From winter chill to warm ethics

China's Cold Dew, starting from Thursday and lasting until Oct 23, is the 17th of the 24 solar terms — the first to feature the character han, meaning cold.

In the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century-11th century BC), the character for han pictures a person curled up inside a house, surrounded by ice crystals. It etched the struggles of survival into China's earliest written record: as winter drew near, people had no heating or thick quilts. All they had were walls and each other.

Cold Dew is not the only solar term containing han. The final two terms, Minor Cold and Major Cold, also bear this character. Minor Cold is marked when the weather turns cold but has not yet hit its lowest. Major Cold, the year's last solar term, brings the bitterest chill.

Yet han signifies far more than cold weather. The word traveled from describing climate to depicting ways of life, and then ascended into the realm of ethics. In ancient China, the humble abode of an impoverished scholar was known as a hanshe, or cold cottage. The term remains in use today as a self-deprecating reference to one's own home, embodying both humility and quiet warmth.

Scholars who had not yet attained official positions were called hanshi. They spent 10 years studying by a cold window under a solitary lamp, wearing simple clothing and eating plain fare.

Yet "ten years by a cold window" speaks not of lament, but of the resolve that sustained such scholars, echoing the age-old maxim: to establish one's heart for Heaven and Earth, and to forge a mission for the people.

— AD

The National Museum of Chinese Writing in Anyang city, Henan province, and Liu Hao contributed to the story.