Nine Fields (Sky): The ancients divided the night sky into nine major regions (center and eight directions) as standard coordinates, building the spatial foundation of Eastern astronomy.
Eight Winds (Climate): Symbolize the natural winds from eight directions. The ancients believed wind movements resulted from the blending and clashing of Heaven and Earth's Yin and Yang energies.
28 Lunar Mansions (Stars): The moon takes roughly 28 days to orbit the earth. Ancient astronomers divided the stars along its path into 28 zones.
For easier identification, these zones were based on brighter anchor stars rather than absolute equal division, making them vary in size. They were later grouped by direction into four mythological beasts: Azure Dragon (East), White Tiger (West), Vermilion Bird (South), and Black Tortoise (North).
Unlike the Western 12 Zodiac signs based on the ecliptic (the Sun's apparent path), the ancient Chinese 'Twenty-Eight Mansions' were built on the 'Equatorial Coordinate System'. The ancients centered on Polaris and divided the sky by observing the relative positions of the Moon (Tai Yin) and the stars. In modern astrophysics, this system is equivalent to using Right Ascension and Declination to establish 3D spatial coordinates for stars. This shows that Eastern astronomy possessed a highly scientific and precise logic for spatial positioning over two thousand years ago.
|
SE (Yangtian)
Huifeng
Vermilion Bird (Zhang、Yi、Zhen)
|
S (Yantian)
Jufeng
Vermilion Bird (Gui、Liu、Xing)
|
SW (Zhutian)
Liangfeng
Vermilion Bird (Jing) / (Zi、Shen)
|
|
E (Cangtian)
Tiaofeng
Azure Dragon (Fang、Xin、Wei)
| Center (Juntian) None Azure Dragon (Jiao、Kang、Di) |
W (Haotian)
Changfeng
(Wei、Mao、Bi)
|
|
NE (Biantian)
Yanfeng
Azure Dragon (Ji) / Black Tortoise (Dou、Niu)
|
N (Xuantian)
Hanfeng
Black Tortoise (Nu、Xu、Wei、Shi)
|
NW (Youtian)
Lifeng
(Kui、Lou) / Black Tortoise (Bi)
|
For easier memorization, later generations mapped animal names to the 28 Mansions and combined them with the Seven Luminaries, eventually forming the modern Chinese Zodiac.
Seven Luminaries: Five Planets + Sun & Moon.
| Directional Beast | Water | Fire | Moon | Sun | Earth | Metal | Wood |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N. Tortoise | Bi (Water) | Shi (Fire) | Wei (Moon) | Xu (Sun) | Nu (Earth) | Niu (Metal) | Dou (Wood) |
| E. Dragon | Ji (Water) | Wei (Fire) | Xin (Moon) | Fang (Sun) | Di (Earth) | Kang (Metal) | Jiao (Wood) |
| S. Bird | Zhen (Water) | Yi (Fire) | Zhang (Moon) | Xing (Sun) | Liu (Earth) | Gui (Metal) | Jing (Wood) |
| W. Tiger | Shen (Water) | Zi (Fire) | Bi (Moon) | Mao (Sun) | Wei (Earth) | Lou (Metal) | Kui (Wood) |
| Planet | Element | Direction | Season | Directional Beast | Represents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jupiter | Wood | East | Spring | Azure Dragon | Harvest |
| Mars | Fire | South | Summer | Vermilion Bird | Disaster |
| Saturn | Earth | Center | All | Yellow Dragon | Land |
| Venus | Metal | West | Autumn | White Tiger | War |
| Mercury | Water | North | Winter | Black Tortoise | Climate |
💡 註：'North Chen' refers to Polaris. 'Three Chens' refer to the Sun, Moon, and Stars.
Virtue represents 'Yang', Punishment represents 'Yin'.
Yang energy is born at the Winter Solstice (Zi), Yin energy at the Summer Solstice (Wu). They are born inside (Room), move outside (Field), and return.
The two energies meet at the Spring/Autumn Equinoxes (Gate).
| Branch | Month | Room | Hall | Court | Gate | Lane | Path | Field |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zi | 11 (Mid-Winter) | Virtue | Punish | |||||
| Chou | 12 (Late Winter) | Virtue | Punish | |||||
| Yin | 1 (Early Spring) | Virtue | Punish | |||||
| Mao | 2 (Mid-Spring) | VirtuePunish | ||||||
| Chen | 3 (Late Spring) | Punish | Virtue | |||||
| Si | 4 (Early Summer) | Punish | Virtue | |||||
| Wu | 5 (Mid-Summer) | Punish | Virtue | |||||
| Wei | 6 (Late Summer) | Punish | Virtue | |||||
| Shen | 7 (Early Autumn) | Punish | Virtue | |||||
| You | 8 (Mid-Autumn) | VirtuePunish | ||||||
| Xu | 9 (Late Autumn) | Virtue | Punish | |||||
| Hai | 10 (Early Winter) | Virtue | Punish |
Facing south, the sky is divided into 12 directions based on earthly branches. The Winter Solstice aligns the Big Dipper's handle with 'Zi'. The handle rotates full circle over a year.
(Ex: Mao/Chen = East) (Ex: Mao hour = 5-7 AM)
Two Ropes & Four Hooks:
Zi-Wu, Mao-You are the two ropes. Chou-Yin, Chen-Si, Wei-Shen, Xu-Hai are the four hooks.
Four Centers = Mao, Wu, You, Zi.
Four Seasons = Chen, Wei, Xu, Chou.
The Dao begins with One, which does not generate, hence dividing into Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang blend to create all things, hence 'One produces Two, Two produces Three, Three produces All Things'.
Two Yin + One Yang = Two Qi.
Two Yang + One Yin = Three Qi. Mathematically:
Yin = 1/3 Qi, Yang = 4/3 Qi = (1+1/3) Qi.
| Pointer | Tone | Order | Rule | Calculation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zi | Huangzhong | 1 | 81 | |
| Wei | Linzhong | 2 | 54 | 81*2/3 |
| Yin | Taicu | 3 | 72 | 54*4/3 |
| You | Nanlu | 4 | 48 | 72*2/3 |
| Chen | Guxi | 5 | 64 | 48x4/3 |
| Hai | Yingzhong | 6 | 43 | 64x2/3 |
| Wu | Ruibin | 7 | 57 | 42.667*4/3 |
| Chou | Dalu | 8 | 76 | 56.889*4/3 |
| Shen | Yize | 9 | 51 | 75.852*2/3 |
| Mao | Jiazhong | 10 | 67 | 50.568*4/3 |
| Xu | Wuyi | 11 | 45 | 67.424*2/3 |
| Si | Zhonglu | 12 | 60 | 44.949*4/3 |
Cycle of Fifths (Sanfen Sunyi):
Metaphysics and musical pitches originate from nature. Taking '81' as the base pitch of Gong, following Yin-Yang calculations:
• Subtract 1/3: Zhi = 81 × 2/3 = 54.
• Add 1/3: Shang = 54 × 4/3 = 72.
Formation of 5 Tones & 6 Pitches:
Energy resonates to create tones, Yin-Yang harmony creates pitches. Through subtracting and adding 1/3, the standards were set.
Starting from Huangzhong (Zi), it cycles three times to Ruibin. Dalu uses 'add 1/3' specifically to harmonize back with Huangzhong.