Cheonsang-yeolcha-bunya-jido (woodcut version)

Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido (; ) is a fourteenth-century

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n star map, copies of which were spread nationwide in the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...

. The name is sometimes translated as the "chart of the constellations and the regions they govern." King Taejo ordered royal

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

s to carve the constellations on a flat black stone in December, 1395. The stone is about 122.5 cm in

width Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

, 211 cm in

height Height is measure of vertical distance, either vertical extent (how "tall" something or someone is) or vertical position (how "high" a point is). For example, "The height of that building is 50 m" or "The height of an airplane in-flight is ab ...

, and 12 cm in depth. The engraved stone shows the 1,467 stars visible from Korea, 264 constellations and their names, the

ecliptic The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of the Earth around the Sun. From the perspective of an observer on Earth, the Sun's movement around the celestial sphere over the course of a year traces out a path along the ecliptic agains ...

and equatorial lines, and 365 scales around. It was compiled through a combination of a

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled mos ...

star map with more recent observations. The chart shows positions of the heavenly bodies in their natural order, allocated on their respective celestial fields. Its map projection law is found to be the polar equatorial and equidistance projection : the linear distance of an object on the map from the center is lineally proportional to the north polar angular distance. The epoch of the stellar positions is estimated to be near the First Century for the stars with declination less than fifty degrees, and to be near 1395 AD for stars with declination higher than fifty degrees. This map became standard during the

Joseon dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...

, with numerous copies printed and disseminated throughout the kingdom, until it was superseded by Western planispheres in the nineteenth century. The map is the 228th

national treasure of South Korea A National Treasure () is a tangible treasure, artifact, site, or building which is recognized by the South Korean government as having exceptional artistic, cultural and historical value to the country. The title is one of the eight State-designa ...

, and is exhibited at the National Palace Museum in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

. The map is now used as a background image on the reverse of the 2007 issued 10,000 won banknotes and was featured in the opening ceremonies of the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

in PyeongChang.

Notes

* For example, by Jeon (1998), p. 51. * Jeon (1998), pp. 51–52. Cites a poem about the map written by Yangchon Kwon Geun.

References

* * Published originally in '' Mercury'' Magazine, Vol. 28 No. 3, May/June 1999 * *{{cite web, title=History of Korean astronomy, work=First period, url=http://www.stormpages.com/swadhwa/hofa/ka.html, accessdate=January 1, 2006, url-status=dead, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050901164119/http://www.stormpages.com/swadhwa/hofa/ka.html, archivedate=September 1, 2005 Star maps History of astronomy Joseon dynasty works Astronomy in Korea 14th century in Korea 14th century in science Engraving Medieval documents National Treasures of South Korea

See also

Notes

References