Sky Map

Confucius Temple, Hangzhou

This large, stone-carved star chart was engraved in 941 AD. It shows 183 stars grouped into constellations (detail). The sky map was found in the tomb of Qian Yuanguan, the second King of Wuyue (capital at Hangzhou) during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

Various temple buildings display other artifacts, not illustrated here, from Wuyue and the succeeding period (Southern Song), including stone-carved sutras and figural tablets.