These paper calendars are hard-won scientific products, which have been explored and summarized by human beings in the practice of constantly fighting against nature since the age of ignorance.
Knot a rope, remember the date, carve wood, and meet each other after a brief encounter.
In ancient times, people lived a nomadic life of fishing and hunting in primitive groups. In their struggle with nature, they gradually realized the movement laws of various phenomena in nature. From the rise and fall of the sun and the profit and loss of the moon, I gradually got to know the sun and the moon. I saw the germination, growth and withering of plants, and the changes of cold and heat, and I knew the year.
How do people count the days in an era without calendars? For example, how long does it take a person to go out? What shall we do? The ancients came up with a method of "tying a rope to record the day". When he went out, he tied a rope around his waist. Tie a knot every day on the way, and you will know how many days it is when you arrive at your destination. Walking home, you can untie your heart after a day's walk. After the knot was untied, home arrived.
If two people make an appointment to meet again in five days, they will carve five paths on a small piece of wood or bamboo, then cut them and each person will take half. Two people cut off one every day. When the cut of sawdust or bamboo chips is cut, it's time for a date. This is called "woodcarving meets each other".
What if I want to record a longer date? There are also ways. For example, before liberation, the Miao people in Southwest China threw 1 pebble into the bamboo tube every full moon. After throwing enough 12 pebbles, a big pebble will be replaced, which is 1 year.
When observing the gift of heaven.
The development of social production promoted the occurrence and development of astronomy. The development of agriculture and animal husbandry production needs to master the cycle of "year", because spring sowing, Xia Geng, autumn harvest, winter storage and farming activities should be closely coordinated with seasonal changes, and the cycle of seasonal changes is one year.
In China's very old book "Xia Zhengxiao", it is recorded that the seasons and months are set according to the observation of natural phenomena such as astronomical phenomena, vegetation, birds and animals. For example, when does the vole come out of the hole? When will the willow sprout? When will the ice and snow melt? From the change of phenology, we can see the seasonal change of a year, and correspond these phenomena into a series of events to guide the production of agriculture and animal husbandry. Xia Zhengxiao is said to be the calendar of the Xia Dynasty, which can be said to be the earliest almanac of mankind.
The changes of phenology and natural environment are printed in people's minds again and again, and the periodic changes of astronomical phenomena also leave a deep impression on people. The interdependence between them will undoubtedly be gradually understood by people, and it is logical to observe the movement changes of the sun, the moon and the stars to predict the arrival of different seasons in a year.
If your door faces south, you should observe the shadow of the sun at noon every day. On the summer solstice, the sun can only shine on the threshold. This is because the sun shines directly in the northern hemisphere in summer and the shadow is very short. Later, the sun slowly oblique, around the Mid-Autumn Festival, the sun can shine into half the room. After that, the sun will be more oblique. On the solstice of winter, the sun can shine on the north wall of the house. After the solstice in winter, the sun slowly withdrew from the house. According to the length of the shadow cast by sunlight, the season of a year can be roughly determined.
Observing the stars is also a way for people to decide the seasons. If you choose a bright star (such as Vega) and watch it rise from the eastern horizon at dusk around May, the next day you will find that it appears earlier than the day before. Of course, just a short time in advance, you may not feel it at once; But after a long time, after ten days and a half, you will obviously feel that Vega appeared earlier than in the past. You can see Vega at dusk in autumn. It has reached its zenith.
The working people of the Xia Dynasty more than 4,000 years ago had paid close attention to observing the Big Dipper. At that time, the Big Dipper was very close to the North Pole, with a high position, never hidden all the year round, bright and eye-catching. This is a star composed of seven bright stars, shaped like a barrel. If you draw the position of this "bucket" in the sky at dusk every other month, you will find it circling around the celestial pole in the sky. This phenomenon has long been discovered by the ancients. The ancient book "Cuckoo Tube" said: "bucket handle refers to the east, and the world is spring; Bucket handle guide, the world is summer; Bucket handle refers to the west, and the world is autumn; Bucket handle refers to the north, and it is winter in the world. " This method of determining seasons by observing the rotation of Beidou is also described in the middle of summer.
Setting four hours according to observing the changes in the sky is called observation time. It is a method of observing time that people use for a long time in days without calendars.
Fire in July, clothes in September.
The Book of Songs is the oldest collection of folk poems, which was written from the 0 th century BC to the 6 th century BC, reflecting people's thoughts and feelings, lifestyle and understanding of natural phenomena at that time. "Fire in July, Clothes in September" is an article in The Book of Songs.
"Fire" refers to the "fire" star in the sky. This is a bright red star, located in Scorpio, which is one of the beautiful constellations in summer night. It is said that its name is "Kuibo". His brother's name is "Stone God". Although they are brothers, they often fight and get angry easily, which makes the family fidgety. Gao Xin, the stern father, ordered them to be separated so that they could never see each other again. Kui Bo moved to Shangqiu and Shi Shen moved to Daxia. Later they all became stars and went to heaven. "Kuibo" is "fire" and is also called Shangxing; "Stone God" is Canxing, the beautiful Orion in winter night. They are East and West, just opposite each other on the celestial sphere, and they will never see each other at the same time. Du Fu, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, quoted this allusion in his poem "It is difficult for friends to meet each other like the stars in the morning and evening".
Fire is a famous and conspicuous star. The ancestors of the Yin Dynasty had long learned to observe its existence to determine the farming season, and also set up two official positions called "Huozheng" to take charge of this work. Although there was a crude calendar in the Yin Dynasty, the old tradition of determining the farming season according to the appearance of the "fire" star continued to be handed down. According to the theory of modern astronomy, during the rainy solar term about 4000 years ago, the "fire" star rose from the eastern horizon as soon as the sun set from the western horizon. When people see this phenomenon, they have to prepare for spring ploughing and sowing in order to strive for a good harvest this year. When the midsummer is over and the summer solar term is coming, the sun has just set in the west, and the "fire" star has crossed the southern sky and will soon flow to the west. Soon the weather will turn cold and winter clothes will be ready. In the "July" section of the Book of Songs, "July is a fire, and September is a gift".
According to the relationship between the position of the "fire" star at dusk and the season, a simple sequence table can be drawn. According to it, we can predict the change of seasons and the arrangement of farming, which is similar to a calendar.
The moon leaves in the rain.
In the days when there is no calendar, people always want to get inspiration from various ways. When a snowstorm is going to hit them in winter, you must know in advance to prepare fuel and find shelter in time; Summer storms will take away their poor harvests, so it is best to find the signs in advance; The continuous autumn rain will make them unable to collect fruits, so try to pick as many fruits as possible before the rainy day comes. These are closely related to their lives. After paying a great price and sacrifice, primitive people finally summed up some laws in their struggle with nature to help them avoid difficulties.
"When the moon rises, there will be torrential rain", and the soldiers who marched eastward in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty spent their years in the wilderness. Just after the full moon, soapy, they are marching in the torrential rain. The fifteenth moon is in the middle of the night. When should it be? Using simple astronomical knowledge, it can be inferred that the sun is located opposite soapy at this time, that is, near Shinjuku. The vernal equinox 4,000 years ago is such an astronomical phenomenon. "The moon left Bi and it rained cats and dogs" is a portrayal of the arrival of autumn rain in that era.
"When the moon rises, the wind blows the sand" is another rule of experience summarized by the ancients. The full moon is in the sky, about 4000 years ago after the vernal equinox 1 month. The strong wind in spring raises dust, which indicates that the weather will get warmer and everything will recover.
Nature is changing its face, bringing infinite wealth to mankind and unexpected disasters to people. In order to seek their own survival and development, the ancients constantly understood it, conquered it, and passed on their knowledge to the next generation. According to legend, after a long time without a calendar, people gradually accumulated knowledge about the year, month and day, which is the basis for the emergence of a calendar.