每周一词第249期—夏至

Word of the Week--- ”Summer Solstice”

【词义解释】  

The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Summer Solstice, the 10th solar term of the year, begins on June 21 this year and ends on July 6.

夏至是中国传统二十四节气的第10个节气，今年的夏至从6月21日开始，7月6日结束。

At this time, much of the northern hemisphere receives the most hours of daylight, but it does not bring the hottest temperatures which will come only 20 to 30 days later.

在这一天，北半球的大部分地区白昼最长，但是气温却不是一年中最高的，最高气温将出现在20到30天后。

【背景介绍】

Summer Solstice idiom

夏至相关的成语

 In Chinese, an idiom "杯弓蛇影" is related to Summer Solstice.

中国成语“杯弓蛇影”与夏至有关。

 According to the records of Fengsutong (a book about Chinese customs), written by Ying Shao from the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD25-220), a man named Du Xuan attended a banquet on Summer Solstice, where he mistook the shadow of a bow in his cup for a snake and he had to drink it out of fear.

据东汉时期（公元25年-220年）应劭的《风俗通》记载，一位名叫杜宣的男子在夏至这天参加了一场宴会，他将映入酒杯中的弓影误以为是蛇，但因畏惧主人不敢不饮下这杯酒。

 After the banquet, he felt chest pains and a bellyache and couldn't recover even after seeing many doctors. Finally, he found he had mistaken the shadow of a red crossbow on the wall for a snake in his cup and recovered. Later, people used this idiom to refer to people who are suspicious and frighten themselves.

宴会结束后，杜宣感到胸腹疼痛，看了许多医生也不见好。最后他发现，自己将墙上挂着的一张赤弩的倒影看成了杯中的蛇，于是身体就康复了。后来，人们用这一成语形容疑神疑鬼、自己吓自己的人。

【关联词汇】

立春  the Beginning of Spring  
雨水  Rain Water               
惊蜇  the Waking of Insects  

春分  the Spring Equinox       

清明  Pure Brightness  

谷雨  Grain Rain              

立夏  the Beginning of Summer  
小满  Lesser Fullness of Grain

芒种  Grain in Beard

夏至  the Summer Solstice      

小暑  Lesser Heat              

大暑  Greater Heat          
立秋  the Beginning of Autumn  
处暑  the End of Heat          

白露  White Dew               

秋分  the Autumn Equinox       
寒露  Cold Dew                 
霜降  Frost's Descent  

立冬  the Beginning of Winter 
小雪  Lesser Snow   

大雪  Greater Snow

冬至  the Winter Solstice     
小寒  Lesser Cold              
大寒  Greater Cold             

来源：China Daily

撰稿：衡飞