Wednesday 31 January 2018

Super Blue Blood Moon 超级蓝血月

Singapore

新加坡


Tonight it is the turn of Asia to see three astronomical wonders occurring simultaneously, namely "Super Moon", "Blue Moon" and "Blood Moon".

今晚轮到亚洲能观赏到三个天文奇景同时发生,即“超级月亮”、“蓝月”和“血月”。

The same phenomenon last occurred in 1844, or 174 years ago, when it was seen in the eastern part of the United States.

上一次这同一现象是发生在1844年,即174年前,当时能在美国的东部观赏到。

The "Super Blue Blood Moon" starts at 7.48pm and ends at 11.11pm.

此次“超级蓝血月”将从晚上7时48分开始一直到11时11分结束。


"Super Moon", the moon is the closest to the Earth.

“超级月亮”,即月亮距离地球最靠近。

It happens every 14 months.

每14个月才会发生一次。

At this moment, the moon is about 7% larger than usual and brighter.

此时的月亮比平时大7%左右,也更明亮。


"Blue Moon", does not mean that the moon is blue, but is named because of its rarity.

“蓝月”,并不是指月亮是蓝色的,而是因其罕见而得名。

The English idiom "once in a blue moon" is the origin of this.

英文成语 "once in a blue moon" 就是这样由来的。

Generally, a full moon only occurs once a month, , but if it occurs twice then that is "blue moon".

一般上每个月只有一次满月,但如出现两次即称“蓝月”。

The "Blue Moon" will appear only once every 32 months.

而“蓝月”即每32个月才会出现一次。


"Blood moon", is the total eclipse of the moon.

“血月”,即月全食。

At this time, the sun, the earth and the moon are exactly aligned in a straight line.

此时的太阳、地球与月球恰好排成一条直线。

During the total eclipse of the moon, the moon appears reddish in colour.

在月全食当儿,月亮会呈现红色。

The reason for being reddish is that it is illuminated by sunlight filtered and refracted by the earth's atmosphere.

会呈红色的原因是它被太阳光过滤和被地球大气折射照亮所形成。

Saturday 20 January 2018

Tulku 仁波切

China - Yunnan, Lijiang (Zhiyun Temple)

中国 - 云南,丽江(指云寺)


Zhiyun Temple is located in the ancient city of Lijiang 18 km west of Lashi dam foothills.

指云寺位于丽江古城西18公里拉市坝西部山麓。

Built in 1727 (Qing Dynasty Emperor Yongzheng fifth year), one of the five temples in Lijiang.

建于1727年(清雍正五年),为丽江五大寺之一。


Zhiyun means "pointing the clouds".

指云意为“指点云彩”。

Zhiyun Temple was destroyed in troubled time during the Xianfeng and Tongzhi years.

咸丰、同治年间,指云寺毁于乱世。


Reconstruction was completed in 1879 (Guangxu fifth years).

完成重建于1879年(光绪五年)。

The original temple had thirteen courtyards, but now only one compound and five small yards are preserved.

指云寺原有院十三个,现仅有一大院和五小院保存。


Rinpoche is derived from Tibetan language, the original meaning is "treasure", similar as monks, lamas.

仁波切源于藏语,原义是“珍宝”,意义与和尚、喇嘛相近。

The use of the word Rinpoche in Chinese is not common.

在汉语中仁波切一词的用法并不普遍。

Although Rinpoche is not exactly the same as Guru and Living Buddha, but the Chinese commonly refers Rinpoche as Guru and Living Buddha.

尽管在意义上仁波切与上師和活佛并不完全相同,但在汉语中大众常用上師和活佛来称呼仁波切。



The monks will be addressed as Rinpoche in three cases.

僧人在三种情形下会被称作仁波切。

First being the reincarnation monks (that is the Living Buddha) and being certified. 

一是转世高僧(即活佛)并被认证。

Second are those whose learning is worthy as the world's role model.

二是学问堪为世人楷模者。

Third are those spiritual practitioners who have great achievements.

三是此世有很高修行的成就者。

In other words, the reincarnated monk must be Rinpoche, but a person being addressed as Rinpoche  is not necessarily a reincarnated monk.

也就是说转世高僧一定是仁波切,但被称为仁波切的人不一定是转世高僧。

Monday 1 January 2018

Singapore Standard Time 新加坡标准时间

Singapore

新加坡

What time is it?

几点钟了?

Nowadays "What time is it?" really depends more on the lawyers, economists, politicians and businessmen.

现在的“几点钟了?”更多地取决于律师、经济学家、政治家和商人。

Unlike the nineteenth century and before, relying on the astronomers, geographers, surveyors, mathematicians and scientists.

不像在十九世纪和之前,依赖天文学家、地理学家、测量学家、数学家和科学家们。


Singapore has experienced at least seven times of time changes.

新加坡至少经历了七次的时间更动。

List of time changes / 时间更改列表

Period in use / 
使用期 | Time offset from GMT / 格林威治标准时间时差

Until May 31, 1905 / 直到1905年5月31日 | + 6hr 55m 25s / + 6小时 55分 25秒

Jun 1, 1905 - Dec 31, 1932 / 1905年6月1日 - 1932年12月31日 | + 7hr 00m 00s / + 7小时 00分 00秒


Jan 1, 1933 - Aug 31, 1941 / 1933年1月1日 - 1941年8月31日 | + 7hr 20m 00s / + 7小时 20分 00秒


Sep 1, 1941 - Feb 15, 1942 / 1941年9月1日 - 1942年2月15日 | + 7hr 30m 00s / + 7小时 30分 00秒


Feb 16, 1942 - Sep 12, 1945 / 1942年2月16日 - 1945年9月12日 | + 9hr 00m 00s / + 9小时 00分 00秒


Sep 13, 1945 -  Dec 31, 1981 / 1945年9月13日 - 1981年12月31日 | + 7hr 30m 00s / + 7小时 30分 00秒


Jan 1, 1982 - Present / 1982年1月1日至今 | + 8hr 00m 00s / + 8小时 00分 00秒

So can anyone tell me what time is it?

那么谁能告诉我今夕是何夕?

P/S: Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. UTC is considered interchangeable with Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), but GMT is no longer precisely defined by the scientific community.

注:协调世界时(UTC)是世界规定时钟和时间的主要时间标准。UTC被认为可以与格林威治标准时间(GMT)互换,但 GMT 不再是科学界精确定义。