Sky Cultures · 3 of 7
The Chinese Sky
Whose palace did Chinese astronomers see at the pole of the sky?
A sky built as a mirror of the imperial state: the emperor's palace at the pole, his carriage that tells the seasons, the Azure Dragon, the Great Fire, and the lovers across the Silver River.
You’ll be able to find the Purple Forbidden Enclosure, the Azure Dragon and the lovers across the Silver River.
Before this: Finding the North Star (6 min), The Summer Triangle (8 min)
Where and which night
Working out when this is best placed from where you are…
Where
Kept for this guide only, until you change it here — your map settings, and every other guide, stay as they are.
Print, play outside or present
Scan with a phone's camera, or open
Sources
- HYG stellar database v4.2 — star positions, magnitudes and every separation quoted here
- Sima Qian, Shiji ch. 27, "Tianguan shu" (Treatise on the Celestial Offices), c. 90 BCE
- Sun & Kistemaker, The Chinese Sky during the Han (Brill, 1997) — the xiu, the enclosures and their stars
- Pankenier, Astrology and Cosmology in Early China (Cambridge, 2013) — the Dipper as the thearch's carriage, the Great Fire
- Shijing, Airs of Bin, "Qi Yue" (The Seventh Month)
- Winkler et al., ApJ 585, 324 (2003) — SN 1006: the historical records and the distance to the remnant
- Stephenson & Green, Historical Supernovae and their Remnants (Oxford, 2002) — the guest stars of 1006 and 1054
- Oldenberg (tr.), The Grihya-sûtras, Part I, Sacred Books of the East 29 (1886), p. 170 — the polar star, Arundhatî and the seven Rishis
- Yi Shitong, Chinese and Western Contrast Star Chart and Catalogue 1950.0 (Science Press, 1981) — each star's Chinese name; English glosses after the Hong Kong Space Museum
- IAU Working Group on Star Names — the catalogue of approved names, with their cultures of origin
With a keyboard, focus the sky, aim it with the up and down arrow keys, and press Enter to drop the pin at the centre of the view; or press Show me.