Kui

Kui奎 is an ancient Chinese constellation with 16 stars, belonging to the 28 Lunar Mansions in China, with a very long history. It is roughly located between Andromeda and Pisces.

Kui recunstructed by Yang

Etymology and History

Here is an excerption from Prof. Shi Yunli (2024) that explaining the meaning of Kui:

• In the first known Chinese dictionary Explaining the Word and Analyzing the Character (Shuō-wén Jiězì, 说文解字) completed by the famous philologist Xu Shen (许慎, fl. 110–121 CE) under the sponsorship of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 CE), we can find the following explanation to the word 奎: "The word 奎 refers to [the part of the body] between two thighs." In his annotation to Xu Sheng’s explanation, the Southern Tang Dynasty (937–975 CE) philologist Xu Kai (徐锴, 920–974 CE) pointed out further: “In heavenly patterns, the word 奎 just follows the shape [of the constellation].” This annotation is accepted by most modern scholars on the grounds that “… the sixteen stars of the Kui are [arranged] just like the shape of two [joint] thighs..

The paper further points out that in addition to Kui, this constellation has another name, called "Tianshi天豕" (Heavenly Pig). In“Annals of Heavenly Offices” (Tiānguān shū, 天官书) in the Records of the Historian (Shǐjì, 史记) by Sima Qian (司马迁, fl. 135–91 BCE), the Head Grand Historian of the Western Han Dynasty (201–8 BCE), he mentioned that :"The Crotch is called Fēngshǐ (封豕), [which is] responsible for things concerning ditches and canals.”The history of this constellation being named Tianshi can be traced back to the late Neolithic period. Some jade pig-shaped objects very similar to this constellation were unearthed from the tombs in the sacrificial area of the Lingjiatan Culture (5800 - 5300 BP) in Anhui. The largest jade pig has a very special orientation, which is very close to the posture of this constellation at the heliacal rising at the vernal equinox in the Lingjiatan area more than five thousand years ago. In addition, we found that the determinative star of Kui is called "Tianshi Mu" (Eyes of the Heavenly Pig), which is in the same position as the eyes of the jade pig.

The view of the eastern horizon at dawn in the era of the Lingjiatan site (diagram: Shi Yunli)

From the perspective of astrological implications, Kui is endowed with the connotation of water. For example, in the astrological work “Observation of Western Celestial offices(Xīguān hòu, 西官候) of the Han Dynasty, it is said: Kui is the mysterious darkness of the heaven, and it represents ditches, ponds, Yangtze River, Yellow River, and the Milky Way. These implications are related to the pig rather than "between the two thighs", because in ancient China, pigs were black in color and were used to sacrifice to the northern deities, representing water in the Five Phases. Therefore, the astrological connotation of this constellation should essentially be deduced from "Tianshi" (Heavenly Pig). Thus, it is reasonable to believe that "Tianshi" is a more ancient name than "Kui".

Identification of Stars

The constituent stars of Kui should have rarely changed before the introduction of European astronomy in the Ming Dynasty. The previous scholars' reconstructions are similar, but there is a common oversight: M31 has not been considered as a member star of Kui. In fact, as an obvious celestial object near Kui, M31 is almost impossible to be ignored by the diligent ancient Chinese observers; they observed with the naked eye and could not realize the essential difference between galaxies and ordinary stars, so they regarded M31 as a star of Kui. In the star catalogue observed in the 1360s, M31 was listed as one of the member stars of Kui. In the map of the Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido that existed before the 7th century AD, there are two stars that are larger than the other stars, representing beta And and delta And respectively. The 3rd star counting up from the Beta star is nu And, which used to be regarded as the "head star"; but the 4th star is the head star of Kui in the map, which is obviously M31. We can even find earlier evidence. The ancient Chinese astrological scholar Xi Meng in the Han Dynasty mentioned that the head star of Kui is a "big star", while the brightness of nu And is not sufficient to be called a "big star". Only M31 can fulfill this description.

Star Names or Orders(Qing)	Ho PENG YOKE	Yi Shitong	Pan Nai based on Xinyixiangfayao Star Map	SUN X. & J. Kistemaker Han Dynasty	Boshun Yang
1st	eta And	eta And	eta And	eta And	eta And
2nd	zeta And	zeta And	zeta And	zeta And	zeta And
3rd	i Psc	i Psc	i Psc	epsilon And	epsilon And
4th	epsilon And	epsilon And	epsilon And	delta And	delta And
5th	delta And	delta And	delta And	pi And	pi And
6th	pi And	pi And	pi And	32 And	HIP 2942
7th	nu And	nu And	nu And	nu And	32 And
8th	mu And	mu And	mu And	mu And	M 31
9th	beta And	beta And	beta And	beta And	nu And
10th	sigma Psc	76 Psc	82 Psc	82 Psc	mu And
11th	tau And	tau And	tau And	tau And	beta And
12th	l Psc	l Psc	l Psc	l Psc	82 Psc
13th	upsilon Psc	upsilon Psc	upsilon Psc	upsilon Psc	tau And
14th	phi Psc	phi Psc	phi Psc	phi Psc	upsilon Psc
15th	chi Psc	chi Psc	chi Psc	chi Psc	phi Psc
16th	psi1 Psc	psi1 Psc	psi1 Psc	psi1 Psc	chi Psc

Star Maps

• Kui in different star maps/catalogues
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  Kui in the Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido

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  Kui in the Suzhou Star Map

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  Kui observed in 1360s