Wake Forest University

Traditional:

問：「四時取火，何為季夏又取一番？」曰：「土旺於未 ，故再取之。土寄旺四季，每季皆十八日，四箇十八日， 計七十二日。其他四行分四時，亦各得七十二日。五箇七 十二日，共湊成三百六十日也。
僩。

Simplified

问：「四时取火，何为季夏又取一番？」曰：「土旺於未 ，故再取之。土寄旺四季，每季皆十八日，四个十八日， 计七十二日。其他四行分四时，亦各得七十二日。五个七 十二日，共凑成三百六十日也。
□。

big5:

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GB:

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Translation:

[Someone] asked: "The four seasons [all] take Fire. For what reason does the last month of summer take an additional measure?" [Zhu Zi] replied: "Earth flourishes in the wei period, so [Fire] is taken in an additional measure. Earth flourishes in a derivitive way in [each of] the four seasons. In every season it [predominates during] eighteen days. Four eighteen day periods give a total of seventy-two days. Each of the other four of the Components of Activity are divided into four seasons, each of which [then] gets seventy-two days. Five seventy-two day periods give a total of of three hundred sixty days.

Commentary:

There are twelve cyclical characters, said to pertain to Earth (Terra), that are used in various ways for naming periods of time. Wei is the eighth of the twelve. If the year is divided into twelve periods beginning with the shortest day of the year, then wei would approximate closely to our month of August, which many people regard as as hotest month of the year.

-- PEM