《24节气》

时间在2月3-5日之间太阳位于黄经315°，这个时候春天便开始了。从这一天一直到立夏 这段期间，都被称之为春天。而立春这天要吃春饼。从这天开始，黄河中下游土壤解冻，蛰虫始振。

春江水暖，船屋上的人已经又可以站在江水中洗衣服了，一只白猫也来江边喝水，她的脚步有点迟疑。因为从岸上拉来电线通电，船屋其实已经不能移动，这些人们依然住在船上，不知是因为在岸上没有立足之地，还是因为习惯。船既然被当作屋，也就像屋子一样，贴上了迎祥纳福的春联。远处，民国年间何应钦建造的中山桥已成危桥，船屋不知还能存在多久。

_Lichun_ (the Start of Spring) Boathouses by the Jiulong River, Zhangzhou

During Feb. 3-5, the sun eclipse is at 315° degrees, marking the start of Spring. On this day it is customary for people to eat spring rolls (chunbing). The land near the middle reaches of the Yellow River begin to thaw, and the earthworms slowly begin to move.

The water of the Jiulong River becomes warm, so the people living in houseboats are again able to stand in the river while washing their clothes. A white cat steps hesitantly to the river to take a drink. Since the people living on the boats now use electricity, their boats are connected to the land through wires and cannot move. But they are still living on the boats, I don’t know it’s because of their custom, or because they can’t find place on the land. But since the boat has become their house, they also hang the spring festival couplet on the door to bring good fortune and welcome arrivals. In the distant background, one can see the Sun Yatsen bridge, built by general He Yingqin during the 1930s. Already this bridge has become an old and unused building, how long will these boathouses remain?

每年2月19日或20日视太阳到达黄经330°时为雨水。《月令七十二候集解》中说：“正月中，天一生水。春始属木，然生木者必水也，故立春后继 之雨水。且东风既解冻，则散而为雨矣。”

对农民来说，雨水正是小春管理、大春备耕的关键时期。

南国多雨，树木常绿。大炮台下的民居苔痕深重，所有的生活什物，都堆在避雨的地方。

_Yushui_ (the Rain Water) Homes under emplacement, Macao

Feb.18, 19 or 20 of every year when the sun has risen to 330° degrees, it is the rainy season. The ancient astronomic book said: “Middle of the first mouth, comes water. The start of Spring belongs to the wood, but the wood only grows with the water, so after the Lichun will be Yushui. Also, as the wind from east already made the ice thaw, so the ice steams into rain”. For the farmers, the rainy season is an important period for preparing the spring ploughing.

Macau, in the wet regions of south China, is full of non-deciduous trees. The residences near the old garrisons of the colonial period are covered with lichen. All the everyday items are stored away in the rainproof area.

斗指丁为惊蛰，雷鸣动，蛰虫皆震起而出，故名惊蛰。

柳树刚刚抽芽，几百万民工又涌进了北京城，分散进各个建筑工地。远处黄色的简易房，是他们的住处，往往几十个人住一间。更远处的楼房，便是他们盖出来的。此后的一年中，他们和家乡的妻儿老小主要的联系方式，便是这些公用电话亭。我在这里写字拍照的这天晚上，一个民工在远处的电话亭打了一个多小时的电话。我一边写一边在想，他从电话中听到的消息不知是喜是忧。

_Jingzhe_ (the Awakening of Insects) Phone-booth under the Sihui Bridge, Beijing

When the Triones forward to the “Ding” of ecliptic, it is the Awakening of Insects. Thundering awake up the underground inserts.

The willows are budding, and millions of laborers from the countryside flow into Beijing again and disperse to construction sites. The simple yellow house in the back is their temporary dormitory, at times filled with 40 persons per room. And the tower in the far background is what they are in the process of building. From now on, the only way they can contact their family back home town is through these telephone boxes. The night when I was writing with light and shooting the photo, there was one man on the phone there for more then one hour. I kept wondering, was the news he got from the phone good or bad?

春分，这一天太阳将会从正东升起，正西落下。太阳光直射赤道，地球各地的昼夜时间相等，所以古代春分秋分又称为"日夜分"

燕京春晚，花事以春分时节为盛。最美的是长安街上中南海南面红墙内外的玉兰花，树老而花大，把绚烂之极演绎到极致，可惜那个地方是无法慢慢地拍摄的。我在燕园、清华园转悠多日，却不意是在雍和宫后墙边找到了我理想的春天。左边的红墙是雍和宫的北墙，右边是北二环的高架桥，这里就是以前城墙的位置，如今不时地有夜间出来飙车的人呼啸而过。电线穿透了一树树怒放的桃花，而繁密的花枝也直欲淹没整个城市，一时抢尽风头。城墙不知何处去，桃花依旧笑春风。

_Chunfen_ (the Vernal Equinox) Rear wall of the Yonghegong Temple, Beijing

The Solar will set up from the right east and fall down to the right wet on this _Chunfen_ date, and the sunshine vertically on the equator. All over the world, the daylight hours are equal to nighttime hours (the Vernal Equinox and the Autumn Equinox also known as “fifty-fifty of day and night” in the old time).

Since spring always comes late in Beijing, the flowers are blooming until _Chunfen_ period. The most beautiful is the yulan flower inside the red southern wall of Zhong Nan Hai, the tree is old and the flower is big, it represents the perfection of floweriness. It’s a pity that it is impossible take a photo there (Zhong Nan Hai is the political center of China). I spent several time strolling in Yuan Garden and Qinghua Garden, then spontaneously I found my perfect spring scene in this rear wall of the Yonghegong Temple. The red wall in the left side of the picture is the northern wall of Yonghegong Temple, while the right of the picture is the viaduct of the North 2nd  ring road of Beijing, the same location of the old Beijing city ramparts. Now late at night we can find cars doing streetracing here. The electrical wire penetrates through the blossoming peach tree, as the dense peachblossoms seem to overtake the city. The old rampart has already disappeared with the time but the tree is still laughing at the spring breeze.

《历书》：“春分后十五日，斗指丁，为清明，时万物皆洁 齐而清明”。清明不仅是一个农事节令，也是重要的节日。清明是表征物候的节气，含有天气晴朗、草木繁茂的意思。清明这天，民间有踏青、寒食、 扫墓等习俗。

由传统中国的里正、保甲制度，发展到现代的行之有效的居委会制度，是一个复杂再组织化的过程。城市化改变了传统的聚族而居的生活模式，社区成为公共空间的基本单位。这些社区中的休闲空间，同时也是社区的舆论中心，活动的主体则是老人。这些破旧的沙发是从社区中的各家各户淘汰出来的，每天黄昏时，社区中的老人们坐在这里，真个是道听途说，飞短流长。夜间人群散去，落寞的破旧沙发，表情如同墓地中的碑石。年复一年日复一日，占据这些位置的人不断地老死离去，也不断的有新的人加入。在我拍照之后的一个月后，破沙发消失了，被代之以一排崭新的藤椅。

_Qingming_ (the Clear and Bright) Zhuangyuan Alley Community, Mingsheng Road, Hangzhou

The ancient astronomic book _Calendar_ said: At that time, everything is clear and bright. This day marks not only an agricultural season, but also an important festival. People go for walks outside, stop cooking at home, eat only cold foods and clean the family tomb. It also known as tomb sweeping day.

From the traditional Chinese system of self-government later developed an effective modern citizenship committee system. This was a complicated re-organization process. The traditional mode of living with a big family was changed by urbanization, and the resident community became the base of the public space. These public spaces found in the residential areas are also the center of the community, and are owned by the old men. These broken old sofas were discarded from different homes. Old men are sitting here at dusk, spinning stories and malicious hearsay. When people drift away at night, the desolate sofa resembles tomb steles. Day after day, year after year, people who hold these seats drop away, but new ones keep arriving

One month after I took this photo, the old sofa was replaced by new cane chair.

谷雨是雨生百谷的意思。每年4月20日前后太阳到达 黄经30°时开始。

这是在上海的金贸大厦楼下的一组卫星接收天线，从实用功能出发，这样的通讯设备通常都会安装在高层建筑的顶楼。但是这座宝塔状的大楼的顶楼是用来实现象征功能的，刺破青天的尖顶的锐利性，决不能被这些巨大的蘑菇状造型所破坏，因此卫星接收天线被委屈到了楼脚的地面上，不知道这会不会影响信号的接受。

这座目前的中国第一高楼，不知道如今在全球性的摩天大楼竞赛中排名又落到了第几位。谷雨催生百谷，而这些蘑菇般生长的卫星天线，搭建起覆盖全球的通讯网络，雨后疯狂生长的是摩天大楼，是现代人的欲望与雄心。

_Guyu_ (the Grain Rains) Jingmao Tower, Shanghai

The Grain Rains refers to the rain that helps the grain grow, its starts from April. 20, when the solar in the 30° of the of ecliptic.

There are a group of satellite antennae in the foot of the Jing Mao tower. This kind of antenna is usually installed on the top of tall buildings to help receive a perfect signal, but the top of this pagoda like skyscraper is different, because it only has symbolic function. The sharpness of the peak would be affected by the huge mushroom shape, so they were moved down to the ground in front of the building. I wonder if it is good for receiving the signal. I also wonder how this Jin Mao tower, the tallest building in China at this moment, will fare in the worldwide competition of the skyscraper buildings?

The rain had made the plants grow, but this mushroom like satellite antenna, helped set up a global communication network. But now, what growing up under heaven is the skyscraper, the ambitious desire of the modern human being.

每年5月5日或6日，太阳到达黄经45°为“立夏”节气。我国自古习惯以立夏作为夏季开始的日子，实际上，若按气候学的标准，日平均气温稳定升达22℃以上为夏季开始，“立夏”前后，我国只有福州到南岭一线以南地区真正进入夏季。各地冷暖不同，入夏时间实际上并不一致。

1937年7月7日，北京西南爆发卢沟桥事变，此为日本全面侵华战争的开端。

附近的村民告诉我，20年前，卢沟桥的河道里渐渐就没有了水。10年以前，为了庆祝卢沟桥落成800周年，地方政府不知从哪里引来了水，灌进了河道。还在河水中放了很多游玩用的玻璃钢制的船。船作鸭形与鱼形。庆典过后，河水又复干涸，把几十只游船搁浅在河滩上，船舷外衰草离离，草丛中有汽车开过形成的道路。

立夏的北京，还是很干旱，草色尚未完全脱去冬天的枯黄。如今与卢沟桥平行的有两道公路桥，西北面则是一道铁路桥，擦着宛平城而过。

_Lixia_ (the Start of Summer)Lugou Bridge, Beijing

May 5,6 or 7 of every year, when the sun ecliptic is at 45° , it’s the Lixia season. Traditionally, Chinese regard this day as the beginning of summer, but according to climatology, summer has arrived only when the average day time temperature rises to 22℃. Around this time, only in southern China in areas like Fuzhou and the Nanling mountain range has summer actually arrived. Every part of the continent has a unique climate so the actual time summer starts is different in each place.

Here in the south-west of Beijing is the site of the famous Lu Gou bridge where on July 7th of 1937, the Lugou Bridge incident happened, marking the beginning of the Japanese aggression war.

The villager here told me that the riverway under the Lu Gou bridge dried up around 20 years ago. 10 years before, when there was the 800 year commemoration celebrating the building of this famous bridge, the local government brought water in from somewhere, and put in these boats for tourists. The boats are in the shape of ducks and fish. But soon the water dried up after the celebration, and the boats in the dry riverway are grounded. Grass grew up near the side of the boats and now, we can find a road made by cars.

Beijing’s weather in the Lixia season is still very arid. The color of the grass is still scorched from the winter. Right now there are two new bridges for cars running parallel with the old Lu Gou bridge. To the northwest is a bridge for trains, just aside Wanping town.

太阳黄经为60度。麦类等夏熟作物 灌浆乳熟，籽粒开始饱满但还不成熟。草木开始繁茂。

延安宝塔山，中国革命的图腾之一。塔是唐朝时建的，居然历经千年风霜和战争时的日本飞机轰炸而不倒。如今每逢重要节日，宝塔便被射灯打得通亮。4年前我第二次来延安，这里还很贫困。随着石油开发，现在宝塔山下已经高楼林立。半山腰有通讯天线，山脚下是走重型卡车的道路。当年滔滔延河水，现在虽是雨季，水流还是很小。延河边的铁栏杆上，被失意的恋人们划满了“我爱你”、“爱一个人为什么这么难？”之类的留言。

_Xiaoman_ (Lesser Fullness of Grain )  The pagoda mountain in Yan’An

The sun in ecliptic 60 degree. Kernel begin to full with latex, seems satiation but not actually mellow, vert begin to seems luxuriance.

The pagoda mountain in Yan’An, the former capital of communist china during the 1940s, is a totem of the Chinese revolution. The pagoda was built in Tang dynasty but still stands here after more than a thousand years and the bombing by Japanese air force. Now, the pagoda is often lit with strong searchlights during all the important festivals.

4 years ago, when I came to Yan’An for the second time, the area was still very poor. But now, with the recent discovery of oil, there are all kinds of highrise buildings and large mansions under the pagoda mountain. There is a telecom pole in the mountainside, and surrounding the foot of the mountains is the road for the heavy trucks. The Yan River was described as torrential in the old revolutionary songs, but it is little now, even in the rain season. The guardrail by the river is written all over with words left by lovers, saying: I love you. Why it is so difficult to love somebody?

芒种在6月5-7日之间。太阳位于黄经75°。麦类等有芒的作物开始成熟收割，同时也是秋季作物播种的最繁忙时节。“芒种忙两头，忙收又忙种”。

北京大学三角地，几十年来中国历次政治风潮的策源地之一。本来这是一个张贴各种学术讲座的海报的地方，但也曾经贴过有名的大字报的。现在，研究生和托福考试补习班的广告占了大半。

_Mangzhong_ (the Grain in Ear) “Delta”, Beijing University, Beijing

Jun.5,6 or 7, when the sun ecliptic 75°. This is the time to reap the wheat plants, and it is also the busy season for Autumn planting. Agriculture adage says: The Grain in Ear, busy in two ports. Busy for reaping, and busy for planting.

The “Delta”, as it is known, in the center of Beijing University, is a historically important site for previous political activities. Ordinarily this is an area for posting notices about science lectures, but it was also used for hanging big character posters or slogans. Now, most of the postings are drumming up business for TOEFL and GRE classes.

这天，太阳直射北回归线，是北半球一年中白昼最长的一天。阳气生发到极点。

这一套24节气的作品是从去年夏至开始拍的。那张“夏至”只写了一次，就很完美了（因为时用手电筒在空中写，又要反转这些给相机看，字形不容易掌握，有时候我要写四五十次才能挑出一张较好的）。但当时用的相机不好，照片品质有问题，所以我决定今天重拍。来到原来的地点，找到去年我拍照的地方一看，场景却已经变化了。不但爬墙虎没有去年茂密，右边的小窗户上的窗帘不见了，正面墙上开了一扇铁门！画面中的管道里还在流走着气体或液体，工厂还在生产。右边上方的窗户里露着灯光，那是又一家新开张的画廊在为明天的开幕式通宵布展。这就是798。今天世界艺坛炙手可热的地方。

_Xiazhi_ (the Summer Solstice)  798 Factory, Beijing

The sun is point-blank on the Tropic of Cancer today, and this is the longest daytime in the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The masculine “Qi” is on the top.

This 24 _jieqi_ photo series began at last year’s Summer Solstice, and at that time I only wrote it one time and it turned out perfect (since I use a flashlight to write in the air and I have to write in reverse for the camera, it’s hard to control the construction of the characters, and sometimes I have to try 50 times to get a perfect one), but the camera I used at that time was not good enough so I decide to remake it. But when I came to the same location, I found the scene was quite different from last year: the ivy was not as exuberant as last year and the curtain in the small window had disappeared. Aside from this, there was a new door put into the wall! Here is the 798 factory, gas or liquid is still flushing through pipeline in the picture, the factory is still operating. We can see light in the window in the upper right side, it is another new gallery, installing an exhibition all night for tomorrow’s opening. This is 798 factory, the hotspot in the art world.

每年7月7日或8日视太阳到达黄经105°时为小暑。天气开始炎热，但还没到最热。

小暑这天，拍摄的是北京戒台寺山后，公路边养蜂人的小屋。这些养蜂人来自安徽黄山地区，他们每年的生活就是追逐着鲜花，四方游牧。冬天他们在南方，夏天南方的花季一过，他们就向北方迁徙，会一直远到东北和内蒙。每年难得回家一次。由于必须在有花的山里，他们住的帐篷里没有电，吃住工作都在里面，从不看电视。他们也自己酿造蜂皇浆和花粉，向过往的路人兜售。各地政府是不向他们收税的，这是这个行业的惯例。因为经常服食蜂蜜，他们的皮肤都很好，他们为此很自豪。他们说：这样的生活，“很浪漫”。

_Xiaoshu_ (the Minor Heat) Mountain in the rear of the Jietai Temple, Beijing

Jul.6,7 or 8 of every year when the sun eclipse is at 105°, it is known as the Minor Heat season. The weather begins to get hot, but it hasn’t yet peaked.

The day of the Minor Heat, I went to the Mountain in the rear of the Jietai Temple to take photo of the beekeepers. They originally hail from the Huangshan mountain area in Anhui province. All of the year, they live nomadically chasing after the flowers, moving by seasons to each region. During the winter they are always in the south and when the flowers season ends there, they migrate to the north, going as far as the northeast provinces and Mongolia. They rarely make it back home within a year. Since they have to stay in the mountains with the flowers they sleep and eat in the tents, without electric power or television. They also produce beeswax and pollen, selling it to the passerby and the beeswax factory. It is an old tradition that the local government allows them tax exemption. Since they often eat honey, they all have beautiful skin and they are very proud and happy. According to them: this life is “very romantic”.

每年7月23日前后太阳到达黄经120°时开始。炎热到极点。

翁特斯伯格山（Mount Untersberg）位于奥地利和德国边境上的Grodig，阿尔卑斯山脉的前沿，是有名的大理石采石场。山崖被笔直地切削，形成壁立千仞的奇观。八十六岁的老雕塑家米洛斯（Milos Chlupac）先生带着一帮徒弟在这里做雕刻，过着集体住宿、轮流做饭的公社生活。老先生说，他的一生经历过五个政权轮替，对于艺术的理解经历过的变化就更多了。老先生来过中国，在桂林留下了他的雕刻作品。现在他每天依然在奋力工作，光着膀子，挥动着锤子凿刻，日出而作，日落而息。在这个场景中，除了书写了这张“大暑”，我还书写了另一张“意志”，表达我的敬意。

_Dashu_ (the Major Heat) The quarry in Mount Untersberg, Austria

)Jul.22,23 or 24 of every year when the sun eclipse is at 120°,  peak of the heat.

The mountain Unterserberg is in Grodig, on the boundary between Germany and Austria, and on the frontline of Alps. It is a famous marble quarry site. The cutting into the mountain has created a straight vertical slope. Mr. Milos Chlupac, an 86 year old sculptor works here with 20 students. They live together and work together, taking turns to cook food and do the chores. Their working style is like communism. The old man said that during his lifetime he has witnessed five different types of government and power, but his understanding about art has changed even more than this. He has been to China and has a sculpture in Guilin. He is still working hard everyday on the stone, bare from the waist up. He starts at sunrise and finishes at sunset. So, I wrote these words and in honor and respect towards him I also wrote another piece.

萨尔茨堡的旅游文化是围绕着莫扎特家乡这个主题展开的。城里的博物馆正在举办的展览就叫做“纪念一个天才”。谈论天才，其实总是谈论天才的童年，老年的大师们我们就不谈他们的天才了。因为这个童年的主题，我寻找这样的树林间的秋千。莫扎特本人的童年，因为音乐上的早慧，一定忙着演出并接受赞叹，我不知道他能有多少机会像别的孩子一样在秋千上欢笑。如果我有孩子，我宁愿他不拥有天才而能拥有秋千。其实莫扎特对我几乎没有什么影响，真正对我有重大影响的奥地利人是里尔克和维特根斯坦。后者显然是那种一直到老都能像孩子一样追问天真，并居住在日常生活中的人。

立秋这一天，我刚刚结束在萨尔茨堡夏季学院任教即将回国，这也正好是我这一年用光书法书写24节气的最后一张。这一年来携带着书法行游，在最后一站遭遇了音乐，这几乎是一个隐喻。

每年的这一天，太阳到达黄经135°，古时天子亲率三公九卿诸侯大夫到西郊迎秋，举行祭祀仪式。

_Liqiu_ (the Start of Autumn) Southern suburb of Salzburg

Salzburg’s tourist culture topic focus on it’s the hometown of Mozart, the city museum is having an exhibition in title Monumentalize A Genius. Talking about genius, people actually always talking about his childhood, the old master, we generally don’t talk about his genius. Since all the thinking about people’s childhood, I found this swing garden in the hurst. The childhood of Mozart, since his genius, he must be busy for playing music and accept highly praise from people, he must be didn’t have may chance to have fun on the swing. If I have a son, I hope he can own the swing instead of genius.

处，去也，署气 至此而止矣。”意思是炎热的夏天即将过去了。

明朝的于谦墓，在三台山脚下，94年我蛰居于此，常在于谦墓前盘桓，读书，也在这里拍过作品。那时周围都是菜地和茶园，野狗出没。旁边的于谦祠，是一个堆放建材的地方，巧的是还有一个烧石灰的池子。常常让我想起于谦咏石灰的名诗：“粉身碎骨浑不怕，要留清白在人间”。现在于谦墓已经修缮一新，石翁仲和石兽斗是从别处移来的。

_Chushu_  (the End of Heat) Yu Qian’s tomb, Hangzhou

气温渐凉，夜来草木上可见到白色露水。太阳位于黄经165°. 鸿雁来; 玄鸟归。

北京东北郊的京顺路边，在高档别墅区之间，散落着很多为这些别墅区提供园艺材料的批发市场。有花卉市场、卖罗马柱的建材市场，自然，也少不了卖假山石、大花瓶和石狮子的市场。卖石狮子的商家都来自石雕之乡河北曲阳，他们说，他们的家乡那里可以看到成百上千的整片石狮子，比这里所见的壮观多了。石狮子运到了城里的衙门和豪宅，在朱门左右，就是气宇轩扬的权贵的象征了，在外国人眼里，还经常成为中国文化的象征物，但在这里只是糊口用的量产的商品，和庄稼也没什么两样。

_Bailu_ (the White Dew)Side of Jingshun Road, Beijing

这一排树的一边，便是世界上最大的新寨玛尼石堆，据说有25亿块玛尼石。画面中依稀可以看到寺庙前的转经筒和经幡。白天有成群结队的藏民绕着大玛尼堆一圈圈地转。晚上，三分钟的曝光时间，斗转星移，在画面中成了一条条短线。

这天，太阳位于黄经180度，阳光几乎直射赤道，昼夜几乎等长。

_Qiufen_ (the Autumnal Equinox) Xin Zai Village, Yushu Qinghai

Aside of this line of trees, there is the biggest cairn of the world, XinZai cairn in Qinghai province.

露寒而冷，将欲凝结，阳气渐退，阴气渐生，也就是天气将逐渐由凉转冷。

吴山嵌入在杭州城区中，抬脚可登。满山古樟怪石，都是杭州人亲近自然最方便的去处。夜间，开车的人便不管停车场，径直开了车沿着石径来到山的深处，弃车寻僻静处浪漫去也。

德国电视台的记者问我，为什么总是拍一些废墟，我便指着这个画面说：这就是盛世景象了。

吴山峰顶的江湖汇观亭，有徐渭撰写的对联说：八百里湖山知是何年图画，十万家烟火尽归此处楼台。

_Hanlu_ (the Cold Dew) Mount Wu, Hangzhou

中国南方地区进入了秋收秋种的大忙季节， 而黄河流域一般多出现初霜。太阳位于黄经210°，草木黄落; 蛰虫咸俯。

霜降时节，为了一件表演作品需要用水牛作为道具，我从杭州郊区出发，一个个村庄问过去。一直问到了富阳县的受降镇这个村庄才找到了我要找的水牛。农民都住在贴着马赛克瓷砖的四层小楼里，每家每户都有小轿车。这样的农居早就不住人了。靠在门边的木车，勾起了我对祖父的记忆。

_Shuangjiang_ (the Descent of Frost) Fuyang Village, Zhejiang

Farmers in the south of china now begin to busy for

立冬之日，水始冰，地始冻。冬，终也。

中山中路是民国时代留下的老街，我所拍摄的地点是靠近鼓楼的南段。这里在南宋时，应该是杭州城的中心区，应该相当于今天的王府井。民国的老房子门面华洋杂陈，当时一定和今天的娱乐场所那些后现代罗马柱一样显得光怪陆离，极不协调。几十个立冬之后，他们一起衰老了，在初冬的风里相依为命。

_Lidong_ (the Start of Winter)  Zhongshanzhong Road, Hangzhou

天已积阴，寒未深而雪未大，故名小雪。此时中国北方地区会出现初雪。

这些红砖楼显然是上个世纪50年代苏联援建的建筑。当年这是最高级别的干部才能住的住宅。高干们如今搬进了新区，现在这里住着的是最底层的人。画面中的滑梯是1983年造的，那个时候国有企业还兴旺，进工厂工作还是最安全和骄傲的职业，需要走门路才能实现的。可以想见工人的孩子们当年在这样的院子里，在小雪中嬉闹时的幸福欢乐。滑梯的坡道现在被歪脖子树的树干拦住了，孩子们已长大成人，不知各自以何为稻粱谋。

_Xiaoxue_ (the Minor Snow) Dormitory of the Electronic Equipment Factory, Shenyang

The sky gets cloudy. The chilliness hasn’t come and the snow isn’t heavy enough, which is why this period of time is called Lesser Snow. The first snow happens north of China.

The red-bricked buildings were obviously built during 50s of last century funded by the Soviet Union. In those years only the officials with highest level were allowed to move in. But they have moved to new buildings while in these old ones live the people at the lowest level in the society. The slide in the picture was built in 1983, when nation-owned enterprises were at their best times. It is a safe and proud job to work in the factory, which can be achieved only by knowing somebody in charge there. We can easily envision the kids playing joyfully in the snowy yards like this. The slope of the slide has been blocked by a wry-necked tree. The kids have grown up and they make their livings in various professions.

12月7日，太阳位于黄经255°。大者盛也，至此而雪盛也。

大雪初降，我连忙驱车来到北大，想不到这里的雪已经被踩得不成样子了。可以想见这一场雪给人们带来了怎样的兴奋。未名湖畔的这些长椅，人来人往，不知孕育过多少山盟海誓和彪悍的志向。

_Daxue_ (the Major Snow)  Weiming Lake, Beijing University, Beijing

7th of December. The sun is located at 255 degree on the Zodiac. Da means exuberancy. Daxue is the time when the snow becomes exuberant.

When the snow started, I hurried to Beijing U. in a car. I didn’t expect that the snow had been turned into a chaos. I could imagine how much excitement the snow had brought into people. So many ambitions and inspirations did the benches on Weiming Lake, seeing people back and forth, give birth to.

达汀顿艺术学院希望用我的作品作为他们这一年的圣诞卡。我拍的便是达汀顿庄园中有着8百年历史的中世纪石屋。那么多烟囱刚好可以让圣诞老人爬进去给孩子们带去礼物。耶教的圣诞，在我的祖国，是冬至。

太阳位于黄经270度，阳光 几乎直射南回归线，是北半球一年中白昼最短的一天。二千五百多年前的春秋时代，中国已经用土圭观测太阳测定出冬至来了，它是二十四节气中最早制订出的一个。冬至，是重要的节气，也是一个传统节日，至今仍有不少地方有过冬至 节的习俗。

_Dongzhi_ (the Winter Solstice)  Dartington, England

Darlington Arts School expects to use my works as their Christmas card this year. In my pictures are the medieval stone house with a history of 800 years in Darlington mansion. Such a large number of chimneys are ideal for Santa to send in presents for the kids. Christmas is equivalent to the Winter Solstice in our country.

The sun is located at 270 degree on the Zodiac. It casts its light straight to the tropic of Capricorn, when there is the least daylight in the North Semisphere. During Chunqiu Era as early as 2500 years ago, Chinese people elicited Dongzhi (the Winter Solstice) by calculating the movement of the sun with Tugui. This is the earliest established Solstice of the 24. Dongzhi is an important Solstice and also a traditional festival. There still remains this convention in many areas.

小寒在1月5-7日之间。太阳位于黄经285°，雁北向；鹊始巢；雉始雊。中国绝大部分地区以小寒节气最冷。“小寒”一过，就进入“出门冰上走”的三九天了。

所有的国营大厂，都会有与此相似的园林景观点缀在厂区中。那曾经是紧张严肃的社会主义集体生活中少见的轻松的亮色。现在老工厂整体搬迁到郊外了，地产商在原址上开发楼盘，老工厂中繁密的大树成为这个地产项目的最大卖点。钢筋水泥做的仙鹤喷泉残破不堪，后面，高层住宅楼已经拔地而起。

_Xiaohan_ (the Minor Cold) An old factory at Zhabei, Shanghai

Lesser Cold takes place between 5th and 7th of January, when the sun is located at 285 degree on the Zodiac. During this period, geese fly northward; magpies start nestling and squabs fledging. In most parts of China, Lesser Cold is the coldest days of the year. Once it elapses, the weather turns into Sanjiu (three nines—what Chinese call winter), when people find themselves walking on the ice.

Almost all big nation-owned factories have such garden sceneries scattered within their territories. This is a flash of brightness in the people’s life, which used to be pretty strict and serious in the collective socialism. But, now, old factories have been moved to the suburbs and property agents have developed their business in the same spots where the huge trees in these old factories become the biggest selling points of the projects. The crane fountain made of concrete and steel seems worn out. Behind spring up skyscrapers.

这个铁皮屋子是老工厂用来粉碎不合格产品的车间。铁屋里有巨大的电磁铁，吸起大铁球，由高处断电抛下，将地面上的铸件砸成碎铁块。铁球落下时，天摇地动，夺人魂魄。飞溅的铁块打穿铁屋内壁厚厚的橡胶条，把铁屋的墙和屋顶打得千疮百孔。工厂盛期，这座铁皮屋子成天轰轰雷鸣，让所有的装置艺术都相形见绌。而操作它的，只是一个柔弱的女工。现在老工厂的地皮卖给了地产商，留下这铁皮屋子在大都市过亮的夜里静默着。地上的安全帽，并不是老工厂的工人的，而是盖房子的民工丢下的。老工厂的工人，好像是不会随便乱丢他们的安全帽的。

“大寒”是一年中的最后一个节气，虽不像大雪到冬至、小寒期间那样酷冷，但仍处于寒冷时期。每到“大寒”人们便开始忙着除旧布新，腌制年肴，准备年货。

_Dahan_ (the Major Cold)   An old factory at Zhabei, Shanghai

This sheet iron house is the plant in the old factory to crush the rejects. There is a giant electromagnet in this iron house to magnetize the big iron ball and unlash it from high to crush the casts on the ground into iron fragment. When the iron ball falls, you feel like that the sky and earth is shaking and your soul get out of your body. The splash iron pieces strike the thick rubber in the iron house and make the walls and roof broken everywhere in the house. In the flourishing period of the factory, the house roared everyday and made all the thingamy art inferior by comparison. The people who manipulate is a slim women worker. Now the land for the old factory have been sold to the land agent and the iron house have been left quietly in the city for the overlighted night. The safety helmets on the ground belong to the rural workers who build the houses instead of the workers in the old factory. The workers in the old factories are not likely to throw their safety helmets at will.

The Major Cold is the last solar term in a year. It doesn’t like the Winter Solstice when the heavy snow comes nor likes the Lesser Cold when the weather gets chillness. But the Major Cold is still in the period of winter. People are busy preparing for the New Arrivals, for example they bloat dishes and do special purchases for the Spring Festival.