还在指导农事的历法

奶奶，我看你墙上的日历，怎么还写着立夏、霜降这些字？手机上一看就知道今天是几号了，你还留着这么老的日历干什么？

Grandma, I see your wall calendar still has words like start of summer and frost's descent on it. One look at my phone and I know what date it is. Why do you still keep such an old calendar?

手机的日历只告诉你今天是几号，可它不告诉你，这个季节到底在做什么。我种了一辈子地，靠的从来不是日期，是节气。

The phone calendar only tells you what today's date is. It doesn't tell you what the season is actually doing. I've farmed my whole life, and what I've relied on has never been the date, it's the solar terms.

节气不就是老日历上那些名字吗？它跟种地有什么关系？

Aren't solar terms just names on an old calendar? What do they have to do with farming?

关系大着呢。节气是祖先几千年前看太阳，一年一年总结出来的，一共二十四个，每个节气都告诉你季节走到哪一步了。立夏一到，天真的开始热了，我就该种豆子；霜降一来，第一次真冷了，白菜就该收了。

They have everything to do with it. The solar terms were summed up by the ancestors thousands of years ago, from watching the sun, year after year, twenty-four of them in all. Each one tells you exactly where the season has gotten to. Once start of summer arrives, it's actually turned hot, and that's when I plant beans. Once frost's descent comes, it's really turned cold for the first time, and that's when the cabbage gets harvested.

可是日期也能预测天气啊，五月肯定比一月热吧。

But dates can predict the weather too, can't they? May is definitely hotter than January.

日期年年一样，季节可不一样。日期能大概预测季节的方向，可是预测不了今年到底是提前还是推迟。有的年份立夏那天已经很热了，有的年份还凉着呢。日期告诉你的是数字，节气告诉你的是天在做什么，两个不是一回事。

The date is the same every year, but the season isn't. A date can roughly predict which way the season is heading, but it can't predict whether this year is early or late. Some years start of summer arrives already hot, some years it's still cool. The date tells you a number. The solar term tells you what the sky is doing. The two aren't the same thing.

那你们村里过节，看的是农历还是节气？

So when your village celebrates a holiday, does it go by the lunisolar calendar or the solar terms?

两个都看，但不一样。农历定的是月份，节气定的是季节，加在一起，才知道什么时候该做什么事。这是祖先一代代传下来的经验，不是随便定的。

Both, but they're different. The lunisolar calendar fixes the months, the solar terms fix the seasons, and only together do you know when to do what. This is experience the ancestors handed down generation after generation, not something decided at random.

我一直以为农历跟节气是一回事，原来不是。

I always thought the lunisolar calendar and the solar terms were the same thing. Turns out they aren't.

很多人都以为农历就是节气。其实农历管的是月亮走了多远，节气管的是太阳，看季节走到哪儿了。农历告诉你今天是几月几号，节气告诉你现在是什么季节。

A lot of people think the lunisolar calendar is the solar terms. Actually the lunisolar calendar tracks how far the moon has traveled, and the solar terms track the sun, watching where the season has gotten to. The lunisolar calendar tells you what month and day it is. The solar terms tell you what season it actually is right now.

那我阳台上种的那盆西红柿，是不是也该看节气，不该看手机日历？

So the tomato plant I've got on my balcony, should I be watching the solar terms too, instead of my phone calendar?

你自己想想，你上次种坏了，是因为日期不对，还是因为天气不对？

Think about it yourself. Last time it died, was that because the date was wrong, or because the weather was wrong?

……好像真是天气不对，我种得太早了，那时候天还没真的暖和。

It really was the weather, I think. I planted too early. It hadn't actually warmed up yet at the time.

这就对了。祖先留下节气，不是为了让人记住名字，是为了让人看着天做事。下次你阳台上再种什么，你是相信手机上的日期，还是相信节气告诉你的季节？

There you go. The ancestors didn't leave the solar terms behind so people would memorize the names. They left them so people would act according to the sky. Next time you plant something on your balcony, are you going to trust the date on your phone, or trust the season the solar terms are telling you about?