Tengshe

Tengshe螣蛇 or 腾蛇 (Téng Shé, Flying Serpent) is a constellation created by ancient Chinese astrologers, dating back to the 2nd century BCE. It is classified as one of the "internal" constellations (内官) of the Shi School (石氏), as it belongs to the Shi School's constellation system during the Han Dynasty， and it is inside of the 28 lunar mansions.

Tengshe before Tang-reconstructed by Yang

Etymology and History

Tengshe is a mythical flying snake in ancient Chinese folklore, with numerous references found in classical Chinese literature. For instance, the Xunzi荀子 mentions, "螣蛇无足而飞(The Tengshe flies without legs)", and Cao Cao’s famous poem "《龟虽寿》Though the Tortoise Lives Long" includes the line, "神龟虽寿，犹有竟时。螣蛇乘雾，终为土灰(The divine tortoise, though it lives long, will eventually die; the Tengshe rides the mist, yet will eventually turn to dust)", indicating that Tengshe is a legendary creature as well-known as the divine tortoise. Zhang Heng’s "《思玄赋》Ode to Returning to Immortality" describes many constellations, with lines like "玄武缩于壳中兮，螣蛇蜿而自纠(The Xuanwu retracts into its shell, while the Tengshe coils upon itself)", where the Xuanwu is the divine tortoise or a combination of tortoise and snake, representing the northern constellation of the Four Symbols, corresponding to the seven mansions of the north. Tengshe here might also refer to the constellation associated with this celestial creature.

The "《天官书》Treatise on Celestial Offices" does not mention Tengshe, suggesting that this constellation might have been incorporated into the Shishi constellation system only after the Taichu(104-102BCE) reformation to the constellations. The 《石氏星经》Shishi Xingjing (Master Shi's Star Canon or The Shi School's Star Canon) records that this constellation comprises 22 stars, located north of the lunar mansion Shi(室, Room). It states, "When this constellation are bright, there is unrest; when faint, there is peace," indicating that this constellation is generally dim.

The Shishi Xingjing describes the Tengshe constellation as a male serpent that mates with turtles, serving as the leader of aquatic creatures. This further highlights the connection between Tengshe and the tortoise. Some believe that the establishment of this constellation was intended to compensate for the lack of a serpent in the Northern Symbol Xuanwu (with the mansions Xu(虚, Ruins) and Wei(危, Roof) forming the shape of a tortoise), thereby making the image of the Black Tortoise in the Northern Symbol more complete.

Identification of stars

The Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido Star Chart, the Dunhuang Star Chart, and the Geziyuejintu document the shapes of constellations during the Tang dynasty and earlier periods, and these three early star charts share significant similarities, but they differ considerably from star charts created after the Song dynasty, like Suzhou star map. In these earlier star charts, Tengshe (the flying serpent) is depicted with two heads, while in post-Song dynasty star charts, Tengshe is shown with a single head. According to the Han dynasty’s Shi School's Star Catalog (or Master Shi's Star Catalogue), the star associated with Tengshe's beak star(螣蛇喙星) corresponds to V424 Lac (HIP 113288). However, in later single-headed depictions, the central major star(中央大星） of Tengshe is α Lac, indicating a shift in the constellation’s position over time.

Star Names or Orders(Traditional/Qing)	Ho PENG YOKE	Yi Shitong Based on catalogue in 18th century	Pan Nai based on Xinyixiangfayao Star Map	SUN X. & J. Kistemaker Han Dynasty	Boshun Yang before Tang dynasty	Boshun Yang Song Hingyou(1052)
Primary Star(central star or beak star)	beta Lac	alpha Lac	alpha Lac	alpha Lac	HIP 113288	alpha Lac
	epsilon Cep	4 Lac	9 Lac	9 Lac	HIP 113327	beta Lac
	mu Cep	pi2 Cgy	beta Lac	beta Lac	3 And	HIP 109521
	pi1 Cgy	pi1 Cgy	HIP 109521	4 Lac	7 And	4 Lac
	pi2 Cgy	?	4 Lac	2 Lac	8 And	5 Lac
	4 Lac	HIP 105064	5 Lac	5 Lac	11 And	HIP 113288
	HIP 111550	HIP 106886	HIP 113327	3 And	lambda And	9 Lac
	9 Lac	13 Cep	HIP 113288	7 And	kappa And	HIP 113501
	HIP 114162	epsilon Cep	3 And	8 And	iota And	HIP 114162
	HIP 114924	beta Lac	HIP 114714	11 And	10 And	HIP 114924
	HIP 117133	sigma Cas	18 And	lambda And	omicron And	HIP 118077
	rho Cas	rho Cas	HIP 118077	psi And	HIP 113501	sigma Cas
	tau Cas	tau Cas	sigma Cas	kappa And	HIP 112641	rho Cas
	HIP 113288	AR Cas	rho Cas	iota And	HIP 114162	HIP 117299
	3 And	9 Lac	tau Cas	6 Lac	HIP 114924	HIP 116912
	7 And	3 And	AR Cas	10 Lac	sigma Cas	3 And
	8 And	7 And	5 And	12 Lac	rho Cas	7 And
	11 And	8 And	7 And	13 Lac	tau Cas	8 And
	lambda And	lambda And	8 And	14 Lac	AR Cas	11 And
	psi And	psi And	11 And	omicron And	HIP 115395	lambda And
	kappa And	kappa And	lambda And	15 Lac	1 Cas	kappa And
	iota And	iota And	kappa And	11 Lac	HIP 114622	iota And
			iota And
			15 And

Star Maps

• Tengshe
• 

  Tengshe on Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido star chart

• 

  Tengshe on Dunhuang Star Map

• 

  Tengshe on Geziyuejintu Star Map

• 

  Tengshe before Tang-reconstructed by Yang

• 

  Tengshe on Suzhou Star Map

• 

  Tengshe on Xinyixiangfayao Star Map

• 

  Tengshe after Song-reconstructed by Yang

IAU WGSN Discussion

In the discussion of name proposals for the star alf Lac, it was mentioned that the star may be part of the Chinese asterism 螣蛇 (Téng Shé) which consists of 22 stars. From Han dynasty onwards, alpha Lacertae was considered the primary star of this constellation. However, most recent research has proven that earlier versions of the Shi Shi Xingjing Star Catalog considered the variable star V242 Lac (HIP 113288, HR 8726) as the principle star. Therefore, WGSN adopts the name Tengshe for this red supergiant with a Vmag of 4.95 (SIMBAD), varying between 4.91 and 5.0 mag (VSX).

References

References (Chinese)