Chamaeleon in Chinese astronomy
# Chamaeleon in Chinese astronomy

The modern constellation Chamaeleon 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 as one of the 23 Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, Jìnnánjíxīngōu) under the name Little Dipper (小斗, Xiǎodǒu).

The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is 蝘蜓座 (yǎn tíng zuò), meaning "the flying gecko constellation".

## Stars

The map of Chinese constellation in constellation Chamaeleon 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) | 小斗 | Xiǎodǒu | Little Dipper |
| - | 近南極星區 (non-mansions) | Jìnnánjíxīngōu (non-mansions) | The Southern Asterisms (non-mansions) | 小斗 | Xiǎodǒu | Little Dipper | β Cha | 小斗一 | Xiǎodǒuyī | 1st star |
| - | 近南極星區 (non-mansions) | Jìnnánjíxīngōu (non-mansions) | The Southern Asterisms (non-mansions) | 小斗 | Xiǎodǒu | Little Dipper | ε Cha | 小斗二 | Xiǎodǒuèr | 2nd star |
| - | 近南極星區 (non-mansions) | Jìnnánjíxīngōu (non-mansions) | The Southern Asterisms (non-mansions) | 小斗 | Xiǎodǒu | Little Dipper | γ Cha | 小斗三 | Xiǎodǒusān | 3rd star |
| - | 近南極星區 (non-mansions) | Jìnnánjíxīngōu (non-mansions) | The Southern Asterisms (non-mansions) | 小斗 | Xiǎodǒu | Little Dipper | $δ^2$ Cha | 小斗四 | Xiǎodǒusì | 4th star |
| - | 近南極星區 (non-mansions) | Jìnnánjíxīngōu (non-mansions) | The Southern Asterisms (non-mansions) | 小斗 | Xiǎodǒu | Little Dipper | ζ Cha | 小斗五 | Xiǎodǒuwu | 5th star |
| - | 近南極星區 (non-mansions) | Jìnnánjíxīngōu (non-mansions) | The Southern Asterisms (non-mansions) | 小斗 | Xiǎodǒu | Little Dipper | ι Cha | 小斗六 | Xiǎodǒuliù | 6th star |
| - | 近南極星區 (non-mansions) | Jìnnánjíxīngōu (non-mansions) | The Southern Asterisms (non-mansions) | 小斗 | Xiǎodǒu | Little Dipper | η Cha | 小斗七 | Xiǎodǒuqī | 7th star |
| - | 近南極星區 (non-mansions) | Jìnnánjíxīngōu (non-mansions) | The Southern Asterisms (non-mansions) | 小斗 | Xiǎodǒu | Little Dipper | θ Cha | 小斗八 | Xiǎodǒubā | 8th star |
| - | 近南極星區 (non-mansions) | Jìnnánjíxīngōu (non-mansions) | The Southern Asterisms (non-mansions) | 小斗 | Xiǎodǒu | Little Dipper | α Cha | 小斗九 | Xiǎodǒujiǔ | 9th star |
