The ancient twelve hours were formed during the Shang Zhou Dynasty, and were basically fixed after the Western Han Dynasty implemented the "Taichu Calendar" (Jia Calendar) in 104 BC. If the twenty-four solar terms mark the light and clouds of the year, then the twelve o'clock paints the day's personnel and living. They are all the beats of time and space on the wilderness of agricultural civilization, and they are all the great creations of the ancestors.
The Twelve Hours is an ancient picture of life and living, and each time period is a scene. "Midnight" is the starting point of the twelve o'clock. From eleven o'clock in the night to one o'clock in the morning, it is called the hour of the son in the earth branch. At this time, "all the bells are silent, but the sound of bells" and "Hanshan Temple outside Gusu City, the midnight bells to the passenger ship."
"Chicken chirping" is the second hour. From one o'clock to three o'clock in the middle of the night, it is called ugly time in the earth branch. At this time, the dawn is just beginning, and the dawn is coming. "Chickens are singing, and they are both yingy" "Chicken sound Mao Shop Moon, Human Footprint Banqiao Frost", when people go to bed early and get up earlier.
"Pingdan" is the third hour. From three o'clock to five o'clock at dawn, it is called yin time in the earth branch. The term "Pingdan Qi" in Mencius May be the earliest use case for "Pingdan".
"Sunrise" is the fourth hour. From five o'clock to seven o'clock in the morning, it is called the time of death in the earth branch. The ancient "Kik Song" said: "The sun rises and works, and the sun enters and breathes." Sink wells and drink, plough fields and eat. Dili to me! "The day starts, and the sun is new every day.
"Eclipse time" is the fifth hour. From seven o'clock to nine o'clock, it is called the hour of tatsuki in the earth branch. It is the time of breakfast that the ancients "went to eat".
"Yuzhong" is the sixth hour. From 9:00 to 11:00 noon, it is called the time of the day in the earth branch. The Huainanzi Astronomical Training says: "As for Sangye, it is yan food; as for Hengyang, it is yuzhong; as for Kunwu, it is said to be in the middle." ”
"Middle of the day" is the seventh hour. From 11:00 a.m. to 13:00 p.m., it is called noon in the earth branch. It is commonly found in the literature, such as the "Chronicle of the History of Sima Hoang Tho" and Zhuang Jia's covenant: "The day and day will be in the military gate."
The "sun" is the eighth hour. From thirteen o'clock to fifteen o'clock, it is not time to call it the earth branch. 昳, "Sunrise also", at this time the sun is to the west, and the sun in the west shines on the east wall.
The "dawn hour" is the ninth hour. From fifteen o'clock to seventeen o'clock, it is called Shen Shi in the earth branch. When the ancients ate the second meal. It can also be seen from the "time of eating" and "the time of eclipse" that the ancients ate, which was a simple two-meal system.
"Sunrise" is the tenth hour. From seventeen o'clock to nineteen o'clock, it is called unitary time in the earth branch. The desert is lonely and straight, the long river is full of sunset, and the day's labor is over. Where the wanderers are at dusk, the Smoke Wave River makes people sad, the farmers give up their cultivation, the sun hides the firewood, and the door will be closed.
"Dusk" is the eleventh hour. From nineteen o'clock to twenty-one o'clock, it is called the time of the earth branch. At this time, "the moon is on the willow tip, and the person is about after dusk", or sigh "The sunset is infinitely good, just near dusk." ”
"Man-determined" is the twelve hours. From twenty-one o'clock to twenty-three o'clock, the earth branch is called haishi, and the peacock flies southeast in the "Peacock Southeast Flight": "After the dusk of the dying, the lonely man is determined." "At night, people stop moving, beds rest.
When the ancients regretted it, the "Twelve Songs" that appeared in the Dunhuang Testament described the twelve hours as an inspirational ballad: Ping Dan Yin, the young man studied diligently and could not be poor. Jun did not see that Zhu Buy was not expensive, and he sang his own salary. At sunrise, life must be old in the world. The boy does not learn to read poetry, just like the fertile grass in the garden.
The twelve hours come from the accumulation of the ancestors' observations of nature and celestial personnel. If the twenty-four hours of today are ticking machines, condensation and rationality; then the twelve hours of the past are hourglasses, gentle, sensual, and horizontal and vertical with urban civilization, constituting a cultural aesthetic reflection. (The author is vice president of Shanghai Municipal Political Science Association)
Image: From the Internet, the copyright belongs to the original author
Editor: Wang Yue