Ox (Chinese constellation)

The Ox mansion (牛宿, pinyin: Niú Xiù) is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the northern mansions of the Black Tortoise. The primary asterism of this mansion is centered on the tail of the constellation known as Capricornus in Western astronomy.[1]

Niú Xiù map

Asterisms edit

English name Chinese name European constellation Number of stars Representing
Ox Capricornus 6 The ox hanged by the rope
Celestial Farmland 天田 Capricornus/Microscopium 4 Son from heaven
Nine Water Wells 九坎 Microscopium 4 Nine irrigation wells
Drum at the River 河鼓 Aquila 3 Military drums in the sky
Weaving Girl 織女 Lyra 3 The girl who skilled in weaving of fairy folk
Left Flag 左旗 Aquila/Sagitta 9 Banners in the left
Right Flag 右旗 Aquila 9 Banners in the right
Celestial Drumstick 天桴 Aquila 4 Drum at the River stick
Network of Dykes 羅堰 Capricornus 3 Mound for irrigation system
Clepsydra Terrace 漸臺 Lyra 4 Water for clepsydra
Imperial Passageway 輦道 Lyra/Cygnus 5 Passage for imperial chariot

References edit

  1. ^ Soothill, William Edward; Hodous, Lewis (1977). A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms: With Sanskrit and English Equivalents and a Sanskrit-Pali Index. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 978-81-208-0319-0.