Columnar constellation

12 constellations are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.

In western astrology, the zodiac is a description of twelve artificially divided equal regions on the zodiac that move with the neutral point (inconsistent with the actual constellation position), and mathematically divided into twelve 30 sectors.

In the field of astrology, these areas are used as zodiac signs in practical astronomy. Starting from vernal equinox (one of the intersections between the ecliptic and the equator), it is also called the first point of Aries Palace.

The concept of the zodiac originated from Babylonian astrology and was later influenced by Greek culture. Astrology believes that special phenomena in the sky involve human activities and follow the principle of "if above, if below".

Therefore, the twelve constellations are placed in a state, which means expressing (twelve) characteristic patterns. In other words, the twelve constellations represent twelve basic personality types or emotional traits.

Extended data:

The name of the zodiac was in the Babylonian era. The Babylonians divided the whole zodiac into 12 segments from the vernal equinox, each segment was called a palace, and each segment was named after its constellation, called the zodiac. These concepts were later absorbed by the ancient Greeks. Around A.D., the concept of the zodiac was introduced from Greece to India, and it was introduced to China with Buddhist scriptures in the 6th century.

At present, the earliest document about the Chinese translation of the names of the twelve Chinese zodiac animals is the Tibetan Sutra of the Big House Waiting for Japan, which was translated from Sanskrit by the Tianzhu mage Nalantiyeshe in the early years of Emperor Yangdi. Aries and Taurus translate into special sheep and special cattle, which means male.

Twin uterus is interpreted as a man and a woman, which is the association of two-winged birds in the sky, so it is translated into two birds. Sagittarius Palace is half man and half horse archery, and the original Sanskrit is a bow, so it is translated into shooting; Aquarius is an image of a person tilting a water bottle, so it is translated into a water container.

As for the animal image of the sheep's body and fishtail, it is the transliteration of Sanskrit Macara (later changed to Jie, the castrated sheep), which is the only one of the 88 constellations that retains transliteration.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the translated names of the zodiac were basically stable. Except for the female and male, other names were exactly the same as the current names. It was not until Kang Youwei's "Zhu Tian Shuo" that the male and female were translated into Gemini virgins respectively, which was closer to the modern appellation.

Baidu encyclopedia-twelve constellations