Influence of Lunar Activities on the Twenty-four Solar Terms

Twenty four solar terms is a knowledge system formed by the ancients through long-term observation of the annual activities of the sun.Although it roughly reveals the changing rules of seasons,climate and phenology in a year,and reflects the influence of the sun on the earth’s climate change on a large scale,because the ancients ignored the influence of the moon’s activities on the earth’s climate change on a small scale,the 24 solar terms they summarized often can not accurately predict the earth's climate change.In order to make the 24 solar terms reflect not only the influence of the sun on the earth's climate change on a large scale,but also the influence of the moon's activities on the earth's climate change on a small scale,we must refer to the key time nodes of the moon's activities to divide the 24 solar terms.That is to say,the first day(the seventh or twenty second day of the lunar calendar)after the“Greater Cold”of the old year should be set as the“Beginning of Spring”of the new year,and then the day after half a month should be the next solar term,which is the first day of the moon’s next visit to the Antarctic or the Arctic,and so on.In this way,the 24 solar terms are consistent with the key nodes of lunar activities,and can accurately predict the changes of the earth's climate.

Life Nurturing in the Illustrated Daoyin of the 24 Solar Terms(二十四节气)

China’s“24 Solar Terms”,known as the fifth invention after China’s hour Major Inventions,is a knowledge system and social practice formed through observations of the sun’s annual motion,and cognition of the year’s changes in season,climate and phenology.More and more people in the world have been eager to know more about it since UNESCO inscribed Chinas“24 Solar Terms”on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016.As a way of nurturing life,the Illustrated Daoyin of the 24 Solar Terms includes twenty-four exercise forms,corresponding to the 24 solar terms respectively,which reflects the significant idea of complying with the law of yin-yang changes in the universe.It presents a series of sitting and standing exercises designed to prevent diseases that occur during seasonal changes throughout the year.The ancient Chinese wisdom of time and life nurturing has been witnessed in China’s“24 Solar Terms”and“Illustrated Daoyin of the 24 Solar Terms”This article aims to arouse readers’concern and interest in life nurturing by introducing how to do all the exercises presented by the Illustrated Daoyin of the 24 Solar Terms,which is helpful to the prevention and cure of diseases as well as good for health.

Luoxia Hong and 24 Solar Terms and Their Translations

Up to now,there are few academic studies on the great astronomer,Luoxia Hong and the English translation of the 24 Solar Terms.Through the study of Luoxia Hong and the 24 Solar Terms and their English translations,this paper aims to,firstly,further reconfirm the historical status of Luoxia Hong and secondly,make a comparative study of the different translation versions of 24 Solar Terms from the perspective of translation studies,so that more people,home and abroad,can get more familiar with the historical and cultural celebrity Luoxia Hong and traditional Chinese culture.

The Origin and Significance of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms in China

The "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" is an integrated knowledge system and functional social practice initiated and developed by ancient Chinese. Appling to their daily lives and agricultural production, based on records of the periodic motions of the sun, this knowledge system echoes seasonal and climate changes, phenological variation and reflects the features of ancient agricultural activities. As a comprehensive demonstration of their lives and production, it is a phenomenal achievement thanks to the ancient Chinese people's experience and wisdom. The "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" is also a cultural phenomenon unique to China, geographic location, the Yellow River Basin being at a mid-latitude zone with distinctive seasonal climate changes; its long-existing agrarian tradition, advanced agricultural philosophy and a harmonious lifestyle. In the meantime, while China's superior knowledge on astronomy made its formation technically possible, the "agriculture first" governmental policy and the "prefectures and counties" administrative system, introduced by governors from Qin and Han Dynasties, cultivated its formation institutionally. Besides, the "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" is the outcome of the harmonious civilization progress and traditional Chinese culture, which is different from Western Europe's aggressive and predatory industrial expansion. The "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" is still of great cultural and practical significance in China even today. It highlights the "unity of mankind and nature" philosophy and serves as another signature symbol of the Chinese culture. While China is more and more engaging in international affairs, the "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" facilitates the rest of the world to understand China from another angle.

Research on the Translation of Chinese Twenty-Four Solar Terms: A Skopos Theory Perspective

In the current era of rapid development, excellent culture needs to be inherited and spread to the world. Therefore, it is essential to consider the translation of the 24 solar terms. China persists in the principle of the Belt and Road Initiative, adheres to the guidance of Chinese traditional excellent culture goes global, and enhances the influence of Chinese culture on the words, the culture of the words communicating and developing constantly. This paper analyzes and compares translations of different versions, explores the necessity of translation strategies for translation, then summaries the translation strategy, ultimately figures out the development space, ted texts and promote the exchange of Chinese and foreign cultures.

Cultural Structure of Solar Terms and Traditional Festivals

Solar terms and festivals differ from and relate to each other in terms of application scope and cultural structure.The cultural association and application of the 24 Solar Terms are studied in the areas including philosophy,farming and society,and are exhibited in the natural convergence of views on space and time,life and customs,as well as the facilitation of agricultural practice.The connotations of traditional Chinese festivals concern basic areas such as beliefs,rites,language,symbols,diets and art,which are exhibited in the co-existent "festival tokens," "festival events," "festival messages," "festival symbols," "festival food" and "festival art forms." Festivals feature fixed and periodic occurrence and multi-channel cultural inheritance.

From solar terms to medical terms(PartⅡ):Some implications for traditional Chinese Medicine

In the traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM), the timing of performing the treatment during the year is always an important factor for maximizing its effectiveness. Based on over half a century of observational and reanalysis data, a modified calendric system, named the Twenty-four Medical Terms(24-MTs), has been established for China's Mainland following a systematic calibration and geographical adjustment of the classic Twenty-four Solar Terms(24-STs). In view of "adapting the human body to the changing universe", a core philosophy of the TCM, this improved medical calendar is expected to make a significant contribution to the development of precise Chinese Medicine in the big data era. Specifically, two maps of localized timings for the so-called Triple-Fu(TF) and Triple-Jiu(TF) defined using a joint heat index of air temperature and relative humidity are created as an alternative to the two nationwide unified timings representing the warmest and coldest periods of the year. These location-specific medical calendars, with a maximum regional time shift of one week for TJ and a systematic advancing of 3.6–28.2 days for TF in China's Mainland, are thought to be clinically useful for carrying out precise TCM such as"treating winter deceases in summer". In addition, similar maps of localized timings for peak spring and peak autumn defined as the days of fastest warming and cooling around the years are generated for China's Mainland, so as to provide a helpful guidance for practicing season(ST/MT) related and geographically dependent precise health care in the context of "born in spring, grow in summer, harvest in autumn, and preserve in winter", which is a key ideology in the TCM.

From solar terms to medical terms(Part Ⅰ): A first step with big data

The story of the Twenty-four Solar Terms(24-ST_s) is one of the most popular elements in Chinese culture, which has a profound influence on agriculture production, health care, and even daily life in both ancient and modern China. This traditional calendric system was invented by the Chinese ancestors through combining fundamental astronomical knowledge with climatic and phenological conditions in the Yellow River Basin some 2000 years ago. Although the basic philosophy of the 24-ST_s remains valid for the country as a whole to date, their regional robustness has been increasingly challenged by accumulating observational data in terms of temporal shift and spatial inhomogeneity. To tackle these issues, we propose to recalibrate the medically related critical timings of Great Heat and Great Cold in the classic ST system by using big meteorological data, and adjust them by introducing geographically correlated analytical models. As a result, a novel calendric system, called the Twenty-four Medical Terms(24-MT_s), has been developed as an upgraded version of the traditional 24-ST_s. The proposed 24-MT_s are characterized by two striking features with respect to the 24-ST_s: A varying duration of each MT instead of a fixed one for the ST, and a geographically dependent timing for each MT instead of a unified one for the entire nation. As such, the updated 24-MT_s are expected to provide a more realistic estimate of these critical timings around the year, and hence, a more precise guidance to agronomic planning and health care activity in China.

Clinical observation on warm needling in canicular days for knee osteoarthritis

Objective：To observe the efficacy of warm needling in canicular days in treating knee osteoarthritis （KOA）. 〈br〉 Methods：Sixty-eight KOA patients were randomized into a treatment group and a control group, 34 in each group. The treatment group was intervened by warm needling, while the control group was by conventional acupuncture. The intervention started from the first day of the canicular days, once every day, 10 sessions as a treatment course. The improvement and therapeutic efficacy were evaluated after 3 courses of treatment. 〈br〉 Results：The total effective rate was 91.2%in the treatment group versus 67.6%in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant （P〈0.05）. 〈br〉 Conclusion：Warm needling in canicular days can produce a better efficacy in treating KOA than conventional acupuncture.