The Twenty-four Solar Terms and the Twenty-eight Lunar Mansions in the Yi Astronomy
The twenty-four solar terms and the twenty-eight lunar mansions are important parts of the ancient Chinese astronomical calendars.The Yi people's astronomy also incorporates these elements.By analyzing them,it is found that the Yi people take the Pleiades as the first of the 28 lunar mansions,and take xu,rather dou,as corresponding to the winter solstice of the 24 solar terms,which indicates that the Yi people's astronomical calendar contains an astronomical tradition that is older than the astronomical calendar of the Han Dynasty,and can be traced back to the legendary era of Emperor Yao.At the same time,two of the Yi people's 28 lunar mansions,zhe chu and zhe bo,at the Han time corresponded precisely to the Sun's positions among the lunar mansions for the solar terms"White Dew"and"Cold Dew"from the Han period,indicating Han influence on the Yi's lunar mansions.In the way the twenty-four solar terms and the twenty-eight lunar mansions of the Yi people are correlated,we see similarities to the Jianchu in the Qin jian ri shu,which was astrology for choosing auspicious days from the Qin and Han times.This indicates that,for the Yi people,the 24 solar terms and the 28 lunar mansions served mainly the purpose of astrology and selecting auspicious days,influenced by the Han astronomy.
Yi Astronomytwenty-four solar termstwenty-eight lunar mansions
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