二十四气次序变化原因探究-《中国农史》

文章信息/Info

Title:: The Study of Reasons on Change of the Order in the Twenty-four Solar Terms

Author(s):: XIN Jia-dai CHEN Yi-wen; （Institute for Advanced Study in History of Science, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127）

Keywords:: twenty-four solar terms; Waking from hibernation; Excited insects; phenology; ancient Chinese Calendar

摘要:: 二十四气在农业生产中具有重要的指导意义，也是中国传统历法的重要组成部分，从西汉《太初历》就被引入到历法作为时间刻度用以推算晷漏、昏旦中星、日躔等项目。通过对历史文献整理后发现二十四气名称与次序曾经历过四次变化。东汉以降学者们就此问题的原因一直存有分歧。本文以历法为切入点，并结合典籍和历法文献中的记载，复原早期文献中二十四气的名称和次序，辨析“启蛰”与“惊蛰”的关系，阐述二十四气与物候在被引入历法前后的内涵演变，进而分析给出了二十四气次序变化的根本原因。

Abstract:: The concept of 24 Qi, or the twenty-four solar terms, has important guiding significance in agricultural production, and is also an important part of the traditional Chinese calendar system. It has been introduced into the earliest existing calendar Taichu-Li as a time standard to calculate the Richan (solar motion), Yueli (lunar motion) and so on. However, after examining the existing historical literature, we find that its name and order have changed four times. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, scholars have been divided on the opinions of this problem. Taking the calendar as the breakthrough point, and combining with the records in ancient texts and Chinese traditional calendars, we aim to restore the name and order of the 24 Qi in some early texts, make clear the relationship between Qizhe (Waking from hibernation) and Jingzhe (Excited insects), analyze the historical evolution of the 24 Qi and the phenomena before and after being introduced into the Chinese calendar, and then give the reasons for the change of the 24 Qi’s order.