Stone Carving of the Mongolian Astronomical Chart

Stone Carving of the Mongolian Astronomical Chart

The Stone Carving of the Mongolian Astronomical Chart is a cultural tourism attraction.

Located on the screen wall behind the Vajra Throne Relic Pagoda. It is a shallow relief and line engraving carved in white marble. The circular chart has a diameter of 144.5 cm, with the celestial sphere centered on the North Celestial Pole. It depicts the meridians of the twenty-eight lunar mansions along the celestial equator, as well as five concentric circles. From the inside out, these are the North Celestial Pole Circle, the Summer Solstice Circle, the Celestial Equator Circle, the Winter Solstice Circle, and the South Celestial Pole Circle. Another double ring intersecting the celestial equator represents the ecliptic. The entire chart includes approximately 270 constellations and over 1,570 stars. Outside the celestial sphere are four layers of concentric circles with inscriptions; the outermost layer lists the names of the twelve zodiac signs and the twelve Earthly Branches; the second layer lists the names of the twenty-four solar terms; the third layer shows the degrees of the ecliptic on the outer side and the degrees of the celestial equator on the inner side; the innermost layer lists the names of the twenty-eight lunar mansions. On the lower left side of the chart, there is a rectangular signature panel that includes a star magnitude legend and the inscription “Astronomical Chart Drawn by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.” This is the only surviving stone carving of an astronomical chart annotated in Mongolian in China, reflecting the level of astronomy in the early Qing Dynasty.