Ancient Chinese Legends Cylinder

A Collection of Curricula for the STARLAB Ancient Chinese Legends Cylinder Including: The Skies of Ancient China II: Information and Presentation by Jeanne E. Bishop ©2008 by Science First/STARLAB, 95 Botsford Place, Buffalo, NY 14216. www.starlab.com. All rights reserved. Curriculum Guide Contents Introduction and Background Information ..................3 Celestial Granary ............................................16 The Four Beasts ......................................................7 Celestial Boat ..................................................16 The Blue Dragon ...............................................7 Great Trench ...................................................16 The Red Bird .....................................................7 Heaped-Up Corpses ........................................16 The White Tiger ................................................7 Two Hunting Nets or Celestial Snares ................16 The Black Tortoise ..............................................8 Five Chariots...................................................17 Asterisms of the Five Palaces ...................................9 Tie-Up Posts ....................................................17 The Spring Palace of the Blue Dragon .....................11 Supreme Commander, TSAN ............................17 Horn .............................................................11 The Summer Palace of the Red Bird ........................18 Great Horn .....................................................11 Well ...............................................................18 Heavenly Fields ...............................................11 Celestial Vessel ...............................................18 The Emperor’s Mat ..........................................11 Northern River ................................................18 Celestial Wheel Spokes ...................................11 Yin-Yang Symbol .............................................18 South Gate of the Sky ......................................11 Two Love Butterflies ..........................................18 Great Fire .......................................................12 Celestial Jackal ...............................................18 Manuring Tray ................................................12 Bow and Arrow ..............................................18 The Autumn Marketplace ..................................12 Old God Who Shoots Celestial Dog with Bow Money String ..................................................12 and Arrow ......................................................19 The Winter Palace of the Black Tortoise ...................13 Willow ...........................................................19 Tortoise ..........................................................13 Water Flowing ................................................19 Southern Bushel ...............................................13 Chariot ..........................................................19 Emperor’s Black Banner ...................................13 The Central or Imperial Palace of the North .............20 Weaving Star ..................................................13 Northern Bushel or the Balance of Jade..............20 Oxen Driver or Royal Herdsman .......................13 Imperial Prime Minister and the Crown Prince .....20 Pearls .............................................................13 Sky Emperor and His Wife ...............................20 Ornate Dresses ...............................................14 Bridge of Kings ...............................................20 Coach House ..................................................14 Whip .............................................................20 Footbridge Across the Silver River .....................14 Chariot ..........................................................20 Funeral Mound of the Sun ................................14 Inner Throne of the Five Emperors ......................20 Roof of the House ............................................14 Container to Hold the Woven Garments .............21 Awakening Serpent .........................................14 Flail ...............................................................21 Four Pillars of Heaven ......................................14 Eight Stacks of Grain .......................................21 Temple of Light ................................................14 Cultural Ideas and Stories of the Chinese Asterisms ...22 Eight Evil Chiefs ..............................................15 The Spring Palace of the Blue Dragon ................23 Thunder and Lightning .....................................15 The Winter Palace of the Black Tiger .................26 Clouds and Rain .............................................15 The Autumn Palace of the White Tiger ...............31 General of the Northern Countries ....................15 The Summer Palace of the Red Bird ...................33 Light Infantry Soldiers .......................................15 The Central or Imperial Palace ..........................37 The Autumn Palace of the White Tiger ....................16 Suggestions for Further Reading with Annotations .....42 Celestial Marshes ............................................16 Recommended Resources .......................................45 Outer Enclosure...............................................16 Introduction and Background Information by Jeanne E. Bishop Ancient Chinese astronomy was different from Western (Greek-Roman) astronomy in a number of ways. • First, the observations and forecasts based upon those observations were intimately tied to the government and to the ruling Emperor, called the Son of Heaven. Astronomers were government officials, who were warned not to discuss “classified matters” (astronomical observations) with officials of other government departments, their subordinates, or even with one another. In contrast, Greek astronomers were free-speaking and free-writing individuals, often at odds with government ways. • Second, the most ancient Chinese astronomy was based on four huge constellations that were roughly centered on the celestial equator: the Blue Dragon, the Red Bird, the White Tiger, and the Black Tortoise. Each beast was in a seasonal palace: The Blue Dragon in the Spring Palace, the Red Bird in the Summer Pal- ace, the White Tiger in the Autumn Palace, and the Black Tortoise in the Winter Place. In each of these beasts, there were seven sections called “Houses” or “Mansions,” which roughly define the path of the moon. The Four Beasts were not created to show the path of the sun. However, the space of the Four Beasts included the ecliptic, since the House sections identify the moon’s path. The moon’s path includes the ecliptic. The Four Beasts parade with the earth’s rotation in a direction opposite to the order of the seasons. This is explained by the way in which the very ancient Chinese (prob- ably circa 15,600 BC) used these constellations to mark their seasons. Stars of the Blue Dragon of Spring and the White Tiger of Autumn were observed rising in the east before the sun — a situation called “heliacal risings.” The Red Bird of Summer and the Black Tortoise of Winter were observed rising in the east at sunset. The 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac (“the Yellow Road of the Sun”), assigned to different years in a 12-year cycle in Chinese astrology and seen today on place mats and trinkets, was developed about 200 BC. This set of figures which roughly correspond with those of the Western zodiac, developed late in Chinese astronomy/ astrology. The figures of the Chinese zodiac had far less impact than the Four Beasts and other ancient sky figures. For this reason, and also because the lunar Houses and other figures are so numerous, the Chinese zodiac has not been included on either of the two Chinese STARLAB cylinders — the combination would be confusing. In Chinese astronomy, the number 12 appears to have gained significance from the 12 years it that it takes the planet Jupiter to make one 360-degree journey about the sky, rather than from the number of months in a year. • As a third point of difference, most of the Chinese patterns (not counting the Four Beasts) are much smaller than Greek-Roman ones, and consequently, there are many more of them. In addition to the 28 lunar Houses within the beasts, there are 185 small figures known as either “co-risers” or “paranatellons.” Each one is an asterism (a sky figure that is within another larger figure). Sometimes the small asterisms consist of a single star! • Fourth, the stories of Chinese figures (that is, of the ethnic Chinese who refer to • Ancient Chinese Legends D-3 • Cylinder Guides themselves as “Han” and today make up about 95 percent of the people within Chinese borders) were usually much more matter-of-fact than classical Greek myths. There are some beautiful exceptions, but most were simple reminders of a particular office, task, or place. China’s bureaucratically organized society was thought to be governed by a bureaucratically organized sky. And it was impera- tive for astronomers and astrologers to determine what the Sky Emperor and his sky bureaucracy wanted the Chinese Emperor and his subjects to do. John Ferguson, quoted by Julius Staal in Stars of Jade (p. 1), said, “The Chinese powers of observation were remarkable, but what they saw was observed rather than analyzed. They studied natural phenomena not for the purpose of seeking an explanation of their origin, but chiefly to know the effect

Load more