Chinese constellations
English name Chinese name Number of stars Hellenistic Constellation
Sea and Mountain 海山 ( Hǎi Shān ) 4 Carina / Centaurus / Musca / Vela
Cross 十字架 ( Shí Zì Jià ) 4 Crux
Horse 's Tail 馬尾 ( Mǎ Wěi ) 3 Centaurus
Horse 's Abdomen 馬腹 ( Mǎ Fù ) 3 Centaurus
Bee 蜜蜂 ( Mì Fēng ) 4 Musca
Triangle 三角形 ( Sān Jiǎo Xíng ) 3 Triangulum Australe
Exotic Bird 異雀 ( Yì Què ) 9 Apus / Octans
Peacock 孔雀 ( Kǒng Què ) 11 Pavo
Persia 波斯 ( Bō Sī ) 11 Indus / Telescopium
Snake 's Tail 蛇尾 ( Shé Wěi ) 4 Octans / Hydrus
Snake 's Abdomen 蛇腹 ( Shé Fù ) 4 Hydrus
Snake 's Head 蛇首 ( Shé Shǒu ) 2 Hydrus / Reticulum
Bird 's Beak 鳥喙 ( Niǎo Huì ) 7 Tucana
Crane 鶴 ( Hè ) 12 Grus / Tucana
Firebird 火鳥 ( Huǒ Niǎo ) 10 Phoenix / Sculptor
Crooked Running Water 水委 ( Shuǐ Wěi ) 3 Eridanus / Phoenix
White Patched Nearby 附白 ( Fù Bái ) 2 Hydrus
White Patches Attached 夾白 ( Jiā Bái ) 2 Reticulum / Dorado
Goldfish 金魚 ( Jīn Yú ) 5 Dorado
Sea Rock 海石 ( Hǎi Dàn ) 5 Carina
The Southern Asterisms ( 近南極星區 )
The sky around the south celestial pole was unknown to ancient Chinese . Therefore , it was not included in the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions system . However , by the end of the Ming Dynasty , Xu Guangqi introduced another 23 asterisms based on the knowledge of European star charts . [ 9 ] These asterisms were since incorporated into the traditional Chinese star maps . The asterisms are :
Traditional Chinese astronomy has a system of dividing the celestial sphere into asterisms or constellations, known as officials (Chinese xīng guān). The Chinese asterisms are generally smaller than the constellations of Hellenistic tradition. The Song dynasty (13th-century) Suzhou planisphere shows a total of 283 asterisms, comprising a total of 1,565 individual stars. The asterisms are divided into four groups, the Twenty-Eight Mansions (, Èrshíbā Xiù) along the ecliptic, and the Three Enclosures of the northern sky. The southern sky was added as a fifth group in the late Ming Dynasty based on European star charts, comprising an additional 23 asterisms. The Three Enclosures (, Sān Yuán) are centered on the North Celestial Pole and include those stars which could be seen year-round. The Twenty-Eight Mansions form an ecliptic coordinate system used for those stars visible (from China) but not during the whole year, based on the movement of the moon over a lunar month.