What is time? In traditional Chinese thought, time was not understood as something entirely separate from the physical world. It could be recognized through changes in space: the position of the sun, the movement of shadows, the turning of the seasons, and the relationship between Heaven and Earth.
In this video, we begin with Lì Qiū (立秋), the Beginning of Autumn, and explore the traditional concept of 觀象授時 (guān xiàng shòu shí) — “observe the heavens and set the seasons.”
By observing celestial phenomena, the ancient Chinese developed an ordered system of calendars, the 24 Solar Terms, and seasonal practices that guided agriculture and everyday life. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter were therefore not simply divisions on a calendar; they reflected observable changes in the cosmos and provided a rhythm for human activity.
This leads to a distinctive way of thinking about time: time as a reflection of space and of the changing relationship between Heaven and Earth.
This video is adapted from a longer HECHINESE members’ course exploring Lì Qiū and the traditional Chinese understanding of seasonal life.
For the complete course and further lessons on Chinese language, culture, and traditional thought, continue learning with us on Substack: https://wenyanwen201609.substack.com/
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In the ancient Chinese way of thinking,
time, timing, time,
it's actually just an image or reflection of space,
So in that sense, we say time does not exist.
Today we're gonna focus on one of the most important solar terms.
because this one symbolizes the start of autumn.
Okay, autumn is a season to start to appreciate or harvest,
appreciate whatever effort you have done,
or the cosmos or Heaven and Earth have given us.
And the past two seasons start to harvest,
to reflect, to appreciate.
And also there's a time everything's going kind of contracting.
Everything is kind of going down,
but preparing the energy for the next term, the next cycle, alright?
That's called 立秋(lì qiū), the beginning of autumn.
At the beginning, I want to introduce one important concept,
and it actually should be at the beginning of this solar term session,
but it's okay because every one has its own meaning,
but they all combine together.
They all originated from one ideology,
or one practice, or one philosophy,
whatever you call it.
Remember, keep that in mind. The way of traditional Chinese culture,
the way of thinking in traditional Chinese culture,
you cannot separate the substance or the physical world
from metaphysics, from whatever's high up there,
and also cannot separate it from whatever happens in every single
human being's heart. They are all connected.
Now you might dissect it into different subjects,
but overall, at the end of the day,
you have to put them together, and you gotta think that way.
Then you are heading on the right track of learning Chinese language
in a traditional way, and also
you're heading on the right track.
You're on the right track to learn Chinese culture, okay?
So this is one of the very basic ideas, concepts,
which is called 觀象授時(guān xiàng shòu shí):
Observe the heavens and set the seasons.
if we open it up a little bit,
elaborate it a little bit,
the ancient Chinese believed，
or they transformed celestial phenomena into an ordered seasonal system,
by which human life and society could be regulated.
or human society or human life can have something to follow.
Or we can say it in a different way.
Say, the ancients turned the movements of the heavens into a seasonal order,
by which life on Earth could be guided.
There's something we can follow, okay?
And that is called, short for, 觀象授時(guān xiàng shòu shí), over here.
觀象授時(guān xiàng shòu shí)
Observe the heavens and set the seasons.
The seasons include the calendar,
and the 24 solar terms, and also, more importantly,
more related to human society and human life, is farming,
agricultural activities. You want to observe
whatever happens in the cosmos to define the time:
spring, summer, autumn, winter,
and define what it's time to start cultivating,
when it's time to help push, or help follow the order to grow,
and when it's time to start to consider, to work on harvest.
and when it's time to really store it.
because in winter there's nothing there.
You want to store something for next year's energy and material-wise.
Okay. That's called: you observe it.
Whatever happens in the cosmos and finding out the timing.
So the time itself is a given.
By observing the position of the sun,
more materialized through the shadow,
when the sun gives, provides, generates the shadow of a stick,
finding the right spot on Earth, then to calculate time.
So we talked about that before.
In the ancient Chinese way of thinking,
time, timing, time,
it's actually just an image or reflection of space,
more physically, of the related position,
changing of the sun and Earth, of Heaven and Earth.
So in that sense, we say time does not exist.
