Historical records of twelve stars

Twelve stars were first seen in Zuozhuan, Guoyu, Erya and other books, which were mainly used to remember the position of Muxing. After the Han Dynasty, stereotypes were formed. According to Records of Historical Records of Han Dynasty, equal division according to the ecliptic is related to the 24 solar terms. For example, the starting point of astrology is the solar term of winter solstice, the middle point is the solar term of snow, and so on. Due to the influence of precession, the position of each starting point in stellar space is constantly changing. After the introduction of European astronomy in the late Ming Dynasty, the names of the zodiac were translated into twelve names, such as Capricorn Palace and Jixing Palace. Each palace is divided into equal parts according to the longitude of the ecliptic, and its starting point is changed to be connected with the qi, such as the starting point of the palace is the solstice in winter. Twelve times are also used as a sky division system in astrology.

Twelve times is also called "twelve degrees". "Preface to Historical Records Taishi Gong": "There is a decree at 4: 08, 12: 00 and 24: 00." Zhang Yan said: "Eight people are gossips. Twelve degrees, twelve times. " Twelve times is the abbreviation of "Twelve Stars". Also known as "stars". "New Tang Book": "Therefore, the prosperity of three generations is the system of one generation." Ji yuan, Tian,: the emperor's century said that the yellow emperor was ordered to divide the stars according to law. Liu Zhaobu's "Han Zhi" also said: The Yellow Emperor set the stars, that is, the twelve times and twenty-eight degrees recorded in Er Ya today were all created by the Yellow Emperor. "