用英語講好中囯文化：寒露 Cold Dew

Cold Dew is the seventeenth solar term among the twenty-four solar terms. In mid-September every year (October 7 or 8 in the Gregorian calendar), when Dou points to Xin and the sun reaches 195° celestial longitude, it is Cold Dew.

寒露，乃二十四节气中的第十七个节气。每年九月中旬（西历 10 月 7 日或 8 日），当斗指辛，太阳到达黄经 195° 之时，便为寒露。

At this solar term, the temperature is lower than that in White Dew, and there is more dew. The originally crystal-clear dew on the ground is about to condense into frost, and the chill is even stronger. Hence, it is named Cold Dew. The arrival of Cold Dew also marks the coming of late autumn. The climate gradually changes from cool to cold and in some areas, there will even be snowfall.

在此节气，气温较 “白露” 更低，露水更为充沛。原先地面上洁白晶莹的露水即将凝结成霜，寒意愈发浓烈，故而得名。寒露的到来，也标志着深秋的降临，气候由凉爽逐渐向寒冷转变，甚至在一些地区会迎来降雪。

Cold Dew has three pentads. The first pentad is "wild geese come as guests". In Cold Dew, wild geese form queues in the air and migrate southward for wintering. The ancients believed that those who arrive first are the hosts and those who arrive later are the guests. The wild geese that began migrating southward in White Dew are already the last batch in Cold Dew. Moreover, they arrive in the south later than the wild geese that migrated in White Dew, so they are called "guests". The second pentad is "sparrows enter the large water and turn into clams". As the weather gets colder, sparrows disappear without a trace. However, many clams with shell colors and stripes similar to sparrows appear on the seashore. When the ancients saw this, they thought they were transformed from sparrows. The third pentad is "chrysanthemums turn yellow". In late autumn, while all kinds of flowers gradually wither, only autumn chrysanthemums begin to bloom.

寒露有三候。一候鸿雁来宾，时至寒露，鸿雁在空中排成队列，向南迁徙越冬。古人认为先到者为主，后至者为宾。从白露时节就开始南迁的鸿雁，到了寒露时节已是最后一批，且到达南方的时间也晚于白露时节迁徙的鸿雁，所以被称为 “宾”。二候雀入大水为蛤，天气渐寒，雀鸟消失不见踪影，而海边却出现许多外壳颜色及条纹与雀鸟相似的蛤蜊，古人见此便以为是雀鸟所变。三候菊有黄华，深秋之际，百花渐渐凋零，唯有秋菊开始盛开。

In Cold Dew, the weather is often clear and sunny with warm days and cool nights, which is extremely beneficial for the autumn harvest. Therefore, from Cold Dew to Frost's Descent is a busy season for harvesting autumn crops that are ripe and sowing winter crops. It is also an important period for autumn field management.

寒露时节，天气常常是晴空万里，呈现出昼暖夜凉的特点，这对秋收极为有利。因此，从寒露至霜降这段时间，是秋熟作物成熟、越冬作物开始播种的秋收秋种大忙季节，同时也是秋管的重要时期。

In northern regions, this time is the harvest period for crops such as corn, sweet potatoes, soybeans, peanuts, green onions, hawthorns, etc., and the picking period for cotton. It is also a busy farming season for planting winter wheat. As the saying goes, "Planting wheat in Cold Dew, planting one bowl will yield a bushel." "Planting one day later will result in one picul less harvest." At this time, farmers usually mobilize the whole family to step up the sowing progress so as not to affect the wheat yield. There is also a saying, "In September, as Cold Dew arrives and the weather gets colder, don't be idle when preparing the land." After the autumn harvest, there is still the farm work of plowing the land. Plowing the land at this time not only benefits soil fertility but also can freeze the insect eggs turned up to the surface by the low temperature at night, reducing crop pests and diseases in the coming year.

在北方地区，此时正值玉米、红薯、黄豆、花生、大葱、山楂等作物的收获期以及棉花的采摘期，也是冬小麦种植的农忙时节。有俗语云：“寒露种小麦，种一碗，收一斗”“晚种一天，少收一石”。农户们通常会全家齐上阵，加紧播种进度，以免影响小麦的产量。又有 “九月寒露天渐寒，整理土地莫消闲” 之说，秋收过后，还有翻地的农活要忙。此时翻地，不但有利于养地，还能借助夜间的低温将翻到地表的虫卵冻死，从而减少来年庄稼的病虫害。