How did the ancients view the astronomical phenomena, and what conclusions can they draw? Is there really a general star? Will it really fall?

Listening to storytelling when I was a child, I always yearned for "the night view of the sky". Some learned people can predict many things by looking at the stars in the sky without relying on any special equipment. Because of this, I became interested in astronomy and wanted to know what they were watching.

As we all know, most of the stars we see are stars, which constitute the main body of the starry sky. The positions of all stars are relatively fixed, and the law of motion is very simple. Therefore, the content of star observation is relatively small and mysterious, focusing on two aspects, one is timing, and the other is providing position reference for other celestial bodies.

There are four words about the weather, bucket handle and Beidou: "bucket handle refers to the east, and the world is spring; Bucket handle guide, the world is summer; Bucket handle refers to the west, and the world is autumn; Bucket handle refers to the north, and it is winter in the world. " Bucket handle of the Big Dipper is like a giant pointer, turning in the sky, marking the current date at any time. For experienced observers, we can roughly judge the current solar terms just by observing the direction of bucket handle. This seems insignificant to people nowadays, but in ancient times, the calendar system was not so developed and accurate, so it is useful to look at the time of the stars.

More content observation comes from the so-called "five stars and seven strategies". Five stars are five planets visible to the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The "seven strategies" are to add the sun and the moon on the basis of the "five stars". The observation of them is inseparable from the description of their location. This is the second part of star observation. We have all heard of the so-called "twenty-eight stars". The so-called "lodge" means that the planets, the sun and the moon temporarily "lodge" here. Because the relative positions of the stars are fixed, a map of the sky is formed, which can be used to describe the place where the "Seven Houses" run. These 28 lodgings are divided into four areas: seven lodgings in East Qinglong, seven lodgings in West Baihu, seven lodgings in South Suzaku and seven lodgings in North Xuanwu. In addition, each star corresponds to a different geographical position on the earth. Twenty-eight nights is the constellation of the ecliptic, which roughly corresponds to the twelve constellations of the ecliptic in western astronomy. The five stars and seven houses are basically in it, but the planets sometimes have large opening angles, so they will also meet other constellations (called star officials in ancient times).

The moon is the most conspicuous celestial body at night, and the change of the moon phase directly corresponds to the date of the lunar calendar. The observation of the moon also has two meanings. One is to predict the weather to some extent, and the other is to predict the solar eclipse.

It seems reasonable to predict the weather from the moon. For example, there is an old saying that "the moon is dizzy and the wind blows, and the foundation is moist and silent." If there is a halo around the moon, it means that there is a great possibility of strong wind the next day. I wonder if Zhuge Liang has any signs of "moon halo" on the night of the east wind. This can still be reminiscent of some reasons, such as halo, which may mean that the water vapor content in the air is relatively high, which may be related to temperature and may have wind and rain. But there are also some that seem more mysterious, such as those mentioned in Shang Shu Hong Fan.

"There is wind in the stars, rain in the stars, and the moon comes from the stars, so it is stormy." This point is also confirmed in the Book of Songs Xiaoya: "The moon leaves the end point and makes it run." It is said that when the moon moves to the position of Soapy (a part of Taurus according to the modern constellation), there will be heavy rain. Is this the case? Interested friends can verify it.

Predicting solar and lunar eclipses depends on carefully calculating the movement position and trend of the moon and the sun. If they get too close, there will naturally be an eclipse of the sun and the moon. This is just ordinary technical work. In ancient times, there were special civil servants responsible for observation and calculation. If there are omissions and false positives, it is a major dereliction of duty.

The most informative observation is the "five stars"

Mercury is also called a star.

Venus, also known as the star, also known as Taibai. Dawn is called "Qi Ming" in the East, and evening is called "Chang Gung" in the West.

Jupiter is also called the Jupiter.

Mars is also called fluorescence.

Saturn is also called the town star or the filling star.

The operating rules of these five stars can be divided into two categories: Mercury and Venus are located inside the earth in the solar system, and their perspectives on the earth will not be too far from the sun. So it can only appear at dusk or dawn. Other Samsung can appear far away from the sun. They run in different stars and have laws that are relatively difficult to calculate. Please note that each star corresponds to a different geographical position on the earth. This correspondence, known as the "dividing line", now seems far-fetched. For example, Dou Su and Niu Su correspond to Yangzhou on the ground; Jisu and Su Wei correspond to Youzhou on the ground; New Soviet Union, Su Fang and Old Soviet Union correspond to Yuzhou (Song Dynasty during the Warring States Period) on the ground, and so on.

And these five stars also have different meanings. For example, Mars is considered to represent war and disaster to some extent. If it moves to the heart (divided into a part of Scorpio according to the modern constellation), it is called that Mars stays in Antares, which is considered ominous, especially for Yuzhou.

A famous story in the Warring States Period is recorded in Historical Records: "In the thirty-seventh year, King Hui of Chu destroyed Chen. Mars stays in antares. Heart, the teacher of Song Dynasty. Gong Jing is very worried about this. Wei said to him, "You can move to the phase." Said, "Neck, my thigh arm." Said, "It can touch people." Gong Jing said, "The monarch is kind to the people. Say, "It can be moved to years old." . Gong Jing said, "When people are hungry and sleepy, who will be the king?" Wei Zi said, "Heaven is high and humble. You have the words of the monarch, and you should be confused. "So wait a minute, the fruit will move three times."

Mars invades the heart, and the heart is the dividing line of Song Dynasty. Song is very worried. Wei Zi, an official in charge of stargazing, said, "Move the disaster to Guo Xiang?" Gong Jing said, "Guo Xiang is my thigh." "Move it to the people?" Gong Jing said: "The people are the foundation of the monarch." "moved to age?" Gong Jing said, "If times are bad, people will be sleepy. Who am I going to make the monarch? " Si Xing Wei Zi said, "God will listen to your three virtues, and the strangeness should be removed." So they waited for a while, and sure enough they moved three times.

This story shows that astronomical phenomena are not decisive. The benevolence of the song dynasty changed the predetermined astronomical disaster, and the astronomical phenomena also changed. Harmony between man and nature is a typical way of thinking in China.

What's even more amazing is that all the planets basically move in the same direction, but at a certain time, from the perspective of the earth, there will be a "retrograde" phenomenon, that is, the opposite direction. This provides rich materials for ancient star watching.

In addition to the division and correspondence just mentioned, different stars have many specific meanings, which give full play to China people's idea of harmony between man and nature. For example, we often hear an idiom, gas rushing bullfighting. Cow and bucket are two stars in the sky. "The cow has six stars, and the beam of heaven is the main sacrifice"; "There are six stars in the south, and the Temple of Heaven is also secret." There are many specific explanations for this correspondence, and contradictory situations also occur from time to time. In specific applications, the subjective color is still very strong.

Let's take another example from Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Cao Cao and Yuan Shao fought in Guandu and burned Yuan Shao's grain and grass stored in the Wu Dynasty with Xu You's tactic. That night, Yuan Shao's counselor Jushou "looked up at the astronomical phenomena. Suddenly, I saw Taibai (Venus) retrograde, which violated the distinction between cattle and buckets. I was scared and said,' A catastrophe is coming!' "Although JuShou saw the problem from the astronomical phenomena, Yuan Shao didn't trust him, so he still failed. Taibai (Venus), if retrograde, generally symbolizes disaster.

Other stargazing phenomena include observing various astronomical or weather phenomena, among which guest stars, comets and meteors are the main ones.

Guest stars are usually considered as so-called supernovae. Supernovae that appeared near Guanxing Star in Taurus in the Song Dynasty and the first year (AD 1054) should be the most famous records about the guest star. This supernova took two years to darken. "Song Yao Hui" records: "In March of the first year, Si Tian predicted that there would be no guest stars, and the guests would go. From the beginning to the fifth month of the first year, I went out to the east in the morning and closed the sky. I will see it is white during the day, the corners are red and white, and I will see it on the 23rd. "

On the other hand, comets are more interesting. "Comet hits the moon" refers to the comet's light sweeping across the moon, which the ancients thought was a sign of disaster. For example, it is mentioned in "Tang Drama Live Up to its Mission": "Zhuan Xu stung and the comet hit the moon."

There are also many records of observing meteors. Zuo Zhuan: "In the summer and April of the seventh year of Duke Zhuang of Lu, there were no stars at night, and the stars fell like rain at night." This is a record of popular rain. The ancients knew the relationship between meteors and meteorites for a long time. There is a famous example in Historical Records: "In the thirty-six years (Qin Shihuang), Mars stayed in Antares. There are meteors in Dongjun, and the ground is stone. When the first emperor died, the land was divided. When the first emperor heard about it, he sent the suggestion to ask one by one, but he refused to answer. He wants to pick up a stone and punish it because it was burned. " Historical Records is very objective here, and it is clear that the words on it were not brought by meteorites, but were deliberately engraved.

Guest stars, comets, meteors, these astronomical phenomena, because of their transience, are often not closely related to the good or bad luck of the world, and their observation is more astronomical than prediction.

There is often a chapter in China's history books called "Chronicle of Celestial Phenomena", which contains many records of watching stars and predicting good or bad luck. If we categorically think that these are superstitions, I am afraid it is not objective enough. Because the sun, the moon and the five stars are all massive celestial bodies orbiting the earth, the change of their relative positions with the earth may indeed have some influence on life on the earth. The guest star is very far away from the earth, and the mass of comets and meteors is very small, so it seems difficult to see the impact on human beings. In this way, it is scientific to watch the sky at night.

Listening to storytelling when I was a child, I always yearned for "the night view of the sky". Some learned people can predict many things by looking at the stars in the sky without relying on any special equipment. Because of this, I became interested in astronomy and wanted to know what they were watching.

As we all know, most of the stars we see are stars, which constitute the main body of the starry sky. The positions of all stars are relatively fixed, and the law of motion is very simple. Therefore, the content of star observation is relatively small and mysterious, focusing on two aspects, one is timing, and the other is providing position reference for other celestial bodies.

There are four words about the weather, bucket handle and Beidou: "bucket handle refers to the east, and the world is spring; Bucket handle guide, the world is summer; Bucket handle refers to the west, and the world is autumn; Bucket handle refers to the north, and it is winter in the world. " Bucket handle of the Big Dipper is like a giant pointer, turning in the sky, marking the current date at any time. For experienced observers, we can roughly judge the current solar terms just by observing the direction of bucket handle. This seems insignificant to people nowadays, but in ancient times, the calendar system was not so developed and accurate, so it is useful to look at the time of the stars.

More content observation comes from the so-called "five stars and seven strategies". Five stars are five planets visible to the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The "seven strategies" are to add the sun and the moon on the basis of the "five stars". The observation of them is inseparable from the description of their location. This is the second part of star observation. We have all heard of the so-called "twenty-eight stars". The so-called "lodge" means that the planets, the sun and the moon temporarily "lodge" here. Because the relative positions of the stars are fixed, a map of the sky is formed, which can be used to describe the place where the "Seven Houses" run. These 28 lodgings are divided into four areas: seven lodgings in East Qinglong, seven lodgings in West Baihu, seven lodgings in South Suzaku and seven lodgings in North Xuanwu. In addition, each star corresponds to a different geographical position on the earth. Twenty-eight nights is the constellation of the ecliptic, which roughly corresponds to the twelve constellations of the ecliptic in western astronomy. The five stars and seven houses are basically in it, but the planets sometimes have large opening angles, so they will also meet other constellations (called star officials in ancient times).

The moon is the most conspicuous celestial body at night, and the change of the moon phase directly corresponds to the date of the lunar calendar. The observation of the moon also has two meanings. One is to predict the weather to some extent, and the other is to predict the solar eclipse.

It seems reasonable to predict the weather from the moon. For example, there is an old saying that "the moon is dizzy and the wind blows, and the foundation is moist and silent." If there is a halo around the moon, it means that there is a great possibility of strong wind the next day. I wonder if Zhuge Liang has any signs of "moon halo" on the night of the east wind. This can still be reminiscent of some reasons, such as halo, which may mean that the water vapor content in the air is relatively high, which may also be related to temperature, and there may be wind and rain. But there are also some that seem more mysterious, such as those mentioned in Shang Shu Hong Fan.

"There is wind in the stars, rain in the stars, and the moon comes from the stars, so it is stormy." This point is also confirmed in the Book of Songs Xiaoya: "The moon leaves the end point and makes it run." It is said that when the moon moves to the position of Soapy (a part of Taurus according to the modern constellation), there will be heavy rain. Is this the case? Interested friends can verify it.

Predicting solar and lunar eclipses depends on carefully calculating the movement position and trend of the moon and the sun. If they get too close, there will naturally be an eclipse of the sun and the moon. This is just ordinary technical work. In ancient times, there were special civil servants responsible for observation and calculation. If there are omissions and false positives, it is a major dereliction of duty.

The most informative observation is the "five stars"

Mercury is also called a star.

Venus, also known as the star, also known as Taibai. Dawn is called "Qi Ming" in the East, and evening is called "Chang Gung" in the West.

Jupiter is also called the Jupiter.

Mars is also called fluorescence.

Saturn is also called the town star or the filling star.

The operating rules of these five stars can be divided into two categories: Mercury and Venus are located inside the earth in the solar system, and their perspectives on the earth will not be too far from the sun. So it can only appear at dusk or dawn. Other Samsung can appear far away from the sun. They run in different stars and have laws that are relatively difficult to calculate. Please note that each star corresponds to a different geographical position on the earth. This correspondence, known as the "dividing line", now seems far-fetched. For example, Dou Su and Niu Su correspond to Yangzhou on the ground; Jisu and Su Wei correspond to Youzhou on the ground; New Soviet Union, Su Fang and Old Soviet Union correspond to Yuzhou (Song Dynasty during the Warring States Period) on the ground, and so on.

And these five stars also have different meanings. For example, Mars is considered to represent war and disaster to some extent. If it moves to the heart (divided into a part of Scorpio according to the modern constellation), it is called that Mars stays in Antares, which is considered ominous, especially for Yuzhou.

A famous story in the Warring States Period is recorded in Historical Records: "In the thirty-seventh year, King Hui of Chu destroyed Chen. Mars stays in antares. Heart, the teacher of Song Dynasty. Gong Jing is very worried about this. Wei said to him, "You can move to the phase." Said, "Neck, my thigh arm." Said, "It can touch people." Gong Jing said, "The monarch is kind to the people. Say, "It can be moved to years old." . Gong Jing said, "When people are hungry and sleepy, who will be the king?" Wei Zi said, "Heaven is high and humble. You have the words of the monarch, and you should be confused. "So wait a minute, the fruit will move three times."

Mars invades the heart, and the heart is the dividing line of Song Dynasty. Song is very worried. Wei Zi, an official in charge of stargazing, said, "Move the disaster to Guo Xiang?" Gong Jing said, "Guo Xiang is my thigh." "Move it to the people?" Gong Jing said: "The people are the foundation of the monarch." "moved to age?" Gong Jing said, "If times are bad, people will be sleepy. Who am I going to make the monarch? " Si Xing Wei Zi said, "God will listen to your three virtues, and the strangeness should be removed." So they waited for a while, and sure enough they moved three times.

This story shows that astronomical phenomena are not decisive. The benevolence of the song dynasty changed the predetermined astronomical disaster, and the astronomical phenomena also changed. Harmony between man and nature is a typical way of thinking in China.

What's even more amazing is that all the planets basically move in the same direction, but at a certain time, from the perspective of the earth, there will be a "retrograde" phenomenon, that is, the opposite direction. This provides rich materials for ancient star watching.

In addition to the division and correspondence just mentioned, different stars have many specific meanings, which give full play to China people's idea of harmony between man and nature. For example, we often hear an idiom, gas rushing bullfighting. Cow and bucket are two stars in the sky. "The cow has six stars, and the beam of heaven is the main sacrifice"; "There are six stars in the south, and the Temple of Heaven is also secret." There are many specific explanations for this correspondence, and contradictory situations also occur from time to time. In specific applications, the subjective color is still very strong.

Let's take another example from Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Cao Cao and Yuan Shao fought in Guandu and burned Yuan Shao's grain and grass stored in the Wu Dynasty with Xu You's tactic. That night, Yuan Shao's counselor Jushou "looked up at the astronomical phenomena. Suddenly, I saw Taibai (Venus) retrograde, which violated the distinction between cow and bucket, and I was scared and said,' A catastrophe is coming!' "Although JuShou saw the problem from the astronomical phenomena, Yuan Shao didn't trust him, so he still failed. Taibai (Venus), if retrograde, generally symbolizes disaster.

Other stargazing phenomena include observing various astronomical or weather phenomena, among which guest stars, comets and meteors are the main ones.

Guest stars are usually considered as so-called supernovae. Supernovae that appeared near Guanxing Star in Taurus in the Song Dynasty and the first year (AD 1054) should be the most famous records about the guest star. This supernova took two years to darken. "Song Yao Hui" records: "In March of the first year, Si Tian predicted that there would be no guest stars, and the guests would go. From the beginning to the fifth month of the first year, I went out to the east in the morning and closed the sky. I will see it is white during the day, the corners are red and white, and I will see it on the 23rd. "

On the other hand, comets are more interesting. "Comet hits the moon" refers to the comet's light sweeping across the moon, which the ancients thought was a sign of disaster. For example, it is mentioned in "Tang Drama Live Up to its Mission": "Zhuan Xu stung and the comet hit the moon."

There are also many records of observing meteors. Zuo Zhuan: "In the summer and April of the seventh year of Duke Zhuang of Lu, there were no stars at night, and the stars fell like rain at night." This is a record of popular rain. The ancients knew the relationship between meteors and meteorites for a long time. There is a famous example in Historical Records: "In the thirty-six years (Qin Shihuang), Mars stayed in Antares. There are meteors in Dongjun, and the ground is stone. When the first emperor died, the land was divided. When the first emperor heard about it, he sent the suggestion to ask one by one, but he refused to answer. He wants to pick up a stone and punish it because it was burned. " Historical Records is very objective here, and it is clear that the words on it were not brought by meteorites, but were deliberately engraved.

Guest stars, comets, meteors, these celestial phenomena, because of their transience, are often not closely related to the good or bad luck of the world, and their observation is more astronomical than prediction.

There is often a chapter in China's history books called "Chronicle of Celestial Phenomena", which contains many records of watching stars and predicting good or bad luck. If we categorically think that these are superstitions, I am afraid it is not objective enough. Because the sun, the moon and the five stars are all massive celestial bodies orbiting the earth, the change of their relative positions with the earth may indeed have some influence on life on the earth. The guest star is very far away from the earth, and the mass of comets and meteors is very small, so it seems difficult to see the impact on human beings. In this way, it is scientific to watch the sky at night.