enter the nine periods; begin the coldest season
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesverb
to enter the nine nine-day periods starting from the Winter Solstice; to begin the coldest season of the year
Refers to the traditional Chinese folk custom of “counting the nines” (shǔjiǔ 数九), where the period starting from the Winter Solstice is divided into nine sets of nine days. “Entering the nine” marks the beginning of the coldest period of winter.
Zuó昨
tiān天
dōng冬
zhì至
，
jīn今
tiān天
jiù就
jiāo交
jiǔ九
le了
。
Yesterday was the Winter Solstice, so today we enter the nine-day periods.
Jiāo交
jiǔ九
yǐ以
hòu后
，
tiān天
qì气
yī一
tiān天
bǐ比
yī一
tiān天
lěng冷
。
After entering the nine periods, the weather gets colder day by day.
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Jīn今
nián年
jiāo交
jiǔ九
tè特
bié别
zǎo早
。
This year the coldest season started especially early.