The "Five stars rising in the East" armband () is an Eastern Han (25–220 AD) to Western Jin (265–316 AD) era Sichuan brocade armband embroidered with the phrase "" (Wǔ xīng chū dōngfāng lì Zhōngguó), meaning "simultaneous appearance of five stars in the eastern sky is a propitious sign for the 'Middle Kingdom'", or "Five stars rising in the East, being a propitious sign for the Middle Kingdom".Sina.com. "Sina.com." 五星出東方利中國. Retrieved on 2010-06-04.Big5.china.com.cn. "Big5.china.com.cn." 尼雅"五星出東方利中國"錦是蜀錦. Retrieved on 2010-06-01. Another cloth of the same pattern was found later and has the words "put down South Qiang" (討南羌 Tǎo Nán Qiāng). In 2002, they were designated one of the cultural relics forbidden to be exhibited abroad.Wenbao.net. "Chinese cultural heritage protection official web list." 五星出东方. Retrieved on 2010-06-01.
Discovery The pieces were unearthed in October 1995 at the Niya ruins in Xinjiang by an archaeological team made up of Chinese and Japanese scholars. It was found near the elbow/waist area of a corpse in a rich tomb.
Interpretation The phrase "Five stars rising in the East, being a propitious sign for the Middle Kingdom" () resembles a similar phrase found in the Records of the Grand Historian'''s scroll 27 (). In the ancient times the "five stars" (the classical planets) were represented as Chenxing (), Taibai (), Yinghuo (), Suixing () and Zhenxing (). In modern times these are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, respectively. These are also represented by "Five Elements" with water, metal, earth, fire, wood.
The phrase "put down South Qiang" () refers to the area that was first mentioned in a sentence in the Western Han Essentials'''s () scroll 46 in relation to the four ancient commandery. The four are located in today's Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Zhangye and Wuwei, in the northwestern province of Gansu, respectively.
When the two pieces are combined, it forms the phrase "Five stars rising in the East, being a propitious sign for the Middle Kingdom to put down South Qiang" (五星出東方利中國討南羌), though the meaning is up for debate.
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