The Celestial Globe
浑象
The celestial globe was an instrument for demonstrating astronomic phe-nomena 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.
天体仪，古称“浑象”，是中国古代一种用于演示天象的仪器。中国古人很早就会制造这种仪器，它可以用来直观、形象地了解日、月、星辰的相互位置和运动规律，可以说天体仪是现代天球仪的直接祖先。
The one placed in the Ancient Beijing Observatory, with a weight of 3 ,850 kilo-grams，is the oldest celestial globe extant in China and was made during the reign(1661一1722 ) of Emperor Kangxi during the Qing Dynasty.
北京古观象台上安置的天体仪，是中国现存最早的天体仪，制于清康熙年间(1661一1722)，重3850千克。
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 po-sition of celestial bodies. A number of stars are marked on the sphere，represen-ting their positions with respect to each other in the sky.
天体仪的主要组成部分是一个空心铜球，球面上刻有纵横交错的网格，用于量度天体的具体位置;球面上凸出的小圆点代表天上的亮星，它们严格地按照亮星之间的相互位置标刻。
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 circle. The globe is placed in a standing hoop，which is beset into a horizontally placed hoop，suppor-ted by four pillars decorated with dragonhead patterns.
整个铜球可以绕一根金属轴转动，转动一周代表一个昼夜。球面与金属轴相交于两点:北天极和南天极。两个极点的指尖，固定在一个正立着的大圆环上，大圆环嵌人水平大圈内，下面四根雕有龙头的立柱支撑着水平大圈，托着整个天体仪。
With the celestial globe，people can figure out the star atlas even during day-time or on a cloudy night.
利用浑象，无论是白天还是阴天的夜晚，人们都可以随时了解当时应该出现在天空的星空图案。