Editor's Note
Heaven and earth have great beauty without words, and every wait, every festival, and every season contains the benevolence of heaven and earth for the life of all things. The four seasons are natural and cultural. Walking in the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two days, you also walk in an incomparably rich, gorgeous and thick cultural time and space. The 24 solar terms are one of the most representative essences and classics of traditional Chinese culture, and have been praised by the international meteorological community as "China's fifth greatest invention", and in 2016, it was officially included in the UNESCO Catalogue of Masterpieces of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The book "Twenty-Four Solar Terms and Seventy-Two Waits", which was created by Xu Lijing, deputy editor-in-chief of Economic Daily, and Professor Xu Dongdong, a national first-class artist, was recently published. The book consists of more than 140 exquisite Chinese abstract paintings and nearly 80 beautiful and delicate prose pieces. The author conforms to the voice of the heart, from the perspective of life, innovatively depicts the grand and subtle wonderful system of the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two weather, explains the way of heaven and earth behind this system and the love for the life of all things, and fully expresses the new understanding and new thinking of China's excellent traditional culture. "If the values of Chinese culture represented by the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two days can be more understood by the world and more widely disseminated, the world will reduce many disputes, increase respect and reverence for life, and respect and reverence for everything in the universe as a whole, and the world will become a better place." Xu Lijing wrote in the preface.
This magazine selects the recommended preface of the book, which is a dialogue transcript invited by Xu Lijing to the famous contemporary writer and scholar Wang Meng to interpret the meaning and role of the 24 solar terms and 72 in traditional Chinese culture for the benefit of readers.
Xu Lijing: Your research and thinking on Chinese culture has reached a considerable breadth, height and depth. From the perspective of contemporary writers and scholars, how do you view the significance and role of the 24 solar terms and 72 in traditional Chinese culture?
Wang Meng: I have long been fond of the Chinese calendar. When I learned that its English translation was lunar calendar, I didn't quite agree. Because the Chinese calendar is not a calendar established purely according to the relative motion relationship between the moon and the earth. The Chinese calendar is definitely not just a lunar calendar and a lunar calendar, but an extremely attentive and clear reflection of the relative position relationship between the sun and the earth. Twenty-four solar terms are entirely solar element. The Chinese calendar is actually a lunisolar calendar - combining the lunar (moon) and solar (sun) together, and referring to the movement of the sun and the moon at the same time, is a luni-yang calendar. So, in fact, the name "Chinese calendar" is the most appropriate Chinese calendar. The Chinese nation is a multi-ethnic family, in addition to the Han nationality's summer calendar (lunar calendar), there are also ethnic minorities' own calendars, such as the Yi calendar, Dai calendar, Qiang calendar, Tibetan calendar, etc., are in use, to this day.
For thousands of years, the development, adjustment and perfection of the Chinese calendar has been a great contribution of the Chinese nation to human civilization. According to experts, the Chinese calendar not only takes into account the yang, yin, sun and moon, but also the seven yao calendar, that is, in addition to the two sun and moon, it also takes into account the position relationship between the five planets of water, fire, wood, metal and earth and the earth. I saw such an analysis on the Internet: "According to the two key indicators of the evaluation calendar, the Chinese Seven Yao Life Calendar is compared with the Gregorian Calendar, and in terms of the accuracy of the celestial signs, the life calendar is at least the same as the Gregorian calendar; in terms of calendar connotation, the Gregorian calendar can only reflect the influence of the sun on the human body, while the life calendar can reflect the influence of the sun, moon, water, gold, fire, wood, and earth on the human body. "I agree with that view.
Xu Lijing: You talked about a very important point, that is, the Perspective of the Chinese Calendar on the Observation of the Universe is not a single one. People often refer to the Chinese calendar as the "lunar calendar", and "yin" is relative to "yang" and is easily classified as the lunar calendar. Observing the changes in the phases of the moon is certainly a very important way for our ancestors to understand the cosmic world, but it is by no means limited to that. On the contrary, the twenty-four solar terms are more formed in the process of observing changes in the movement of the sun. On 30 November 2016, China's "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" were officially inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which was summarized as "Chinese time knowledge system formed by observing the annual movement of the sun". And you further mentioned that in addition to the sun and the moon, the Chinese calendar also contains observations on the relationship between the movement of the five planets of water, fire, wood, metal and earth and the earth, which reflects that the Chinese culture's understanding of the cosmic world is multi-angle, three-dimensional, and systematic.
Wang Meng: Yes, an important feature of Chinese culture's understanding of the cosmic world is to start from the system, start from the whole, and find the most essential connection of all things from the all-encompassing cosmic world. Because of this, the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two weather of the Chinese calendar are inseparable from the Chinese cultural tradition, and the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two weather are inseparable from ancient astronomy, meteorology, geography, biology, traditional Chinese medicine, yixue, divination, yin and yang five elements of gossip, philosophy, folklore, religion, morality and ethics, which have affected all aspects of Chinese social life for thousands of years, not only playing an important role in guiding people's production and life in the agricultural era, but also subtly affecting the lives of Chinese today. Become one of the most well-known and beloved parts of our cultural bloodline.
You see, the division of the four seasons and the shorthand ballad of the twenty-four solar terms are so "addictive"! As soon as I came into contact as a child, I liked it, I thought it was particularly interesting, and my back was very ripe, "Spring rain shocked the spring valley days, summer was full of summer and summer were connected, autumn dew and autumn frost fell, winter snow and snow were small and cold in winter." If we only look at the arabic numerals of the year, month and day, we will not have such a strong natural reaction and rich association with the changes of the seasons in an instant, but the twenty-four solar terms are different at first reading, and we immediately have the most intuitive and vivid feeling of the change of seasons. The twenty-four solar terms are a summary of the changes in the four seasons of the Chinese calendar, and are also a concise, innocent, cordial and full of life hymns and love songs for heaven and earth, for Shenzhou, for the Chinese nation, for the ancestors, and for the lives of the ancestors who were heavy farmers and pro-peasants. Its use of Chinese characters has reached the extreme of simplicity and ease, revealing the philosophical and social ideals of the unity of heaven and man, the taoist nature, the cultivation and labor, and the peace of the world, and its ping, rhyme, overlapping characters, confrontation, whirlwind, and care are also natural, "spring rain shocks the spring Qinggu Tian", which is a heavenly poem and a heavenly rhyme, and is a good verse popularized throughout China.
Seventy-two, richer, more cheerful, more vigorous, more "powerful". What "hong geese come, cold cicadas chirp, earthworms come out", what "Tao Shihua, Ping Shisheng, He Naideng", what "water first ice, thunder is sound, earth run and summer", what is "grasshoppers singing, deer antler solution, cicadas first singing", what "wang gua sheng, bitter vegetable show, grass death", what "anti-tongue silent, jackal is sacrificial beast, bird disease"... Plants and animals of all sizes, all kinds of natural phenomena of high heaven and thick soil, what we have never seen, what we have not heard, what we know and do not know, the summary of seventy-two phenology is so graphic, so meticulous, so unique, from time to time people are unexpected, and often make people laugh.
Of course, as a chart of zoology, botany and meteorology, the seventy-two weathers may be flawed, but as your new book says, the seventy-two weathers are astronomical views, a geographical view based on the Yellow River Basin, a time view of seasons and climate, a view of agricultural production and agricultural civilization, and a Chinese view of life, a view of nature, a world view, a cosmology view, a nostalgia that has been lost since ancient times, a praise and closeness to the land of Shenzhou, a concern, interest, curiosity, and curiosity about various life phenomena. Imaginative and virtuous values.
Xu Lijing: Thank you for your affirmation of my thinking. Compared with the popularity of the twenty-four solar terms, the public has much less awareness of the seventy-two days. After studying, observing, and understanding the Seventy-Two Heavens in the past few years, I felt that this cultural system was really wonderful and interesting, and I was deeply shocked by the meticulousness and subtlety of our ancient observation of the cosmic world. In the Seventy-Two Seasons, there are very grand summaries, such as the "Heaven and Earth Beginning" in the Mengqiu Season, the "Heaven and Earth Beginning", the Small Snow Season in the Mengdong Season, the "Weather Rises, the Earth Air Declines", but more is the capture of some very small things, such as the Lichun Second Weather "StingIng Worm First Vibration", the Early Spring Equinox "Yuan Bird Solstice", the Summer Solstice Three "Half Summer Birth", and so on. In the eyes of our ancestors, small insects, birds, flowers, and grasses are so cute and sensitive, they can represent the changes of all things in heaven and earth. This made me very impressed, on the one hand, for the ancient people to observe the meticulousness of the world, the so-called Chinese wisdom of seeing the micro-knowledge; on the other hand, more ancient people look at the world's outlook on life, life no matter how big or small, regardless of strength or weakness, strong tigers, tiny earthworms, gorgeous peach blossoms, simple bitter vegetables, are an important part of the cosmic world, can represent the four hours of heaven and earth, such a concept of life, I think is extremely precious, for today's world and the future of mankind, are of great value and significance.
Wang Meng: Yes, thanks to this book, it makes us suddenly rediscover the spiritual pearl that we have long had but seems to have been sleeping for a long time, forgotten and indifferent for thousands of years, making it radiant, heart-warming, and full of vitality. The Chinese Dream has opened up another cultural firewood, and we who are striding forward on the road of socialist modernization are connected to the Chinese calendar culture that has lasted for thousands of years.
The Chinese calendar culture reflects the leshengism of the ancient sages who loved life and loved the world. If you look at the observations, examples, and feelings of the changes in heaven and earth in the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two days, there are no more than two angles, one is to look at the small with the big, and the other is to see the big with the small. The twenty-four solar terms are based on the big view of the small, which is a big summary of the changes in the four times of heaven and earth, embodied in the determination and division of specific solar terms, and the eyes of the ancients covered the heavens, seasons, agriculture, biology, and customs, and to understand these specific things and phenomena from the perspective of the great changes in heaven and earth. In the endless "things" and "phases" of the world, the ancients carefully selected those objects that they believed were the most vivid, the most vivid, and the most representative of the grand changes, and summarized the phenology that reflected the evolution of the solar terms, which ran through the wisdom of "one leaf knows autumn", and deeply understood the essence of "one flower and one world". No matter from which angle to observe and understand the universe, the most intelligent and virtuous ancestors of the Chinese nation are full of love and gratitude for life in heaven and earth. Confucius said, "Heaven speaks in all words, and when the four hours are spoken, all things are born." Lao Tzu said that the Tao Fa is natural, and the good is like water. Zhuangzi language, heaven and earth have great beauty without words. In the cultural structure of the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two seasons, we carefully taste the replacement and naming of each festival and phenology, follow the process and different states of life in the change of the four seasons, "spring, summer, long autumn, harvest and winter", and will find that each season has irreplaceable beauty and connotation, and each season should be regarded as the best arrangement. Including the cold and summer, it also reveals the world's inspiration and enlightenment for our heroic and awe, strong and fighting spirit.
However, for each of us, the way of heaven and earth that "every season should be regarded as the best arrangement" does not necessarily become a reality. Why? The great beauty of heaven and earth, the heavens and the earth themselves are unspoken, the protection of all things at four o'clock, how can it be said at four o'clock? It's up to us to feel it all. The philosopher Feng Youlan divided the realm of life into four realms: the natural realm, the utilitarian realm, the moral realm, and the heaven and earth realm. The natural realm is unconscious, doing things according to instinct and habit. You look at the animals and plants in the seventy-two weather, they are like this, the rain is the second season "Waiting for the Wild Goose North", the Mengchun season, the weather began to become warmer, the geese began to fly north, to a warmer and warmer sting of the first "Peach Shihua", the peach blossoms bloomed... When the time comes, all sentient beings follow the natural instincts, natural desires, vivid, changing, beautiful, difficult and passing. This is called "the deceased is like a sif, not giving up day and night." Twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two seasons, is not it the day and night that passes and changes, and the cycle begins and cycles?
The enlightened person has divided into three realms: the utilitarian realm, the moral realm, and the heaven and earth realm. For all sentient beings, the moral realm is already a very high realm, and it is difficult for many people to reach. But is this the highest realm? No. The highest realm is the realm of heaven and earth. In my opinion, the realm of heaven and earth may be expressed in today's language as: affinity and understanding of the objective world of nature, understanding and perception of the unity and integrity of heaven and earth, yin and yang and five elements, heaven and earth and life, material ontology and social history. It is a high degree of integration and unity of the Heavenly Dao, the Mandate of Heaven, the Heavenly Heart, human nature, humanity, and the essence of man (this "transformation" is Marx's favorite talk), in the words of Zhuangzi, it is the unity of the Tao and me, and the words of Confucius are "it is possible to die in the morning and smell the Tao."
The essence of Chinese culture is to reach the realm of heaven and earth, pay attention to the unity of heaven and man, the creation of teachers, harmony and difference, beauty and commonality, in the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two weather, our ancient eyes saw all things in the universe, every phenological life is precious, and the universe is a whole, a system. Therefore, the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two days are the intangible cultural heritage of mankind, and the cosmology and outlook on life it contains are very remarkable, and they are modern and even postmodern, and it is very meaningful to put it in today and in the future and in the world.
Xu Lijing: That is to say, the transformation of the four seasons is not only natural, it is not transferred by human will, but also cultural, and every day, every season, every festival, every phenology can become completely different because of our awareness and our realm. Following the footsteps of the four seasons and realizing life in the alternation of the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two seasons is actually a process of enlightenment. This kind of enlightenment, embodied in art, is a large number of literary works. In the Tang poems and Song poems, there are many works related to solar terms, and the poets we are familiar with, Du Fu, Lu You, etc., have written many poems that originate from the festivals, and the Tang Dynasty poet Yuan Shu wrote a total of twenty-four solar terms poems. As a writer, what do you think of these poems related to solar terms?
Wang Meng: The realm of heaven and earth in the Chinese calendar is comparable to the Qingyun Song in the Book of Shang, and it is intertextual with it. "Qingyun is rotten, and the strings are dirty... Sun and moonlight, Dan Fudan Xi", people love to worship. The well-known "rain during the Qingming Dynasty, pedestrians on the road want to break their souls", is a manifestation of the literary nature of the festival and the season. "In addition to the sound of firecrackers, the spring breeze sends warmth into Tu Su" "Alone in a foreign land for strangers, every festive season to think of relatives"
"The east wind blooms a thousand trees at night. More blowing down, the stars are like rain" "Jade dew Mid-Autumn Night, Golden Wave Blue Falling"... Although these verses are not directly written about the solar terms and seasons, they all come from the Sense of Timing and The Sense of Time and The Sense of Heaven and Earth in the Chinese Calendar. What is more interesting is Du Fu's famous sentence "Dew is white from tonight, the moon is the hometown of Ming", which makes people can't help but think of the white dew festival in early September of the solar calendar and the Mid-Autumn Festival in general in October, while Su Dongpo's "When is the bright moon, ask the wine to the blue sky", although it is not specifically written about the Mid-Autumn Festival, it has become the best choice for Mid-Autumn Poetry.
Many sayings of festivals and phenology - sting, gu rain, xiaoman, hanlu, hongyan, cold cicada, are all poetry, can be directly into poetry, and all traditional festivals, from the New Year's Day of "one yuan and the beginning of vientiane renewal", to Shangyuan, Qingming, Dragon Boat Festival, Tanabata, Mid-Autumn Festival, Chongyang... They are all immersed in the traditional Chinese culture, the deep affection and deep thinking of the Chinese calendar for heaven and earth, and the poetic rhyme of Chinese characters.
Xu Lijing: Yes, walking through the time tunnel of the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two days is like crossing a cultural channel that exudes poetic brilliance, and those popular poems are the ancients' perception of nature, heaven and earth, years, and life, giving the four seasons time an eternal cultural meaning. We chanted and sang, unconsciously soaking life with poetry. I think this is a particularly valuable gift from China's excellent traditional culture.
Wang Meng: There are two major types of works in the twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two cultural system, one is the poetry and song of the literati, which are gorgeous and beautiful; the other is the agricultural proverb, which can be said to be extremely colorful and vivid folk literature. There are many agricultural proverbs for each season, hand in hand, and there are too many to list, we simply list four proverbs of the "Standing" word festival, Li Chun - "Li Chun one year end, planting the land early calculation" "People are diligent and not lazy, after the autumn granaries are full", "People mistakenly for a day, the earth mistakenly for a year"... LiXia - "Spring fights for the day, summer fights for the time", "LiXia mai has teeth, and will be pulled out in January", "Li Xia mai grins, can not lack water"... Li Qiu - "Li Qiu buckwheat white dew flower, cold dew buckwheat received home" "Li Qiu has rain-like harvest, Li Qiu no rain everyone worries" "Li Qiu cotton pipe is good, the whole branch is indispensable"... LiDong - "The day of the winter fog, the winter paddy field is lit with turnips" "The winter snow is closely connected, and the land preparation before winter is the most important" "Li Dong plants peas, one bucket and one bucket"... What do we see from these agricultural proverbs? Seeing the "man" in the "people of heaven and earth", the industrious Chinese, he looked at the sky, guarded the fields, calculated every season and every month, every day and even every hour of cultivation, rice sorghum, melon fruit, cotton beans, carefully cared for, without stopping to work, he did not feel hard, but felt happy, ordinary ingredients were made into various seasonal health dishes by him, coarse tea and light rice were given a sense of ceremony to celebrate the seasons, in the hard work of each day from spring to winter, He gave life a poetic flavor of smoke and fire. Of all the agricultural proverbs, I think these two sentences are the most representative: "The plan of the year lies in the spring, and the plan of life lies in diligence." "Reading does not leave the desk, and farming does not leave the field." This is the Chinese that stands between heaven and earth, cultivating heirlooms and thrifty families. This is the traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, and it is also one of the best outlook on life and values in Chinese culture. Whether it is now or in the future, it should be passed on and should be carried forward.
Article source | People's Education Magazine, No. 7, 2022
Article author | Wang Meng Xu Lijing
Responsible Editor | Cheng Lu
WeChat editor | Tan Xi