ophiuchus Ophiuchus () is a large constellation straddling the celestial equator. Its name comes from the Ancient Greek (), meaning "serpent-bearer", and it is commonly represented as a man grasping a snake. The serpent is represented by the constellati ...

() * Orion () * Pavo () *

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

() *

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (, ; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer of ...

() * Phoenix () * Pictor () * Pisces () *

Piscis Austrinus Piscis Austrinus is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere. The name is Latin for "the southern fish", in contrast with the larger constellation Pisces, which represents a pair of fish. Before the 20th century, it was also known as ...

() * Puppis () *

Pyxis Pyxis is a small and faint constellation in the southern sky. Abbreviated from Pyxis Nautica, its name is Latin for a mariner's compass (contrasting with Circinus, which represents a draftsman's compasses). Pyxis was introduced by Nicolas-Louis ...

() *

Reticulum Reticulum is a small, faint constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for a small net, or reticle—a net of crosshairs at the focus of a telescope eyepiece that is used to measure star positions. The constellation is best viewed b ...

() *

Sagitta Sagitta is a dim but distinctive constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for 'arrow', not to be confused with the significantly larger constellation Sagittarius 'the archer'. It was included among the 48 constellations listed by t ...

() * Sagittarius () * Scorpius () *

Sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

() * Scutum () * Serpens () *

Sextans Sextans is a faint, minor constellation on the celestial equator which was introduced in 1687 by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius. Its name is Latin for the astronomical sextant, an instrument that Hevelius made frequent use of in his obs ...

() * Taurus () *

Telescopium Telescopium is a minor constellation in the southern Celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere, one of twelve named in the 18th century by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille and one of several depicting scientific instruments. Its name i ...

() *

Triangulum Triangulum is a small constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for "triangle", derived from its three brightest stars, which form a long and narrow triangle. Known to the ancient Babylonians and Greeks, Triangulum was one of the 48 ...

() *

Triangulum Australe Triangulum Australe is a small constellation in the far Southern Celestial Hemisphere. Its name is Latin for "the southern triangle", which distinguishes it from Triangulum in the northern sky and is derived from the Acute triangle, acute, almost ...

() * Tucana () *

Ursa Major Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear, is a constellation in the Northern Sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory. Its Latin name means "greater (or larger) bear", referring to and contrasting it with nearby Ursa M ...

() *

Ursa Minor Ursa Minor (, contrasting with Ursa Major), also known as the Little Bear, is a constellation located in the far northern celestial hemisphere, northern sky. As with the Great Bear, the tail of the Little Bear may also be seen as the handle of ...

() * Vela () *

Virgo Virgo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Virgo (film), a 1970 Egyptian film * Virgo (character), several Marvel Comics characters * Virgo Asmita, a character in the manga ''Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas'' * ''Virgo'' (album), by Virgo Four, ...

() * Volans () *

Vulpecula Vulpecula is a faint constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for "little fox", although it is commonly known simply as the fox. It was identified in the seventeenth century, and is located in the middle of the Summer Triangle (an ...

()

References

External links

Hong Kong Space Museum: ''Interactive Star Maps''
(download)

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080828020216/http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Space/StarShine/Starlore/e_starshine_starlore.htm Hong Kong Space Museum: ''Chinese Starlore''
Astronomy
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{{Portal bar, Astronomy, China, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System Chinese astrological signs

History

Terminology

Three Enclosures

The Twenty-Eight Mansions

The Southern Asterisms

Chinese star names

By modern IAU constellation

See also

References

Further reading

External links