Guqi (鼓旗)

Authors: Boshun YANG

Gǔ Qí (Drum Flag, 鼓旗) is a Chinese asterism consisting of nine stars located in the modern constellation Aquila. It originated no later than about 100 BCE and lies to the right of Hé Gǔ (Drum at the River, 河鼓).

Concordance, Etymology, History

Drums and Flags were instruments used by ancient armies to transmit signals and direct combat. The Sunzi bingfa (Art of War, 孫子兵法) states:

“The Military Regulations says: ‘If speech cannot be heard, use (metal) gongs and drums; if sight cannot reach, use banners and flags.’ Gongs and drums, banners and flags, are the means by which people’s eyes and ears are unified. When the troops are unified, the brave cannot advance alone and the timid cannot retreat alone—this is the method of employing the masses. Therefore, night battles rely on gongs and drums, and day battles on banners and flags, thereby transforming the soldiers’ senses.”

Fig 1. Shang-dynasty bronze drum with divine-figure motif, in the collection of the Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum, Japan

Fig 2. Mural from Tomb No. 1 at Beiyuan, Liaoyang, Liaoning Province (3rd century)

Fig 3. Line drawing of the Mural from Tomb No. 1 at Beiyuan, Liaoyang, Liaoning Province (3rd century), exhibited in the Liaoyang Museum. The flags are above Tower Pavilion.

In the name He-Gu, Gu refers to the great war drum, while He denotes the Heavenly River (the Milky Way), indicating its position besides the Milky Way. The drum was not merely a musical instrument but a military command device and a means of encouraging morale: drums signaled attack, whereas metal gongs signaled withdrawal or defensive formation. Archaeological proof indicates that drums had already existed at least by the Shang Dynasty (Fig. 1).

In Sima Qian(145 or 135 BCE - ?)’s Tianguan shu (Book of Heaven Officials, 天官書), only Hegu is mentioned and not the Flag, suggesting that the latter was added later. The name Gu-Qi implies a close association with Hegu, and the Shi school treated the two as a related group of asterisms. However, Guqi was renamed Youqi (Right Flag, 右旗) in later times to maintain symmetry since the Gan school introduced the asterism Zuoqi (Left Flag, 左旗).

Ancient banners differed significantly from modern ones and were divided into multiple categories. In the pre-Qin period, nine types were distinguished. The Zhōu lǐ (Rites of Zhou, 周禮) describes a system of nine banners (jiǔ qí):

(1) Cháng常 (bearing the sun and moon),

(2) Qí旂 (with intertwined dragons),

(3) Zhān旜 (plain silk banner),

(4) Wù物 (variegated silk),

(5) Qí旗 (with bears and tigers),

(6) Yú旟 (with birds),

(7) Zhào旐 (with tortoise and serpent),

(8) Suì 旞 (with full feathers),

(9) Jīng (with split feathers)  

The Han dynasty(202 BCE - 220 CE) system may have differed somewhat. Structurally, the “Qí旗” consisted of a pole (gān竿), the main cloth panel (shān縿), a long streamer (yóu斿) attached at the top , and a serrated fringe along the side edge. A mural in the Beiyuan Han tomb at Liaoyang, Liaoning, depicts such flags mounted atop a tower pavilion (Fig 2 and Fig 3).

Identification of stars

In contrast to the bright and stable asterism Hegu, whose identification never changed, Guqi (Drum Flag)or Youqi (Right Flag) underwent several revisions. Nevertheless, it consistently included δ Aquilae as its most bright star and sometimes the determinative star.

Star Names or Orders(Qing)	Ho PENG YOKE	Yi Shitong Based on catalogue in 18th century	Pan Nai based on Xinyixiangfayao Star Map	Pan Nai based on catalogues in Yuan dynasty	SUN X. & J. Kistemaker Han Dynasty	Boshun Yang before Tang Dynasty	Boshun Yang Tang Dynasty(8th century)
1st	sigma Aql	mu Aql	sigma Aql	sigma Aql	sigma Aql	mu Aql	mu Aql
2nd	mu Aql	sigma Aql	upsilon Aql	del Aql	mu Aql	sigma Aql	sigma Aql
3rd	del Aql	del Aql	mu Aql	mu Aql	22 Aql	del Aql	del Aql
4th	nu Aql	nu Aql	22 Aql	22 Aql	del Aql	nu Aql	23 Aql
5th	HIP 95886	iota Aql	del Aql	21 Aql	21 Aql	iota Aql	nu Aql
6th	iota Aql	HIP 96392	iota Aql	nu Aql	23 Aql	eta Aql	iota Aql
7th	42 Aql	42 Aql	36 Aql	iota Aql	nu Aql	theta Aql	36 Aql
8th	kappa Aql	kappa Aql	26 Aql	36 Aql	iota Aql	69 Aql	42 Aql
9th	57 Aql	56 Aql	kappa Aql	42 Aql	36 Aql	Hip 101345	kappa Aql

Maps (Gallery)

historical map	modern identification	same in Stellarium
Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi in Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido	Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi before Tang Dynasty reconstructed by Boshun Yang（2023）	Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi before Tang Dynasty in Stellarium
Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi in Gezi yuejin tu		Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi in Tang Dynasty(8th Century) in Stellarium reconstructed by Boshun Yang
Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi in Xin yixiang fayao Star Map	Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi in Song Dynasty reconstructed by Pan Nai（2009）	Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi in Song Dynasty in Stellarium reconstructed by Pan Nai
Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi in Suzhou Star Map	Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi in Song Dynasty reconstructed by Boshun Yang	Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi in Song Dynasty in Stellarium reconstructed by Boshun Yang
Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi in Yixiang kaocheng Star Map (18th century)	Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi in 18th century reconstructed by YI Shitong（1981）	Hegu, Guqi(Youqi) and Zuoqi in 18th century in Stellarium

Star Name Discussion (IAU)

In 202x, the name of the historical constellation "xxx" was suggested to be used for one of the stars in this constellation. ...

Decision: ...

References

References (Chinese)