With the arrival of 春天 (chūn tiān), spring, nature shows signs of rebirth and renewal. The character 春 congruously resembles a plant sprouting under the sun. In China it’s not the 水仙 (shuǐ xiān), daffodil, that heralds the beginning of spring, but rather 迎春花 (yíng chūn huā), winter jasmine. The 春风 (chūn fēng), spring breeze, dissipates the grim clouds of winter to make way for 蓝天白云 (lán tiān bái yún), blue skies and white clouds. 春暖花开 (chūn nuǎn huā kāi), flowers blossom in the warm spring, and 风平浪静 (fēng píng làng jìng), the wind is soft and the waves are calm. These phrases about spring scenes serve as poetic metaphors for feelings of inner tranquility or for peaceful situations.

But 天有不测风云 (tiān yǒu bú cè fēng yún), the sky often brings unanticipated winds and clouds, or the future is unpredictable. The ancient Chinese relied upon 星相学 (xīng xiàng xúe), astrology, to forecast worldly events. They believed that changes in the sky foretell or reflect changes in human society. Hence is the importance of climatic elements in Chinese philosophy. Thus, the emperor was called 天子 (tiān zǐ), son of Heaven, and the country is also called 天下 (tiān xià), everything under the sky. All of the celestial bodies were subjects for study by Chinese astrologers; including 日 (rì), sun, 月 (yuè), moon, and 星 (xīng), star. 星 combines the characters 日 and 生 (shēng), born, suggesting that stars are born from the sun.