The Twenty-Eight Constellations are the twenty-eight star regions divided by ancient Chinese astronomers to observe the movements of the sun, moon, and five stars. They are our country's native astronomical creations. Used to illustrate the positions of the sun, moon, and five stars. The details are as follows:
Twenty-eight constellations:
The seven constellations of Dongfang Canglong: Jiao, Kang, Di (dī), Fang, Xin, Wei, Ji (jī)
The seven constellations of Xuanwu in the north: Dou (dǒu), cow, female, empty, dangerous, room, wall
The seven constellations of White Tiger in the west: Kui, Lou (lóu), stomach, Pleiades (mǎo), Bi, Zī (zī), Shen (shēn)
The seven places of Southern Suzaku: well, ghost, willow, star, Zhang, Yi, Zhen (zhěn)
Each place contains a number of star. As one of the important components of traditional Chinese culture, it has been widely used in ancient astronomy, religion, literature, astrology, horoscopes, Feng Shui, auspicious selection and other spells.
Different fields give it different connotations, and the related content is very complex.
The system of the Twenty-Eight Constellations can be traced back to the early Shang and Zhou dynasties as far as the current literature is concerned, and was complete during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Records about the Twenty-eight Constellations and the Four Symbols were first seen in the early Warring States Period. According to the examination of cultural relics, the lacquer box from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng during the Warring States Period was unearthed in Suixian County, and for the first time the complete names of the twenty-eight constellations were recorded on it. It is recognized by the historians that the 28 constellations were first used in astronomy, so its position in the history of astronomy is very important. It has always been a topic of interest to Chinese and foreign scholars.
Explanation: Ancient Chinese astronomers divided the visible stars in the sky into twenty-eight groups, called the Twenty-Eight Constellations ("Su", Pinyin: xiù, Medieval Pinyin: siuh), one of the ancient Chinese native astronomy theories, and It is called the Twenty-Eight Houses or the Twenty-Eight Stars because ancient China divided the sky near the ecliptic and the celestial equator into twenty-eight regions.
The Twenty-Eight Constellations, also known as the Twenty-Eight Houses or the Twenty-eight Stars, divides the stars in the south of the sky into twenty-eight groups, and they extend along the ecliptic or the celestial equator (the earth's equator extends to A circle of stars distributed in the sky. It is divided into four groups, also known as the Four Symbols, Four Beasts, Four Dimensions, and Four Directions Gods. Each group has seven stars, and its origin is still not completely clear.
Originally, the ancients selected twenty-eight star officials to compare the movements of the sun, lunar, metal, wood, water, fire and earth as markers for observation. The meaning of "su" is similar to the "palace" of the zodiac. It means the constellation table, indicating the location of the sun, moon and five stars. In the Tang Dynasty, the Twenty-Eight Constellations became the main body of the twenty-eight heavenly regions. These heavenly regions were still named after the Twenty-Eight Constellations. Unlike the situation in Sanyuan, as a heavenly region, the Twenty-Eight Hosts were mainly for the purpose of dividing the star officials.
The correspondence between the Twenty-Eight Constellations and the Twelve Earthly Branches
The Earthly Branches are the core content of ancient Chinese astronomy and the most important symbols of ancient Chinese astronomy. The earthly branches originate from the ancient twenty-eight constellations, another way of expressing the year. The method of creating the earthly branches is to use some of the astrological symbols of the twenty-eight constellations.
The twenty-eight constellations start from Spica and are arranged from west to east, opposite to the direction of the movement of the sun and moon:
The east is called Qinglong: Jiaomu Jiao, Kangjinlong, Ditu raccoon dog, House Sun Rabbit, Heart Moon Fox, Tail Fire Tiger, Ji Water Leopard;
The north is called Xuanwu: Dou Mu Xie, Ox Taurus, Female Earth Bat, Xu Sun Rat, Wei Yue Yan, Room Fire Pig, Wall water dog*;
White tiger in the West: Kuimu wolf, Loujin dog, stomach pheasant, Pleiades chicken, Biyuewu, fire monkey, and water monkey;
The south is called Suzaku: Jingmuyan, Ghost Golden Sheep, Liutu Deer, Xingri Horse, Zhangyue Deer, Winged Fire Snake, and Zhenshui Earthworm.
*The seventh place in the north is based on "Night Sailing Ship" compiled by Zhang Dai in the Ming Dynasty. >In order to facilitate the observation of the movements of the sun, moon and the five planets (metal, wood, water, fire and earth) in ancient times, people selected twenty-eight constellations near the ecliptic and the equator as symbols, collectively called the Twenty Eight constellations, or twenty-eight constellations.
Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei and Ji, these seven constellations form the image of a dragon. They are in the eastern sky during the spring equinox, so they are called the seven constellations of the Eastern Qinglong; Dou, Niu, Nu, Xu, Wei, Shi, Wall, these seven stars form a group of intertwined images of turtles and snakes. They are in the northern sky during the spring equinox, so they are called the Northern Xuanwu Seven Stars; Kui, Lou, Wei, Pleiades, Bi, Xi, and Shen, these seven stars form a tiger. The image of the white tiger is in the western sky during the vernal equinox, so it is called the Western White Tiger Seven Constellations; Well, Ghost, Willow, Star, Zhang, Yi and Zhen, these seven constellations also form the image of a bird. It is in the southern sky during the vernal equinox, so it is called the Western White Tiger. Southern Suzaku Qisu. The images of the four animals composed of the above seven constellations are collectively called the four images, four dimensions, and four beasts. Ancient people used the appearance and arrival of each of the four images and the twenty-eight constellations to determine the seasons. The ancients looked south to see the directional solar terms, so there was a saying that the blue dragon in the east on the left, the white tiger in the west on the right, the basalt in the back north, and the red bird in the south.