Tongling (桐陵)
Tongling
Authors: Boshun YANG, Susanne M Hoffmann
Tóng Líng (Phoenix Tree Mound, 桐陵) is the sixth star on the right wall of the Zǐ Gōng (Purple Palace, 紫宮) or Zǐwēi Yuán (Purple Enclosure), counting northward from the southern gate. It lies within the modern constellation Camelopardalis.
Etymology and History of the Name
The name Tongling was current from the Han through the Tang dynasty but was later replaced by Shào Wèi (Junior Guard, 少衛) in the revised nomenclature of the Zigong. As a result, the original designation fell gradually into obscurity.
The term tong refers to the wutong tree (Firmiana simplex), which in Chinese mythology is the perch of the phoenix; líng denotes a “high mound” or “tumulus.” Thus, Tóng Líng may be interpreted as “Phoenix Tree Mound,” evoking a place of elevation and sanctity within the imperial celestial precinct.
Phoenix Tree (Botany)
"Phoenix" is the name of a genus of palm trees with 14 species.[1] It is native to the Eurasian and African subtropics from the Canary Islands to Southern China and Malaysia. This genus is mostly medium to robust in size, but also includes a few dwarf species.
A large number of fossil woods with anatomical features resembling the genus Phoenix have been excavated from Deccan Intertrappean formation in India of Maastrichtian–Danian age (65–67 my). Discovery of biocompounds from the fossil woods have affinity with the biocompounds known from modern Phoenix species.[2] A Phoenix seed from the latest Paleocene has been excavated from the Petit Pâtis quarry in Rivecourt, France.[3]
Constellation & Star Name
The Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido (Tianxiang Lieci Fenye zhi tu, Diagram of the Astrological Field Allocations) preserves the most ancient configuration of Chinese asterisms, allowing Tongling to be securely identified with HIP 33694.[4] The name is also explicitly labeled in another Tang-period star map, the Gezi Yuejin tu (Gridded Monthly Progress Diagram), confirming its position and continued recognition during that era.
See Zigong (紫宮) for more identification.
| Star Name | Ho PENG YOKE[5] | Yi Shitong[6]
Based on catalogue in 18th century |
Pan Nai[7]
based on Huangyou Star Catalogue |
Pan Nai[8]
based on catalogues in Yuan dynasty |
SUN X. & J. Kistemaker[9]
Han Dynasty |
Boshun Yang[10]
before Tang dynasty |
Boshun Yang[10]
Song Jingyou(1034) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tongling (桐陵, 6th on the Right Wall ) | HIP 33694 | ||||||
| Shaowei (少衛, 6th on the Right Wall ) | α Cam | α Cam | BN Cam | γ Cam | BK Cam | HIP33694 |
Images
- Tongling
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Tongling in Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido -
Tongling in Geziyuejintu
IAU Working Group on Star Names
The name has been proposed in November 2025 for the star at Vmag = 4.5, in 2026 ...
References
- ↑ Phoenix (plant) in the en. Wikipedia
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- ↑ Lua error: bad argument #1 to "get" (not a valid title). Lua error: bad argument #1 to "get" (not a valid title).
- ↑ [1] Bo-Shun Yang and Susanne M. Hoffmann 2024 Res. Astron. Astrophys. 24 125004
- ↑ P.-Y. Ho, “Ancient And Mediaeval Observations of Comets and Novae in Chinese Sources,” Vistas in Astronomy, 5 (1962), 127-225.
- ↑ Yi Shitong [伊世同]. Zhongxi Duizhao Hengxing Tubiao [中西对照恒星图表1950]. Beijing: Science Press. 1981: p. 56.
- ↑ Pan Nai [潘鼐]. Zhongguo Hengxing Guance shi [中国恒星观测史]. Shanghai: Xuelin Pree. 1989. p. 226.
- ↑ Pan Nai [潘鼐]. Zhongguo Hengxing Guance shi [中国恒星观测史]. Shanghai: Xuelin Pree. 2009. p. 443.
- ↑ Sun Xiaochun & Kistemaker J. The Chinese sky during the Han. Leiden: Brill. 1997, pp. 241-6.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 B.-S. Yang [杨伯顺], Zhongguo Chuantong Hengxing Guance Jingdu ji Xingguan Yanbian Yanjiu [中国传统恒星观测精度及星官演变研究] (A Research on the Accuracy of Chinese Traditional Star Observation and the Evolution of Constellations), PhD thesis, (Hefei: University of Science and Technology of China, 2023). p.238.
