text◎ Liang Chao
(Calligraphy Press)
Abstract: This article discusses the relevant common sense of the ancient Chinese calendar and the chronological method , and explains the questions such as whether the characters "year" or "success" can be added after the stems and branches, how to use " year " and "year are there", as well as the misuse of the first and the year of the year, and the mixed use of the lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar.
Keywords
Calligraphy signature, calendar, year
Text
Where is the fashion to be examined, but its origin should be related to the cultural behavior of "things and craftsmen's name": information such as time, place, craftsman's name, and production causes are marked on the objects through engraving, casting, shaping, and sealing for inspection. Derived from calligraphy works, it means writing several information such as the source of the content of the text, the background of the creation, the reason for the creation, psychological activities, time, place, name (alias), etc. next to the text, for explanation or declaration of rights and responsibilities. Signing is an organic part of a calligraphy work. The success or failure and advantages of the work are largely related to the signature, and its importance in some cases is no less than the content of the text. Correct and appropriate signatures complement the main text, have the effect of adding icing on the cake, and can also make up for and correct the layout. If it is expanded and extended with cultural connotations, it can also show the talent and knowledge of the writer; otherwise, it will be laughed at and affect the quality of the work. In terms of form, the signature of
is roughly divided into single and double. The single only writes the author's name (alias) and related items. The double items also have to write the name (alias), title, and respectful words of the gifted person. The format of the signature is not strictly fixed. Items such as time, place, and signature can be selected freely. As long as it is harmoniously matched with the text, it can be flexibly used according to the theme of the work, current mood and state of thought. However, in terms of content, be sure to pay attention to the issues of right and wrong. The time, especially the signature of the year, involves the calendar and chronology of ancient China, if you do not understand it, it is easy to cause problems. For example, can the characters "year" or "success" be added after the stems and branches? How to use "years" and "years are there"? When will the first year and the year of the stems and branches begin? How to avoid the mixture of the lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar? To analyze these issues about "year" and "year", we need to first examine the history and teach the words, and to understand the common sense of the ancient Chinese calendar and chronological laws.
Lu You's "Postscript to the Northern Qi proofreading books"
1. Ancient Chinese calendar
(I) What is calendar
"Shuowen Jiezi" says: "Cali is a symbol." The Book of Documents says: "Cali, it symbolizes the sun, moon, and stars, and respectfully teaches people the time." The so-called calendar is a rule that studies the operation rules of the day, month and stars, calculates the length of time units, and systematically establishes and formulates the time series relationship between the three elements of "parent years", "parent months" and "calendar days". Calendars are naturally closely related to astronomy. There are three types of calendars created by various ethnic groups in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad, namely the solar calendar, the lunar calendar and the yin and yang calendar.
The most primitive human time consciousness probably starts from the alternation of day and night caused by the appearance of the sun. Then we have the concept of "day" and mastered its time (about 23:56:4 seconds), and then compiled it into the calendar (take the integer 24 hours), becoming a stable time unit for calendar days. Calendars are the easiest to identify and prescribe among the three elements of the calendar. Whether it is the solar calendar, the lunar calendar or the yin and yang calendar, they are basically consistent from a global perspective. Moreover, the calendar years and calendar months in the calendar are also based on calendar days. Mastering the concepts and cycles of "month" and "year" is relatively complex and difficult. Since the astronomical lengths of the day, month and year are not integers, the three cannot be matched, and the speed of the celestial body is not static, and its operating cycle will change accordingly after a period of time. Therefore, it will cause trouble to the calendar. People can only make the calendar years, calendar months and calendar days infinitely close to the astronomical time period of the celestial body - year, month and day as much as possible, and correct and adjust it in a timely and continuously.In specific circumstances, they will even be treated "compromising", "perfunctory" or "violating" the law, which has occurred in the history of the Chinese and foreign system.
The years used in the history of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign calendars include return year , Taiyin year, stellar year, perimeter year, foetal year, etc., and the calendar months used include synodic moon , return month, stellar month, perimeter month, intersection month, etc. Generally speaking, the solar calendar is based on the "return year" ( solar visual movement twice through the vernal equinox point or the winter solstice point or the beginning of spring point, about 365.24 days). First, the period unit is set, and then the previous year is divided into twelve calendar months with strong artificial regulations. In other words, only calendar years and calendar days can basically match the two astronomical times of year and day, while calendar months cannot correspond to the cycle of changes in the moon phase profit and loss, and it is only symbolic. The ancient Mayan calendar and the Gregorian calendar (Gregorian calendar) that are now common all over the world are all typical solar calendars.
The lunar calendar is based on the calculation of "central and central moon" (the time period when the moon's visual movement experiences two new moons or two new moons, about 29.54 days). First set the time unit calendar month, and then combine the twelve calendar months into one calendar year. Therefore, the lunar calendar only has the calendar month and calendar day basically conforming to the two astronomical periods of month and day; while the calendar year is symbolic, and cannot reflect the cold, heat, warmth and warmth caused by sunlight and the four seasons reciprocating cycle. The Islamic calendar used in Arab countries belongs to the lunar calendar. The Yin-Yang Calendar is a calendar that combines the advantages of the solar calendar and lunar calendar, taking into account the "return year" and "central and moon" cycles, making the calendar year, calendar month, calendar day conform to the astronomical time of year, month and day to the greatest extent. The "lunar calendar" (this title is not appropriate) that is still attached to the Gregorian calendar in my country, which is currently used in China, belongs to the typical Yin-Yang calendar. In addition, the ancient Babylonian calendar, Jewish calendar, , etc. all belong to this category. The ancient Chinese calendar has undergone dozens of changes, with more than a hundred types. The Yin-Yang calendar is the longest-used calendar.
Su Shi "Second Episode and Rhyme Poetry Post"
(II) Yin and Yang Calendar
In order to make the time units in the calendar better correspond to the astronomical years, months and days, and adjust them in a timely manner to make them systematic and continuity, the solar calendar has regulations for leap years and common years, and the lunar calendar has regulations for large months and small months. Compared with this, the Chinese Yin and Yang Calendar is much more complicated.
The ancient Chinese had a gradual maturity process on astronomy, so the formulation of the Yin-Yang calendar must be continuously improved in a timely manner to become more accurate. This is how you master the length of the year of the return and the moon. To understand the visual motion cycle of the sun, we need to measure the sun shadow, and find that the "Winter Solstice", "Two Tones", "Two Fen", "Four Stands" and even gradually form a complete "twenty-four Qi" (including the twelve solar terms and the twelve middle Qi, which is not appropriate to call the "Twenty-four solar terms" now); to understand the visual motion cycle of the moon, first by observing several html-2-month phase changes such as the new moon, the upper string, the full moon, the lower string, the waning moon, and then further calculate the accurate time of "Shuo" and "Wang". Based on these two, we must combine "yin" and "yang", and also find the "eleon" - "the winter solstice in the middle of the night". Chen Zungui discussed in "History of Chinese Astronomy": "The ancients ruled the calendar with the beginning of the night, the first day of the morning is the beginning of the month, and the winter solstice is the beginning of the year; therefore, it is stipulated that from the winter solstice to the winter solstice is one year, the first day of the morning to the morning is one month, and the middle of the night to the middle of the night is one day. The basic concept of the ancients ruled the calendar was to focus on the calendar; it must be taken by the day of Jiazi as the beginning of the winter solstice as the beginning of the calculation."
After this, it is necessary to solve the systematic and continuity problem of the return year and the new moon - that is, to harmonize the cycle of the return year and the new moon by setting a "leap month". The ancients once formulated the method of leap-making of "three years, one leap-making" and "five years, three leap-making". Since Warring States " quarter calendar ", "nineteen years, seven leap-making" was basically adopted. There are 235 (12×19+7) synodic moons in the 19 calendar years, and the total number of days is close to the total number of days in the 19 return years: 29.54 days × 235 ≈365.24 days × 19. In addition, there have been leap weeks such as "six hundred years, two hundred and twenty-one leap", "three hundred and ninety-one leap years, and "four leap years, one hundred and fifty-eight leaps" and so on.There have been different historical regulations in history that since the Tang Linde Calendar abolished the leap cycle, it is fixed to strictly follow the "twenty-four Qi", and the month that does not contain "zhong Qi" (the constitutional calendar used the Dingshuo and Dingshuo method during the implementation of the Qing Dynasty) is set as a leap month, and the month after which it is called "leap month".
"Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Lulizhi" says: "The month is divided into leap, and the leap is completed and the leap is completed. The nineteenth year is called Zhang. The first chapter is divided into leap, and the four ends, and it is called leap. The day of one year is called leap. The number of days of leap is collected is the number of days of leap. ... The order of Jiazi is to return to the beginning of 20, so the 20th leap is recorded as the sequel." In this way, after the 19th year (Chapter 1), the "Shuodan Winter Solstice" returns to the same day; after the 76th year (Chapter 1), the "Shuodan Winter Solstice" returns to the midnight of the same day; after the 1520th year (Chapter 1), the "Shuodan Winter Solstice" returns to the midnight of the same day; after the 1520th year (Chapter 1), the "Shuodan Winter Solstice" returns to the midnight of the same day. In addition, "In addition to the lunar calendar, the ancients also required the combination of sun and moon and the five stars to be designated as Shangyuan; so the cycle of the seven politics must be calculated so that it occurs in Shangyuan at the same time, as the starting point of the departure and the beginning of the calculation. After , Qianxiang Calendar , each calendar family listed the accumulated years since Shangyuan as the first article of the calendar." To advance the sun, moon and five stars, calculate the year of Yuan Dynasty to achieve the combination of the winter solstice with the sun and moon, and the five stars appear simultaneously, is the ideal of ancient Chinese calendar calculation masters.
From the above, we can see that the years of the Yin-Yang calendar are longer (about 19 days more) or shorter (about 11 days less), and the intervals are formulated. However, the auxiliary "Twenty-Four Qi" as a reference system can correspond to the year of return and be convenient for use. The "Twenty-Four Qi" divides the position of the sun in the ecliptic ( orbital plane of the earth orbiting the sun) into twenty-four sections during the year, and records and reflects the changes in the signs (meteorological, phenological) of all things caused by sunlight (temperature). As an organic part of the Chinese Yin-Yang calendar, it has obvious solar attributes. The method of "qi" and the "Sudden" method of lunar calendar attributes, and the "Sudden" method of adjusting the return year and the "Sudden month period are the three prominent features of the Chinese Yin-Yang Combination Calendar.
When did the Chinese calendar begin? There are different speculations such as Fuxi era, Shennong era, and Huangdi era. Things in the legendary era are difficult to trace, but the development of the calendar from the Shang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty with texts is still very clear: Yin and Shang Dynasty " Yin and Yang calendar has begun to take shape", the ancient quarter calendar of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period "layed the foundation of the ancient Chinese calendar", the Taichu calendar of the Western Han Dynasty "makes the basic form of the ancient Chinese calendar more clear", the Qianxiang calendar of the Eastern Han Dynasty "added a number of new concepts and new methods... the system has matured", the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties "continue to be enriched" and "opened a new era", and from the Tang Dynasty to the Song and Yuan Dynasties, "the overall accuracy of a series of astronomical data and tables" gradually reached its peak. However, starting from the Ming Dynasty, "there was a phenomenon of stagnation and regression" and "faced the challenge of astronomical calendar introduced by the Jesuits who came from the East, and since then, a new era of disputes and integration between Chinese and Western calendars has begun." Xu Guangqi and Jesuit Johnson Cham and others compiled a "Chongzhen Calendar", which "remains some formal characteristics of traditional Chinese calendars, but is based on Western law, that is, a calendar with the essential characteristics of the Western geometry astronomy system." After this calendar was not implemented due to the demise of in the Ming Dynasty, John Tang changed it to the "New Western Calendar" and was promulgated. It can be seen that the lunar calendar used now has been formed after continuous improvement over the years and the absorption of excellent Western astronomical achievements and scientific and technological means.
Cai Xiang "Lidu Tie"
(III) Regarding the title of "Previous Years"
It should be mentioned that there are changes in the title of "Previous Years" in ancient Chinese books, and there are also mixed and misused situations. The authors of classics, history, science, collections and commentary on the past dynasties inevitably have cognitive errors or limitations, so they need to be objectively identified and distinguished. "Er Ya·Shi Tian" says: "Xia is called the year, Shang is called the sacred, Zhou is called the year, Tang and Yu are called the Zai."These four titles are all found in the earliest collection of historical documents in China, "Shangshu": " Yaodian " "The period is 300 and 60 days, and the four seasons are determined by the leap month", " Hongfan " "Only there are three sacrifices, the king visited Jizi ", "Wuyi" "Sixteen years of enjoying the country in 75 years", "Yao Dian" "I have been in power for seventy years, and you can be mediocre, and I am the position of "Yu Gong" "It is the same for 13 years". However, because the time and circulating version of "Shangshu" are extremely repetitive Miscellaneous, the contents compiled are of counterfeiting and observing nature, which are difficult to determine and cannot be blindly followed. Therefore, to interpret "Sui", "Sacrifice", "Yen" and "Zai", we need to use ancient characters to find its original meaning and comb its origin.
various characters of "Sui" were first seen in oracle bone script, and they are the same origin as "玉". They are the initial text of "Yue". The author agrees with this view held by Yu Shengwu and others. Wu Sunquan made a more detailed discussion in the article "Shi Sui" and explained its different shapes. The original meaning of "Sui" is similar. The weapon of the axe symbolizes the supreme royal power. The interpretation of "Juzhe" in "Shuowen Jiezi" "Juzhe is the twenty-eight constellations of Yue calendar, and it is announced every yin and yang, and it is once every 12 months" is no longer the original meaning, and it should be a false meaning. "Sui" refers to time and represents past years, which can be seen by Jupiter. Jupiter is the largest and most special circulation among the five planets of gold, wood, water, fire and earth that the ancients saw. It is named "Sui", and the meaning of the word should have some intrinsic correlation with the royal power. From the oracle bone documents, "This year's receiving He Hongji" and "The next year's receiving Year" can be seen that "Sui" has been The classics have meanings that indicate previous years. There are no archaeological discoveries in the Xia Dynasty, and it is difficult to confirm whether the records in "Shangshu" and "Eya" are accurate.
"Sacrifice" is related to the sacrificial activities of the Shang Dynasty, and is often seen in oracle bone inscriptions. "Sacrifice" is used to represent previous years, which should be related to the sacrificial cycle. Zhang Yantian's " Ancient Chinese Chronicles " has some research: "At the end of the Yin Dynasty, a middle sacrificial cycle was about thirteen days, and a large sacrificial cycle was between 360 and 370 days, close to a solar year (the author's note, that is, the year of return). ...The sun, moon and sacrifice are in harmony... Looking at the Western Zhou Dynasty, in the early days, the Yin system followed the Yin system and evolved from the sacrificial unit to a pure time unit representing the 'year'; in the middle period, the "sacrificial" and "year" were used together; in the late period, the "sacrificial" was no longer used, and the word "year" was used in the sacrificial unit, and the word "year" was used in the sacrificial unit. "This can clarify the use of "sacrificial" in previous years.
"year" is interpreted as "ripe valleys" in "Shuowen Jiezi", which examines the shape of oracle bone script, which is like a person carrying a mature grain, which means a good harvest. The cycle of ripening grains is equivalent to that of previous years, so it is borrowed to record the times. Similar to the tradition of merchants who reiterate sacrifices, the Zhou people established a country based on agriculture, and the word "nian" is reasonable to express the past years.
"zai" is not found in oracle bone script, ht The use cases seen in ml2 bronze inscription are not used as time nouns. The so-called "Tang and Yu Yu Zai" in "Er Ya" was added by later generations. As for how the meaning of the word is extended or borrowed to represent previous years, it is difficult to know, but in ancient times there should be a situation where "Zai" should be used to represent previous years. Later Tang Xuanzong used "Zai" briefly to represent previous years.
To sum up, it can be seen that the titles "Sui", "Si", "Year" and "Zai" were used in history. The frequency is different, and the meanings are similar and different. By the late Western Zhou Dynasty, "year" was the main word that represents the combination of yin and yang in the years, but it has never replaced several other words, especially "year" is still widely used. The two sometimes refer to the same, and sometimes they are different. There are differences between "hunyan" and "analytical words". The meaning of the words in the literature should be judged based on the actual context. For example, "Zhou Li·Chunguan·Zongbo·Taishi" "The first year, year is in the preface", Zheng Xuan notes say "The middle number is called year, and the first number is called year", which is the opposite and difference between "year" and "year": "year" is the period from the first day of the first lunar month to the first day of the next first lunar month; and "year" is the period from the middle qi of the winter solstice to the middle qi of the next winter solstice. This involves an important issue in the calendar - the difference between the sun and the sun and the sun. Since the Han Dynasty, scholars of all dynasties have misunderstood and confusion about these two to varying degrees, and they should be taken seriously.
Of course, the premise for the above analysis is that the calendars of the Tang, Yu and the three dynasties are all yin and yang calendars, so it can be said that the four words "success", "sacrifice", "year" and "zai" represent the calendar years of the yin and yang calendar. The legendary period of the Tang and Yu can be ignored; however, the Xia Dynasty may have used a calendar similar to the solar calendar (" Xia Xiaozheng " obtained by Confucius " may be represented by the Qi Dynasty), and other calendars of unknown nature coexist during the Shang Dynasty, the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (such as the content preserved in "Little Dai Li Ji·Monthly Order" and the unearthed document of the Warring States bamboo book "Four Seasons" collected by Tsinghua University) needs further research. However, judging from the historical information of the Yin Dynasty that we can grasp at present, the Yin-Yang calendar has always been the mainstream, and the various chronological methods correspond to the Yin-Yang calendar. "Zai" cannot be clarified at present, but it is still used at a certain frequency; the meaning of "Si" used to cinema gradually disappeared after the Western Zhou Dynasty; the meaning of "Zi" is often used in later generations and has a cross-section of the meanings, "Yen" and "Sui", which is also the key point of this article.
2. Ancient Chinese chronology methods
Ancient Chinese chronology methods mainly include the years of the reign of the monarch, the year of the emperor, the year of the year of the year of the year of the year of the emperor, the year of the year of the year of the year of the Tai Sui, the year of the stems and branches, and the year of the twelve zodiac signs. Before the creation of the
year number, the historical chronology adopted the monarch's reign method, that is, the number is used to mark the order of the year from which the monarch ascended the throne to the throne. There are use cases in documents such as oracle bones, bells and tripods, bamboo and silk, etc., and the book " Spring and Autumn " is more typical. The emperor's reign was officially launched in . The year of Emperor Wu of Han , but there was controversy in which year he began in his reign. There are Yuanshou , Yuanding and other theories. The author agrees with the view of Xin Deyong "Jianyuan and Changyuan - Research on the Reign of the Western Han Dynasty Xinmang" which began in the first year of Taichu (104 BC) when the Taichu calendar was promulgated. The year names such as Jianyuan, Yuanguang , Yuanshuo , Yuanshou, Yuanding, Yuanfeng and other reigns were later recorded. The emperor's reign was recorded until the end of the feudal imperial system in the late Xuantong period (1911).
year old star and Tai Sui year are related to the ancients' observation of astronomical phenomena and their understanding of stars. In long-term astronomical observations, the ancients gradually understood and summarized the star cluster of " Twenty-Eight Constellations " near the ecliptic as a reference system for observing celestial bodies, and corresponded to the four directions and four seasons. The ancients also divided the twelve ecliptic planes from east to west (clockwise) equally, and used the names of the twelve earthly branches of Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai to represent them, and they were called "Twelve Chens". The -year-old star (Jupiter) among the five planets was focused on by the ancients for its uniqueness. Because its apparent motion cycle is about twelve years, it will pass through a certain area of the "Twenty-Eight Constellations" every year. In order to record the position of the year stars, people divide the zodiac plane into twelve equal parts, calling it "twelve times". Each time, there is a name, from west to east (counterclockwise direction): star (corresponding to Chou), Xuan Zi (corresponding to Zi), 子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子� The year star runs to a certain time, called "year-old so-called". The directions of "Twelve Chens" and "Twelve Times" are exactly the opposite. "Records of the Grand Historian·Book of Heaven", "Book of Han·Astronomy", " Huainanzi·Astronomy Training " and other records the yearly star record.
Since the actual operating cycle of the year star is 11.86 years, every 85.7 years, the number of stars it is located will be earlier than the predetermined number, resulting in errors. This phenomenon is called "super times". When the ancients realized the unsatisfactory flaw of the Sui Star, they tried to virtually create a "Tai Sui Star" to replace the Sui Star. The orbit of the Tai Sui Star is the same as the Sui Star, and the direction is completely opposite, but it can correspond to the "Twelve Chens". When it moves to a certain Chen position, it is called "Sui is in someone".Astronomical and calendar scientists also took twelve Tai Sui names for this: Photo Tige (Yin), Shan Yan (Mao), Zheng Xu (Chen), Dahuang Luo (Si), Dun Jing (Wu), Xie Cha (Wei), Wei Tan (Shen), Yuu (You), Yan Mao (Xu), Dayuan Xian (Hai), Kuang Dun (Zi), Chi Fen Ruo (Chou), also known as "Sui Yin". It matches the stems and branches, and later names the ten heavenly stems: Feng (Jia), Zhan Meng (Yi), Rou Zhao (Bing), Qiang Zhuang (Ding), Zhu Yong (Wu), Tu Wei (Ji), Previous Chapter (Geng), Chongguang (Xin), Xuan Fu (Ren), Zhaoyang (Gui), also known as "Sui Yang". The sixty-year-old chronological methods used in the "Lishu Jiazi Pian" recorded in "Records of the Grand Historian: Almanac" are composed of "Sui Yin" and "Sui Yang".
The rule of stems and branches evolved from the Tai Sui dynasty method. "To make the continuous Tai Sui chronology accurate, we must be separated from the correspondence with the Sui Star. Tai Sui was originally a hypothetical celestial body. When it was separated from the Sui Star and existed alone, it was also separated from the celestial body and became a pure method of chronology. However, the sixty year names composed of the ten-year yang and the twelve-year yin of the Tai Sui chronology are in sequence, which are obscene and difficult to read, difficult to remember, and inconvenient to use. The Tai Sui chronology used to represent the stems and branches of the Chen position where Tai Sui is located are very familiar to people, and have long been used to record the day and the month. It is both accustomed and very practical. Therefore, people abandoned the sixty-year names of the Tai Sui chronology and only used the stems and branches of the Chen position where Tai Sui is located as simple chronology symbols. In this way, the method of chronology and branches of the stems and branches of the stems and branches of the Chen position where Tai Sui is located is produced. The heavenly stems and earthly branches are combined in the corresponding order, from Jiazi to Guihai, and repeating them over and over again. The stems and branches were first used to record the days in the Yin Dynasty, and they were generally believed to have begun in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Since then, the Ganzhi and the Year of the Year were synchronized and were used until the end of the Qing Dynasty. The stems and branches of the dynasty before the Eastern Han Dynasty were introduced by later generations.
The twelve zodiac signs are auxiliary to the chronological records of the stems and branches. In the article "Pigtail and Rat Head Talks and Rats Talks about the Origins of the Twelve Zodiac Chronicles", Xin Deyong pointed out: "The origin of the Twelve Zodiac Chronicles has appeared at the Spring and Autumn Period at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. After that, through the Warring States Period, the practice of combining twelve specific animals with the Twelve Chens has been spread throughout the world. However, this is only the source of the Twelve Zodiac Chronicles, not its actual implementation. This is because the so-called "Twelve Zodiac Chronicles" is just a substitute for the Twelve Earthly Branches; more accurately, it is just a substitute for the symbols of Zi, Chou, Yin and Mao. Therefore, the implementation of the Twelve Zodiac Chronicles seems to be in principle The prerequisite for the implementation of in the Jiazi Chronicle method. …In ancient China, Jiazi Chronicle, that is, the heavenly stems and earthly branches symbols such as Jiayi Bing Ding, Zichou Yin Mao, etc., were used to represent the time of the year. It roughly began in the Xinmang during the Eastern Han Dynasty, that is, Gu Yanwu said that Jiazi was named after it, and it began in the Eastern Han Dynasty... Before this, the possibility of using the twelve zodiac dynasties was not very high. To borrow the words of Zhao Yi, a Qing Dynasty, it is 'Before the Western Han Dynasty, the Jiazi Chronicle had not been used yet, so how could there be the so-called Zi Rat, Eggy, Ox?'? " In other words, the twelve zodiac signs of rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, and pig should be used to correspond to the twelve earthly branches. This should be done after the implementation of the stem and branch calendar.
The imperial epoch-calling law ended in the third year of Xuantong in the Qing Dynasty (1911), but the Ganzhi-calling law used in conjunction with it was used. In 1912, the government of the "Republic of China" began to adopt the Gregorian calendar and the Age of the Chronicles, and also used the name "Republic of China" (referred to as "Republic of China") to record the year (but the corresponding years of the "Republic of China" are no longer the year headed on the first day of the first lunar month, but the year of the return of the Gregorian calendar); in 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was passed, and the newly established People's Republic of China used the Gregorian calendar and the Age used by most countries in the international community as calendars and chronology. In other words, the modern and modern chronological methods have fallen into a dilemma - different natures and different durations of previous years. The "stems and branches" that represent the combination of yin and yang in the years correspond to the "digits" that represent the calendar year.
Although the lunar calendar of Yin and Yang calendar is no longer a legal calendar, it has not been abandoned and still has strong vitality and has been attached to the almanac.It is worth mentioning that on May 12, 2017, the first official national standard document on the lunar calendar, "Compilation and Issuance of the Lunar calendar" (GB/T 33661-2017), was issued and implemented on September 1, 2017. This provides regulatory and technical support in protecting traditional culture and preventing the cause of chaos, which is a milestone and exciting. But even so, Chinese and foreigners still have very little and limited understanding of the lunar calendar. They are basically called the "lunar calendar" (lunar calendar) to correspond to the "Gregorian calendar", and ignore the fact that the "yin and yang calendar" is combined. Specifically speaking of calligraphy signatures, various related issues arise.
3. The problems with the use of "nian" and "success" in the signature of calligraphy
(I) Can the characters "nian" or "success" be added after the stems and branches
Calligraphy has encountered a wave of socialization of Chinese and Western cultures in modern times, the transition and tear of new and old cultures. However, the tradition of writing in traditional Chinese and vertical characters is still inherited and maintained well (although it is not the mainstream that is written in horizontal style with simplified characters). As for the signature of calligraphy, the old rules have been roughly used. However, the time of the signature has caused controversy in the calligraphy and academic circles because of the change of the Gregorian calendar and the AD dynasty method in 1912. Some people advocate the use of the Gregorian calendar and the AD dynasty method in accordance with the times, that is, the signature is marked with Chinese characters (as well as month, day, etc.); some people advocate that the ancient method cannot be abolished, and that the stem and branch mark year (as well as month, day, etc.) should still be used. The result is that the two schools do their own things in writing practice and follow their personal preferences and habits. Although many famous masters such as Lin Sanzhi, Sha Menghai, Qi Gong often use the AD chronological method to sign, overall, they still focus on the stem and branch chronological signs.
So, can the characters "year" or "year" be added to the stems and branches in the signature? The author's point of view is, of course. Since the stems and branches are used to record the calendar year, calendar month, and calendar day, why can't the characters "year" or "success" be written later?
There are examples to follow when the ancients signed the characters "nian" or "success" after the stems and branches. For example, the "Heart Sutra" of the Ming Dynasty ( Shanghai Museum collection) fell into "the tenth month of the year of Guiwei in Wanli", and the "Five-character couplet of "Singing the Wind and Shrimping the Moon" (Collection of Shanxi Museum) fell into "The Year of Guihai in Jiaqing". In the inscriptions of ancient calligraphy and painting, the characters "Yen" or "Sui" are also commonly added to the stems and branches. For example, the "Scroll of the Eighteen Scholars of the Tang Dynasty" (collection of the Palace Museum in Taipei) inscribed "Daguan Wuzi Imperial Pen" by Dai Meng of the Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan's "Dafu Praise" by Fan Zhongyan (collection of the Palace Museum) is "November 1 of the Renzi year of Xining", "Yining Zhao Meng "Picture of the Red Arhat" (collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum) is "On April 1st of the Gengshen year", Yuan Ke Jiusi's postscript to "The Complete Scroll of the Preface of Dugu Ben Lanting" (collection of the National Museum in Tokyo, Japan) is "On October 26, Bingzi Year", and "Lu Jishan's copying calligraphy" (collection of the Palace Museum in Taipei) is "On March 22, Jimao Year of the Year of the Year of the Yuan Dynasty", and "On July 22, Jimao Year of the Yuan Dynasty" Ni Zan's "Autumn Clearing Picture of the Fishing Village" (collection of the Shanghai Museum) is titled "This picture is written in Wang Yunpu Fishing Village in the Sui Sui Sui", and "On the Xige Reading Picture" (collection of the Shanghai Museum) in the Qing Dynasty, etc. In addition, it is also very common to add "year" or "year" to the titles of ancient poems, such as Tao Qian of the Jin Dynasty, "The capital still blocked the wind in the middle of May of the Gengzi year", Shen Quan period of the Tang Dynasty, "Writing the envoys to the West Mountain when he was lucky in Chang'an in October of the Xinchou year", Lu Wei Lao of the Song Dynasty, "Visiting the Jinmen·Inscription on the Wall of Yinbo in the Year of Jiazi year", Xin Qiji of the Song Dynasty, "Returning to Chaohuan·Dingmao year, and sent to the Shilin of the Meishan Mountain", Wang Mian of the Yuan Dynasty, "Spring on the Fourth Day of the First Month of the Jiawu year", etc., can be confirmed.
At the "Source and Times" Shaoxing Forum, relevant scholars have pointed out that the "tag" of "year" (or "year") cannot be added after the stems and branches, which is our own presumptuous conclusion. Although both ancient and modern signatures mainly do not write the characters "nian" or "success", we should understand that the reason is due to the writer's language (writing) habits and personal preferences, and it is by no means violated taboos. Different calligraphers have different language senses, and the number of syllables of the words before and after the stems and branches is uncertain. In order to take care of the rhythm and rhythm of the sentence, whether "year" or "year" is used will be "adapted" according to the person.Since in ancient times, the numbers that represent the order of the year correspond to the year, and the numbers that represent the month and day correspond to the month and day of the stem and branch, and often the numbers that are in front and branch are in the back. Therefore, for the sake of simplicity, the "year" and "year" behind the stem and branch are mostly omitted to avoid duplication and extravagance. If we now refer to the year number and year dates and the AD dates in our writing, we will omit the word "year" after the year of the year. Similarly, the months and days in the signature are often omitted for the word "Sun" and "July 21", which is also due to the consideration of the rhythm of the phonology, but it is more concise. Of course, it is not wrong to add the word "day", and it is more rigorous, and the three elements of the calendar are fully expressed.
Yi Bingshou's official script "Ode to the Wind and the Moon"
(II) Can "years" and "years are used"
The two terms "years" and "years are" are the relics of the Sui Xing Chronicle and the Tai Sui Chronicle that have been abandoned since the Eastern Han Dynasty. After using the Ganzhi Dynasty, the expression of "years" and "years are still often used in front of the Ganzhi Dynasty. Together with the year-end, it is composed into the format of "years N years, year-end XX (or "years are XX")" to achieve harmony of rhythm and rhythm, such as the very familiar "Yonghe Nine Years, Years are in Guichou" (Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Preface") and "Qianyuan First Years, Years are Wuxu" ( Yan Zhenqing "Meditation of Nephew"). In modern times, when the year number is no longer used, there are only the forms of "Xien XX" or "Xien XX". In the calligraphy signature, it can be seen that some people use "Xien" and "Xien" to add the stems and branches to mark the year, which is not a big deal; however, some people even add the word "Xien" after the stems and branches, which is a supplementary effect.
This problem is also related to the phenomenon of using the name of Tai Sui for the 60th year of Tai Sui, which is popular for "those who lose their books" like to use it. For example, at the beginning of each volume of "Zizhi Tongjian" compiled by Sima Guang of the Song Dynasty, he marked the beginning and end years with the names of Sui Yin and Sui Yang. "The beginning and end years of Xuan Xiao, and the end years of Xuan Xiao, were recorded in the beginning and end years of Xuan Xiao, "The beginning and end years of Xuan Xiao, and the end years of Xuan Xiao, were recorded in the beginning and early Qing Dynasty. Zhu Yizun, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, said in "Jiu of Confucius, "I came from the east, and as for the immortal source", "The beginning and end years of Tu Wei," means "Jiyou". Some "interesting people" even mistakenly transplanted these sixty names that were only used in history to Jiyue and Jiday, such as Sima Zhuo posted on Sima Guang's "Qianxu" at the end of "Qiandao", "The second year of Qiandao was in the year of Rou Zhao, and Xuanfu held Xuyue, and the great abyss offered the sun." The former is understandable, while the latter's self-defeating approach must be criticized.
The heart of being thick, imitated and retro is different from that of predecessors and present. Although free expression that is not among the prohibited is a personal right, the author's view on this is that he does not advocate the use of "years" and "years" plus the stems and branches, and the signature method of using the name of Tai Sui for the sixty years instead of the name of the stems and branches. Instead of being tedious, cumbersome, impolite and show off, why not be more cautious about writing only the stems and branches?
(III) The error of the conversion of "the beginning of the year" and the year of the stems and branches
Following the above, the author needs to add one thing: "the year" and "the year is" obviously refer to the Sui star and Tai Sui respectively, rather than the time unit "Sui" that is different from the previous years and indicates the return year. Since "Sui" and "Yen" are often used, the situation of adding "Yen" or adding "Sui" after the stems and branches is coexisting, and the meaning is consistent. The "year first" of the yin and yang combined with the "year first" of the years, which is often called "year first", is easily confused with the "year first" of the return year.
The beginning of the ancient Chinese yin and yang year, and there were different settings in history, such as the so-called "three righteousnesses" in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period - the Xia calendar Jianyin (the current first month of the lunar calendar), the Yin calendar Jianchou (the current twelfth month of the lunar calendar), the Zhou calendar Jianzi (the current eleventh month of the lunar calendar), and the Jianhai (the current lunar calendar) adopted by the Zhuanxu calendar in the Qin Dynasty and the early Western Han Dynasty. Since the Taichu Calendar, the regulations on the Xia calendar and Jianyin have been restored. Since then, the first year of the Yin and Yang calendar year is basically fixed on the first day of the first lunar month. At the beginning of the year of the return year, the winter solstice or the beginning of spring was counted in ancient China. According to Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian: Book of Heaven", the winter solstice and the beginning of spring are the beginning days of four year-long sequences that are equally important as the first day of the first lunar month (the first day of the first day) and "La Tomorrow".
The winter solstice and the beginning of spring are just two important nodes in the "Twenty-Four Qi" formulated by the ancient Chinese for the Year of Return. They were once set as festivals, but not as the beginning of the year in the calendar. Taking historical books and almanacs of the past dynasties, the cycle change of the 60th Jiazi year of the stems and branches does not change with the return year of the winter solstice or the beginning of spring. However, the modern transformation of the Gregorian calendar has led to chaos, and many people have the wrong concept of the beginning of spring in the "Twenty-Four Qis" as the beginning of the year and the beginning of the zodiac sign - that is, the wrong concept of the transformation of stems and branches in the beginning of spring.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo formulated a pure "twelve Qi calendar" of the solar calendar. It uses the twelve "soul dynasties" of the "twenty-four Qi" (the beginning of spring, Jingzhe, Qingming, Xiaxia, Gangzhong, Little Heat, Beginning of Autumn, White Dew, Cold Dew, Beginning of Winter, Heavy Snow, Little Cold) as the first of the moon, referring to the twelve months, corresponding to the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter in the astronomical: "Today is the technique, it is better to use the twelve Qi to make a year." , not to mention December. The day of the beginning of spring is the day of spring, and the day of Jingzhe is the day of mid-spring. The day of the big ends and the thirty days of the small ends and thirty days of the small ends and there will never be any leap. December is often one big and one small intersect, even if two small ones are combined, only once a year. In this way, the energy of the four seasons is always correct, and the politics of the year will not be robbed." Although the "Twelve Qis" has not been implemented, it has been recorded in "Mengxi Bitan" and has been known. Xu Dasheng of the Southern Song Dynasty compiled a book about prophecies and divination, "Yuanhai Ziping", commonly known as "Ziping Art" - "Four Pillars and Eight Characters". The "Moon Pillar" begins with similarities to the twelve "Soul Months". Numerology sorcerers also adopted the traditional methods of dynasty, dynasty, and dynasty in the Yin-Yang Calendar. Then, plus the twelve Chen Chronicles and Times that were previously available, and also equipped with the heavenly stems to create a set of so-called "stem and branch calendars" (to be precise, a system for dynasty) dedicated to the "four pillars and eight characters" to be used for placing, calculating and predicting. This "art" has many fans in later generations and has been continuously expanded and developed. The "Four Pillars and Eight Characters" take the beginning of spring time (the Western law has been adopted in the Constitutional Calendar of the Qing Dynasty, and the Western 24-hour system has been used to transform the twelve hours. The "Twenty-four Qi" moments can be accurate to minutes and seconds) as the boundary between year and year, namely the "year pillar"; the twelve "soul dynasties" are divided by the intersection of the twelve "soul dynasties", namely the "month pillar"; and the "day pillar" is very special. In the intersection of the solar terms, the same day will be divided into two "month pillars" or even two "year pillars". Obviously, the "Four Pillars and Eight Characters" is not a calendar, without the concept of calendar years, calendar months, and calendar days, but just a numerology that borrows the methods of stems and branches of the time.
Since the Republic of China, since the official no longer issued the old calendar, various "fake almanacs" that promote numerology represented by the "Four Pillars and Eight Characters" have begun to flood the people, causing chaos. As Wu Guosheng’s article “The Year of the Sheep begins on the Beginning of Spring or the First Day of the Lunar New Year” says: “The orthodox lunar calendar and numerology qualifications have begun to be confused among the people, planting the root of disaster for today’s first year.” Xu Chunwei explained this hazard in "Is the change of the year and the beginning of spring or the first day of the first lunar month" (see "The Paper·Private History"): "Zi Pingshu used the word "Spring Festival" to write an article, saying that the traditional year is the beginning of spring, which was originally called "Spring Festival". The Republic of China gave the name and status of the "Spring Festival" to the first day of the first lunar month; even spread rumors that calendars such as "Taichu Calendar" used the beginning of spring as the beginning of spring. Misleading the public and depriving the status of the Spring Festival and the New Year are the first. This is the first harm. ... The Feng Shui Numerology Calendar has greater harm, and the greatest harm , is to destroy the lunar calendar. Since the stems and branches are used in traditional lunar calendar and numerology, but the two belong to completely different systems and categories, because they share a set of names of stems and branches, it is easy to have ambiguity; coupled with the ulterior motive of fortune-telling, the attempt to separate the lunar calendar from the stems and branches, resulting in the public's misunderstanding of the stems and branches. "So, it is precisely because the "lunar calendar" used by the people every day that penetrates and permeates the content of the "four pillars and eight characters" numerology, many people mistakenly regard the beginning of spring as the beginning of the year and serve as a node for the transformation of the zodiac signs. Little do we know that the "first lunar month" is the beginning of the year, and the zodiac signs also start from this day.
People who don’t know why confuse the “stem and branch calendar” forged by the “four pillars and eight characters” numerology with the traditional calendar, and mistakenly consider the whole set of symbols of the “stem and branch calendar” that were originally “yin and yang” attributes to be “belonging to Yang” (return year). In fact, according to the ancient Chinese concept of yin and yang and the characteristics of the combined calendar of Yin and Yang, the heavenly stems are yang, the earthly branches are yin, and the stems and branches are divided into yin and yang. If you understand this, you will be exempted from refutation. As for spring at both ends and no spring year (there are two beginnings or no beginnings of spring in a lunar calendar year), it is a very normal phenomenon.
The Spring Festival and the Spring Festival are two days that people attach great importance to. The beginning of spring and the festive atmosphere can always inspire inner emotions. The writers are very active in creating for the Spring Festival, and they are often very productive at this time. The signature is often filled with relevant information about the Beginning of Spring and the Spring Festival, but there are many people who frequently have problems in the year of the signature because they do not understand the transformation of the stems and branches. Taking the Gengzi year that just passed as an example, since the leap month of April includes two beginnings of spring, the former is on the eleventh day of the first lunar month of the Gengzi year, and the latter is on the 22nd day of the twelfth day of the Gengzi year. The former is because after the Spring Festival of the Gengzi Year, even if the beginning of spring is mistakenly believed that the beginning of spring has only changed, the sign "Gengzi Beginning of Spring" will not show any timidity; but the latter is before the Spring Festival of the Xinchou Year, if the sign "Xinchou Beginning of Spring", it will be embarrassing. First, the year of stems and branches (zodiac signs) has not changed, the year of Xinchou has not yet arrived, and second, the year of Xinchou has not yet begun (no spring). In this regard, as long as you remember that the beginning of the lunar calendar is the Spring Festival rather than the beginning of spring, and the stems and branches (zodiac signs) are changed only during the Spring Festival (the first day of the first lunar month), mistakes can be avoided. For the situation of "two-end spring", if you want to indicate the "Beginning of Spring" solar term when signing, it is recommended to add relevant information such as "first month" and "twelfth lunar month" (or alias for month) to distinguish it.
(IV) A mixture of lunar calendar and Gregorian calendar
has been described in the previous article. In today's calligraphy signatures, the year uses the lunar stems and branches or the Gregorian numbers, which is personal freedom, but the month, day and other information after the year cannot be mixed with each other. The calendar year and the Gregorian calendar vary. The January (first month) of the lunar calendar often lags around thirty days behind the January 2019 of the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, if you have used the stems and branches of the lunar calendar to determine the year, no matter whether the following month and day are complete or detailed, if you indicate relevant information, do not use the month and day of the Gregorian calendar; similarly, if you like to use numbers to determine the year of the Gregorian calendar, the following month and day must not be mixed with the month and day of the lunar calendar. Mixed is a taboo and a very serious mistake. Therefore, you must be consciously and cautious and serious when signing, and develop good habits of checking the year, month and day.
In addition, after the year is signed, there will be seasonal information such as in addition to month and day. The lunar calendar divides four seasons according to the "four standings" (beginning of spring, beginning of summer, beginning of autumn, and beginning of winter) of the "twenty-four qi", or the regular, second and third months are spring, April, May and June are summer, July, August and September are autumn, and October, November and 11 (winter) and twelve (wall) months are winter. You should also pay attention to the signature. Of course, those who like the AD can use the common Western division method of "two-part" (Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox, Winter Solstice) to mark the season, and try not to mix it with the lunar season method.
4. Conclusion
The time when the calligraphy is signed, especially the year, is easy to have problems. It is unclear whether the relevant common sense of ancient Chinese calendar and chronology is the crux of the crux. This article explains the calendar and chronological methods for a longer period of time, and explains the relevant issues of the use of "year" and "year", aiming to help calligraphers have a more comprehensive understanding of ancient calendar and chronological methods, and can correctly apply them to the practice of calligraphy signatures. Understand and treat the calendar well and correctly submit the time payment is not only responsible for oneself, but also for the ancients and future generations!
[Article excerpted from: "University Calligraphy" Issue 03, 2021]
