The Role of Astronomy in Society and CultureProceedings IAU Symposium No. 260, 2009D. Valls-Gabaud & A. Boksenberg, eds.
c© International Astronomical Union 2011doi:10.1017/S174392131100319X
Ancient Chinese constellations
Junjun XuBeijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Room 424, Apartment 20, No. 37 Xueyuan Street, Beijing, Chinaemail: [email protected]
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
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108 J. Xu
Figure 1. Ancient Chinese constellations. Artwork by Zuojing Guanxing.
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Ancient Chinese constellations 109
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
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110 J. Xu
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)
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Ancient Chinese constellations 111
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
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112 J. Xu
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
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Ancient Chinese constellations 113
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
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114 J. Xu
Table 6. The Seven Mansions of the White Tiger
LegsMansion
BondMansion
StomachMansion
HairyHead
Mansion
Net MansionTurtleBeak
Mansion
Three StarsMansion
Legs Bond Stomach Hairy head Net Celestialgate
Turtlebeak
Three stars
Wangliang Greatgeneral of
theheaven
Mausoleum Celestialriver
Whisper Celestialtally
Deity incharge ofmonsters
Punishment
Whip Official incharge of
forest
Heaps ofcorpses
QI Celestialstreet
Interpretersof ninedialects
Seat flags Jade well
Auxiliaryroad
Official incharge ofpasturing
Celestialboat
Rolledtongue
Celestialhigh
terrace
Banner ofthree stars
Axe
Southernmilitary
gate
Squarecelestialgranary
Storedwater
Celestialslander
Feudalkings
Imperialmilitary
flag
Militarywell
Flyingcorridor
Ricks ofgrain
Celestialfoodstuffs
Whetstone Fivechariots
Celestialorchard
Screen
Outerfence
Circularcelestialgranary
CelestialYIN force
Pillars Toilet
Celestialpigsty
Hay Pool ofharmony
Excrement
Master ofconstruc-
tions
Celestialmeadows
Celestialpier
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Table 7. The Seven Mansions of the Murky Warrior
DipperMansion
OxMansion
Girl MansionEmptinessMansion
RooftopMansion
EncampmentMansion
WallMansion
Dipper Ox Girl ZHAO Emptiness Rooftop Encampment Wall
Celestialkeyhole
Celestialdrumstick
Pearls onladies’wear
YUE Deifiedjudge of
life
Tomb Restingpalace
Celestialstable
Market officer Drum atthe river
Rottengourd
Rightconductor
Deifiedjudge of
rank
Roofing Flyingserpent
Official forearthworks
andbuildings
Establishment Left flag Goodgourd
ZHENG Deifiedjudge ofdisaster
and goodfortune
Temple Thunder andlightning
Thunderbolt
Celestial cock Right flag Celestialford
WEI Deifiedjudge ofright and
wrong
Celestialmoney
Official formaterialssupply
Cloud andrain
Dog Weavinggirl
XIZHONG HAN Crying Humans The line oframparts
Sickle
Territory ofdogs
Clepsydraterrace
Basket formulberry
leaves
JIN Weeping Pestle Palace guard
Celestialspring
Imperialpassageway
Twelvecountries
YAN Jadeornamenton ladies’
wear
Mortar Materials forMakingTents
Peasant Networks ofdykes
ZHOU Celestialramparts
Big yardfor
chariots
North gate ofthe military
camp
River turtle Celestialfarmland
QIN DecayedMortar
ZAOFU Chaff
Nine waterwells
DAI Celestialhook
Net forcatching
birds
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