<p>In ancient China, makers of calendars tried to relate rotation of stars or star constellations with mythological deities. In fact, <strong>Chinese calendar doesn't carry the concept of <code>week</code>.</strong></p>

<p>European names for "week days" are represented by Greek/Roman mythological deities. European creating the "week" concept from there.  </p>

<p>Chinese scholar use 星期 to represent <code>week</code> when China adapt the universal international calendar, which means the day/period of the constellation/star deity complete their "duty roster". Only Sunday 星期日/天 follow the Roman/Greek, which may be due to influence of European missionary. </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>1905年，清朝学部的袁嘉谷筹建编译图书局，后任该局首任局长，编写官定各种教材，设立了一个新机构统一规范教科书中的术语，把七日一周制定为中国自己的“星期”。 </p>
  
  <p>In 1905, Qing Dynasty education officer Yuan-Jia-Gu establish translation and library division for the education department to standardised technical jargon. This is when Chinese use <code>星期</code> to represent the week. </p>
</blockquote>

<p>On the other hand, Japanese is using the Roman/Greek deity to represent days, as in Europe. Japan is using 曜 that carry similar meaning as constellation/star.</p>

<p>Note : <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Adam_Schall_von_Bell" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Johann Adam Schall von Bell(May 1, 1592 – August 15, 1666)</a> is helping Qing dynasty perfecting the Chinese calendar.  Chinese has stronger cultural interaction with Europe than many can imagine.</p>

<hr>

<p>(update) for those curious about Japan week days</p>

<ul>
<li>星期一：月曜日 Monday, Máni, avatar of moon</li>
<li>星期二：火曜日 Tuesday , The god Tiw, identified with Mars</li>
<li>星期三：水曜日 Wednesday, Germanic god Woden, avatar of Mercury</li>
<li>星期四：木曜日 Thursday, Thor's (Jupiter's) day</li>
<li>星期五：金曜日 Friday, goddess Frigg, Roman goddess Venus</li>
<li>星期六：土曜日 Saturday, Roman god Saturn</li>
<li>星期日：日曜日 Sunday,   Sól, avatar of Sun </li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-21T17:00:57.013Z
The 七曜 system is attested back from the [4th century AD in China](http://www.cjvlang.com/Dow/dowjpn.html). Also, in addition to Japanese, the Korean language also preserves the 七曜 system.
Michaelyus
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-22T16:12:25.013Z
@Michaelyus  Korea once upon a time colonised by Japan.
mootmoot
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-21T10:22:56.520Z
2017-02-22T12:01:35.773Z
2017-02-22T12:01:35.773Z
mootmoot
<p>How come that the character 星 (star) is used in the word for week 星期?</p>

<p>期 means a period of time, but why is week "star"?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-21T10:58:05.390Z
Possible duplicate of [Why did China opt for 星期 over 曜日?](http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/15977/why-did-china-opt-for-%e6%98%9f%e6%9c%9f-over-%e6%9b%9c%e6%97%a5)
Tang Ho
<characters><etymology>
How come 星 (star) is used in 星期 (week)?
# How come 星 (star) is used in 星期 (week)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-02-21)

How come that the character 星 (star) is used in the word for week 星期?

期 means a period of time, but why is week "star"?

**Tags:** characters, etymology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Possible duplicate of [Why did China opt for 星期 over 曜日?](http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/15977/why-did-china-opt-for-%e6%98%9f%e6%9c%9f-over-%e6%9b%9c%e6%97%a5)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-02-21. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

In ancient China, makers of calendars tried to relate rotation of stars or star constellations with mythological deities. In fact, **Chinese calendar doesn't carry the concept of `week`.**

European names for "week days" are represented by Greek/Roman mythological deities. European creating the "week" concept from there.

Chinese scholar use 星期 to represent `week` when China adapt the universal international calendar, which means the day/period of the constellation/star deity complete their "duty roster". Only Sunday 星期日/天 follow the Roman/Greek, which may be due to influence of European missionary.

> 1905年，清朝学部的袁嘉谷筹建编译图书局，后任该局首任局长，编写官定各种教材，设立了一个新机构统一规范教科书中的术语，把七日一周制定为中国自己的“星期”。
>
> In 1905, Qing Dynasty education officer Yuan-Jia-Gu establish translation and library division for the education department to standardised technical jargon. This is when Chinese use `星期` to represent the week.

On the other hand, Japanese is using the Roman/Greek deity to represent days, as in Europe. Japan is using 曜 that carry similar meaning as constellation/star.

Note : [Johann Adam Schall von Bell(May 1, 1592 – August 15, 1666)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Adam_Schall_von_Bell) is helping Qing dynasty perfecting the Chinese calendar. Chinese has stronger cultural interaction with Europe than many can imagine.

---

(update) for those curious about Japan week days

* 星期一：月曜日 Monday, Máni, avatar of moon
* 星期二：火曜日 Tuesday , The god Tiw, identified with Mars
* 星期三：水曜日 Wednesday, Germanic god Woden, avatar of Mercury
* 星期四：木曜日 Thursday, Thor's (Jupiter's) day
* 星期五：金曜日 Friday, goddess Frigg, Roman goddess Venus
* 星期六：土曜日 Saturday, Roman god Saturn
* 星期日：日曜日 Sunday, Sól, avatar of Sun

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: The 七曜 system is attested back from the [4th century AD in China](http://www.cjvlang.com/Dow/dowjpn.html). Also, in addition to Japanese, the Korean language also preserves the 七曜 system.  
> **username_2**: @username_3  Korea once upon a time colonised by Japan.  

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