千字文：天地与四季
Sky, earth and seasons
Read, find evidence, and explain in your own words.
Read
天地玄黄，宇宙洪荒。日月盈昃，辰宿列张。
Heaven dark, earth yellow; the universe vast and ancient. The moon waxes to fullness and the sun declines westward; stars are spread across the sky.
寒来暑往，秋收冬藏。
Cold comes and warmth goes; harvest in autumn and store in winter.
Explore the text
这是南朝梁周兴嗣《千字文》的开头节选，每句四个字。玄是深暗的颜色，盈是满，昃是太阳偏西，宿在这里指星宿，读秀的音。藏是储存，读收藏的藏。
These opening lines of Zhou Xingsi’s Thousand Character Classic, from the Liang dynasty, have four characters per phrase. Xuan means dark; ying means full; ze describes the sun declining westward. Xiu refers to stars or constellations, and cang means store.
古人用当时的语言描画天地与时序，玄黄不是现代科学对天空和土地的完整说明。秋收冬藏写一种农业生活节奏，各地气候和作物不同，不是所有地方只在秋天收获。
The text describes the world and seasons in historical language, not a complete modern scientific account. Harvesting in autumn and storing in winter evokes one agricultural pattern; climates and crops vary, and not every place harvests only in autumn.
Words to practise
天地日月秋冬