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Chinese star maps (Chinese: <i>xingtu</i>) are usually directional or graphical representations of Chinese astronomical alignments. Throughout the history of China, numerous star maps have been recorded.
Chinese star maps (Chinese: s 星图, t 星圖, xīngtú) are usually directional or graphical representations of Chinese astronomical alignments. Throughout the history of China, numerous star maps have been recorded.
Astronomy in China has a very long history, with historians indicating that the Chinese were the most persistent and accurate observers of celestial phenomena anywhere in the world before the Arabs. Star names later categorized in the twenty-eight mansions have been found on oracle bones unearthed at Anyang, dating back to the middle Shang Dynasty (Chinese Bronze Age, 3rd - 2nd millennium BCE), and the mansion system's nucleus seems to have taken shape by the time of the ruler Wu Ding (1339-1281 BCE).<br/><br/> Detailed records of astronomical observations began during the Warring States period (fourth century BCE) and flourished from the Han period onward. Chinese astronomy was equatorial, centered as it was on close observation of circumpolar stars, and was based on different principles from those prevailing in traditional Western astronomy, where heliacal risings and settings of zodiac constellations formed the basic ecliptic framework.
The Liao Dynasty, also known as the Khitan Empire, was a state that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper. It was founded by the Yelü clan of the Khitan people in the same year as the Tang Dynasty collapsed (907), even though its first ruler, Yelü Abaoji (Yaruud Ambagai Khan), did not declare an era name until 916.<br/><br/> Although it was originally known as the Empire of the Khitan, the Emperor Yelü Ruan officially adopted the name 'Liao' (formally ‘Great Liao’) in 947. Another name for China in English, Cathay, is derived from the name Khitan. This is also the origin of the Russian word for China, Китай or Kitay, and that of several other East European languages.<br/><br/> The Liao Empire was destroyed by the Jurchen of the Jin Dynasty in 1125. However, remnants of its people led by Yelü Dashi established the Xi (Western) Liao Dynasty 1125-1220, also known as Kara-Khitan Khanate, which extended its influence over Central Asia into Persia and survived until the arrival of Genghis Khan's unified Mongolian army.