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China's Astronomical Legacy II

This is a  brief overview of Chinese astrology and astronomy contained in a book called "The Splendour of the Heavens" published by Hutchinson in 1926.   We have checked the information and updated it in view of our better knowledge of Chinese tradition and culture since that time.  We have changed the spelling for some of the names to conform with standard Hanyu Pin Yin, the Latin script form of Mandarin Chinese.

The ancient Chinese zodiac is quite independent of that in use in the West; it has varied at different times, but the following appears to be the original arrangement:
 

Whereas the Western Zodiac star signs change month by month, the Chinese star signs change year by year according to the Chinese traditional calendar, which is based on the Chinese lunar year.  Hence the Chinese new year will start on a different date each year, but this always falls between January 20th and February 22nd, ie in Aquarius.

The order is Rat (1996), Ox (1997), Tiger (1998), Rabbit (1999), Dragon (2000), Snake (2001), Horse (2002), Sheep (2003), Monkey (2004), Cockerel (2005), Dog (2006), Pig (2007).  This repeats every twelve years.

The Chinese have the 28 lunar "lodges" or constellations  (Xiu) - a larger number than the twelve signs of the Western Zodiac, through which the Moon, Sun and planets pass. However, the Chinese system is based on the celestial equator, not on the ecliptic plane. Each xiu has a triangular patch of the heavens extending up to the North Pole, so that a statement that a heavenly body is in a particular xiu gives no information as to its actual position, relative to some reference point or plane.  Several of the cometary observations recorded by ancient Chinese astronomers are of this character, and it is less easy to utilise them than if the reference was associated with a star in proximity to the comet.

Each xiu is named after a star or group of stars within it. Thus Mao is the Pleiades, Zi and Shen are respectively the head and belt of Orion, Xing is Alpha Hydrae, Jiao is Spica, Wei is a group in Scorpio.  It will be noticed that the xiu are very unequal in size and can be seen in the star chart, which is to be found in the Forbidden City in Beijing (left).

The xiu are divided into four groups or palaces (Gong), seven in each gong. These correspond with our four seasons. The reason for the inequality in size of the xiu is to make them fit accurately within the twelve zodiacal signs. The middle sign of each gong contains three xiu, which are therefore small, while the two outer signs contain two xiu apiece. The spring gong is called Qing Long, the Green dragon (its centre is Scorpio); the summer gong is called Zhu Que, the Red Sparrow; its centre is marked by the Sparrow-Fire or Heart of the Sparrow (Alphard); the Autumn gong is Bai Hu, the White Tiger (its centre is Orion); the winter gong is Xuan Wu, the Black Tortoise. It is easy to see the appropriateness of associating Green with Spring, Red with the fiery heat of Summer, Black with the gloom of Winter. The gong were also associated with the substances that the Chinese regarded as elements: Wood with Spring, Fire with Summer, Metal with Autumn, Water with Winter, while the Earth is in the centre of it all. The Chinese gave the following poetical reason for this association:-

Wood prevails over Earth by absorbing it: Metal prevails over Wood by cutting it: Fire prevails over Metal by melting it: Water prevails over Fire by quenching it; Earth prevails over Water by absorbing it.

The annual cycle of the seasons is thus symbolised.

The lunar xiu begin with the region associated with the autumnal equinox, not with the spring one, like the Western zodiacal signs. The reason is that they are associated with the Full Moon, which is always in opposition to the Sun. The symmetry of arrangement of the xiu made it easy to infer the position of the Sun by noting the position of the Full Moon and taking the opposite xiu.

For more on the Lunar xiu visit Chinese Astronomy.

A few of the Chinese names of stars and constellations are as follows, however not all of them appear to have a direct and obvious meaning; they are just names. The seven bright stars of the Great Bear, are known as Yu Ya, the Chariot. The northern of the pointers are Qu and the feet of the Bear, San Tai.  Arcturus is Tai Jiao, the Great Horn.  Vega, with some neighbouring stars, is Fang Nu, the Spinning Damsel. Castor and Pollux are Ho Xu, or Pi Ho. The Milky Way is Tian He (Celestial River) or Yin He (Silver River).  The region around the north pole, which never drops below the horizon, is Ce Kong or Ce Wei Yuan.

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Updated: July 2003