上午 (shàngwǔ, morning), 中午 (zhōngwǔ, noon), and 下午 (xiàwǔ, afternoon) literally mean before 午(wǔ), middle of 午(wǔ), and after 午(wǔ) respectively. So what actually is 午(wǔ)? In ancient China, a day was divided into twelve equal periods called 时辰 (shíchén), with each 时辰 (shíchén) corresponding to two hours. 午(wǔ) was the name of the 时辰 (shíchén) from 11am-1pm, or it could also refer specifically to the mid-point of that period, which was 12pm. That is why 上午 (shàngwǔ) or before 午(wǔ) refers to the morning, 中午 (zhōngwǔ) or middle of 午(wǔ) refers to noontime, and 下午 (xiàwǔ) or after 午(wǔ) refers to the afternoon. 午(wǔ) is also another name of the Chinese zodiac sign that corresponds to 2014! Do you know which animal 午(wǔ) corresponds to? Share your answer in the comments. Subscribe to the FREE podcast on iTunes at https://itunes.apple/us/podcast/dimsum-mandarin-learn-mandarin/id905975935?mt=2 and learn practical Mandarin Chinese with Chung. Click SHARE to save this post to your timeline. Sign up for our newsletter at languagedomus/user/signup for exclusive promotions, and timely email updates on our latest lessons.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 10:00:11 +0000