Idioms describing cold weather

Count nine cold days [sh ǔ ji ǔ hanting]

Basic explanation

The coldest day of the year is also called nine days. The coldest day of the year, eg March 9th.

It is freezing in cold weather, and "99" is also called "99 in winter", which is a folk solar term in winter in China. "Nine" is counted from the annual "Winter Solstice", and every nine days is a unit. There are many customs of "counting nine", among which "Jiujiu Song" is the most extensive and has a long history.

In the traditional culture of China, nine is the extreme number, which is the largest, largest and longest concept. Nine nines is eighty-one, which is the "maximum" number. People in ancient China believed that after the solstice on September 8 1 day, spring must have arrived.

In ancient times, especially in northern China, the conditions for working people to keep warm from the cold were simpler than their descendants. Winter is regarded as a threat and punishment, which directly affects people's mood and even makes them feel that winter is inexplicably long. At that time, in order to survive the long winter, the people of China invented the method of "counting nine" to pass the time, so as to alleviate the psychological crisis under the threat of winter. At that time, it was a carefree state to count nine around your family.