It's summer time. Let's stargaze together. Check out planet names in Mandarin Chinese today! It's full of interesting information as it's related to the Chinese philosophy, 五行 Wuxing Five Elements—— 金木水火土, gold, wood, water, fire, earth.
Planet is 行星 Xíngxīng, lit. a moving star!
Earth is 地球 Dìqiú, lit. global land!
地dì：land, soil, fields. 球 qiú：ball. As you know in 篮球(lánqiú) basketball，足球(zúqiú) football，羽毛球(yǔmáoqiú)badminton，乒乓球(pīngpāng qiú) table tennis. 球 qiú also means sphere and globe.
Please find the chart below.
| English | Chinese | Pinyin | Mandarin Literal meaning | Planet Color |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | 水星 | shuǐxīng | Water Star | Silver |
| Venus | 金星 | jīnxīng | Gold Star | Yellow |
| Earth | 地球 | dìqiú | Global Land | Colorful! |
| Mars | 火星 | Huǒxīng | Fire Star | Reddish |
| Jupiter | 木星 | Mùxīng | Wood Star | Orange-white |
| Saturn | 土星 | Tǔxīng | Soil Star | Pale gold |
| Uranus | 天王星 | Tiānwángxīng | King of the Heaven Star | Pale blue |
| Neptune | 海王星 | Hǎiwángxīng | King of the Sea Star | Bright blue |
| *Pluto | 冥王星 | Míngwángxīng | King of the Hell Star | Light brown |
Modern Chinese Names for Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn keep aligned with Five Basic Elements from their eye colors. Their colors are visible from the naked eyes, and to ancient astronomers
Some of them also have very classical ancient Chinese names since been discovered with a long history, for example Mars can be called 荧惑 in classical Chinese. It means to bewilder, to dazzle and confuse. Maybe it is not a good sign in ancient time. Venus 金星 is referred as 太白/启明. It means to to enlighten and to be super bright.
While Chinese Names for Uranus, Neptune and Pluto follow the English way of naming planets. Those planets were discovered later. They are based on the English names from Greek mythology. 你发现了吗？
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