Tag: Ancient Chinese

十二生肖 the Twelve Zodiacs

十二生肖（shí èr shēng xiāo，the Twelve Zodiacs）

十二生肖，是中国古代纪年用的一组动物图像，由十一种源于自然界的动物 –“鼠、牛、虎、兔、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪”加中国传说中的“龙”组成。十二生肖与中国农历中的“十二地支”搭配后的排列顺序为“子鼠、丑牛、寅虎、卯兔、辰龙、巳蛇、午马、未羊、申猴、酉鸡、戌狗、亥猪”。其中狗排位第十一。很多西方人把生肖看作是中国的“星座”。基于一个12年的循环，每一年都有一个动物作为象征。生肖在古代还被用作代表一天的时间，也就是我们所说的时辰。一天有12个时辰，每个时辰为现在的两个小时，子时是十二个时辰中的第一时辰（即23点整至凌晨1点整），与子时相配合的动物是子鼠。根据中国的传统哲学，人出生在某个时辰，通常被认定为本性中带有某种动物的原始特性，如：老鼠代表智慧，牛代表勤奋，老虎代表勇猛，兔子代表谨慎，龙代表威猛，蛇代表柔韧，马代表勇往直前，羊代表和顺，猴子代表敏捷，鸡代表恒定，狗代表忠诚，猪代表随和。总而言之，所有这些有关于生肖的含义也都来自古人对后代的美好祝愿。

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What is the weather in Winter Solstice?

Winter Solstice is the 22nd solar term, and the most imp0rtant one. It was set according to astronomy, called “short day (ri duan)” or “the shortest day” in ancient times. On that day, the sun reaches 270 degrees of longitude, and shines directly on the Tropic of Capricorn. The day time turns shortest on that day. The ancient people recorded their knowledge of the day in some books. In the Collection of the Seventy-two Hou, it says, “on the 15th day of the Eleventh month, the hidden qi reaches its peak.” “The Winter Solstice comes on the fifteenth day after the Major Snow. It is in the middle of the eleventh month. The yin goes comes to an end and the yang begins. The sun goes to the south. From then on, the days become longer.” (Tong Wei of Qing Dynasty)

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What is the Winter Solstice?

On the Winter Solstice, the Northern hemisphere experiences its shortest day and its longest night. From then on, the days become longer and the nights become shorter. According to ancient Chinese thought, the “yang,” referring to masculine or positive things, will become stronger and stronger after this day. The weather in China will also enter its coldest phase.

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