用英语讲好中国故事——秋分

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The 24 Solar Terms originated in the Yellow River reaches. According to the Book of Documents, the first determined term was Winter Solstice by Dan, the Duke of Zhou, while he was trying to locate the geological center of the Western Zhou dynasty, by measuring the length of the sun's shadow on an ancient timekeeper instrument. Then four terms of seasons were set, which were soon evolved as eight terms; until 104 BC in the book Taichu Calendar, the entire twenty-four solar terms were officially included in the Chinese calendar.

24节气起源于黄河流域。根据《尚书》记载，第一个确定的节气是冬至，当时周公旦试图通过测量古代计时器上太阳阴影的长度来定位西周王朝的地理位置中心，然后设立了四个节气，很快演变为八个节气；直到公元前104年，在《太初历》中，所有的二十四节气被正式纳入中国历法。


Autumn Equinox, or qiufen in Chinese, marks the 16th of the 24 solar terms and divides the autumn into two halves. It is the occasion when night and day are almost equal in length for the second time in a year.
秋分， 中国传统二十四节气中的第16个节气，将秋天平分成两半。这是一年中第二次黑夜和白天的时长几乎相等的时刻。

In the following days, the nights grow longer and the days turn shorter, with all living beings to prepare their cozy shelters ahead of the chilly winter nights.
在接下来的日子里，夜晚变长，白天变短，所有生物开始在寒冷的冬夜来临前准备舒适的庇护所。

Signs of Autumn Equinox’s arrival in Chinese proverbs are defined as “three periods of waiting” — waiting for thunders to stop, waiting for insects to go back to earth and waiting for puddles to dry amid easing rainfall.
中国谚语用“三候”诠释秋分的到来—— 一候，雷始收声；二候，蛰虫坯户；三候，水始涸。