b4^ 



NA TURE 



[October 5, 1893 



tinues : "Its body grows on the earth, and its spirit is perfected 

 in the heavens." Consequently, various worldly facts and acts 

 that have occupied the Chinese attention, not excepting some 

 now quite forgotten, remind us of their past existence by 

 means of the stellar and constellar names fashioned after them 

 from fancied resemblances or analogies. 



How closely this association of the heavenly and worldly 

 phenomena was made, a few examples will suffice to show. The 

 Bow-and-Arrow, though apparently separate, formed but one 

 group, because an archer could perform well without an assistant ; 

 but, on account of the supposed impossibility of one's pound- 

 ing, without an attendant to the mortar, the Mortar was distinct 

 from the Pestle. Imitating the civil institutions of old times, 

 Polaris, entitled the Emperor of Emperors, and his Empress, 

 Imperial Heir, &c., constitute: " Che-wi Palace," with thirty- 

 two subservient Seats, mostly named after officials. Besides, 

 the four " Imperial Thrones" are ^established, one of which is 

 surrounded with seventeen dependents, chiefly with the names 

 of court-buildings in " Tai-wi Palace," while the other, amidst 

 the "Celestial Emporium" has its seventeen subjects, named 

 after provinces, market buildings, and measures. 



For contriving the applications of the plan, the following 

 methods seem to have been observed : 



(1) Number, e.g. the Five Princes, Four Councillors. 



(2) Magnitude, e.g. the Squire Captain, set apart from the 

 Squires. 



(3) Form, e.g. the Canopy, Celestial Coin, Ascending Ser- 

 pent. 



(4) Relation of positions, e.g. the Deep Water, Celestial 

 Hook, and Celestial Pier, entirely and partly in, and along the 

 Celestial River (the milky-way). 



(5) Direction of the Compass, e.g. the South Gate, North 

 Pole. 



(6) Colour, e.g. Excrementum. 



The objects and attributes resorted to for modelling the stars 

 and constellations may be classified as follows : — 



(1) Heavenly Bodies, e.g. the sun, moon, milky-way. 



(2) Meteorological phenomena, e.g. thunder and lightning. 



(3) Topographical Divisions, e.g. the field, tumuli, park, 

 pond. 



(4) Civil Divisions, e.g. Tsin (a province), Chang-sha (a 

 shire). 



(5) Animals, e.g. the dog, wolf, fowl, fish, snapping-turtle. 



(6) Agricultural Products, e.g. bran, hay, gourd, cereals. 



(7) Parts of Body, e.g. the tongue, penis. 



(8) Human Actions, e.g. the cry, weep, slander, punish- 

 ment. 



(9) Family Relations, e.g. the son, grandson, adult, old 

 man. 



(10) Occupations, e.g. the farmer, weaving-woman. 



(11) Buildings and Departments, e.g. the castle, granary, 

 kitchen. 



(12) Implements, Furniture, &c , e.g. the lock, drum, bell, 

 bed, ship. 



(13) Titles and Officials, e.g. the feudatory, ministers, 

 generals. 



(14) Heroes, e.g. Fu-yeh, Tsau-fu. 



(15) Philosophical and Theological Notions, e.g. positiveness, 

 virtue, prodigy, fates, fortune, wrong, &c. 



As far as I could expound, the system implies certain pecu- 

 liarities. First, it preserves some abstract notions, thus point- 

 ing the way towards investigations on the early Chinese specu- 

 lations. Secondly, portions of the system severally harmonise 

 with the conditions of the Chinese social systeni that existed for 

 many centuries before the dawn of the Han dynasty (circa 200 

 B.C.), when it seems certain that the nomenclature was well- 

 nigh finished. In the third place, I may mention that after 

 careful revisions of the whole list containing more than three 

 hundred names of the Seats, I have found but two that have had 

 any reference to the sea, viz., " South Sea" and " East Sea," 

 the rather vague notions nf old usage indicating some uncivil- 

 ised territories ; and with this only exception there occur no 

 names of marine beings such as Cetus, Delphinus, and Cancer. 

 This fact probably justifies a historical theory that locates the 

 cradle of Chinese civilisation on a land distant from the seas. 



I do not know precisely what system is current among the 

 Indians of the present day ; but assuredly at least once they 

 made use of their own plans, and mapped out the heavens into 

 the twenty-eight divisions, each division with its typical constella- 

 tions and their subordinates, as is often alluded t > in the Buddhist 



NO. 1249. VOL. 48I 



writings of the North. The equality of number of the divisions 

 in the Chinese and Indian systems is striking ; but evidence 

 favours the belief in their sporadic growths and analogous de- 

 velopment. The Chinese records of the typical constellations 

 date farther back than the epoch of their intercourse with the 

 Indians ; in fact, the Indian constellation^, as is obvious from 

 their mythic apotheoses and the article-; ol sacrifice, including 

 such abomination to the Buddhist as blood and bird's-flesh, 

 are essentially of Brahmanical type, and thus proclaim their 

 priority in existence to the event of the Buddhist mission to 

 China, which marks the era of the mutual acquaintance of the 

 two nations. 



When we see in the old Chinese works on Indian names, 

 those of the Indian typical constellations, such as Rivata, 

 Kamphilla, &c., not literally interpreted, but merely identified 

 with those of the Chinese, such as Shi, Fang, .Sic, every two 

 divisions of corresponding order seem to have had extents 

 almost coinciding in the two systems. 



Twan Chin-shi [circa 800 A.D.), a Chinese Pliny, in his 

 "Miscellanies" has left us an extract from Indian records, 

 registering the objects with which the Indians used to associate 

 the forms of some typical constellations of their own. Of the 

 Chinese typical constellations, the original resemblances or 

 analogies can still be traced, through their names and characters, 

 with the help of the descriptive remarks in cases of difficulty. 

 Replying upon these authorities, I will now proceed to compare 

 the cited objects of alleged resemblances or analogies, in order 

 to see whether and how the fancies of the two nations converge 

 into or diverge from one another, in the establishment of one 

 most conspicuous, and thence typical constellation, out of the 

 stars scattered over a division almost identical in the two 

 systems. 



Chinese names. 



Objcclsof Indian fancy. 



Niu (Taurus). 

 Wf (the Tail). 

 Liu (the Willow). 



Wei (the Stomach). 



5. Su (the Horn of 



Scops). 



6. Ki (the Winnowing 



fan). 



7. Tsins (the Well). 



8. Kwei (the unsettleti). 



9. Kwei (the Ghost), 



10. Pih (the Handle-net). 



11. Sing (the Star). 



12. Fang (the Screen). 



The bill! with horns. 



Curved, with a tip bent, 



like the willow (twig). 

 |--In Chinese astrology, 



this is the patron of 



the snakes. ] 



The legs of a vessel for Same, 



cooking. 



The head of a bull. 

 'i"he tall of scorpion. 

 The serpent. 



Its character, combined 

 with that for " foot,'' 

 forms one for " kneel- 

 ing," and its original 

 hieroglyphic repre- 

 sents ''one kneel- 

 ing " ; hence it is 

 probably of analo- 

 gous plan with Her- 

 cules (kneeling). 



The cofiin (u ith corpse). 



The hook. 



The hiad of deer (with 



antlers). 

 The horns of cattle. 



A footprint. 



The dimple of woman. 



The Saint's Breast. 

 A hat. 



The river-bank. 

 Beads of head-dress. 



It appears from the above comparisons that sometimes 

 quite analogous or even identical plans might sporadically grow 

 among distinct nations, probably due to the pronounced readi- 

 ness to be grouped afforded by the stars of not very different 

 brightness and relatively situated in a manner which at once 

 suggests a definite outline. 



In conclusion, I should be inclined to state that the peculiarity, 

 in cases where it exists, can no doubt be of great value to 

 students of sociology, as it may help to some extent towards the 

 attainment of various important discoveries. For instance, a 

 Chinese constellation, Nii, or the Woman, is described as very 

 1 much simulating Ki, or the Winnowing Fan ; and this might 

 ' be closely connected with the frequent occurrence in Chinese 

 I works of a figurative phrase, " to seVve the fan and broom " 

 in the sense of "getting married." On the other hand, 

 as to the merit of its use for ascertaining the race-affinity, 

 my opinion must be somewhat negative, for, while in- 

 stances are not wanting of such remarkable analogies among 

 such heterogeneous nations as the Chinese and Indians, 



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