year; age; annals; Spring and Autumn period
Meanings
4 senses · 13 examplesnoun
spring and autumn; year; the passing of time
literaryA literary way to refer to a year or the passage of years.
Time flies like an arrow, and days and months pass like a shuttle; decades have gone by before I realized it.
He worked diligently on this research for over ten years.
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To endure hard years.
noun
age; years of a person's life
formalUsed in formal or literary contexts to refer to a person's age.
The old man is advanced in years, but he is still energetic.
He is in the prime of his life, with a boundless future ahead.
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To be young and with many years ahead (lit. age is abundant).
noun
annals; chronicles; historical records
literaryOften capitalized when referring to the specific classic, but can be a general term for historical chronicles. The most famous is the Spring and Autumn Annals attributed to Confucius.
The Spring and Autumn Annals is one of the Confucian classics, recording the history of the Lu State.
He devoted his life to studying the subtle and critical style of writing found in the Spring and Autumn Annals.
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The Strategies of the Warring States, like the Spring and Autumn Annals, is an important historical work.
noun
Spring and Autumn period (historical era)
historicalA period in Chinese history between the Western Zhou and the Warring States period, characterized by the decline of central authority and the rise of powerful feudal states.
During the Spring and Autumn period, feudal lords contended for hegemony, and wars were frequent.
Confucius lived in the late Spring and Autumn period.
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The Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period were the most influential rulers of that era.
After the Spring and Autumn period came the even more chaotic Warring States period.