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> Also I've actually fact checked, and I couldn't find the 3 generals at all in Chinese astronomy Well that one is easy. Kinda. Chinese signs have many differe
by posterboy 9y ago
> Also I've actually fact checked, and I couldn't find the 3 generals at all in Chinese astronomy
Well that one is easy. Kinda. Chinese signs have many different readings. Looking at your link (edit: following from there to [1]), the sign used there (宿) reminds me of the signs used in xingqi, chinese chess, because the repeated use of the left part of the sign caught my eye.
The sign consists of three major parts. The lower left part of the sign is 亻 which is a short form of the obvious sign for person - 人. The rest is far to complex for me to learn on the spot. Wiktionary gives many translations for 宿 among which one means night guard duty, and one means highly regarded person.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Stars_(Chinese_constellation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Stars_(Chinese_constella...
- kijin 9y agoActually, 宿 means "constellation" in this context. It appears in the name of every constellation, not just Orion's belt. Its original meaning is to stay/sleep in a common house (lots 百 of people 人 under a roof 宀), usually overnight, hence the association with night guards. Chinese constellations are houses, commonly translated as "mansions". It's the letter in the left (参) that is specific to Orion's belt, and it means "three". It's a fancier version of 三. So the whole name just means "constellation of the three". I'm the person who suggested above that generals and hunters might be related. Having found no reference to any generals, I think this whole subthread is pointless.
- posterboy 9y agoPoint in case regarding archers connected to spirituality and high socia sanding: That picture of an archer in combination with a sun from Assuria [1] was probably not showing just any old hunter, but a deified leader. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashur_(god) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashur_(god) > Having found no reference to any generals, I think this whole subthread is pointless. I wouldn't be so quick to disregard the comment mentioning "generals". It might still be one folkloric reading. > So the whole name just means "constellation of the three". This could be a reduction. > Actually, 宿 means "constellation" in this context Maybe 参宿 was the first term using this, originally with a different poetic interpretation, reinterpreted to mean constellation. Also, concerning houses, the sign is derived from a symbol that clearly looks like a house, but also like an up arrow. The stylized version simply looks like a roof. The sky is often metaphorically called a roof. Incidentally, I sill suspect a relation between sky, from (s)kew-, and ceiling, from kel-. If you compare this with the Egyptian hieroglyph for sky [1], there's a roof in there , too, with a bit of imagination. [1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pt#Egyptian https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pt#Egyptian