Myths and legends about the Big Dipper

There were 7 brothers who were robbers and used to roam the forests in the northern part of the earth to rob for a living. One day, the 7 robbers heard that there were 7 beautiful and charming girls living in the edge of the northern part of the earth, so the 7 brothers decided to rob the 7 sisters to be their wives. They prepared seven horses and hurried to the far northern border to steal their wives. When they reached the edge of the land, they stopped, hid themselves, and waited for an opportunity to strike.

It was a summer's evening, and the seven sisters were out for a walk after dinner. The bandits suddenly attacked the sisters like seven vicious black eagles. The strange thing is that the seven sisters seemed to be prepared for this, and they rushed home, except for the youngest sister, who fled slower because of her weakness, and one of the robbers caught her and put her on the saddle of a horse and galloped away. The next night, the robbers were ready to go back for more, but they failed in their plot.

Afterward, the gods punished the seven robbers severely, ordering them to stay in the sky forever to guard a bright star, the North Star. The seven punished robber brothers are the Big Dipper we see, and they have been revolving around the North Star ever since, without moving an inch.

For those with good eyesight, on a clear night, when you look up at the seven stars of the Big Dipper, you can see a small star with a faint luminosity on the second star from the handle of the Big Dipper. According to legend, it is the smallest girl who was snatched by the robbers, and it is still carried on the robbers' backs.

Ancient Arab countries, when recruiting new recruits, used to let the applicants look at the little star, and if they could see it, it meant that they had good eyesight and could be recruited into the army. When fall comes, six of the seven sisters -- the six little stars -- rise together from the north to look down on their little sister.

This cluster of little stars is the famous Pleiades. There are actually more than 200 stars in the Pleiades (viewed with an astronomical telescope), except that we can only see half a dozen of them with our naked eye.

Expanded Information

The Big Dipper, also known as the Big Dipper, is part of the constellation Ursa Major, and graphically, it is located on the back and tail of the Great Bear. Six of the seven stars are of 2nd magnitude and one is of 3rd magnitude. Their names are: Tianshu, Tianxuan, Tiangui, Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang, and Waguang. The first four stars are called "Dou Kui", also known as "Xuan Gui"; the last three stars are called "Dou Piao" and "Dou Shuo".

Figuratively speaking, the seven stars of the Big Dipper are located on the back and tail of the bear. If you extend a line through the two stars at the mouth of the Big Dipper about five times farther in the direction of the mouth of the Big Dipper, you will find the North Star. The star-recognition song reads, "Recognize the stars first from the Big Dipper, and then unfold them from north to west." The beginner can find the other constellations from the Big Dipper.

Taoism called the seven stars of the Big Dipper for the seven elements to solve the problem of the Star King, living in the Big Dipper seven palaces, namely: Tianshu Palace Greedy Wolf Star King, Tianxuan Palace Jumon Star King, Tiangui Palace Lukun Star King, Tianquan Palace Wenqu Star King, Yuhang Palace Lianzhen Star King, Kaiyang Palace Wuju Star King, shaking the light of the Palace of the broken Star King season is different, the seven stars of the Big Dipper in the sky is also not in the same position.

Therefore, the ancient people of China according to its position changes to determine the seasons: "The handle of the Big Dipper east finger, the world all spring; handle of the Big Dipper south finger, the world all summer; handle of the Big Dipper west finger, the world all fall; handle of the Big Dipper north finger, the world all winter." Among the seven stars of the Big Dipper, "Jade Balance" is the brightest, with a brightness almost approaching that of a first-class star. "Tianquan is the dimmest, a third-class star.

The other five are all second-class stars. Near "Kai Yang" is a very small companion star called "Auxiliary", which has always attracted people's attention with its beautiful and clear appearance. It is said that the ancient Arabs used it as a "test star" to test the eyesight of their soldiers when they were recruited.

The seven stars of the Big Dipper are always in slow relative motion in the sky. Five of them move in one direction at roughly the same speed, while the "Heavenly Pivot" and "Rocking Light" move in opposite directions. As a result, the shape of the Big Dipper will change considerably over the course of the universe, and in 100,000 years, we won't be able to see this shape anymore.

Baidu Encyclopedia - The Big Dipper