Shangcheng & Shaocheng (上丞、少丞)
Shangcheng and Shaocheng
Shàng Chéng (The Great Imperial Minister, 上丞)and Shào Chéng (The Second Imperial Minister, 少丞) are the two stars located to the left and right of the northern gate of the Zǐ Gōng (Purple Palace) / Zǐwēi Yuán (Purple Enclosure).
Etymology and History of the Name
The Shishi zan (Shi's Commentary, 石氏讚) records: “Within the Purple Palace are fifteen stars representing vassal ministers.” The star names—such as Shangcheng and Shaocheng and other “guard” designations—may have developed in reference to, or as elaborations upon, this passage.
Each of the fifteen stars of the Purple Palace bears an individual name. However, those martial or defensive names are absent from pre-Tang sources and only became widespread from the mid-Tang period onward (8th century CE). Earlier texts employed a different nomenclature system (See Zigong (紫宮) (紫宮)), for example the northern gate stars were called Xingui and Shunguang rather than Shangcheng and Shaocheng.
Constellation & Star Name
See Zigong (紫宮) for better identification. It should also be noted that in historical star maps and textual records, the positions of Shangcheng and Shaocheng are occasionally reversed (like them in Xin yixiang fayao Star Map)—an inconsistency that persisted across several dynastic traditions.
| Star Name | Ho PENG YOKE[1] | Yi Shitong[2]
Based on catalogue in 18th century |
Pan Nai[3]
based on Huangyou Star Catalogue |
Pan Nai[4]
based on catalogues in Yuan dynasty |
SUN X. & J. Kistemaker[5]
Han Dynasty |
Boshun Yang[6]
before Tang dynasty |
Boshun Yang[6]
Song Jingyou(1034) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shangcheng(上丞) or Xingui (信龜) | BK Cam | BK Cam | HIP 14862 | HIP 12273 | HIP 25110 | HIP 17862 | |
| Shaocheng(少丞) or Shunguang (順光) | gamma Cep | 23 Cas | HIP 6522 | 21 Cas | pi Cep | HIP 92056 | pi Cep |
Images
- Shangcheng & Shaocheng
Shangcheng and Shaocheng in Suzhou Star Map
Shangcheng and Shaocheng in Xin yixiang fayao Star Map
Shangcheng and Shaocheng in 18th Century Yixiang kaocheng Star Map
IAU Working Group on Star Names
In 202x, the name of the historical constellation "xxx" was suggested to be used for one of the stars in this constellation. ...
Decision: ...
References
- ↑ P.-Y. Ho, “Ancient And Mediaeval Observations of Comets and Novae in Chinese Sources,” Vistas in Astronomy, 5 (1962), 127-225.
- ↑ Yi Shitong [伊世同]. Zhongxi Duizhao Hengxing Tubiao [中西对照恒星图表1950]. Beijing: Science Press. 1981: p. 56.
- ↑ Pan Nai [潘鼐]. Zhongguo Hengxing Guance shi [中国恒星观测史]. Shanghai: Xuelin Pree. 1989. p. 226.
- ↑ Pan Nai [潘鼐]. Zhongguo Hengxing Guance shi [中国恒星观测史]. Shanghai: Xuelin Pree. 2009. p. 443.
- ↑ Sun Xiaochun & Kistemaker J. The Chinese sky during the Han. Leiden: Brill. 1997, pp. 241-6.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 B.-S. Yang [杨伯顺], Zhongguo Chuantong Hengxing Guance Jingdu ji Xingguan Yanbian Yanjiu [中国传统恒星观测精度及星官演变研究] (A Research on the Accuracy of Chinese Traditional Star Observation and the Evolution of Constellations), PhD thesis, (Hefei: University of Science and Technology of China, 2023). p. 238.
