Traditional Chinese star names Thursday, July 2, 2009

Traditional Chinese star names are the names of stars used in ancient Chinese literature, history, religion, mythology, folklore, Chinese opera and such methods of divination as astrology, horoscope (火羅) and Feng shui. Chinese star names sometimes consist of a Chinese constellation name followed by a positional sequence number, which may change from dynasty to dynasty; well-known bright stars are however often named consistently. The total number of stars in a constellation may also vary throughout Chinese history and not necessarily increase. For completeness, maximum possible number of stars are listed but some with question marks if referenced only once.

History

Chinese astronomy was advanced in classical times and knew of five times more stars than were described by Ptolomy. In 1875, Gustav Schlegel made a complete survey of the star names which appeared in such ancient works. His Uranographie Chinoise correlated 760 star names with those used in western astronomy.[1]

Star names and their current constellations

The below list are known stars and their western star names. The name in parentheses indicates a collective name. If the same name was used multiple times for unrelated objects, a red question mark ? is appended to the name until the ambiguity can be resolved.

Andromeda

  • 天大將軍一,天大將軍东中星 (天大将军,天將軍,大將軍) γ1/γ2 Andromedae [1]
  • 天大將軍三 (天大将军,天將軍,大將軍) 51 Andromedae
  • 天大將軍四 (天大将军,天將軍,大將軍) 49 Andromedae
  • 天大將軍五 (天大将军,天將軍,大將軍) χ Andromedae
  • 天大將軍六 (天大将军,天將軍,大將軍) υ Andromedae
  • 天大將軍七 (天大将军,天將軍,大將軍) τ Andromedae
  • 天大將軍八 (天大将军,天將軍,大將軍) 56 Andromedae
  • 壁宿二,壁宿距星,壁宿北星(縈室,東縈,东萦,東壁,娵觜之口,北方玄武) α Andromedae
  • 奎宿一,奎宿西南小星(武库,天豕，封豕,降婁,降娄,西方白虎,郁车宫,奎星,魁星,魁星爺,大魁夫子,大魁星帝) η Andromedae [2][3]
  • 奎宿二,奎宿距星,奎宿西南大星,天豕目,大将(武库,天豕,封豕,封豨,降婁,降娄,西方白虎,郁车宫,奎星,魁星,魁星爺,大魁夫子,大魁星帝) ζ Andromedae
  • 奎宿四(武库,天豕,封豕,封豨,降婁,降娄,西方白虎,郁车宫,奎星,魁星,魁星爺,大魁夫子,大魁星帝) ε Andromedae
  • 奎宿五(武库,天豕,封豕,封豨,降婁,降娄,西方白虎,郁车宫,奎星,魁星,魁星爺,大魁夫子,大魁星帝) δ Andromedae
  • 奎宿六(武库,天豕,封豕,封豨,降婁,降娄,西方白虎,郁车宫,奎星,魁星,魁星爺,大魁夫子,大魁星帝) π Andromedae
  • 奎宿七(武库,天豕,封豕,封豨,降婁,降娄,西方白虎,郁车宫,奎星,魁星,魁星爺,大魁夫子,大魁星帝) ν Andromedae or ξ Andromedae??
  • 奎宿八(武库,天豕,封豕,封豨,降婁,降娄,西方白虎,郁车宫,奎星,魁星,魁星爺,大魁夫子,大魁星帝) μ Andromedae
  • 奎宿九,奎大星,奎宿东北第三星(武库,天豕,封豕,封豨,降婁,降娄,西方白虎,郁车宫,奎星,魁星,魁星爺,大魁夫子,大魁星帝) β Andromedae
  • 天廄一,天厩一 θ Andromedae [4][5]
  • 天廄二,天厩二 ρ Andromedae
  • 天廄三,天厩三 σ Andromedae
  • 騰蛇十六,螣蛇十六 3 Andromedae
  • 騰蛇十七,螣蛇十七 7 Andromedae
  • 騰蛇十八,螣蛇十八 8 Andromedae
  • 騰蛇十九,螣蛇十九 λ Andromedae
  • 騰蛇二十,螣蛇二十 ψ Andromedae
  • 騰蛇二十一,螣蛇二十一 κ Andromedae
  • 騰蛇二十二,螣蛇二十二 ι Andromedae
  • 軍南門,军南门 φ Andromedae [6]

Apus

Chinese name[table 1] Romanization[table 2] Translation Western name Comments
異雀一 (P) yìquèyī
ζ Apodis
異雀二 (P) yìquèèr
ι Apodis
異雀三 (P) yìquèsān
β Apodis
異雀四 (P) yìquèsì
γ Apodis
異雀六 (P) yìquèliù
δ Apodis
異雀七 (P) yìquèqī
η Apodis
異雀八 (P) yìquèbā
α Apodis
異雀九 (P) yìquèjiǔ
ε Apodis

Aquarius

Aquila

Ara

Chinese name[table 1] Romanization[table 2] Translation Western name Comments
杵一 (P) chǔyī Pestle One σ Arae [24][25]
杵二 (P) chǔèr Pestle Two α Arae, Choo
杵三 (P) chǔsān Pestle Three β Arae
(T) 龜一 (S) 龟一 (P) guīyī Turtle One ε¹ Arae [26][27]
(T) 龜二 (S) 龟二 (P) guīèr Turtle Two γ Arae
(T) 龜三 (S) 龟三 (P) guīsān Turtle Three δ Arae
(T) 龜四 (S) 龟四 (P) guīsì Turtle Four η Arae
(T) 龜五 (S) 龟五 (P) guīwǔ Turtle Five ζ Arae

Aries

Auriga

Boötes

Camelopardalis

Cancer

Canes Venatici

Canis Major

Canis Minor

Chinese name[table 1] Romanization[table 2] Translation Western name Comments
南河一 (P) nánhéyī
ε Canis Minoris [73]
南河二 (P) nánhéèr
β Canis Minoris
南河中星 (P) nánhézhōngxīng
β Canis Minoris
诸王西星 (P) zhūwángxīxīng
β Canis Minoris
(河戍) (P) (héshù)
β Canis Minoris
(河戌) (P) (héxū)
β Canis Minoris
南河三 (P) nánhésān
α Canis Minoris
南河大星 (P) nánhédàxīng
α Canis Minoris
(河戍) (P) (héshù)
α Canis Minoris
(河戌) (P) (héxū)
α Canis Minoris

Posted by Prince Hotak at 12:47 AM  

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