When was the oldest star in the world painted?
Dunhuang star map was probably drawn in the early Tang Dynasty, and its content is quite rich. There are 1367 stars in the picture. The graphic part is divided into 12 star map along the equator from 65438+February, and finally the purple star map. The main body adopts the materials in Book of Rites, Moon Order and Han Shutian's Wen Zhi. So, graphically, this map is probably an older copy. But in any case, even the works in the early Tang Dynasty are undoubtedly the oldest and largest number of ancient star maps in the contemporary world.
Dunhuang star map was originally hidden in Dunhuang Mogao grottoes, in the form of paper. 1907 was smuggled abroad by Stein. This painting is now in the British Museum in London, and Stan number is MS3326.
Star map is an image record of people observing stars and understanding the starry sky. According to its coordinate position, we can easily understand the stars in the sky, so its meaning is just like the map we usually use.
Star mapping has a long history in China. As a record of the position of stars, scientific star charts can be traced back to before Qin and Han Dynasties. As early as Neolithic pottery statues, patterns with sun patterns, moon patterns and stars were found. By the time of the slave society in the Shang Dynasty, there were already stars on the Oracle Bone Inscriptions. During the Warring States Period, around the 3rd century BC, a formal star map appeared in China. But unfortunately, many star maps in history have long been lost.