"Xiaoya·The Turn of October" is one of the poems in the "Book of Songs", the first collection of poems in ancient China. The sentence describing the total solar eclipse is as follows:
October At the turn of the year, New Moon and Xin Mao. There is eclipse in the sun, which is also the ugly hole. The moon was faint that time, and the sun was faint now; now the people are also mourning.
The sun and the moon warn of misfortune, so don’t do anything about it. The four countries have no government and do not use their good deeds. If there is an eclipse in that month, it will remain normal; if there is an eclipse in this day, why not be happy?
Interpretation:
It is October, and the first day of the lunar month is Xin Mao. A sudden solar eclipse in the sky is a dangerous sign. In previous lunar eclipses, the night light was dim, but today's solar eclipse makes the sky and earth dark. Nowadays, all the people in the world are saddened by the impending disaster.
Solar and lunar eclipses are bad omens, and operating routines are not followed. It’s all because there is no good governance in the world, and there are only so many talented people who can’t be used. There have been lunar eclipses in normal times, and I have become accustomed to them and my mind is not disturbed. Now the solar eclipse appears again, sighing that this is a bad thing.
Extended information:
This was a minor official in the court during the period of King You of Zhou Dynasty. He was dissatisfied with the rulers, the emperor and others, who did not care about their affairs and did not care about the safety of the country. A poem of political resentment based on the act of enriching one's own pockets. Connect solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, and strong earthquakes with the court's poor employment to express one's deep sorrow and worries.
The poet did not understand the reasons for solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, and earthquakes. He believed that they were warnings from God to mankind, so he began by saying that a solar eclipse occurred on the first day of October. "The sun is the image of the king." In the late summer, people used the sun to describe the king. The lack of light from the sun was believed by the ancients to be a sign of great disaster for the kingdom. The poet narrates this matter at the beginning of the chapter, which is shocking.