"The spring rain shocks the spring valley days, and the summer is full of mango and summer and summer are connected. In autumn, white and autumn frost falls, winter snow and snow are small and cold in winter. "This catchy song of "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" is believed to be memorized by many people. At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the countdown was made using the 24 solar terms, which fully demonstrated the charm of traditional Chinese culture and amazed the world.
The twenty-four solar terms are the wisdom crystallization of the ancients' observation of meteorology and phenology in the long agricultural activities, and are the unique scales of the Chinese to mark the years. Nowadays, we have a more accurate and scientific method in arranging farming. After thousands of years of precipitation, the twenty-four solar terms that have been endowed with rich cultural connotations have become a symbol that highlights our attitude towards life and aesthetic pursuits, and is also an important carrier for us to spread Chinese culture and tell Chinese stories well.
The Story of China in the Twenty-Four Solar Terms
Farming life is closely related to the rhythms of nature. Chinese civilization originated in the Yellow River Basin, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River have four distinct seasons, with the rotation of the seasons, meteorological, phenological cycles reciprocate, the ancients through continuous observation, recording of these characteristics, gradually used to identify agricultural production, auspicious and avoid danger. It is mainly based on the meteorological and phenological, astronomical and other natural phenomena in this area that the ancients explored and summarized the twenty-four solar terms that have been handed down to this day.
The origin and perfection of the twenty-four solar terms has undergone a long process of evolution, not a division at once. According to expert research, the earliest record of the twenty-four solar terms is found in the Shang Shu Yao Dian (尚書·尧典). "The star bird in the day, with Yin Zhongchun"; "The eternal star fire of the day, with the positive midsummer"; "The star in the night, with Yin Zhongqiu"; "The day is short and the star is Pleiades, to be in midwinter." Among them, "day in the middle", "day in the day", "in the middle of the night" and "short day" are equivalent to the spring equinox, summer solstice, autumn equinox and winter solstice in the twenty-four solar terms. This shows that at least in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the ancients used spring, summer, autumn and winter to represent the cold and warm of the four seasons.
▲ Qing Chen Mei's "Cultivation and Weaving Map" Collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei
Which of the twenty-four solar terms were initially determined? It is generally considered to be the winter solstice and the summer solstice. Confirming these two solar terms stems from the ancients' initial observations of celestial phenomena. Historians speculate that at least in the Shang Dynasty, the ancients of the mainland knew how to distinguish between the winter solstice and the summer solstice, specifically by observing the shadow of the sun. First of all, the people used the upright tugui to observe the shadow of the sun, that is, a bamboo pole stood upright on the ground, the summer solstice day the sun's shadow is the shortest, and then gradually grow, the winter solstice this day the shadow of the bamboo pole is the longest. The two extremes of the sun shadow projected by Togui are the longest and the shortest in a year, so it is called "to". After years of measurement, the ancients found that two days of the year are as long as the shadow of the sun, which is the spring equinox and the autumn equinox. The "points, solstices, openings, and closings" in pre-Qin literature such as Zuo Zhuan and Chinese correspond to the spring equinox, autumn equinox, winter solstice and summer solstice.
▲The meter of the shadow measurement.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the mainland began to form an institutionalized astronomical observation and recording system, and there was an official in charge of the calendar, the "Si Calendar". The proposal of the summer and winter solstices is equivalent to dividing the year in two equal parts. With the accumulation of experience in astronomical calendar and phenological observation, summarizing the correspondence between climate change and phenology, the ancients further made the year eight grades, that is, the emergence of four stanzas (Li Chun, Li Xia, Li Qiu, Li Dong) and Four Zhong (Spring Equinox, Autumn Equinox, Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice) 8 solar terms. The twenty-four solar terms were further refined and slowly formed on this basis, and were perfected in the Warring States period. In the Huainan zi, written in the Western Han Dynasty, the twenty-four solar terms system is basically fixed, and it is consistent with the order of solar terms that have been passed down to the present day. "Huainanzi" was developed on the basis of sorting out the resources of pre-Qin thought, which shows that at least in the pre-Qin, the twenty-four solar terms have become popular in the folk and have become an important knowledge for people to carry out agricultural production.
Twenty-four solar terms roughly correspond to 12 months of the year, and "qi" is the concept of the ancients' understanding of seasonal changes. In the first year of emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (104 BC), the mainland created the first relatively complete luni-solar calendar in history, the Taichu Calendar. This is the first data discovered by researchers to confirm the twenty-four solar terms in the form of a calendar. Since then, as an important reference for guiding agricultural production, it has been used.
From the eight solar terms to the development of the twenty-four solar terms, the observation of phenology has played a key role, in fact, in addition to the four li, four zhong, the other solar terms are named from the corresponding phenology or meteorology, the twenty-four solar terms are therefore called "phenological calendar". This is also very easy to understand, in the traditional agricultural society, grass and trees withered, birds and animals migrating, wind and frost rain and dew is the most intuitive feeling, but also the four seasons, agricultural production is the most direct representation, the ancients are naturally particularly sensitive to these changes. There are many psalms in the Book of Poetry that record the labor scenes of the ancients, including rich phenological content. For example, in "Feng Feng July", "Spring carries the sun, there is Mingcang Geng", "April Hideya, May Mingxiao" and so on. The warm sun of spring sings, the may know the beginning of the roar, the ancient observation of the season is simple and fresh. Many solar terms are named after these frequently observed phenological experiences.
There are also deficiencies in the phenological division of seasons. First, in different years, the appearance of phenology is sooner or later, and there are differences in different regions, and second, observation sometimes has errors. For example, in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, after the Spring Festival, it was stinging, and then there was rain, and later people found that the weather after the Spring Festival was still cold for a while, and the stings had not yet come out. At this time, the rain gradually increased, so the "rain" was put in front of the "sting".
After the advent of the solar calendar, the practice of phenological solar terms was replaced by the method of determining solar terms by the position of the sun, which was more universal and more accurate. Now the twenty-four solar terms, the date of each solar term in the solar calendar is basically fixed, and the time between adjacent solar terms is also the same, which is a typical solar calendar. Now the lunar calendar books that people see in the countryside clearly mark the arrival of each festival, which has become a unique scale for Chinese to mark the years.
Symbols with rich cultural connotations
As a kind of agricultural time arrangement, the twenty-four solar terms played an important role in ancient agricultural production. Ancient agricultural production on the mainland has long been at the forefront of the world, and it is closely related to the ancients who knew how to follow the natural rhythms and conform to the heavens. In the practice of agricultural production, the working people have also summed up some vivid and lively proverbs that are easy to sing. For example, "six or nine heads are beaten in the spring, and cattle are ploughed everywhere", "Qingming is busy planting wheat, the valley rains planting fields", "the summer is not hot, the grain cannot be afforded", etc., these proverbs that condense the wisdom of labor and become vivid guides for agricultural activities.
▲ Southern Song Dynasty Ma Hezhi's "Feng Feng • July" part. "The Wind of July" describes the farming and weaving work of the farmers during the year in the order of the season.
Thousands of years have passed, and with the help of natural science, we have a more elaborate arrangement and guidance of farming methods. Although there is no need to refer to the twenty-four solar terms to arrange agricultural affairs, it still has vitality. On the one hand, as long as the peasants are still cultivating the land, the circulation of the twenty-four solar terms of the agricultural proverb will not stop, and it still has its irreplaceable value. On the other hand, the twenty-four solar terms echo the ancient Chinese people to follow the harmony and unity of man and nature, in the gradual evolution, this solar term system, after the integration of traditional Chinese yin and yang five elements and other ideas, deeply penetrated into cultural traditions, folk customs, and health care, sacrifice, poetry creation associated, so that there is a rich cultural symbolism, has an enduring connotation.
"Spring wind and rain are rare for patients", "white dew does not show up", "three nine supplements and one winter and no pain in the coming year", etc., these are blended with the twenty-four solar terms, and the proverbs about health care are still widely spread in the folk. "Sneak into the night with the wind, moisturizing things silent" "Spring breeze is like a distinguished guest, once it arrives" "The rain during the Qingming Festival", at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, a countdown designed with the core element of "poetry and song + traditional calendar" will pass on the "Chinese romance" to the world, showing the culture and blood flowing in the genes of the Chinese, which has been praised by the whole world, which is the charm of the twenty-four solar terms in the contemporary era.
From a global perspective, arranging agricultural time according to natural rhythms is a common phenomenon of all farming peoples, and the phenomenon of solar terms is not unique to China. But only the twenty-four solar terms in China contain rich cultural connotations, and only the twenty-four solar terms are so closely related to the life of the Chinese. It is embodied in the concept of life and manifested in the pursuit of aesthetics; it is 'daily use without knowing', which is closely related to everyone; it is the "cultural nostalgia" of modern people, and it is the "hometown symbol" of settling the spirit. This traditional legacy needs to be passed on and is worth spreading.
In November 2016, China's "24 Solar Terms" were officially inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. To make the twenty-four solar terms come alive, it is also necessary to innovate interpretation and expression, open people's cultural imagination, and enhance people's cultural self-confidence and self-awareness. Many people are working on this aspect, for example, the twenty-four solar terms elements are being programmed in modern dance, embedded in modern music...
The "Li Chun" festival that has just passed, according to traditional customs, means a new beginning of a year's work, and it also gives birth to new expectations. When I was a child living in the southern countryside, I only remember that Lichun was always around the Spring Festival, and the adults in the village said, Lichun, the weather will be warm immediately! However, in the impression, it seems that the days before and after the spring are the coldest. But the memory of Lichun is the warmest, when children are eagerly looking forward to the New Year, or in the Spring Festival, walking through the streets and alleys, immersed in the joy of eating delicious food and wearing new clothes. As for the adults, at this time, they still don't need to work in the field, talking about the harvest of the year and planning the next year's plans with their families around the stove, everyone is very enthusiastic, and the village is very lively. In memory, there were a lot of rainy days at that time, if you catch a few sunny days, it would be good, the clothes were hung outside to absorb the sun, the quilt was dried on the bamboo pole, and it would be warm and dry for a while, and we children liked to drill into the quilt that was drying, playing the "hide-and-seek" game that actually knew each other. Also, the sun was shining, the bacon was fragrant, and we had been hungry for a long time.
Text/Yu Sinan
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Editor-in-charge: Feng Hua, Kou Jiangze