夕陽、黃昏｜sUNSET, dUSK
面對不變現實，
美好確是短暫，既無奈也惋惜。
Facing uNCHANGING rEALITY,
sETTING sUN is indeed sHORT-lIVED, It is both hELPLESS and rEGRETFUL.
李商隱（約八一三年至八五八年，晚唐詩人及官員）－《登樂遊原》：
Li Shangyin*₁ (ca. 813-858, poet and official of the late Tang Dynasty) – “A visit to Leyou Garden”*₂:
囧囧囧
向晚意不適，
驅車登古原。
夕陽無限好，
只是近黃昏。
fEELING not well in the eVENING,
Took a carriage to aNCIENT gARDEN.
Setting sUN is infinitely bEAUTIFUL,
Just it is aLMOST dUSK.
囧囧囧
柔、堅｜dELICATE, sTRONG
平衡，就是若剛能制柔，柔也能克剛。
BALANCE, that is, if the sTRONGNESS can rESTRAIN the sOFTNESS, then the sOFTNESS can also rESTRAIN the sTRONGNESS.
《道德經》—— 第七十六章：
“Tao Te Ching”*₁- Chapter 76 (original written in Classical Chinese):
人之生也[柔弱₁]，其死也[堅強₂]。草木之生也[柔脆₃]，其死也[枯槁₄]。故堅強者死之徒，柔弱者生之徒。是以[兵₅]強則[滅₆]，[木₇]強則[折₈]。強大處[下₉]，柔弱處[上₁₀]。
People are [sOFT and dELICATE₁] when born, and they become [hARD and sTIFF₂] after death. When the plants and trees are alive, they are also [sOFT and fRAGILE₃], once they are dead, they become [wITHERED and dRY₄]. So the hardness and stiffness are on the side of dEATH, while the softness and delicacy are on the side of lIFE. Therefore, the [sOLDIERS₅] will be [aNNIHILATED₆] as they are strong, the [tREES₇] will be [cUT dOWN₈] as they are strong. The sTRONG one will be in the [lOW₉] position, the dELICATE one will be in the [uP₁₀] position.
對、雪｜wATCH, sNOW
到底是人的心融化了雪，還是雪融化了人的心？
Does actually human hEART melt the snow, or does the snow mELT human heart?
子蘭（唐末僧侶及詩人）－《對雪》：
Zilan*₁ (Monk and poet of late Tang Dynasty) – “Watching Snow”:
密密無聲墜碧空，霏霏有韻舞微風。
幽人吟望搜辭處，飄入窗來落硯中。
(sNOW) fall sILENTLY from the blue green sky, twirl and dance rHYTHMICALLY with the breeze.
rECLUSE sighs and looks for a place to hIDE, (but sNOW) dRIFT into the window and fALL onto the ink slab.
孝、欽｜fILIAL , rESPECT
家教，就是家庭中的終身言行身教。
fAMILY eDUCATION is the whole lIFE teaching by pRECEPTS, bEHAVIORS and eXAMPLES in the family.
林逋（九六七年至一零二八年，北宋儒家詩人）－《省心錄》中一話：
Lin Bu (967-1028, Confucian poet of Northern Song Dynasty*₁) – A quote of “Record of self-reflection”:
[孝₁]於親則子孝，
[欽₂]於人則眾欽。
Be [fILIAL₁] to your parents, your children will also be fILIAL to you.
[rESPECT₂] others, others will also rESPECT you.
..,
背影｜bACK
有些牽絆是一輩子的。
Some bONDS are for lIFETIME.
朱自清（一八九八年十一月廿二日至一九四八年八月十二日，著名現代詩人、散文作家及學者）－《背影》（一九二五年）：
Zhu Ziqing (November 22, 1898 – August 12, 1948, famous modern poet, proseist, essayist and scholar) – “Back” (1925):
我與父親不相見已二年余了，我最不能忘記的是他的背影。那年冬天，祖母死了，父親的差使也交卸了，正是禍不單行的日子，我從北京到徐州，打算跟著父親奔喪回家。到徐州見著父親，看見滿院狼藉的東西，又想起祖母，不禁簌簌地流下眼淚。父親說，「事已如此，不必難過，好在天無絕人之路！」
I have not seen my father for more than two years, the most I can not fORGET is his bACK. That winter, my grandmother died and my father’s work was also dismissed, it was the time of misfortunes, I went from Beijing to Xuzhou and planned to hasten home for the funeral with my father. When I saw my father in Xuzhou, the mess in courtyard and thought of my grandmother, my tears streamed down. My father said, “Things hAPPENED, do not be sad, fortunately, there’s nO dEAD eND*₁.”
死、生、養、歡｜dEAD, bORN, dISTRESSED, hAPPY
百年之後，無是無非。
After a hundred years*₁, there’s no yES or nO.
莊子－《莊子》之《外篇》—— 第十一章《至樂》、段六：
Zhuangzi *₂ – “Outer chapters” of “Zhuangzi”, – Paragraph 6 of the Chapter 11 “The Greatest Happiness” (original written in Classical Chinese):
列子行，食于道從，見百歲髑髏，攓蓬而指之曰：
“唯予與汝知而未嘗[死₁]、未嘗[生₂]也。若果[養₃]乎？予果[歡₄]乎？”
Leizi*₃ ate on the roadside upon his journey, there he saw a hundred years old skull, he then plucked the grass surrounding and pointed to the skull, said:
“Only I and you know that you are nOT [dEAD₁], also nEVER [bORN₂]. Are you rEALLY [dISTRESSED₃]? And am I rEALLY [hAPPY₄]?”
福、到｜gOOD fORTUNE, aRRIVES
福，倒了！
福，到了！
gOOD fORTUNE is uPSIDE dOWN!
gOOD fORTUNE aRRIVES!
猴年快樂！
恭喜發財！
hAPPY lUNAR nEW yEAR of mONKEY!
kUNG hEI fAT cHOI!
農曆新年雖是華夏文化裡最盛大的傳統節慶，惟各民族之間的習俗及禮儀未必盡是相同。
Although Lunar New Year is the biggest traditional festival in Great Chinese culture, the traditions and ceremonies may not be totally the same between the ethnicities.
相片：在下家鄉傳統的農曆日曆 －
是日為農曆乙未年己丑（十二）月辛丑（十一）日，公曆二零一六年一月廿日，及本年最後一個節氣 － 「大寒」。
Photo: tRADITIONAL dAILY aGRICULTURAL cALENDAR (also called as lUNAR calendar) from my hOME –
tODAY is: the 11th day of the 12th month of the 32th year Yiwei (traditional Agricultural calendar), 20th of January 2016 (gREGORIAN calendar), and the lAST sOLAR tERM of the year – “sEVERE cOLD”.
＊＊＊
曆｜cALENDAR
有朋友問道：「為什麼《除夜》一詩中會提到春天？」
A friend asked: “Why is the ‘sPRING’ mentioned in the poem ‘Old Year’s Day‘?”
這可要從我們的曆法說起。
Then let’s begin with our calendar.
曆
Calendar
華夏文化有自己的一套曆法－傳統農曆。
The Great Chinese culture has its own set of calendar – traditional Agricultural calendar.
歷史上記載，相傳黃帝（公元前二六九八年－二五九八年）制定了曆法，是現今傳統農曆的原形。古時，人民主要以務農為生，而為求生活平安順利，人民需要一套有用的曆法。因此，傳統的華夏曆法不只是計算日子，還可以提供天文、氣象、地理及風水等重要的科學資訊。同時，在這數千年間，歷代創造了超過一百部曆法，並經過不斷的改良、修正及薪傳，傳統農曆至今仍被重視及應用於生活之中。
According to the historical records and the legend, the Yellow Emperor (2698-2598 BC) invented calendar, which is the prototype of today’s traditional Agricultural calendar. In the ancient time, people mainly lived by farming, and in order to live safely and smoothly, people need a useful calendar. Therefore, the traditional Agricultural calendar is not just counting the days, also offers astronomical, meteorological, geographical and geomantic etc. important scientific information. Moreover, the past dynasties had created more than hundred sets of calendars in the thousands of years, and by continuously improving, correcting and passing on, the traditional Agricultural calendar is still respected and applied to life.
扻穿你個頭｜hIT yOUR hEAD
今天在下介紹一下香港傳統的《祝壽歌》：
Today I introduce the Hong Kong traditional version of “birthday song” (Zuk Sau Go):
恭祝你福壽與天齊，慶賀你生辰快樂；
年年都有今日，歲歲都有今朝，
恭喜你 ，恭喜你！
Wish you being blessed with longevity, on a par with the sky and a happy birthday;
Wish you a wonderful day like today every year,
Congratulations, congratulations!
正體字｜tRADITIONAL cHINESE
在下相信愛用正體字的人有著同樣的執著，更不想任由這些美麗的文字和華夏文化的命脈被一個錯誤如斯無情的摧毀。
If people ask me about learning Chinese. First of all, please start with Traditional Chinese.
I believe that Traditional Chinese characters lovers have the same strong will, and don’t just want to let these beautiful words and the lifeblood of Great Chinese culture be ruthlessly destroyed by a mistake.
A credited-unknown picture was spread earlier on internet, it’s telling how meaningful of Traditional Chinese characters (left) in a quite straight way:
