Coldness: A keyword to define the period of time
Though the day of Dongzhi may not be that cold, it kicks off the period of time known in Chinese as "Shujiu Hantian," believed to be the coldest 81 days that could be divided into nine units of "nine-days." (Photo/CGTN)
The Chinese character "nine," which has the same pronunciation with the word for “long,” is considered as the largest number in ancient China, and was bestowed with the meaning of "maximum" and "extreme." The "Shujiu Hantian" is, therefore, the ancient Chinese people's way of describing how long and harsh the winter could be.
