Idiom of the week: 春风得意 (Chūnfēng déyì)
形容人因事情如愿以偿而心情愉悦满足。
Describes people feeling happy and satisfied because things go as they wish.
Extra idiom: 如愿以偿 (Rúyuàn yǐcháng) - fulfill one’s wish, get what one desires
With full Spring in the air, let’s embrace it with a cute trend from China!
It turns out you can greet Spring with Chinese characters! Let’s go through the words and expressions together:
人间三月,春风送暖。最近,很多网友的相册里都充满着春花烂漫。当汉字涂鸦撞上春暖花开,有趣的一撇一捺间,就勾勒出盎然春意,用传统诗词“解锁”别样春色,春和景明之中便有了诗意的灵魂,愿春日的美好与你相约。
相册 (Xiàngcè) - photo album
我把春花的照片放到相册里了。I have put the photos of spring flowers in the photo album
烂漫 (Lànmàn) - bright-coloured, brilliant. In this context, it indicates that the flowers are blossoming.
很多网友的相册里都充满着春花烂漫。The photo albums of many netizens are full of spring flowers.
涂鸦 (Túyā) - doodle, graffiti
当汉字涂鸦撞上春暖花开. When doodles of Chinese characters collide with the spring flowers
一撇一捺 (Yī piē yī nà) - a stroke and a stroke, stroke by stroke; figuratively, it is an idiom: 撇 and 捺 are names of strokes that together create a character 人, hence it means that a person needs to be “created”, or “formed” with a help of others
有趣的一撇一捺间,就勾勒出盎然春意。 Interesting strokes outline the fullness of spring.
勾勒 (Gōulè) - draw, outline
恋爱中的人,常常会在内心勾勒出心爱之人的模样。People in love draw the picture of their loved one in their hearts.
盎然 (Àngrán) - abundant; synonym: 丰富 (Fēngfù)
解锁 (Jiěsuǒ) - unlock
春天的到来”解锁”了新的机遇。The arrival of spring “unlocks” new opportunities.
别样 (Biéyàng) - different
雨日观雨,实是有一种别样的情趣。Watching the falling rain on a rainy day is really a different kind of fun.
灵魂 (Línghún) - soul; synonym: 心灵 (Xīnlíng)
用传统诗词“解锁”别样春色,春和景明之中便有了诗意的灵魂。 "Unlocking" a different kind of spring scenery by using traditional poetry, and there is a poetic soul in both the spring and the scenery.
相约 (Xiāngyuē) - make an appointment, agree on a meeting
愿春日的美好与你相约。You are met by the beauty of spring.
Did you know that China used more than just one calendar?
Let’s look at some historical facts related to spring in China!
天文专家介绍,为了指导农业生产活动,中国古代将阳历年划分为24个节气,即每15天一个节气。而因为多了闰月,农历闰年的天数比农历平年的天数多出30天左右,故农历闰年有25个节气,而农历平年则有23个或24个节气。因为立春在岁尾或岁首,所以经常出现立春节气跑到上一农历年的岁尾或跨到下一农历年的岁首。这就出现了农历年两头春、单春或者是无春的不同情况。
天文专家 (Tiānwén zhuānjiā) - astronomer
指导 (Zhǐdǎo) - to guide, to direct
阳历 (Yánglì) - Solar Calendar
划分 (Huàfēn) - to divide
农历 (Nónglì) - Lunar Calendar
节气 (Jiéqì) - a solar term; in ancient China, it was is any of twenty-four periods in traditional Chinese lunisolar calendars
天文专家介绍,为了指导农业生产活动,中国古代将阳历年划分为24个节气,即每15天一个节气。In order to guide agricultural work, astronomy experts in ancient China divided the solar calendar year into 24 solar terms, which is one solar term for every 15 days.
闰月 (Rùnyuè) - leap month
平年 (Píngnián) - average year, opposite to 闰年 (Rùnnián) - leap year
而因为多了闰月,农历闰年的天数比农历平年的天数多出30天左右,故农历闰年有25个节气,而农历平年则有23个或24个节气。Because of the extra leap month, a leap year in the lunar calendar is about 30 days longer than ordinary year. Therefore, there are 25 solar terms in a leap year in the lunar calendar, while there are 23 or 24 solar terms in an ordinary year.
立春 (Lìchūn) - the beginning of spring, an important period in ancient China
岁尾 (Suì wěi) - the end of year, as opposed to 岁首 (Suì shǒu) - the beginning of the year, which also indicates the beginning of Spring Festival (春节 Chūn Jié). As you can see, 岁 is a different term for “year”. Now you know where 岁 in “你今年几岁” comes from!
因为立春在岁尾或岁首,所以经常出现立春节气跑到上一农历年的岁尾或跨到下一农历年的岁首。这就出现了农历年两头春、单春或者是无春的不同情况。Because the beginning of spring fell at the end or beginning of a year, it often happened at the end of the previous lunar year or at the beginning of the next lunar year. Therefore, there could be two springs in one lunar year, or no spring in one year at all.
As you can see, measuring time was never easy.
我们希望这个春天对您来说会是春風得意的时刻! We hope this spring will be a time of success for you!
Antoine & Dorota