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9.10.2.1.3
Jupiter, the Year Star |
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A cycle of 12 years was known to the Chinese from the seventh century B.C. This cycle, called Chi, was based on the apparent motion of the planet Jupiter through the zodiac. Jupiter was known as Sui-hsing, the "year star". Each year within the cycle was named, and the names were arranged according to the order of the 12 Earthly Branches (Table 9.32). |
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Since Jupiter requires about 11.86 years to complete its cycle, the correspondence between years and Jupiter's position is not exact, and Jupiter occasionally did not appear in the predicted zodiacal position, in which case it was said to have jumped over a constellation. |
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9.10.2.1.4
The Twenty-Four Chieh |
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The Chinese solar year is divided into 24 equal periods known as chieh, or nodes. The equinoces and solstices are used to anchor the year to four fixed stations. Each node therefore occupies a fixed part of the year and consists of 15.218 days. The nodes are arranged as two groups: the odd-numbered, called chieh-ch'i, or node parts and the even-numbered, called chung-ch'i, or middle parts. Each season of the year consists of three of each set. |
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| Table 9.32 Sexagenary month and year cycle. | Name of
Year | Name of
Branch | Order | Chinese
Constellation | Equivalent
Western | | She-t'i-ke | Yin | 3 | Hsing-chi | Capricorn | | Shan-o | Mao | 4 | Hsuan-hsiao | Aquarius | | Chih-hsu | Ch'en | 5 | Ch'u-tzu | Pisces | | Ta-huang-lo | Szu | 6 | Chiang-lu | Aries | | Tun-tsang | Wu | 7 | Ta-liang | Taurus | | Hsieh-hsia | Wei | 8 | Shih-ch'eng | Gemini | | T'un-t'an | Shen | 9 | Ch'un-shou | Cancer | | Tso-o | Yu | 10 | Chun-huo | Leo | | Yen-mao | Hsu | 11 | Chun-wei | Virgo | | Ta-yuan-hsien | Hai | 12 | Shou-hsing | Libra | | K'un-tun | Tzu | 1 | Ta-hou | Scorpio | | Ch'ih-fen-jo | Ch'ou | 2 | Hsi-mo | Sagittarius |
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