Ancient solar terms in the Forbidden City
In the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-23 AD), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered officials to re-establish a new calendar based on the ancient calendar-taichu calendar (completed in 65438 BC +004), which has been in use for more than 200 years. In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-AD 220), the state also formulated a calendar. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties (AD 220 ~ AD 5 18), Zu Chongzhi formulated the Da Ming Calendar, in which the precession was calculated for the first time, and the duration of one year was 365.2428 days, which was only 52 seconds short of the current accurate calculation.
In the Tang Dynasty (AD 6 18 ~ 907), a famous astronomer and his party worked out the most comprehensive and detailed almanac in China's history after several years' calculation. The book consists of seven parts, including: the calculation method of new moon and full moon, the calculation method of 24 solar terms and the length of day and night, the movement of the sun and the moon, the movement of the five planets, the seventy-two seasons and the sixty-four hexagrams, and the prediction of solar eclipse. This calendar has a great influence on the history of China. Before the Western European method was adopted to compile calendars in the late Ming Dynasty, all previous calendar revisions were modeled on its structure.
During the Northern Song Dynasty (960- 1 127), Shen Kuo formulated a calendar of twelve holidays based on seasonal festivals, and abolished leap months, which was consistent with the current Gregorian calendar. In Yuan Dynasty (1279 ~ 1368), Guo Shoujing compiled the best calendar in China, Chronograph, on the basis of actual observation, absorbing the experience of predecessors and adding his own ideas. The method of accumulating years in Shang Japan was abolished, and the method of seeking differences and the method of tangent circle with solitary vector were established, which accurately and satisfactorily solved four major problems in the ancient calendar, namely, setting a new moon, arranging a boudoir moon, arranging 24 solar terms, and predicting the date, time and situation of an eclipse.
From the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368 ~ A.D. 1644), western learning was introduced into China calendar. In the early years of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1644 ~ A.D. 19 1), German missionary Tang Ruowang and others compiled the Constitutional Calendar. 19 12 years, China began to use the solar calendar, but at the same time used the lunar calendar, the essence of which is still the constitutional calendar.
In ancient times, people thought that there was a supreme master in the universe, called "Emperor" or "God". In ancient literature, heaven and emperor often became synonyms. Natural phenomena have their personified owners, such as Fei Lian, Screen Cloud, Prosperity, Harmony and Wangshu. (These names are mainly used as words in ancient poems and poems. ) can be deleted, because Huangdi Neijing uses "Red Dragon", "Xihe" and "Wang Shu" to discuss the influence of natural climate change on human body.
For the needs of the farming people to master the changes of the four seasons, the ancients were very diligent in observing astronomical phenomena. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions of Shang Dynasty, there were some records about the names of stars, solar eclipses and lunar eclipses. Books such as Shangshu, Shijing, Chunqiu, Zuozhuan, Guoyu and Erya have many descriptions of the stars and rich astronomical records. Historical records include "Tian Guan Shu" and "Er Ya".
Ancient people's astronomical knowledge is not only rich, but also very popular. In the late Ming Dynasty, Gu said in the Record of Days:
"For more than three generations, everyone knows astronomy." July filariasis ",the farmer's words also have three stars at home", the language of women also. "Leaving at the End of the Moon" is also a masterpiece. The dragon's tail is full of happiness, which is also a rumor for children. Later scholars, who ask but don't know. "
[Edit this paragraph] Basic concepts
Here are some basic astronomical concepts, such as seven houses and five latitudes, four elephants in the twenty-eighth palace, three walls, twelve times, except.
One, seven policies and five dimensions: The ancients called the sun and the moon the seven policies of fire, water and earth, also called the seven policies. Among them, the combination of water, fire and soil in Jin Mu is also called five latitudes.
Venus was called a star in ancient times, also called Taibai, because its light color is silvery white and its brightness is extremely strong. In The Book of Songs, the words "When a child rises to see the night, the stars shine" ("Zheng Feng, a female crow") and "When the stars shine" ("Martin, Dongmen Yang") all refer to Venus. Venus is called "Qi Ming" in the east at dawn and "Chang Gung" in the west at dusk.
Jupiter is usually called the Jupiter, or simply "year".
Mercury is also called a star.
The ancient name Mars is confusing.
Saturn is also known as the revitalization or filling star.
It should be noted that the water mentioned in the pre-Qin ancient books when talking about astronomical phenomena does not refer to mercury in the planet, but to the fixed star (camp room) in the star, that is, the bedroom, which is the α β star of Pegasus in the west. For example, Zuo Zhuan's Nineteen Years of Zhuanggong, Water Faint Being Seeded. When talking about astronomical phenomena in ancient books of pre-Qin dynasty, fire is not Mars in the planet, but fire in the stars, especially Antares, which is the alpha star of Scorpio in the west, such as "Fire in July" in the Book of Songs.
Second, 28 huts and four elephants.
The ancients observed the movement of the sun, the moon and the five stars with the stars as the background. Because the position of the stars is relatively stable, they can be used as the position of the movement of the sun, the moon and the five stars. The ancients chose eighteen stars near the equator of the ecliptic as coordinates. Let me introduce the ecliptic and equator first.
The ecliptic is the orbit of the sun in one year imagined by the ancients. The earth revolves around the sun along its own orbital boundary. If you look at the sun from different positions in the earth's orbit, the projection position of the sun on the celestial sphere (an imaginary sphere with infinite radius centered on the earth) will be different. This kind of apparent motion is called the sun's apparent motion, and the track of the sun's annual apparent motion is the ecliptic.
The equator does not refer to the equator of the earth, but the equator of the celestial sphere, which is the projection of the equator of the earth on the celestial sphere.
A star is not a star, but a collection of adjacent stars. The ancients connected several nearby stars, and there were seven nights in the east, west, north and south. Every seven nights, they imagine it as an animal called 28 nights:
Oriental Black Dragon: Corner, end of heart.
Xuanwu in the north: the wall of the virtual danger room of Douniu girl
West White Tiger: Quelou's stomach is full of ginseng.
Southern Suzaku: Well Ghost Liu Yiyi
(Kang 4,No. 1, Ji 1, Mao 3, Zi 1, see Shen 1, Zhen 3). Black Dragon, Xuanwu, White Tiger and Suzaku are also called the Four Elephants. Xuanwu is a hybrid of tortoise and snake.
The ancients observed the movements of the sun, the moon and the five planets in 28 nights. Knowing this, some contents in ancient books are not difficult to understand. In Shangshu, "the moon is out of the blue" means that the moon is attached to it (from the same place, meaning attachment); "Overall" and "Mars stays in Antares" mean that Mars is located in the heart; The book of songs "Taibai eats the Pleiades" means that Venus covers the Pleiades.
Twenty-eight nights are not only used to observe the sun, the moon and the five stars, but also used by the ancients to determine the four seasons of the year. In ancient times, people thought that staying in the south was the first month of spring, and staying in the south was summer and May. In addition, the ancients also took the above 28 nights as the main body and divided the week around the ecliptic into 28 unequal points according to the direction from west to east. So in this sense, 28 nights means 28 different starry regions.
Three walls
In ancient times, besides twenty-eight nights, there were so-called three walls. Since Ziwei Garden, Taiwei Garden and Tianshi Garden.
In the northern sky of the Yellow River basin, the ancients took Polaris as the standard and gathered other stars around it to form an area called Ziweiyuan. Outside Ziwei Courtyard, the star area north of Zhang Yi is Taiwei Courtyard; The star area north of the jumping point in the room is the Shi Tian Wall.
The Big Dipper also plays an important role in ancient astronomy. Beidou consists of Shu Tian, Tian Xuan, Tianji, Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang and Yaoguang. The ancients connected these seven stars and imagined them as a bucket of wine. Shu Tian, Tian Xuan, Tian Ji, Tian Quan, Gu Yuekui; Yuheng, Kaiyang and Yaoguang are bucket handle, which were called Piao in ancient times. The Big Dipper belongs to Ursa major.
The ancients attached great importance to Beidou because it can be used to identify the direction and set the season. Connect Tian Xuan and Shutian into a straight line, extend five times the distance, and you will find the North Star, which is the symbol of the north. The Big Dipper appears in different directions in the sky in different seasons and at different times at night. It seems to revolve around the North Star, so the ancients decided the seasons according to the direction pointed by bucket handle in the early twilight: bucket handle points to the bucket, and the world is spring; Bucket handle refers to the west, and the world is autumn; Guide to barrel handle, it's summer in the world; The barrel handle refers to the north, and it is winter all over the world.
Four to twelve times.
In order to explain the movement of the sun, the moon and the five stars and the conversion of solar terms, the ancients divided the day around the ecliptic into twelve equal parts from west to east, called twelve times. Every time, there are some stars as signs in twenty-eight huts. Because twelve hours are equally divided, and twenty-eight nights are different in width, the starting and ending boundaries of each hour at twelve hours cannot be consistent with the boundaries between nights, and some nights span two adjacent hours. The list is as follows:
Twelve times and twenty-eight nights.
1. Jixing matador
2. The mysterious woman is in danger
3. Be careful of dangerous room walls.
4. Reduce the stomach of Lou Kui Lou
5. Da Liang's stomach is full
6. Stones and gods can identify nerves.
7. Quail first well ghost willow
8. Quail Fire and Willow Star
9. One quail tail.
10. The birthday girl is full of enthusiasm.
1 1. The fire is at the end of the room.
12. analysis of wooden tail skip
Xiao 1，zou 1 zi 1。
[Edit this paragraph] The starting and ending boundaries are roughly the same as those in China.
In ancient foreign countries, the space within eight degrees north and south of the ecliptic is called the zodiac, which is also divided into twelve equal parts from west to east. The starting and ending boundaries are slightly different from those of China's twelve rounds, and the general comparison is as follows:
12 Chinese zodiac signs
1. Jixing Capricorn Palace
2. Feng Xuan Aquarius Palace
3. Pisces Palace
4. Leave Aries Palace
5. Daliang Jinniu Palace
6. Shi Shen's double uterus
7. Quail First Cancer Palace
8. Quail Fire Lion Palace
9. Women's Palace in Quail Tailhouse
10. Shouxing Libra Palace
1 1. Fire Scorpio Palace
12. Analysis of Trojan Palace
The ancients 12 founded it for two main purposes: one is to indicate the position of the sun to explain the changes of solar terms, such as the sun crossing the winter solstice in astrology and being too cold in mystery. Second, it is used to explain the position where Jupiter runs every year and refuses to use chronology. For example, one year is "in astrology" and the next year is "in mystery".
The names of the twelve times are mostly related to their respective stars. For example, fire is the second name and the star name of the heart. Head quail, fire quail and tail quail, hence the name quail, obviously related to Suzaku in the south, and Suzaku's seven nights also belong to this night.
Verbs (short for verb) are separated.
The ancients associated the stars in the sky with the countries on the earth. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, people divided the stars in the sky according to the area on the ground, and assigned them to the state maps on the ground respectively, so that they corresponded to each other. It is the concept of "dividing line" to say that a certain star is the dividing line of a certain country and a certain star is the dividing line of a certain country.
The purpose of the ancient people's division was to observe the celestial phenomena and predict the fortunes of the country on the ground. When talking about Mars' antares in Lunheng, he said: "There is a heavenly punishment; Heart, Song Fenye also. Regard it as a gentleman. " With the understanding of the wild, we can know that when ancient writers wrote about a certain area, they even wrote about the matching stars of this area. For example, in Geng Xin's "Mourning for the South of the Yangtze River", Qin was given a quail egg head, and he was so drunk. Wang Bo's Preface to Wang Teng-ting, Stars Divide Wings, and Li Bai's Difficult Road to Shu and Visiting Well. Refers to the division of stars in the depicted place.
In ancient times, the change of astronomical phenomena was associated with the good or bad luck of people. For example, a solar eclipse is a warning from God to those in power, and the appearance of comets symbolizes a military disaster. When the old star normally runs to a certain star, there will be a bumper harvest in the matching state on the ground, and when the fluorescent star runs to a certain star, there will be disaster in this area. The ancients also believed that the changes of some astronomical phenomena were signs of natural and social phenomena such as floods, droughts, famines, plagues and thieves.