The celestial globe was an instrument for demonstrating astronomic phenomena in ancient China. The ancient Chinese people learned to make this instrument a long time ago, and used it to pinpoint the position of the sun, the moon, and the stars with respect to each other and to know their movement. The celestial globe is seen as the ancestor of the modern celestial globe.

The one placed in the ancient Beijing Observatory, with a weight of 3,850 kilograms, is the oldest celestial globe extant in China and was made during the reign (1661-1722) of Emperor Kangxi during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The main component of the celestial globe is a hollow bronze globe, with crisscross grids on the spherical surface, which are used to delineate the exact position of celestial bodies. A number of stars are marked on the sphere, representing their position with respect to each other in the sky.

The sphere is mounted by its poles (corresponding to the celestial poles) on a metal axis, and can rotate around it. It takes a night to finish a circuit. The globe is placed in a standing hoop, which is beset into a horizontally placed hoop, supported by four pillars decorated with dragonhead patterns.

With the celestial globe, people can figure out the star atlas even during daytime or on a cloudy night.

Author: Jessie