What are twelve stars?

1, Xingchen [xρng Xiρ] is the star god of Han folk belief and Taoist worship, which refers to "four elephants" and "twenty-eight lodges". In ancient times, in order to observe the astronomical phenomena and the movement of the sun, the moon and the five stars, 28 star officials were selected as observation signs, which were called "Twenty-eight Hostels". Divided into four groups on average, each group has seven nights, with four directions of east, west, north and south and animal images such as Qinglong, white tiger, Suzaku and Xuanwu (collectively called tortoise and snake), which are called "four elephants" in Taoism.

2. According to the position of the 28 stars, it is divided into seven nights in Qinglong, seven nights in Suzaku, seven nights in Baihu and seven nights in Xuanwu. The specific names are as follows:

Seven nights in Qinglong: Jiao Mujiao Kang Jinlong Nyctereute Fang Ri Rabbit Heart Moon Fox Tail Fire Tiger Basket Water Leopard

Suzaku Seven Nights: Muan Jing Ghost Golden Sheep, Six Rabbits, Zhang Yuelu, Winged Fire Snake and Water Worm.

White tigers in the seven nights: the golden dog, the stomach soil, the pheasant and the Bigou fire monkey.

Seven nights in Xuanwu: unicorn, ox, Taurus, female soil, bat, virtual sun mouse, dangerous moon, swallowing room fire, pig wall water.

3. Observation method

In ancient times, there were four common ways to observe 28-night haunted:

The first is to observe the stars rising on the eastern horizon at the beginning of the night after dusk, which is called "fainting";

The second is to observe the stars in the southern sky at this time, which is called "fainting";

The third is to observe the stars rising on the eastern horizon before dawn, which is called "morning sight" or "morning sight";

The fourth is to observe the stars in the southern sky at this time, which is called "Zhong Dan".

In ancient times, in order to observe the movements of the sun, the moon and the five planets (gold, wood, water, fire and earth), people chose 28 constellations near the ecliptic and the equator as symbols, collectively called 28 constellations or 28 stars.

Horn, sound, rafter, room, heart, tail, dustpan, these seven stars form the image of a dragon, and the vernal equinox season is in the eastern sky, so it is called the Oriental Qinglong for seven nights;

Fighting, ox, female, air, danger, house and wall, these seven stars form a group of images intertwined with turtles and snakes. The vernal equinox season is in the northern sky, so it is called the seven nights of Xuanwu in the north;

Kui, Lou, Wei, Chang, Bi, Gou and Shen, these seven stars form the image of a tiger. The spring equinox season is in the western sky, so it is called the seven nights of the western white tiger.

Well, ghosts, willows, stars, Zhang, wings and birds, these seven stars make up the image of a bird. The spring equinox season is in the southern sky, so it is called South Suzaku for seven nights.

The four animal images composed of the above seven nights are collectively called four elephants, four dimensions and four beasts.

The ancients used the appearance and arrival times of the four elephants and the twenty-eight stars to judge the seasons.

The ancients saw the solar terms facing south, so there was a saying that there was a dragon in Zuo Dong, a white tiger in the right west, Xuanwu in the north and Suzaku in the south.