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39-538: 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 . The asterisms are divided into four groups, the Twenty-Eight Mansions ( 二十八 宿 , Èrshíbā Xiù ) along the ecliptic, and the Three Enclosures of the northern sky. The southern sky

78-543: A compass direction and containing seven mansions. The names and determinative stars are: 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. These asterisms were since incorporated into

117-481: A horoscope. This complex system of astrology was developed to such an extent that later traditions made few fundamental changes to the core of the system, and many of the same components of horoscopic astrology that were developed during the Hellenistic period are still in use by astrologers in modern times. Several Hellenistic astrologers ascribe its creation to a mythical sage named Hermes Trismegistus . Hermes

156-446: Is 星 xīng . The character 星 originally had a more complicated form: 曐 , a phono-semantic character ( 形聲字 ) whose semantic portion, 晶 , originally depicting three twinkling stars (three instances of the "sun" radical 日 ). The modern Chinese term for "constellation", referring to those as defined by the IAU system, is 星座 ( xīng zuò ). The older term 星官 ( xīng guān )

195-459: 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. Hellenistic astrology Hellenistic astrology is a tradition of horoscopic astrology that was developed and practiced in the late Hellenistic period in and around

234-601: Is more commonly known as 牛郎星 or 牵牛星 (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. The following

273-620: Is named 河鼓二 in Chinese. 河鼓 is the name of the asterism (literally the Drum at the River). 二 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

312-535: 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

351-410: Is perhaps not surprising, that in the course of time, to be known as a "Chaldaean" carried with it frequently the suspicion of charlatanry and of more or less willful deception. One of the more famous examples of Roman literature concerning astrology is the poem Astronomica , written in the first century CE by Marcus Manilius . Hellenistic astrology was practiced from the 2nd century BCE until around

390-562: Is said to have written several major texts which formed the basis of the art or its evolution from the system of astrology that was inherited from the Babylonians and the Egyptians . Several authors cite Hermes as being the first to outline the houses and their meaning, and thus the houses are usually thought to date back to the very beginning of the Hellenistic tradition and indeed they are one of

429-482: Is used only in describing constellations of the traditional system. The character 官 '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 星群 ( xīng qún , lit. "group of stars"). The Three Enclosures are the Purple Forbidden enclosure ( 紫 微 垣 , Zǐ Wēi Yuán ),

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468-455: The 2nd millennium BCE . This system later spread either directly or indirectly through the Babylonians to other areas such as China and Greece where it merged with preexisting indigenous forms of astrology. It came to Greece initially as early as the middle of the 4th century BCE, and then around the late 2nd or early 1st century BCE after the Alexandrian conquests this Babylonian astrology

507-556: The Mediterranean Basin region, especially in Egypt . The texts and technical terminology of this tradition of astrology were largely written in Greek (or sometimes Latin ). The tradition originated sometime around the late 2nd or early 1st century BCE, and then was practiced until the 6th or 7th century CE. This type of astrology is commonly referred to as "Hellenistic astrology" because it

546-496: The Roman era , demonstrates the degree to which astrologers were expected to have knowledge of the texts in his description of Egyptian sacred rites: This is principally shown by their sacred ceremonial. For first advances the Singer, bearing some one of the symbols of music. For they say that he must learn two of the books of Hermes, the one of which contains the hymns of the gods, the second

585-795: The Supreme Palace enclosure ( 太 微 垣 , Tài Wēi Yuán ) and the Heavenly Market enclosure ( 天 市 垣 , 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

624-481: 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,

663-634: The 7th century CE when Europe entered the Middle Ages . Astrology was then passed to and further developed by individuals working within the Islamic Empire from the 7th to the 13th century. Purple Forbidden enclosure The Purple Forbidden enclosure ( 紫微垣 Zǐ wēi yuán) is one of the San Yuan ( 三垣 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

702-510: 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 垣 yuán "low wall, fence; enclosure" (not to be confused with the lunar mansion " "Wall" 壁 ): The Twenty-Eight Mansions are grouped into Four Symbols , each associated with

741-491: The astrology that arrived from the East was marked by its complexity, with different forms of astrology emerging. By the 1st century BCE two varieties of astrology were in existence, one that required the reading of horoscopes in order to establish precise details about the past, present and future, the other being theurgic, meaning literally 'god-work', and emphasised the soul's ascent to the stars. While they were not mutually exclusive,

780-826: The development of horoscopic astrology was the astrologer and astronomer Ptolemy , who lived in Alexandria in Egypt. Ptolemy's work the Tetrabiblos laid the basis of the Western astrological tradition. The earliest Zodiac found in Egypt dates to the 1st century BCE, the Dendera Zodiac. According to Firmicus Maternus (4th century), the system of horoscopic astrology was given early on to an Egyptian pharaoh named Nechepso and his priest Petosiris. The Hermetic texts were also put together during this period and Clement of Alexandria , writing in

819-461: The emperor Tiberius had had his destiny predicted for him at birth, and so surrounded himself with astrologers such as Thrasyllus of Mendes . According to Ammianus Marcellinus there are people who "neither appear in public nor eat nor eat a meal nor think they can with due caution take a bath, until they have critically examined the calendar ( ephemeris )". Claudius , on the other hand favored augury and banned astrologers from Rome altogether. It

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858-589: The former sought information about the life, while the latter was concerned with personal transformation, where astrology served as a form of dialogue with the divine. Like so much else, astrology came to Rome due to Greek influence. Among the Greeks and Romans , Babylonia or Chaldea was so identified with astrology that " Chaldaean wisdom" became the synonym of divination through the planets and stars . Astrologers became very much in vogue in Imperial Rome . Indeed,

897-461: The international language of intellectual communication and part of this process was the transmission of astrology from Cuneiform to Greek. Sometime around 280 BCE, Berossus , a priest of Bel from Babylon, moved to the Greek island of Kos in order to teach astrology and Babylonian culture to the Greeks. With this, what Campion calls, 'the innovative energy' in astrology moved west to the Hellenistic world of Greece and Egypt. According to Campion,

936-600: The major defining factors which separate Hellenistic astrology and other forms of horoscopic astrology from Babylonian astrology and other traditions in different parts of the world. This system of horoscopic astrology was then passed to another mythical figure named Asclepius to whom some of the Hermetic writings are addressed. According to Firmicus Maternus , the system was subsequently handed down to an Egyptian pharaoh named Nechepso and his priest Petosiris . They are said to have written several major textbooks which explicated

975-473: The night. Over the course of the year, each constellation rose just before sunrise for ten days. When they became part of the astrology of the Hellenistic Age , each decan was associated with ten degrees of the zodiac. Texts from the 2nd century BCE list predictions relating to the positions of planets in zodiac signs at the time of the rising of certain decans, particularly Sothis. Particularly important in

1014-535: The position of the planets and stars at the time of birth, represents the most significant contribution and shift of emphasis that was made during the Hellenistic tradition of astrology. This new form of astrology quickly spread across the ancient world into Europe, and the Middle East. Additionally, some authors such as Vettius Valens and Paulus Alexandrinus took into account the Monomoiria , or individual degrees of

1053-541: The regulations for the king's life. And after the Singer advances the Astrologer, with a horologe in his hand, and a palm, the symbols of astrology. He must have the astrological books of Hermes, which are four in number, always in his mouth. The conquest of Asia by Alexander the Great exposed the Greeks to the cultures and cosmological ideas of Syria , Babylon , Persia and central Asia . Greek overtook cuneiform script as

1092-415: The rising decan, the Greek system of planetary gods, sign rulership, and the four elements. The decans were a system of time measurement according to the constellations. They were led by the constellation Sothis or Sirius. The risings of the decans in the night were used to divide the night into 'hours'. The rising of a constellation just before sunrise (its heliacal rising) was considered the last hour of

1131-467: The star catalogue compiled by Ptolemy 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

1170-623: 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 , which are all about the same magnitude; in turn, the stars of the Big Dipper, 北斗 in Chinese, are numbered in Chinese astronomy in the same order as with the Bayer designations, with Dubhe first in both cases. For example, Altair

1209-467: The system and it is from this text that many of the later Hellenistic astrologers draw from and cite directly. This system formed the basis of all later forms of horoscopic astrology. In 525 BCE Egypt was conquered by the Persians , so there is likely to have been some Mesopotamian influence on Egyptian astrology. Arguing in favor of this, Barton gives an example of what appears to be Mesopotamian influence on

Chinese constellations - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-418: The traditional Chinese star maps. The asterisms are: 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

1287-583: The whole year, based on the movement of the Moon over a lunar month . 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 . The system of twenty-eight lunar mansions is very similar (although not identical) to the Indian Nakshatra system, and it

1326-606: The zodiac, which included two signs – the Balance and the Scorpion , as evidenced in the Dendera Zodiac (in the Greek version the Balance was known as the Scorpion's Claws). After the occupation by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE, Egypt came under Greek rule and influence. The city of Alexandria was founded by Alexander after the conquest and during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, the scholars of Alexandria were prolific writers. It

1365-558: Was added as a fifth group in the late Ming dynasty based on European star charts, comprising an additional 23 asterisms. The Three Enclosures ( 三 垣 , Sān Yuán ) include the Purple Forbidden Enclosure , which is centered on the north celestial pole and includes those stars which could be seen year-round, while the other two straddle the celestial equator. The Twenty-Eight Mansions form an ecliptic coordinate system used for those stars visible (from China) but not during

1404-509: Was developed in the late Hellenistic period, although it continued to be practiced for several centuries after the end of what historians usually classify as the Hellenistic era. The origins of much of the astrology that would later develop in Asia , Europe and the Middle East are found among the ancient Babylonians and their system of celestial omens that began to be compiled around the middle of

1443-530: Was in 'Alexandrian Egypt' that Babylonian astrology was mixed with the Egyptian tradition of Decanic astrology to create Horoscopic astrology . This contained the Babylonian zodiac with its system of planetary exaltations, the triplicities of the signs and the importance of eclipses . Along with this it incorporated the Egyptian concept of dividing the zodiac into 36 decans of ten degrees each, with an emphasis on

1482-413: Was mixed with the Egyptian tradition of Decanic astrology to create horoscopic astrology. This system is labeled as " horoscopic astrology " because, unlike the previous traditions, it employed the use of the ascendant , otherwise known as the horoskopos ("hour marker") in Greek, and the twelve celestial houses which are derived from it. The focus on the natal chart of the individual, as derived from

1521-403: 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. The "Southern Asterisms" ( 近南極星區 ) are now also treated as part of the traditional Chinese system. The Chinese word for "star, heavenly body"

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