419. The Black Warrior (Heung Wu)
had Sadalsud in its center of 7 Chinese sieu
stations in the northern quarter of the sky,
before Legs were
aquired in order to walk on land:
|
8 |
South Dipper |
φ Sagittarii (?) |
Unicorn |
Dec 30 (364) |
|
9 |
Ox / Herd Boy |
β Capricornii (Dabih) |
Buffalo |
Jan 23 (388) |
|
10 |
Girl |
ε Aquarii (Albali) |
Bat |
Jan 29 (394) |
|
... In China, with Capricornus, Pisces,
and a part of Sagittarius, it [Aquarius]
constituted the early Serpent, or
Turtle, Tien Yuen; and later was
known as Hiuen Ying, the Dark
Warrior and Hero, or Darkly Flourishing
One, the Hiuen Wu, or Hiuen
Heaou, of the Han dynasty, which
Dupuis gave as Hiven Mao. It was
a symbol of the emperor Tchoun Hin,
in whose reign was a great deluge; but
after the Jesuits came in it became
Paou Ping, the Precious Vase. It
contained three of the sieu, and headed
the list of zodiac signs as the Rat,
which in the far East was the ideograph
for 'water', and still so remains in the
almanacs of Central Asia, Cochin China,
and Japan ... |
11 |
Emptiness |
β Aquarii (Sadalsud) |
Rat |
Feb 9 (405) |
|
|
12 |
Rooftop |
α Aquarii (Sadalmelik) |
Swallow |
Feb 18 (414) |
|
13 |
House |
α Pegasi (Markab) |
Pig |
Mar 5 (429) |
|
14 |
Wall |
γ Pegasi (Algenib) |
Porcupine |
Mar 22 (446) |
|
... During his descent the ancestor
still possessed the quality of a water
spirit, and his body, though preserving
its human appearance, owing to its being
that of a regenerated man, was equipped
with four flexible limbs like serpents
after the pattern of the arms of the
Great Nummo. The ground was rapidly
approaching. The ancestor was still
standing, his arms in front of him and
the hammer and anvil hanging across his
limbs. The shock of his final impact on
the earth when he came to the end of the
rainbow, scattered in a cloud of dust
the animals, vegetables and men disposed
on the steps. When calm was restored,
the smith was still on the roof,
standing erect facing towards the north,
his tools still in the same position.
But in the shock of landing the hammer
and the anvil had broken his arms and
legs at the level of elbows and knees,
which he did not have before. He thus
acquired the joints proper to the new
human form, which was to spread over the
earth and to devote itself to toil ... |
15 |
Legs |
η Andromedae (?) |
Wolf |
Apr 1 |
|
Sadalsud identified the Rat (=
Water) in the sky.
Clearly it is possible to here
read the G text as a documentation of the
northern quarter of the sky, where there was
much
'water'.
|