General Literary Chinese from Scratch/Lunar Dates with the Spring and Autumn Annals

thumb|200px|Confucius, a purported author of the Annals. One of the most famous texts in the Literary and Classical Chinese canon is the Spring and Autumn Annals, known natively as Chunqiu 春秋. It is said to have been by Confucius whilst he was a minister in the State of Lu 魯, and while it is extremely simple, it is extremely audacious, biassed, and tongue-in-cheek, all whilst not necessarily being explicit about it. This makes it an excellent way to discuss dates, synonyms for various important verbs, and find early but important ways to get acquainted with traditional writers thought. By the end of this lesson, you will have an idea of why this text spawned five extremely elaborate commentaries, three of which are extant to this day. The State of Lu was founded by Boqi 伯禽, also known posthumously as Duke Tai of Lu 魯太公, after the fall of the Shang dynasty. It was a small but significant state, being a hotbed for ancient philosophy, and lasted for around eight centuries. Famous philosophers from Lu include Mozi 墨子, Confucius 孔子, and Zuo Qiuming 左丘明, whose writings still impact the Sinosphere to this day. Lu was located in what is now Shandong 山東, and its capital, Qufu 曲阜, holds numerous artifacts and manuscripts from that time. Getting the calendar (曆) right was serious business for the ancient Chinese people. The Miao 苗 people were infamously sacked by Emperor Shun 帝舜 in part for "confusing" the calendar, and this crime would be applied to later regimes as well. As one would expect, recording historical annals properly was, then, of critical importance. I will teach you how they wanted you to do it in this lesson...luckily, without your bloodline on, well, the line! The Earthly Branches The Earthly Branches 地支 are highly important for timekeeping and denote set 2-hour periods. One can arrange these like an analog clock, and the structure 甲時 is normally used for saying "X happened at Y time." These branches are associated with Jupiter's 12-year rotations around Earth. The following are each of the Earthly Branches: Heavenly BranchTimespan子 23:00-01:00丑 01:00-03:00寅 03:00-05:00卯 05:00-07:00辰07:00-09:00巳09:00-11:00午 11:00-13:00未 13:00-15:00申 15:00-17:00酉 17:00-19:00戌 19:00-21:00亥 21:00-23:00 The Sexagenery cycle thumb|200px|Observe, the actual bone this was from! By combining the Earthly Branches with the Heavenly Stems from the last lesson, one can make 60 combinations, which form a 60-day cycle. This has been used since the Shang era, and continues to be used for the Lunar Calendar. It is also used to denote lunar years. Here they are in order, from right to left, vertically, taken from a real oracle bone! +干支 甲子 乙丑 丙寅 丁卯 戊辰 己巳 庚午 辛未 壬申 癸酉 甲戌 乙亥 丙子 丁丑 戊寅 己卯 庚辰 辛巳 壬午 癸未 甲申 乙酉 丙戌 丁亥 戊子 己丑 庚寅 辛卯 壬辰 癸巳 甲午 乙未 丙申 丁酉 戊戌 己亥 庚子 辛丑 壬寅 癸卯 甲辰 乙巳 丙午 丁未 戊申 己酉 庚戌 辛亥 壬子 癸丑 甲寅 乙卯 丙辰 丁巳 戊午 己未 庚申 辛酉 壬戌 癸亥 The person who wrote that bone was also a learner: They memorised the cycle simply through rote memorisation. If you want, you can try it too: Just like someone from 3,000 years ago. If you want to try, I recommend doing it in groups; if you want to achieve the same remarkable organisation as the bone, do so in groups of 10, but do whatever you find works best for you. By chunking them, things become a little easier. Use in dates 冬，十月，壬午，齊人、鄭人入郕。 As-is, you should be able to roughly figure out what this sentence means, with your knowledge of the Heavenly Branches, Earthly Stems, and what 人 means. This is but one line from the Spring and Autumn Annals. The first character is the season. Like in English, there are four: Spring 春, Summer 夏, Autumn 秋, and Winter 冬. This will usually come after the date, and then subsequent events will be categorised by season, with the month number and sexagenery day within. This is somewhat difficult to directly translate into modern years for many manuscripts, but most from the Spring and Autumn Annals and onwards are generally understood. In the case of this text, it covers events from around circa 790 BC to circa 500 BC, a 242ish year period. The reason years are somewhat difficult to ascertain is because East Asian years were traditionally tied to the ruler. Therefore, there will be a 元年 - that's the first - followed by Ruler二年, and so on, until death. The Republic of China, for example, uses dates based on the day of its founding after the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912 (e.g. 中華民國一百十六年), as does North Korea (e.g. 主體七十四年). Once one ruler's rough date of existence is known, though, reconstructing the whole timeline in other calendars, at least based on the word of the writer, is usually quite straightforward. You can probably figure out both of those example years I wrote through general knowledge! 秋七月壬辰朔，日有食之，既。 五年春正月，甲戌、己丑，陳侯鮑卒。 A full year of Duke Min of Lu 魯閔公 元年春，王正月。 齊人救邢。 夏六月，辛酉，葬我君莊公。 秋八月，公及齊侯盟于落姑。季子來歸。 冬，齊仲孫來。 二年春，王正月，齊人遷陽。 夏，五月，乙酉，吉禘于莊公。 秋，八月，辛丑，公薨。 九月，夫人姜氏孫于邾。公子慶父出奔莒。 冬，齊高子來盟。 十有二月，狄入衛。 鄭棄其師。 Additional vocabulary There are a few more pieces of vocabulary that are worth remembering. CharacterMeaningNotes春Spring, the first three months of the year.The four seasons are referred to as 四時, lit. the "Four Times." 夏Summer, the second three months of the year.Also the name of a semi-legendary dynasty, the Xia dynasty. 秋Autumn, the third three months of a year.冬Winter, the last three months of a year.正月First month of a year.一月 can exist, but 正月 is much, much more common. 元月/年Inaugral month/year for a ruler.載Legal synonym for a year 年For example, 雍正三載 could refer to the third year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign. 歲A year, syn. 年Typically seen in older texts, especially Oracle bones. The character technically means Jupiter! 春秋Usually annals, but can also be used to refer to one's age.朔(日 or 月)The first day of the month.晦日The last day of the lunar month.The last moon of a month is known as 盡月. 臘月The twelfth lunar month.Consists of a traditional festival on the 7th day called 儺 which exorcises inauspicious spirits, ensuring they do not hurt people in the new year. The next day is 臘, which is a sacrifice to ancestors, 祖. 除日Last day of the 12th lunar month.朞Complete朞月 as a complete month, 朞年 as a full year.來The comingUsually used with a new day as it comes. 異日 can also be used to vaguely an undefined day in the future.前The lastUsually "yesterday". With respect to time, it can also refer to any time before, wherein the opposite is 後.初BeginningUsed very frequently.旬10-day weekDays in ancient China were recorded as 10-day weeks as they used the orbit of Jupiter, not the moon, to define time. Exercise: Defining the Months The Erya 爾雅, an ancient dictionary, defines the months as follows. With the vocabulary you know so far, you should be able to read the entries yourself. However, it should be noted that these are not used too often, and simply using number+month is fine! 正月為陬 二月為如 三月為寎 四月為余 五月為皋 六月為且 七月為相 八月為壯 九月為玄 十月為陽 十一月為辜 十二月為涂 Cangjie codes 春: 手大日 (QKA) 秋: 竹木火 (HDF) 魯: 弓田火日 (NWFA) 伯: 人竹日 (OHA) 禽: 人卜山月 (OYUB) 太: 大戈 (KI) 公: 金戈 (CI) 墨: 田土火土 (WGFG) 子: 弓木 (ND) 孔: 弓木山 (NDU) 左: 大一 (KM) 丘: 人一 (OM) 明: 日月 (AB) 山: 山 (U) 東: 木田 (DW) 曲: 廿田 (TW) 阜: 竹口十 (HRJ) 曆: 一木日 (MDA) 苗: 廿田 (TW) 帝: 卜月中月 (YBLB) 舜: 月月弓手 (BBNQ) 地: 土心木 (GPD) 支: 十水 (JE) 甲: 田中 (WL) 時: 日土木戈 (AGDI) 丑: 弓土 (NG) 寅: 十一中金 (JMLC) 卯: 竹竹尸中 (HHSL) 辰: 一一一女 (MMMV) 巳: 口山 (RU) 午: 人十 (OJ) 未: 十木 (JD) 申: 中田中 (LWL) 酉: 一金田一 (MCWM) 戌: 戈竹一 (IHM) 亥: 卜女竹人 (YVHO) 乙: 弓山 (NU) 丙: 一人月 (MOB) 丁: 一弓 (MN) 戊: 戈竹 (IH) 己: 尸山 (SU) 庚: 戈中人 (ILO) 辛: 卜廿十 (YTJ) 壬: 竹土 (HG) 癸: 弓人一大 (NOMK) 冬: 竹水卜 (HEY) 十: 十 (J) 月: 月 (B) 齊: 卜難 (YX) 人: 人 (O) 鄭: 廿大弓中 (TKNL) 入: 人竹 (OH) 郕: 戈尸弓中 (ISNL) 夏: 一山竹水 (MUHE) 元: 一一山 (MMU) 年: 人手 (OQ) 二: 一一 (MM) 中: 中 (L) 華: 廿一廿十 (TMTJ) 民: 口女心 (RVP) 國: 田戈口一 (WIRM) 一: 一 (M) 百: 一日 (MA) 六: 卜金 (YC) 主: 卜土 (YG) 體: 月月廿田廿 (BBTWT) 七: 十山 (JU) 四: 田金 (WC) 朔: 廿山月 (TUB) 日: 日 (A) 有: 大月 (KB) 食: 人戈日女 (OIAV) 之: 戈弓人 (INO) 既: 日戈一女山 (AIMVU) 五: 一木一 (MDM) 正: 一卜中一 (MYLM) 陳: 弓中木田 (NLDW) 侯: 人弓一大 (ONMK) 鮑: 弓火心口山 (NFPRU) 卒: 卜人人十 (YOOJ) 閔: 日弓卜大 (ANYK) 王: 一土 (MG) 救: 戈水人大 (IEOK) 邢: 一廿弓中 (MTNL) 葬: 廿一心廿 (TMPT) 我: 竹手戈 (HQI) 君: 尸大口 (SKR) 莊: 廿女一土 (TVMG) 八: 竹人 (HO) 及: 弓竹水 (NHE) 盟: 日月月廿 (ABBT) 于: 一木 (MD) 落: 廿水竹口 (TEHR) 姑: 女十口 (VJR) 季: 竹木弓木 (HDND) 來: 木人人 (DOO) 歸: 竹一尸一月 (HMSMB) 仲: 人中 (OL) 孫: 弓木竹女火 (NDHVF) 遷: 卜一田山 (YMWU) 陽: 弓中日一竹 (NLAMH) 吉: 土口 (GR) 禘: 戈火卜月月 (IFYBB) 薨: 廿田中心 (TWLP) 九: 大弓 (KN) 夫: 手人 (QO) 姜: 廿土女 (TGV) 氏: 竹女心 (HVP) 邾: 竹木弓中 (HDNL) 慶: 戈難水 (IXE) 父: 金大 (CK) 出: 山山 (UU) 奔: 大十廿 (KJT) 莒: 廿口竹口 (TRHR) 高: 卜口月口 (YRBR) 狄: 大竹火 (KHF) 衛: 竹人木手弓 (HODQN) 棄: 卜戈廿木 (YITD) 其: 廿一一金 (TMMC) 師: 竹口一中月 (HRMLB) 載: 十戈十田十 (JIJWJ) 雍: 卜女竹土 (YVHG) 三: 一一一 (MMM) 歲: 卜一戈竹竹 (YMIHH) 晦: 日人田卜 (AOWY) 盡: 中一火月廿 (LMFBT) 臘: 月女女女 (BVVV) 儺: 人廿人土 (OTOG) 祖: 戈火月一 (IFBM) 除: 弓中人一木 (NLOMD) 朞: 廿金月 (TCB) 異: 田廿金 (WTC) 前: 廿月中弓 (TBLN) 後: 竹人女戈水 (HOVIE) 初: 中尸竹 (LSH) 旬: 心日 (PA) 爾: 一火月大 (MFBK) 雅: 一竹人土 (MHOG) 為: 戈大弓火 (IKNF) 陬: 弓中尸十水 (NLSJE) 如: 女口 (VR) 寎: 十女一月 (JVMB) 余: 人一木 (OMD) 皋: 竹日大十 (HAKJ) 且: 月一 (BM) 相: 木月山 (DBU) 壯: 女一土 (VMG) 玄: 卜女戈 (YVI) 辜: 十口卜廿十 (JRYTJ) 涂: 水人一木 (EOMD) 經: 女火一女一 (VFMVM) 合: 人一口 (OMR) 集: 人土木 (OGD) References 《春秋經》 《爾雅》 《合集》37986