How can traditional culture be translated into a world language? The opening ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympics in Beijing was designed with a short film counting down to the twenty-four solar terms. Audiences around the world saw on the big screen that the picture of the "summer" festival was a boy sweating profusely practicing ice and snow projects, sweat dripping from his chin. This child who clenches his teeth is a straightforward display of the Olympic spirit, and the poem "Spring plants a grain of millet, autumn harvest ten thousand seeds" is believed to hit every Chinese, and will also hit every Olympic audience who has experienced the four seasons of the world, success or failure.
Han Kesheng, who has been committed to spreading the culture of solar terms for many years, has a deeper understanding of the twenty-four solar terms. He found that many people think that the solar terms are the wind and snow, and write articles to only talk about flowers and flowers; he also found that many people think that in the contemporary life of urbanization and industrialization, the solar terms have no meaning. This newspaper recently interviewed Han Kesheng and asked him to talk about why the solar terms are still relevant to us, how the wisdom gained from nature in Chinese is still beneficial to the world today.
Ming Tang Yin's "Spring Rain Songbird Diagram" "The mountain sky is silent and the people are silent, and the roosting birds are counting the spring rains."
Wen Wei Po: It is generally believed that the twenty-four solar terms are based on the experience of agricultural civilization. As a result, people living in different geographical regions and phenological conditions may not be able to empathize; it is even more difficult to translate them into world languages for a global audience. As a cultural scholar, how do you evaluate the narrative of the twenty-four solar terms at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics?
Han Kesheng: First of all, it is inaccurate to say that "the twenty-four solar terms are based on the experience of agricultural civilization." When UNESCO published the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, it was accurately stated: "The twenty-four solar terms – Chinese a system of temporal knowledge and its practice formed by observing the annual movement of the sun." "Many short judgments of the twenty-four solar terms do not accurately reflect the essence of the twenty-four solar terms.
Twenty-four solar terms are first and foremost knowledge of the movement of the sun, knowledge of astronomy. Gu Yanwu, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, said: "More than three generations, everyone knows astronomy. 'July Flowing Fire', the Farmer's Words Also; 'Three Stars in the Household', The Woman's Words Also; 'The Moon Leaves the Bi', the Work of the Pawns Also; 'Dragon Tail Fuchen', The Children's Ballads Also. "The ancients constantly cultivated a strong ability to observe nature in order to survive relatively smoothly in nature.
Solar terms are a system of temporal knowledge. In order to guide production and life, Chinese gradually discovered solar terms. From the earliest "two solstices" (winter solstice and summer solstice), to "two points" (spring equinox and autumn equinox), and then to "four stands" (li chun li xia li autumn li dong), the ancients divided a solar year into 24 segments, that is, twenty-four solar terms. But in fact, the Earth's orbit around the Sun is an elliptical orbit, and the Earth rotates a little faster at perihelion and slower at the aphelion point, so the solar terms are not strictly divided. After the introduction of Western astronomical knowledge in the Ming Dynasty, Xu Guangqi introduced the concept of the zodiac and retested the solar terms. In 1645, the Qing court promulgated a new twenty-four solar terms, which are still in use today.
The original meaning of "knot" is "bamboo knot", and the original meaning of "qi" is "cloud qi". These 24 stanzas, or 24 stanzas, have their own weather, climate, and temperament. Chinese believe in the unity of heaven and man. The solar terms are both heaven and will also affect people, so people's lives and even their fate will be affected by the solar terms. Solar terms are an important part of the lunar year, and once all production and life were carried out in this system. Not only farming, getting married, building houses, watching feng shui, burying ancestors, opening the foundation, visiting relatives and friends, and even fortune telling by the ancients... Behind every lunar day is inseparable from the solar terms. The lunar calendar is a combination of the yin-yang calendar, which is a combination of the "twenty-four solar terms" of the solar calendar and the "month" of the lunar calendar.
The twenty-four solar terms are often used in farming, repeatedly tested in agricultural civilization, and also carried forward and perfected in agricultural civilization. But if it is said that "the twenty-four solar terms are based on the experience of agrarian civilization", it is easy to deduce that it is not an agrarian society now, and the solar terms are outdated. Not really. Xinhua News Agency has a report, I think it is very well written: "With the acceleration of China's urbanization process and the development of modern agricultural technology, the guiding function of the 'twenty-four solar terms' for agricultural affairs has gradually weakened, but it still has multifaceted cultural significance and social functions in the contemporary Chinese living world, which clearly embodies the concept of Chinese respecting nature, conforming to the laws of nature and adapting to sustainable development, and highlighting the uniqueness of Chinese's cognition of the universe and the natural world and the richness of its practical activities. The wisdom and creativity to live in harmony with nature is also a vivid testimony to the cultural diversity of mankind. "For our Chinese, the solar term is the greatest nature.
In an amazing way, the Winter Olympics let the people of the world know that China still has the festival, an ancient and modern "time knowledge system"; it conveys the concept of Chinese, that is, nature is our friend, our partner in beauty and coexistence, not the object of conquest and transformation. Solar terms are always Chinese lingering cultural complex, so it can be said that we are always symbiotic with nature.
Wen Wei Po: As a system of knowledge, the twenty-four solar terms also spread to other countries in East Asia. In Japan, for example, it was slightly modified to connect with their traditional way of life and utensils, and to incorporate different styles from different places. Some scholars have said that modern Chinese seem to emphasize blood and marriage more, and relatively ignore geography. In this regard, it is necessary to learn from Korea and Japan, using traditional festivals to enhance "geo" feelings. Do you have a similar experience in the process of spreading the culture of the twenty-four solar terms?
Han Kesheng: East Asia and the Han cultural circle are basically in line with the characteristics of solar terms. Similar to the solar terms, such as plum rain, There is a plum rain phenomenon in China and a plum rain phenomenon in Japan. Therefore, these countries are relatively easy to accept China's climate system and even some ideas. However, their spread has their own characteristics, Japan is an island country, the awareness of "land" and "geography", there are factors of their culture, but also their practical considerations.
Chinese also attach great importance to "land" and "geography". Chinese's local concept is deeply rooted, like "falling leaves returning to the roots", including the "Spring Festival". It is only contemporary society, because of the imbalance of development in various places, the difference in survival and development opportunities, and the high degree of mobility of personnel, which partially destroys the geographical concept, especially the disappearance of a large number of traditional villages, so that many people's nostalgia "has nowhere to rest". However, there is also a side to strengthening geopolitical concepts when it flows outward. Like today, there are many excellent film and television works that tell local stories, and even tell in dialects, which is deeply rooted in people's hearts, which is the embodiment of people's still clinging to geographical identity.
China is so big that meteorological results cannot be fully synchronized. Lingnan has long been spring thunder and rumbling, and the north of Saibei is still snowy and icy. Solar terms in the north and south, will be later or earlier, but it is also widely recognized. For the first time, the Huainanzi Astronomical Training fully describes the twenty-four solar terms, and its reference point is the Qinling-Huaihe line, the geographical dividing line between the north and the south of China. Taking this as a benchmark, the "solar terms" in the south can be advanced in turn, and the "solar terms" in the north can be postponed in turn, and there can be a reference.
We can indeed make more use of the solar terms, so that modern people can feel the change of time at the same time, have a deeper understanding of their own geography, and enhance their feelings and identification with the place. Like now, read the Southern Song Dynasty literary scholar and educator Zhang Yu wrote that "the law returns to the late years and frost is less, and the grass and trees in the spring are known to the world." I feel that the business in front of me is full, and the east wind blows water and green jagged", such a typical Spring scene in the Yangtze River Basin, will there be a kind of joy that comes to the face? In fact, for more than ten years, I have also talked about solar terms in Fujian, Sichuan, Anhui, Shandong, and Gansu. "Why should the Qiang flute complain about the willows, the spring wind does not pass the Yumen Pass", the Yumen Pass is on the monsoon zone and the non-monsoon distinction line, and the Festival is taught at the Yumen Pass, which also has a unique charm.
Wen Wei Po: China also has a lot of intangible cultural heritage, included in the United Nations Intangible Cultural Heritage List, in addition to the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar, as well as the calligraphy, seal carving, paper cutting that we are more familiar with, there are many ethnic minorities or culture and art with strong regionality, such as Tibetan medicine bathing method, Mongolian Humai, Xinjiang Uygur Muqam, flowers in the Great Northwest, Fujian Nanyin and so on. How to excavate the aesthetics and values in traditional culture and art in various places, so that they can cross the ancient and modern times, and jointly build the foundation of the self-confidence of today's Chinese national culture?
Han Kesheng: The vast majority of intangible cultural heritage still has strong vitality and is still playing a role, jointly demonstrating the profound Chinese culture, Chinese spirit and Chinese wisdom. General Secretary Xi Jinping said: "It is necessary to clearly explain the historical origin, development context and basic trend of China's excellent traditional culture, clearly explain the unique creation, value concept and distinctive characteristics of Chinese culture, and enhance cultural self-confidence and value self-confidence." "The twenty-four solar terms are the unique creation of Chinese culture, with scientific values and concepts, and have their own distinctive characteristics." Among the masterpieces of China's intangible cultural heritage of humanity, the twenty-four solar terms are very special and the most influential, and are known as "The Fifth Greatest Invention in China".
In modern China after the late Qing Dynasty, the Chinese nation was poor and weak, and the Chinese nation was bullied by Western powers. But this is only one side of world civilization. These intangible cultural heritages are a testimony to the self-reliance and prosperity of the Chinese nation. Understanding the tradition of cherishing oneself, "self-love", is the first step to "self-confidence".
I was born and raised in the mountains of southwestErn Anhui. Every spring, I remember my father's recitation of "Jasper is made of a tree high, and ten thousand green silk threads are hanging down." I don't know who cut the fine leaves, and the spring breeze in February is like scissors", this is the poem that my father taught me during the stinging and spring equinox. No matter where I went, I always remembered the scene of my childhood, chasing my father and asking "scissors", how "February Spring Breeze" was "like scissors"--such beautiful and loving memories, I remember all my life. What do you love, love your family, love your hometown, love your motherland... None of them are illusory, they all have a clear direction and carrier. And cultural traditions, including poetry and song, including traditional art, are this direction and carrier.
Wen Wei Po: The core cultural elements of the Olympic Games are still modern and vibrant – like ice piers, wearing ice and snow sports helmets, the overall image resembles an astronaut. Also impressed by the anime shown by Japan at the "Tokyo 8 Minutes" and the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games, and the zinc-skinned roof displayed by France in the "Paris 8 Minutes", which are iconic cultural symbols that they have recreated in 1200 years. In your opinion, how can we tap into the cultural resources of modern times, and how should our cultural industry create symbols that can sweep the world?
Han Kesheng: Culture has a two-law reversal. It is necessary to talk about both inheritance and innovation. What is the relationship between the two? General Secretary Xi Jinping said: "Only by being good at inheritance can we be good at innovation." If you lose your own cultural symbols and carry out innovations without roots, either "temporary newness" will soon disappear, or "imitation of the new", in the final analysis, copying others. It is necessary to have both something rooted in oneself and to have innovation, which is very demanding.
In "8 Minutes in Paris", athletes walk through the roofs of various buildings, leading the audience deep into the city and getting to know Paris. 85% of the roof of Paris is made of zinc sheet, which is viewed from the air, and with the change of light and shadow, it shows a very layered silver gray, which makes the roof one of the symbols of the city of Paris and also gives the name of the most beautiful city skyline in Paris. Zinc leather roof modern? I don't think it's modern, it's almost two centuries; but it's not the tradition that's usually said, it's the tradition of their reinvention, the tradition of modernity. The miracle of China's rapid economic development and long-term social stability will provide strong support for the development of the cultural industry, and in a vigorous and stable social environment, it will surely give birth to cultural symbols that we did not expect today.
Cultural self-confidence does not exist in isolation, but is always combined with economic development, scientific progress and national strength. The "kung fu panda" interpreted by americans in the past few years is the successful combination of our two cultural symbols. If we are more creative, there are too many symbols that can represent Chinese elements and have influenced the world, such as the "compass" that promoted the great discovery of world geography, the "printing" and "papermaking" that promoted the dissemination and popularization of knowledge... These widely accepted things come from China, and in today's world, few foreigners know these histories. As Chinese, you don't tell the world, who tells the world?
Which solar terms start with the twenty-four solar terms
The opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics coincided with the "Li Chun" in the 24 solar terms. Interestingly, there has been debate about whether the beginning of the solar terms starts at the winter solstice or in the spring.
The so-called "immediate results", the most easily discovered solar terms, are the winter solstice when the shadow is the longest and the summer solstice when the shadow is the shortest. The earliest discovery of the solar term is the winter solstice. If sorted by importance, the winter solstice is undoubtedly one of the most important solar terms, not one of them. The winter solstice is the most important turning point, and the first "Huainanzi" to record the solar terms in its entirety is indeed based on the winter solstice.
However, solar terms are generally not used alone, and solar terms are part of the dry branch calendar. The dry branch calendar is the order of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and the "bucket handle Huiyin" is "spring zheng" (first month), which is the calendar of the Xia Dynasty. The Han Dynasty established this system, and the order of spring, summer, autumn and winter was also determined. So the matching solar terms naturally follow this order. The lunar year is the product of the combination of the dry branch year of the solar calendar and the month of the lunar calendar.
In the calendar, the year is greater than the solar terms. The solar terms obey the year. Beginning with spring, the festival has become the first of the twenty-four solar terms. Therefore, to say that Lichun is the first of the solar terms is not only a habit, but the wholeness of the calendar system. Our solar terms song begins with Lichun, which is the embodiment of this calendar system.
Author: Li Junyi
Editor: Liu Di
Editor-in-Charge: Yang Yiqi
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.
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