"Five stars rise in the East" arm protector


The "Five stars rise in the East" arm protector is an Eastern Han to Western Jin era brocade armband embroidered with the words "Five stars rise in the east, benefit China". Another cloth of the same pattern was found later and has the words "put down South Qiang". In 2002, they were designated one of the cultural relics that forbidden to be exhibited abroad.

Discovery

The pieces were unearthed in October 1995 at the Niya ruins in Xinjiang. It was found near the elbow/waist area of a corpse in a rich tomb.

Interpretation

The phrase "Five stars rising in the east benefit China" resembles a similar phrase found in the Records of the Grand Historians . In the ancient times the five stars were represented as Chenxing, Taibai, Yinghuo, Suixing and Zhenxing. In modern times these are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, respectively. These are also represented by "Five Elements" with water, metal, earth, fire, wood. Researchers from the Japanese observatory said the next alignment of the five stars to the east will not be until March 21, 2022.
The phrase "put down South Qiang" refers to the area that was first mentioned in a sentence in the Western Han Essentialss in relation to the four ancient commandery. The four are located in today's Gansu Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Zhangye and Wuwei, respectively.
When the two pieces are combined, it forms the phrase "Five stars rising east benefit China put down South Qiang", though the meaning is up for debate.