Traditional Chinese star names (Chinese: 星名, xīng míng) are the names of stars used in ancient Chinese astronomy and astrology, whence they influenced Chinese religion, mythology, folklore, and the geomantic practice of feng shui. The names appear extensively in Chinese culture, including literature, historiography, and opera. These traditional names sometimes differ from modern names influenced by the official designations of the International Astronomical Union. For those stars whose catalog designation employ English names, Chinese astronomers use traditional Chinese names.
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History
Chinese astronomy was advanced in classical times and, being located further south, had noted five times as many stars as were described by Ptolemy. In 1875, Gustav Schlegel made a complete survey of the star names which appeared in ancient works. His Uranographie Chinoise correlated 760 star names with those used in western astronomy.
Star names and their constellations
Ancient Chinese astronomers designated names to the visible stars systematically, roughly more than a thousand years before Johann Bayer did it in a similar way. Basically, every star is assigned to an asterism. Then a number is given to the individual stars in this asterism. Therefore, a star is designated as "Asterism name" + "Number". The numbering of the stars is not based on the apparent magnitude of this star, but rather its position in the asterism and this numbering sometimes changed over the course of Chinese history.
For example, Altair is named 河鼓二 (Hégǔ Èr) in Chinese. 河鼓He Gu is the name of the asterism (lit. "Drum at the River"). 二 is the number designation ("two"). Therefore, it literally means "the second star in the Drum at the River". (Bayer might have called Altair "Beta Tympani Flumine" if he had been cataloguing Chinese constellations.)
Some stars also have traditional names, often related to mythology. For example, Altair is more commonly known in China as 牛郎星 (Niúlángxīng) or 牵牛星 (Qiānniúxīng) after Niulang, the cowherd who fell in love with the daughter of the Jade Emperor. The one night a year they can be together, the Night of Sevens, was thought to exhibit a dimming of the Milky Way, removing the barrier between Altair and Vega.
If the same name has been used multiple times for unrelated objects, a red question mark ? is appended to the name until the ambiguity can be resolved.