Apus in Chinese astronomy

The modern constellation Apus 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,^[1] this constellation has been classified as one of the 23 Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, Jìnnánjíxīngōu) under the name Exotic Bird (異雀, Yìquè).

The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is 天燕座 (tiān yàn zuò), meaning "the heaven swallow constellation".

Stars

The map of Chinese constellation in constellation Apus area consists of :

Four Symbols	Mansion (Chinese name)	Romanization	Translation	Asterisms (Chinese name)	Romanization	Translation	Western star name	Chinese star name	Romanization	Translation
-	近南極星區 (non-mansions)	Jìnnánjíxīngōu (non-mansions)	The Southern Asterisms (non-mansions)	異雀	Yìquè	Exotic Bird
							ζ Aps^[2]	異雀一	Yìquèyī	1st star
							ι Aps^[2]	異雀二	Yìquèèr	2nd star
							β Aps^[2]	異雀三	Yìquèsān	3rd star
							γ Aps^[2]	異雀四	Yìquèsì	4th star
							δ¹ Aps^[2]	異雀六	Yìquèliù	6th star
							η Aps^[2]	異雀七	Yìquèqī	7th star
							α Aps^[2]	異雀八	Yìquèbā	8th star
							ε Aps^[2]	異雀九	Yìquèjiǔ	9th star
				三角形^[3]	Sānjiǎoxíng	Triangle
							κ¹ Aps	三角形增三	Sānjiǎoxíngzēngsān	3rd additional star
							κ² Aps	三角形增四	Sānjiǎoxíngzēngsì	4th additional star

^ Sun, Xiaochun (1997). Helaine Selin (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 910. ISBN 0-7923-4066-3.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 29 日
^ this is not original Chinese name in this constellation and listing is only for additional stars