The Representative Significance and Legend of Twenty-eight Hostels

Introduction of ancient star officials in China

Stars gather in China.

Ancient Chinese scientific and technological civilization once ranked first in the world for a long time, and many achievements are still attracting attention today. Among them, the development and achievements of ancient astronomy in China can be said to be the most brilliant in the history of astronomy in the world, and its system is rigorous and meticulous, which is amazing. Today, many appellations in ancient astronomy are still fascinating. Because it may be slightly classical, most of it can be said to be shrouded in mystery. This mystery often arouses people's curiosity, so some games and cartoons use people's psychology to quote some words from ancient astronomy in China in puzzles, artifacts and plots to create a good atmosphere and generate strong attraction. Here, I will briefly explain some concentrated words, hoping to help you understand them further.

Magic settings like summoning have appeared in many games. There are many summoning skills of Suzaku, Xuanwu, Qinglong and Baihu, such as fantasy in the wind and online games with cash. In fact, Suzaku, Xuanwu, Qinglong and Baihu are collectively called "four elephants", "four spirits" or "four places". In ancient astronomy in China, the system of "star officials" was used to divide the star regions, and the "star officials" here were similar to the western "constellations". In ancient China, the system of "star officials" divided the sky into "three walls and twenty-eight lodges" and other star officials. The earliest record appeared in Records of the Historian Tianguan, in which "Twenty-eight Hostels" were divided into four star domains, named after animals respectively, which were the aforementioned "Four Elephants". It can be said that Suzaku, Xuanwu, Qinglong and Baihu are four constellations.

When it comes to "three walls and twenty-eight lodges" and some key words of ancient astronomy in China, "Obsidian", "wall" and "lodge" must not be omitted. Let's get a general idea of what they mean:

Bright, shiny; Shine, shine

"Obsidian", whose original meaning is sunlight, was later called "Obsidian", which can be understood as a bright celestial body. The word "obsidian" is involved in many cartoons and games. Among them, the scene of "Celestial Orbit Carving" in "Ghost Sword Record of Youcheng" has the following explanation:

"Sun Obsidian", also known as "Sun", is the opposite star of "Luo Biao". In the Ming Dynasty, it held the sun as the first of the seven obsidians.

"Moon Obsidian", also called "Lunar Obsidian", is the "capital" opposite to the stars. It is in charge of all the hidden Yin Qi in the Ming Dynasty and stays with the sun Obsidian.

"Water Obsidian", also known as "Chen Xing", is one of the five obsidians of the ecliptic, which is full of the cool air of water in the Ming Dynasty.

"Jin Yao", also known as "Taibai", is one of the five evils of the ecliptic and is in charge of the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

"Fire obsidian", also known as "flicker", is one of the five obsidians of the ecliptic, which is full of the burning gas of the Ming Dynasty.

"Mu Yao", also known as "Suixing", is one of the five nights in the ecliptic and holds the spirit of the Ming Dynasty.

"Earth Obsidian", also known as "revitalization", is one of the five obsidians of the ecliptic, which is full of calm and convergence in the Ming Dynasty.

As for the word "Obsidian", China has had such sayings as "Five Obsidian", "Seven Obsidian", "Nine Obsidian", "Ten Obsidian", "Eleven Obsidian" and "Twenty-eight Orthodox Obsidian" since ancient times. The following is a brief description of them.

Five planets

When it comes to "five whores", it is necessary to say "five latitudes". The "five latitudes" are also called "five stars", that is, water, gold, fire, wood and earth in the solar system (arranged in the order from near to far from the sun, the same below). The name of China's "five stars" first appeared around four or five hundred BC. These five planets were called "Chen Xing", "Taibai", "Huo Ying", "Old Star" and "Zhenxing" in ancient times, and gradually became the most commonly used names of these planets. Here are the origins of the corresponding names:

Mercury, called "Chen Xing" in ancient times. It is the closest planet to the sun in the solar system. When observing "Mercury" from the earth, it usually appears on both sides of the sun, and the distance from the sun is always kept within 30 degrees. The "degree" here is an ancient unit in China, and about 30 degrees is an "old". There is a saying of "Twelve Chens" in the 21st Century of the New Tang Dynasty, so Mercury was named "Chen Xing" according to the movement distance. "Mercury" is difficult to observe with naked eyes, because "Mercury" has the smallest orbital radius. It is an inner planet and usually crosses the sky with the sun. The strong light of the sun eclipses "Mercury", and it can be successfully observed with the naked eye for only a few days every year.

Venus, called "Taibai" in ancient times. Because its reflected light is bright white, it is the brightest one on the planet. Its silvery white light is more dazzling than the light blue Sirius at its brightest. The Book of Songs includes Xiaoya and Gu Feng's Zhi Da Dong; "There is Qi Ming in the east and Chang Gung Memorial in the west." Qi Ming and Chang Gung Memorial here seem to be two different stars. In fact, they are all "Venus". When the sun rises above the horizon, it is called "Qi Ming", and when the sun rises above the horizon, it is Chang Gung. The atmosphere of Venus is very thick, and the temperature of the gold watch (if you can call it that) is very high, and it can even melt some low-melting metals.

Mars, called ying in ancient times. Because the soil and rocks on the surface of "Mars" are red, its reflected light is light fire red, similar to fluorescence; In addition, "Mars" is the first extraterrestrial planet, and its relative motion with the earth makes its self-perceived direction of motion on the earth change, which is confusing. There is a record of "fluorescence retrograde" in the Eleven Years Annals of the Later Han Dynasty, so the ancients called it "fluorescence". "Mars" is one of the most similar "Earth-like planets" to Earth. Recently, "Mars" has been quite close to the earth, which provides a good opportunity for its observation.

Jupiter, known as the "year star" in ancient times. It is named after passing through a "star time" in the zodiac every year (that is, a "time" in a year). According to ancient astronomical observations in China, Jupiter's operating cycle is twelve years. If the zodiac is divided into twelve parts, each part is called "times", then Jupiter passes through "times" every year, which is called "annual trip". The "twelve o'clock" here are: Jixing, Feng Xuan, Loulou, Girder, Stone God, Quail Head, Quail Fire, Quail Tail, Shouxing, Fire and Analysis Wood. In fact, the "Zhi Zhi Chronology" developed in China after the Han Dynasty originated from the previous "Star Chronology". "Jupiter" is the largest known planet in the solar system, and its "Great Red Spot of Jupiter" was once a famous puzzle in astronomy.

Saturn, called "revitalization" in ancient times. Saturn was measured by the ancients to revolve around the sky for about 28 years. Passing through one of the "twenty-eight hotels" on average every year, it seems to be stationed in the "twenty-eight hotels" in turn, which is called "one night in the ancient town", so it is called "Saturn" as a town star. In addition, Saturn is also called "filled star", in which "filling" and "town" have the same meaning and should be a common word. Saturn's first magic is its "ring". From the earth, it seems to have two "ears".

It is recorded in Historical Records Tianguanshu: "There are five stars in the sky and five elements on the ground." Therefore, the "five elements" with five stars are the names of water, gold, fire, wood and earth that are still in use today. Because these five planets cross evenly in the sky, similar to latitude, they are collectively called "five latitudes". "Five latitudes" and "five stars" are also called "five obsidians".

Seven outstanding people

"Seven Yao" was also called "Seven Politics" in ancient times. It is the general name of the seven celestial bodies in ancient China, such as the sun, the lunar moon, Chen Xing, Taibai, Huo Ying, Suixing and Zhenxing, which are the sun, the moon, water, gold, fire, wood and earth. At the same time, due to the reasons mentioned above, "seven politics" is also called "seven latitudes". In fact, according to observation, the ancients thought that the air movement was different from other stars in the same period, so they compared the sun and the moon with the five planets and called them "seven nights", "seven houses" and "seven latitudes", because the ancients mistakenly regarded the sun and the moon as planets; According to today's astronomical system, the sun is the central star of the solar system and the planets revolve around it. The moon is a satellite of the earth, and it has the same status as other planets. It can be said that the sun is higher than the five stars of water, gold, fire, wood and earth, while the moon is lower than these five stars.

"Seven Obsidian", a general term used in ancient times, is also relatively extensive. Li Bai, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in the preface to Da Liefu: "The article is about seven obsidians, and about two instruments are made, including all the wonderful instruments." The first article of Volume 11 of the Book of Jin records: "Ran Maide, seven demons follow, the sun and the moon do not hide, and the stars are demons." In foreign countries, "Seven Obsidian" is also quite famous. In many areas, "seven obsidians" represent seven days of the week. Luna is in charge of Monday, so Monday is called "Moon Obsidian Day"; Vulcan is in charge of Tuesday, called "Fire Obsidian Day"; The water god is in charge of Wednesday, which is called "Water Obsidian Day"; Shen Mu is in charge of Thursday, which is called "Obsidian Day"; The golden god is in charge of Friday, which is called "Golden Yaori"; The land god is in charge of Saturday, called "Earth Obsidian Day"; The sun god is in charge of Sunday, which is called "Sun Yao Day". The name "Seven Waste Days", which stands for seven days a week, first appeared in the ancient Babylonian civilization in the two river basins. Around 700 BC, the system of dividing the week into seven days appeared in Babylon, and the surrounding areas were merged into one month. Babylonians built seven-star altars to worship the stars. The seven-star altar is divided into seven layers, and each layer has a star god. There are seven gods from top to bottom: sun, moon, fire, water, gold, wood and earth. The seven gods are in charge of one day a week, so they sacrifice one god every day, named after one god. So in the west, every week begins on Sunday, which is different from China's habit of starting on Monday. The name "Seven Waste Days" is widely used in Japan at present. I believe that many people who have played Japanese games and read Japanese comics have found something.

Kuyou

Many people first came into contact with the word "Nine Obsidian", which may be the astrologer "Nine Obsidian" in CLAMP's Sage. It is used as a person's name here. In ancient astronomy in China, "Nine Obsidian" refers to "Nine Obsidian", that is, besides "Seven Obsidian", two kinds of "Hidden Obsidian" such as "Luo Wei" and "Du Ji" were introduced.

"Luozi" and "Du Ji" are both Sanskrit transliteration. Legend has it that "Luo Zi" was originally a dragon that commanded all demons and once joined hands with the gods to fight against demons. However, when everyone was unprepared, he stole the holy liquid, only to be seen by the sun and the moon, and then the gods wiped out the "Luo Zi". Since then, Luo Ou's head and his body Du Ji have become enemies of Brockovich, the sun and the moon. As long as the environment permits, they will try to devour the sun and the moon, leading to solar and lunar eclipses. Du Ji's tail sometimes appears in the form of a comet.

Another legend is that "Lolo" is a demon in ancient Indian mythology. According to legend, it is the son of "Wang Weibo Rogiti, the daughter of Dasha" and "Cynthia, the daughter of Dasha". It is also known as the "king of planets and meteors" and the patron saint of southwest China. He has four hands, and his lower body is a snake tail, so he is good at doing evil. When "God" and "Asura" stirred up a sea of milk, "Luo Ri" disguised himself, mingled with the gods and stole nectar. As a result, "Sun God" and "Moon God" discovered it and reported it to Vishnu. Vishnu immediately cut off Luori's head and arms with a magic dish. However, because Luo Zi has drunk dew, his head is immortal. In order to get revenge, he often devours the sun and the moon, resulting in an eclipse, which is the origin of the eclipse. "Luowei" star is a dark star, and the dead body becomes a "capital" star, both of which are ominous stars. This is the concept of ancient India: a star suddenly appeared in the night sky that threatened everyone, called "Du Ji"; Rob the light of the sun and the moon, to the star of the eclipse, called "Luo". The setting of "Luo" in Ghost Sword Record of Youcheng is very similar to the legend. In addition, it is written in "Celestial Instrument Carving" in Ghost Sword Record of Youcheng that "Sun Yao" is also the antonym of "Luo Wei" to the star ... and "Yue Yao" is also the antonym of "Du Ji" to the star ... which may come from the above legend.

Xi Tianzhu's Seven Difficulties was translated and introduced to China around 900 AD. In this book, two hidden obi bian "Luo Biao" and "Du Ji" are specially introduced: "Luo Biao, Master Luo, Huang Fan, Luna, Complex, Sun Head. It is often invisible. Every time there is an eclipse, it is often invisible to count capital, stop logic, a leopard tail, an eclipse tail, a moon wave force and a sun head. "

In China, it is generally believed that the name "Luobian" first appeared in the translation of wine Zhi Li in 7 18 AD, and the so-called "nine fingers" is "nine essentials". Debate on Luo and Du Ji were paid more and more attention by astronomers in China in the late Tang Dynasty and even the Five Dynasties.

Then why are Luo Wei and Du Ji called "hidden obsidian"? What does it mean in ancient astronomy in China?

The so-called "hidden obsidian" refers to the star obsidian invisible to human vision, which is different from the visual visibility of stars and stars. In essence, "Tibetan obsidian" is an orbital term in ancient astronomy, and "only the air can't be seen in the sky" is a quite accurate statement to describe "Tibetan obsidian". Most of the "hidden stars" in ancient astronomy in China are related to the observed movement of the sun and the moon. When referring to the astronomical references of "Luo" and "Luo", we should first briefly talk about "ecliptic" and "white road" in astronomy.

When the earth revolves around the sun, relatively speaking, it looks as if the sun will move from the earth on the celestial sphere. The track of motion is called "ecliptic", and there is a saying in Song Shu Lu XIII Astronomy I: "The ecliptic is also made by the sun." The orbit of the moon around the earth is called the "white road". The ecliptic and the white road intersect at two points, which are called "Yueyue in the north" and "Yueyue in the south" respectively. Generally speaking, in China, Luo and Bai know the intersection of the ecliptic and the white.

In addition, there is another intersection with "Luo" as the rising point of White Road. The saying that "Du Ji" is the apogee of the moon once spread to Japan. Today, there are still two celestial charts in Japan that used the position of "Nine Obsidian" to calculate the life of stars in the early days. I guess the material in Biography may be used as a reference. In addition, the prototype of the broken stars "Luowei" and "Du Ji" described in "Wang Tong Ling", which marks the coming of the "Wang Tong Ling War" to the earth again 500 years later, may also have originated here.

Yao Shi

Some of the "ten obsidians" mentioned here are misrepresented, because "ten obsidians" are generally rare. However, since there are "Time Wheel Palace" and "Time Wheel Honorer" in Ghost Sword Record of Youcheng, it is necessary to simply write "Ten Obsidian" here. In addition to the Seven Obsidian, there are two imaginary celestial bodies in the Calendar of Times and Wheels, namely Luobian and Huobao (Luobianwei, not researched in detail here, but I guess it is the capital), together with the Long Tail Comet, which are collectively called the Ten Obsidian.

Eleven drugs

On the basis of "Luo" and "Du Ji", two "prostitutes" such as "Bao Yue" and "Zi Qi" are added, which are collectively called "Yusi" and "Seven Zheng Siyu" together with "Zheng Qi". Except for Luo Wei and Du Ji in Seven Politics and Four Redundancy, two obsidians, Moonracer and Zi Qi, were introduced to China relatively late. Xing Yunlu, an astronomer in the Ming Dynasty, pointed out that "Yusi" should come from the Classic of Durai Yusi, and the "Eleven Stars" mentioned in the book refer to "Seven Houses" and "Yusi", which are collectively called "Eleven Nights".

According to legend, even though it is generally believed that Yus is an invisible star obsidian, that is, hidden obsidian, it can still be observed like Seven Obsids under special circumstances. For example, "Luo" and "Luo" blocked the light of the sun and the moon, forming solar and lunar eclipses, so they can be detected when lunar eclipses occur. The ancients thought that the moon could be seen visually when there was a demon. Its star belongs to a comet, but the difference is that it shines everywhere, unlike a comet with only one tail. There is such a record in the Spring and Autumn Annals: "I saw the morning" and "I entered the Beidou". When Wang De arrives in the sky, he can also see purple gas, which is shaped like a half moon. It usually appears from the end of the lunar calendar to the beginning of the month. "Helping the moon to be bright" is often called "jing xing" or "Dexing". The sixth part of Hanshu has: "Jingxing, Dexing also, its shape is impermanent, often out."

If "Eleven Obsidian" is mentioned in Chinese astronomy at the same time, that is, "Four Obsidian" in "Seven Houses and Four Obsidian", it is said that the following reference is formed: When the moon rises from the south of the ecliptic along the white road to the north, it is called "Luo Ai". When the ecliptic passes through descending node from north to south, it is called "planning capital"; The apogee of the moon running along the white road is called the "moon"; It is called "purple gas" when it runs to perigee. "Yusi" and "Yinyao" are both related to the lunar orbit. The expressions of "Luo Luo Tian Track" and "Du Ji Sky Track" in the scene of "Sky Track Carving" in Ghost Sword Record of Youcheng are consistent with the above parts.

Ershiba Yao Zheng

China listed 28 "main stars" in ancient times. The "main star" here is also called "Zhengyao", that is, "Twenty-eight Zhengyao". Specifically, the "good and evil" are: Tian Ji, Sun, Tiantong, Tianfu, Taiyin, Wolverine, Jumen, Tian Xiang, Qisha and.

There is a saying that "the sun" and "the moon" are the gods, while "the sky" and "the earth robbery" are called "the sky helps the stars".

Guan xing

Before introducing China's ancient astronomy "Star Official", please briefly browse the ancient astronomical achievements of the following four ancient civilizations. It can be found that in the astronomical research of ancient civilization, there are many concepts similar to China's "Star Officer".

In ancient Egypt, from the unearthed star map, it can be found that the stars known by ancient Egyptians are the North Pole, Sirius (called "Tiangou" in ancient Egypt), Aries, Scorpio and so on. In ancient Egypt, the star zone system was to divide the stars near the equator into 36 groups, and the number of stars in each group was different, covering ten days, which was called "ten-day stars".

Babylonia, also known as Mesopotamia (Greek "land between two rivers"), used cuneiform characters from around 3000 BC to around A.D.. In their astronomical achievements, the concept of star region is to divide the stars in the zodiac into 12 constellations, which evolved into today's "zodiac".

In ancient India, the method of dividing the ecliptic by ancient Indians was different from that of ancient Babylon, but divided into 27 parts, each of which was called "Nachayatra", which translated as "Moon Station" and also called "Twenty-seven Nights". According to records, the full name of "Twenty-seven Nights" first appeared in Brahma Book, and the first night was "Pleiades". In addition, in Mahabharata, Altair is the first night, which is now commonly known as "Eagle Alpha Star", and China was called "Hegu II" in ancient times. Later, it was changed to "Aries Beta Star", which was called "Lousuyi" as the first night in China. India's "Twenty-Seven Nights" are divided into equal parts, but due to objective factors, there is not necessarily a brighter star at the beginning of each night, so they choose the star with the highest brightness at night as the name of each destiny. There is also a method to divide the star regions with the same name as the "Twenty-eight Nights" in China's ancient astronomy, that is, adding the night of "Mairi", which is located between "Alpha Centauri". In ancient China, it was called "Tianyuan III" and "Alpha Eagle", which is called "Apidid".

Finally, in ancient China and China, the astronomical method of distinguishing the star regions can be summarized as the system of "star officials" (equivalent to constellations). The most systematic division method is to divide 1464 stars in the sky into "283 officials", which include "Three Walls" and "Twenty-eight Nights".

academic titles conferred on the three candidates who came out first at examinations held at three levels

"Three Walls" include "Wei Zi Wall", "Taiwei Wall" and "Shi Tian Wall". The "wall" here refers to the region of the star. These "three walls" can also be called upper, middle and lower walls, with Wei Zi as the middle wall, Qiu as the upper wall and Shi Tian as the lower wall.

"Ziweiyuan", located in the northeast of the Big Dipper, contains fifteen stars, which are arranged in an east-west direction. The weapon that Sarutobi Sasuke acquired in the middle of the five villages in Ghost Eye Sword is called Ziweiyuan, which is named after Ziweiyuan, one of the "Three Walls".

Taiwei Courtyard, located in the south of Beidou, contains ten stars. There is a note in "Three Records of Historical Records": "The wall of Taiwei Palace has ten stars".

Tianshiyuan, located in the northeast of Su Fang and Xinsu, has 22 stars.

Twenty-eight constellations (division of celestial spheres in ancient astronomy in China)

The "Twenty-eight Nights" mentioned in "The Incredible Game" (also known as the Fantasy Game) refers to the astronomical settings in ancient China. The Suzaku, Xuanwu, Qinglong, White Tiger and Four Elephants mentioned earlier in this article are also mentioned in this work. In addition, in Xuanyuanjian, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and many online game series, the name "Four Elephants" has been mentioned countless times, so it is estimated that ordinary players can be familiar with the "Four Elephants".

As for the "Four Elephants", there is such an explanation in Historical Records: "There is a black dragon in the East Palace ... Suzaku in the South Palace ... White Tiger in the West Palace ... Gong Bei's Xuanwu ..." The "black dragon" here is also called "Qinglong", and "Suzaku" is "Suzaku". "Qinglong" contains: horn, sound, fork, room, heart, tail and basket for seven nights; "Suzaku" contains: well, ghost, willow, star, Zhang, wing and seven nights; "White Tiger" includes: Kui, Lou, Stomach, tapir, Bi, Chang and Shen for seven nights; "Xuanwu" contains: fighting, cows, women, emptiness, danger, houses and walls. In addition, "Twenty-eight Houses" is also called "Twenty-eight Houses", and there is a record of "Twenty-eight Houses Living in Twelve States" in the history books, which connects astronomy and geography. The "Twenty-eight Hostels" are all distributed in the ecliptic and the equatorial belt, and the relative movement of the sun and the moon will pass through these twenty-eight "star officials". In fact, it can be understood literally that these 28 "star officials" are equivalent to the "dormitory" of the sun and the moon. In addition, it seems that there is also a "town star"-"Saturn" will also share the sun and the moon.

Guan xing

In addition to Obsidian, Yuan and Su mentioned above, there are some well-known stars and star officials in ancient astronomy in China, such as Sirius, Beiluoshimen, Tengu, Arctic and Beidou.

Sirius is the brightest star in the whole day, and it is light blue. In fact, Sirius has a companion star, forming a visual binary system, but the companion star is too dark to be observed by the naked eye. "Historical Records Biography of Tianguan" says: "There is a big star in the East that says wolf." The "wolf" here refers to Sirius.

Pisces' alpha star "Beiluoshimen" is the only bright star in the southern sky in autumn.

"Tiangou", with seven stars, is located in the compass. There is a saying in the Book of Jin Zhi Shou Astronomy that "the wolf has a star ... the seven stars in the north are called Tiangou". In fact, "Tiangou" is not very famous, but why should it be compared with "Sirius" and "Beiluoshimen" here? As mentioned earlier, the Purple Cliff in Ghost Eye Sword, while other authentic villages in this work include Sirius, Master Bei, and the Light of Tiangou, and their estimation also comes from the astronomical appellation of China.

"North Pole", also known as "Gouchenyi", is the alpha star of Ursa minor. Because it is only about one degree away from the north celestial pole, it is a bright star, so it is called the "North Pole". In Erya Shi Tian, it is said that the North Pole is called Beichen, so the North Pole is also called Beichen. The North Pole is actually a binary star.

There are seven stars in the letter "Beidou", namely, Shu Tian, Tian Xuan, Celestial Pole, Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang and Yaoguang, namely, the stars of Ursa Major α, β, γ, δ, ε, ζ and η. In fact, it should be the eight stars of the Big Dipper, because the star of Kaiyang is also a binary star, but because the Big Dipper has been called the Seven Stars since ancient times, it still uses its original name today. There is a saying in The Book of Songs Xiaoya Antique Dadong: "Weinan has a dustpan, so you can't blow it. There is a fight in Weibei, so you can't lick wine. " The "Dou" here refers to the "Big Dipper".

In addition, there are some stars and star officials. Such as "Antarctic Old Man" and "Xuanyuan XIV"; Look at the following: "Tianhe", "Tianjiang", "Tianchuan" and "Tianjin" just happen to have water, boats and ferries; Then named after "kinship", such as "grandfather", "son" and "grandson"; Named after animals, such as "dogs" and "cranes", there are also official titles, identities, utensils and so on. In a word, it is no exaggeration to describe the star official system of ancient astronomy in China with words such as "gorgeous" and "profound" except preciseness. The more you know about it, the more you are attracted by its endless charm.