Weekly Word: 晴 qíng, – good weather

Learning to speak about the weather is a basic aspect of any language. Our word of the week this week is 晴 – ‘good weather’

Pronunciation

晴 is pronounced qíng,

Meaning

 晴 (qíng) originally means the rain stops at night, the clouds are scattered, and stars appear in the sky. In more modern Chinese it refers to the weather when the rain and snow stop, and there are no clouds or few clouds. The word “Qing” is related to the sun or sunlight and can also mean “stop”.

Examples:

晴天霹雳, Qíngtiān pīlì

Literally translates as “Thunder on a sunny day” but is used as an analogy of unexpected and shocking events.

月有阴晴圆缺,Yuè yǒu yīn qíng yuán quē

This is a popular verse from a poem which describes the various states of the moon. It literally means the weather could be sunny or cloudy, and the moon could be round or missing.

This phrase is often used as a metaphor for the ups and downs of life, indicating that it is impossible for everything to be satisfying, so sometimes you just have to let it go.