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所有外行星均會在星空間自西漸向東移，每隔一定時日，行星又會逆轉方向運行。中國很早發現行星的順行和逆行現象，歷史文獻不只一次提及「熒惑守心」，「熒惑」是火星，「心」則指「心宿」，即天蠍座最亮的3顆星，中國占星學以此代表皇帝或太子。「熒惑守心」意指火星在心宿附近出現逆行，或由逆行轉為順行，且停留一段日子的現象。
《呂氏春秋》記載宋景公三十七年出現「熒惑守心」，景公極擔憂，召見天文官查詢對策。天文官提出把災禍轉嫁給宰相、百姓或當年的收成，但景公秉仁心，逐一拒絕。據稱此舉感動上天，熒惑3度遷移，消除凶兆。
When Mars Dates Antares
All the outer planets move slowly eastward. Sometimes however, one of these planets will retrograde for a certain period of time. "Mars residing in the Heart Mansion" which means Mars retrogrades in the region of the Heart, is a term often found in the Chinese history. The Heart refers to Antares and its adjacent stars in Scorpius.
It was said that there was such an event in 480 B.C. and Jinggong of the Song State, sought advice from his royal astronomer. The astronomer told him that he could choose to sacrifice his prime minister, people or the yearly harvest to save himself from disaster. Jinggong refused the three proposals. The god was impressed and moved Mars away from the Heart. Jinggong and his state were saved. ■甄枝強 資深天文愛好者 ■圖片鳴謝：CKYan
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