Twenty-Eight

Mansions

The Twenty-Eight Mansions (Chinese: 二

十八宿; pinyin: Èrshíbā Xiù), also called
xiu[1] or hsiu, are part of the Chinese
constellations system. They can be
considered as the equivalent to the
zodiacal constellations in Western
astronomy, though the Twenty-eight
Mansions reflect the movement of the
Moon through a sidereal month rather
than the Sun in a tropical year.

The twenty-eight mansions of the

Chinese astronomy (east is on the
left, north at the top)

The lunar mansion system was in use in

other parts of East Asia, such as ancient
Japan; the Bansenshūkai, written by
Fujibayashi Yasutake, mentions the
system several times and includes an
image of the twenty-eight mansions.[2]
A similar system, called nakshatra, is used
in traditional Indian astronomy.[3]

Overview

Yuan dynasty illustration of the 28

mansions from Shilin Guangji by Chen
Yuanjing

Ancient Chinese astronomers divided the

sky ecliptic into four regions, collectively
known as the Four Symbols, each
assigned a mysterious animal. They are
Azure Dragon ( 青龍) on the east, Black
玄武) on the north, White Tiger
Tortoise (
(白虎) on the west, and Vermilion Bird (朱
雀) on the south. Each region contains
seven mansions, making a total of 28
mansions. These mansions or xiù
correspond to the longitudes along the
ecliptic that the Moon crosses during its
27.32-day journey around the Earth and
serve as a way to track the Moon's
progress. In Taoism they are related to 28
Chinese generals.[4]

List of mansions
Ming Dynasty Water and Land Ritual paintings of the mansions from Baoning Temple. (clockwise: Azure Dragon, Black
Tortoise, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird)
The names and determinative stars of the
mansions are:[5][6]
 Mansion ( 宿)
Four Symbols Name
( 四象) Number
(Pinyin)
Translation Determinative star

Azure Dragon
1 角 (Jiǎo) Horn α Vir

of the East 2 亢 (Kàng) Neck κ Vir

( 東方青龍 - Dōngfāng Qīnglóng) 3 氐 (Dī) Root α Lib
Spring
4 房 (Fáng) Room π Sco

5 心 (Xīn) Heart α Sco

6 尾 (Wěi) Tail μ¹ Sco

7 箕 (Jī) Winnowing Basket γ Sgr

Black Tortoise 8 斗 (Dǒu) (Southern) Dipper φ Sgr

of the North
9 牛 (Niú) Ox β Cap
( 北方玄武 - Běifāng Xuánwǔ)
Winter
10 女 (Nǚ) Girl ε Aqr

11 虛 (Xū) Emptiness β Aqr

12 危 (Wēi) Rooftop α Aqr

13 室 (Shì) Encampment α Peg

14 壁 (Bì) Wall γ Peg

White Tiger 15 奎 (Kuí) Legs η And

of the West
16 婁 (Lóu) Bond β Ari
( 西方白虎 - Xīfāng Báihǔ)
Fall
17 胃 (Wèi) Stomach 35 Ari

18 昴 (Mǎo) Hairy Head 17 Tau

19 畢 (Bì) Net ε Tau

20 觜 (Zī) Turtle Beak λ Ori

21 参 (Shēn) Three Stars ζ Ori

Vermilion Bird 22 井 (Jǐng) Well μ Gem

of the South
23 鬼 (Guǐ) Ghost θ Cnc
( 南方朱雀 - Nánfāng Zhūquè) 24 柳 (Liǔ) Willow δ Hya
Summer
 25 星 (Xīng) Star α Hya

26 張 (Zhāng) Extended Net υ¹ Hya

27 翼 (Yì) Wings α Crt

28 軫 (Zhěn) Chariot γ Crv

See also

Four Symbols (Chinese China

constellation) portal
Astronomy
Lunar mansion portal

Three enclosures

References

1. Gary D. Thompson chapter 11-24 (http://me

mbers.westnet.com.au/Gary-David-Thomps
on/page11-24.html) Archived (https://web.
archive.org/web/20110126220342/http://
members.westnet.com.au/Gary-David-Tho
 mpson/page11-24.html) 2011-01-26 at the
Wayback Machine

2. "Bansenshukai 8" (https://web.archive.org/

web/20100601125504/http://www.ninpo.or
g/historicalrecords/bnsnshk8-3.htm) .
Archived from the original (http://www.ninp
o.org/historicalrecords/bnsnshk8-3.htm)
on 2010-06-01. Retrieved 2014-12-12.

《文殊師利菩薩及諸
3. CBETA T21 No. 1299
仙所說吉凶時日善惡宿曜經》卷1 (http://w
ww.cbeta.org/result/normal/T21/1299_00
1.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/
web/20150923223324/http://www.cbeta.or
g/result/normal/T21/1299_001.htm)
2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine

4. 统天殿 (http://www.hawh.cn/Template/arti
cle/display42.jsp?mid=20041230638760)
 Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/200
51122064633/http://www.hawh.cn/Templa
te/article/display42.jsp?mid=20041230638
760) 2005-11-22 at the Wayback Machine

5. "The Chinese Sky" (https://web.archive.org/

web/20151104154237/http://idp.bl.uk/edu
cation/astronomy/sky.html) . International
Dunhuang Project. Archived from the
original (http://idp.bl.uk/education/astrono
my/sky.html) on 2015-11-04. Retrieved
2011-06-25.

6. Sun, Xiaochun (1997). Helaine Selin (ed.).

Encyclopaedia of the History of Science,
Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western
Cultures (https://books.google.com/books?
id=raKRY3KQspsC&pg=PA517) . Kluwer
 Academic Publishers. p. 517. ISBN 0-7923-
4066-3. Retrieved 2011-06-25.

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