The Song of the Sky Pacers ( BùtiÃÂngà; ) is an early Chinese star catalogue in the form of poem in heptasyllabic verse, enumerating the names of stars.
The poem exists in several revision, the oldest probably written in 7th or 8th century Korea, during the late Goguryeo or the NorthâÂÂSouth States Period. It is attributed to either Danyuanzi (丹å ÂÃ¥ÂÂ, ë¨ìÂÂìÂÂ, Danweonja, Sui dynasty) or to Wang Ximing (çÂÂå¸ÂæÂÂ, ìÂÂì몠, Wang Heuimyeong, Tang dynasty). This early version is also known as the Ancient Song of the Sky Pacers (èÂÂæ³Âæ¥天æÂÂ, 구ë²Âë³´ì²Âê°Â, Gubeop Bocheon'ga) for disambiguation.
In late Joseon era Korea (18th century) a revised version of the poem was composed, motivated by new knowledge on Chinese asterisms imported during the Qing dynasty (which was itself based on the knowledge of the southern sky acquired from European contact in the Ming period).
But there remained disagreement between the song and the star-charts used by the Royal Observatory (è§Â象ç£, ê´ÂìÂÂê°Â, Gwansanggam). This caused confusion, especially in the national examinations for selecting new astronomers. To resolve this situation, the Royal Observatory commissioned a Song of the Sky Pacers, Adapted to New Methods (æ°æ³Âæ¥天æÂÂ, ì ë²Âë³´ì²Âê°Â, Shinbeop Bocheon'ga; also known as the New Song of the Sky Pacers) based upon star-charts and song of the Sequel of the I-Hsiang-K'ao-ch'eng (欽å®ÂÃ¥ÂÂ象èÂÂæÂÂçºÂç·¨, an astronomical work written in 1744 by German Jesuit Ignaz Kögler).
This New Song was edited by middle-class professional astronomer Yi Jun-yang (æÂÂä¿Âé¤Â, ì´ì¤ÂìÂÂ), and corrected by nobleman Nam Byeong-gil.