Hydrus in Chinese astronomy


The modern constellation Hydrus is not included in the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions system of traditional Chinese uranography because its stars are too far south for observers in China to know about them prior to the introduction of Western star charts. Based on the work of Xu Guangqi and the German Jesuit missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell in the late Ming Dynasty, this constellation has been classified under the 23 Southern Asterisms with the names Snake's Tail, Snake's Abdomen, Snake's Head and White Patched Nearby.
The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is 水蛇座, which means "the water snake constellation."

Stars

The map of Chinese constellation in constellation Hydrus area consists of:
Four SymbolsMansion RomanizationTranslationAsterisms RomanizationTranslationWestern star nameChinese star nameRomanizationTranslation
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms -------
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 蛇尾ShéwěiSnake's Tailβ Hyi蛇尾一Shéwěiyī1st star
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 蛇腹ShéfùSnake's Abdomen----
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 蛇腹ShéfùSnake's Abdomenζ Hyi蛇腹一Shéfùyī1st star
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 蛇腹ShéfùSnake's Abdomenε Hyi蛇腹二Shéfùèr2nd star
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 蛇腹ShéfùSnake's Abdomenδ Hyi蛇腹三Shéfùsān3rd star
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 蛇腹ShéfùSnake's Abdomenη2 Hyi蛇腹四Shéfùsì4th star
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 蛇首ShéshǒuSnake's Headα Hyi蛇尾一Shéshǒuyī1st star
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 附白FùbáiWhite Patches Nearby----
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 附白FùbáiWhite Patches Nearbyγ Hyi附白一Fùbáiyī1st star
-近南極星區 Jìnnánjíxīngōu The Southern Asterisms 附白FùbáiWhite Patches Nearbyκ Hyi附白二Fùbáièr2nd star