Chinese constellations

Traditional Chinese astronomy has a system of dividing the celestial sphere into
asterisms or constellations, known as "officials" (Chinese xng gun).[1]

The Chinese asterisms are generally smaller than the constellations of Hellenistic
tradition. The Song dynasty (13th-century) Suzhou planisphere shows a total of 283
asterisms, comprising a total of 1,565 individual stars.[2] The asterisms are divided
into four groups, the Twenty-Eight Mansions 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 based on European star charts, comprising an additional 23
asterisms.

The Three Enclosures (, Sn Yun) are centered on the North Celestial Pole and
include those stars which could be seen year-round.[3]

The Twenty-Eight Mansions (, rshb Xi) form an ecliptic coordinate

Reproduction of the Suzhou star
system used for those stars not visible (from China) during the whole year, based on chart (13th century)
the movement of the moon over alunar month.[4]

Contents
1 History
2 Terminology
3 Three Enclosures
4 The Twenty-Eight Mansions
5 The Southern Asterisms ()
6 Traditional Chinese star names
6.1 By modern IAU constellation
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links

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 ancientBabylonian astronomy.[5]

The system of twenty-eight lunar mansions is very similar (although not identical) to the Indian Nakshatra 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 date to the Tang dynasty. 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 (which had reached China in the early centuries AD). Gan De was a Warring States 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 byPtolemy 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 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 , an astronomer of the late Ming Dynasty, introduced another 23 asterisms based on
European star charts.[6] The "Southern Sky" () asterisms are now also treated as part of the traditional Chinese system.

Terminology
The Chinese word for "star, heavenly body" is xng. The character is phonosemantic, its ideographic portion is (the character
for jng "bright radiant"), in origin depicting three twinkling stars (three times the"sun" radical ).

The modern Chinese term for "constellation" referring to the IAU system is (xng zu, being a classifier for large immovable
objects), while the term xng gun remains reserved for the traditional system. The character means "public official" (hence
the English translation "officials" for the Chinese asterisms), but it is historically a variant glyph of gng "temple, palace", in
origin a pictogram of a large building.

The generic term for "asterism" is (xng qn, lit. "group of stars").

Three Enclosures
The Three Enclosures are the Purple Forbidden enclosure (, Z Wi Yun), the Supreme Palace enclosure (, Ti Wi
Yun) and the Heavenly Market enclosure(, Tin Sh Yun).

Purple Forbidden enclosure covers the northernmost area of the night sky. The Supreme Palace enclosure lies to its east and north,
while the Heavenly Market enclosure lies to its west and south.

The Three Enclosures are separated by named by synecdoche for the asterisms separating them, designated yun "low wall, fence;
enclosure" (not to be confused with the lunar mansion "Wall"
" ):

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 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 modern constellations Ursa
Minor, Draco, Camelopardalis, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Auriga, Botes, and parts of Ursa Major
, Canes Venatici, Leo Minor, Hercules.

The Supreme Palace Enclosure covers the modern constellations Virgo, Coma Berenices and Leo, and parts of Canes Venatici, Ursa
Major and Leo Minor.

The Heavenly Market Enclosure covers the modern constellations Serpens, Ophiuchus, Aquila and Corona Borealis, and parts of
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:[7][8]

A modern star chart showing the traditional Chinese asterisms, with

the 28 mansions indicated on the border of each hemisphere.
 Four Symbols Mansion ()
()
Number Name (pinyin) Translation Determinative star

1 (Ju/Jio) Horn Vir

2 (Kng) Neck Vir

Azure Dragon 3 (D) Root Lib

of the East
4 (Fng) Room Sco
()
Spring 5 (Xn) Heart Sco

6 (Wi) Tail Sco

7 (J) Winnowing Basket Sgr

8 (Du) (Southern) Dipper Sgr

9 (Ni) Ox Cap

Black Tortoise 10 (N) Girl Aqr

of the North
11 (X) Emptiness Aqr
()
Winter 12 (Wi/Wi) Rooftop Aqr

13 (Sh) Encampment Peg

14 (B) Wall Peg

15 (Ku) Legs And

16 (Lu) Bond Ari

White Tiger 17 (Wi) Stomach 35 Ari

of the West
18 (Mo) Hairy Head 17 Tau
()
Fall 19 (B) Net Tau

20 (Z) Turtle Beak Ori

21 (Shn) Three Stars Ori

22 (Jng) Well Gem

23 (Gu) Ghost Cnc

Vermilion Bird 24 (Li) Willow Hya

of the South
25 (Xng) Star Hya
()
Summer 26 (Zhng) Extended Net Hya

27 (Y) Wings Crt

28 (Zhn) Chariot Crv

The Southern Asterisms ()

The sky around the south celestial pole was unknown to ancient Chinese. Therefore, it was not included in the Three Enclosures and
Twenty-Eight Mansions system. However, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Guangqi introduced another 23 asterisms based on
the knowledge of European star charts.[9] These asterisms were since incorporated into the traditional Chinese star maps.

The asterisms are :

 English name Chinese name Number of stars Hellenistic Constellation

Sea and Mountain (Hi Shn) 4 Carina/Centaurus/Musca/Vela

Cross (Sh Z Ji) 4 Crux

Horse's Tail (M Wi) 3 Centaurus

Horse's Abdomen (M F) 3 Centaurus

Bee (M Fng) 4 Musca

Triangle (Sn Jio Xng) 3 Triangulum Australe

Exotic Bird (Y Qu) 9 Apus / Octans

Peacock (Kng Qu) 11 Pavo

Persia (B S) 11 Indus / Telescopium

Snake's Tail (Sh Wi) 4 Octans / Hydrus

Snake's Abdomen (Sh F) 4 Hydrus

Snake's Head (Sh Shu) 2 Hydrus / Reticulum

Bird's Beak (Nio Hu) 7 Tucana

Crane (H) 12 Grus / Tucana

Firebird (Hu Nio) 10 Phoenix / Sculptor

Crooked Running Water (Shu Wi) 3 Eridanus / Phoenix

White Patched Nearby (F Bi) 2 Hydrus

White Patches Attached (Ji Bi) 2 Reticulum / Dorado

Goldfish (Jn Y) 5 Dorado

Sea Rock (Hi Dn) 5 Carina

Flying Fish (Fi Y) 6 Volans

Southern Boat (Nn Chun) 5 Carina

Little Dipper (Xio Du) 9 Chamaeleon

Traditional 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 does use this Chinese
method sometimes, most notably with the stars in theBig Dipper, which are all about the same magnitude.)

For example, Altair 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 or astrology. For example, Altair is more commonly known as
or (the Star of the Cowherd) in Chinese, after the mythological story of theCowherd 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 () Columba () Lacerta () Puppis ()

Apus () Coma Berenices ( Leo () Pyxis ()
Aquarius () ) Leo Minor () Reticulum ()
Aquila () Corona Australis ( Lepus () Sagitta ()
)
Ara () Libra () Sagittarius ()
Corona Borealis ()
Aries () Lupus () Scorpius ()
Corvus ()
Auriga () Lynx () Sculptor ()
Crater ()
Botes () Lyra () Scutum ()
Crux ()
Camelopardalis () Microscopium () Serpens ()
Cygnus ()
Cancer () Monoceros () Sextans ()
Delphinus ()
Canes Venatici () Musca () Taurus ()
Dorado ()
Canis Major () Octans () Telescopium ()
Draco ()
Canis Minor () Ophiuchus () Triangulum ()
Equuleus ()
Capricornus () Orion () Triangulum Australe (
Eridanus () )
Carina () Pavo ()
Fornax () Tucana ()
Cassiopeia () Pegasus ()
Gemini () Ursa Major ()
Centaurus () Perseus ()
Grus () Ursa Minor ()
Cepheus () Phoenix ()
Hercules () Vela ()
Cetus () Pisces ()
Hydra () Virgo ()
Chamaeleon () Piscis Austrinus ()
Hydrus () Volans ()
Indus ()

See also
Chinese calendar
Chinese star maps
Five elements (Chinese)
Four Symbols (Chinese constellation)
Lunar mansion
Nakshatra
Traditional Chinese star names

References
1. literally translates to "star official". The English translation "officials" is used in Hsing-chih T'ien. and Will Carl
Rufus, The Soochow astronomical chart, Ann Arbor : Univ. of Michigan Press, 1945.
2. Hsing-chih T'ien. and Will Carl Rufus,The Soochow astronomical chart, Ann Arbor : Univ. of Michigan Press, 1945,
p. 4.
3. Needham, J. "Astronomy in Ancient and Medieval China(https://www.jstor.org/stable/74275)". 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.
4. (http://www.lamost.org/~yzhao/history/xiu28.html)
 5. Xiaochun Sun, Jacob Kistemaker, The Chinese sky during the Han, vol. 38 of Sinica Leidensia, BRILL, 1997,
ISBN 978-90-04-10737-3, p. 7f. (https://books.google.ch/books?id=87lvBoFi8A0C&pg=P A7#v=onepage&q&f=false)
and p. 18 (https://books.google.ch/books?id=87lvBoFi8A0C&pg=P A18), note 9. The authors, citing Needham,
Science and Civilisation in Chinavol. 3 (1959), p. 177, speculate that both the BabylonianMUL.APIN and the cadinal
star names in the Yo din suggest an ultimate origin inSumerian astronomy of about 2300 BC (based on
calculations regarding theprecession of the equinoxes), or approximately the reign ofSargon of Akkad.
6. Sun, Xiaochun (1997).Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, T
echnology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures.
p. 910.
7. "The Chinese Sky" (http://idp.bl.uk/education/astronomy/sky
.html). International Dunhuang Project. Retrieved
2011-06-25.
8. Sun, Xiaochun (1997).Helaine Selin, ed. Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, T
echnology, and Medicine in Non-
Western Cultures (https://books.google.com/books?id=raKRY3KQspsC&pg=PA517). Kluwer Academic Publishers.
p. 517. ISBN 0-7923-4066-3. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
9. Sun, Xiaochun (1997).Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, T
echnology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures.
p. 910.

Further reading
Book of Jin, volume 1113 ()
Huainanzi, volume 3 ()

External links
Hong Kong Space Museum:Interactive Star Maps (download)
Hong Kong Space Museum:English-Chinese Glossary of Chinese Star Regions, Asterisms and Star Name
Hong Kong Space Museum:Chinese Starlore
Astronomy
SHOOTING STARS: China's Astronomical Legacy
Ian Ridpath's Star Tales: The Chinese sky alost tradition

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chinese_constellations&oldid=813235377

"

This page was last edited on 2 December 2017, at 16:21.

Text is available under theCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of theWikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.