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二十八宿

èrshíbāxiù
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 the Twenty-Eight Mansions (Chinese constellations along the celestial equator)
  2. 2 the 28 lunar lodges of traditional Chinese astronomy

Examples

中国古代天文学把恒星划分为二十八宿。
Zhōngguó gǔdài tiānwénxué bǎ héngxīng huàfēn wéi èrshíbāxiù.
Ancient Chinese astronomy divided the fixed stars into the Twenty-Eight Mansions.
二十八宿分为东南西北四象，每象七宿。
Èrshíbāxiù fēnwéi dōng nán xī běi sì xiàng, měi xiàng qī xiù.
The Twenty-Eight Mansions are grouped into the four cardinal animals, with seven mansions each.

Tips

history
The 28 lunar lodges divide the sky into four quadrants of seven, each ruled by one of the 四象 (sìxiàng): 青龙 (Azure Dragon, east), 朱雀 (Vermilion Bird, south), 白虎 (White Tiger, west), 玄武 (Black Tortoise, north). Names like 角 (Horn), 心 (Heart), 昴 (Mao), 参 (Shēn) appear constantly in classical poetry and the I Ching. India and the Arab world had parallel 28-station systems — the shared root is debated.
mistakes
宿 here is read xiù (not sù 'to lodge' or xiǔ '[a] night'). When 宿 names a constellation, it's always xiù — same reading as in 星宿 (xīngxiù, 'constellation').

Stroke Order

二 èr
十 shí
八 bā
宿 sù