Baike: this poem uses the 'fu' technique and revolves around the word 'bitter' (I do not understand this latter bit when that char only appears 2x in the poem? Maybe it's metaphorical bitterness)
"the Fire Star passes the meridian;" In the fifth month, at dusk, he fire star is in the south, in the center/middle + highest spot. In the sixth month, it moves west-ward and down, so this is called 'flow'
"southernwood": Asteraceae or Compositae, namely Herba Artimisiae Sieversianae. Used as a sacrifice to gods/ancestors. (And /maybe/ by women before marriage? I can't quite parse this sentence)
"The boars of one year" vs "three years": means small animals vs big ones.
"bushy eyebrows": longevity; old people have luxurious eyebrows
The lamb sacrifice in the last stanza is as required in the classic of rites for early spring.
When reading the months, keep in mind that the Zhou calendar starts in the 11th month of the modern lunar calendar, so the 7-10 months in the poem correspond to the 4-6 of modern lunar calendar (? Not sure why we lost a month in the transition lol)
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Re: 154. 七月 - Qi Yue
Date: 2021-03-21 06:52 pm (UTC)"the Fire Star passes the meridian;" In the fifth month, at dusk, he fire star is in the south, in the center/middle + highest spot. In the sixth month, it moves west-ward and down, so this is called 'flow'
"southernwood": Asteraceae or Compositae, namely Herba Artimisiae Sieversianae. Used as a sacrifice to gods/ancestors. (And /maybe/ by women before marriage? I can't quite parse this sentence)
"The boars of one year" vs "three years": means small animals vs big ones.
"bushy eyebrows": longevity; old people have luxurious eyebrows
The lamb sacrifice in the last stanza is as required in the classic of rites for early spring.
When reading the months, keep in mind that the Zhou calendar starts in the 11th month of the modern lunar calendar, so the 7-10 months in the poem correspond to the 4-6 of modern lunar calendar (? Not sure why we lost a month in the transition lol)