📖 Meaning
To reverently bestow the calendar upon the common people so they understand the changing of seasons and do not miss agricultural timing. By extension, it came to mean the official promulgation of the calendar or almanac to the public.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom traces to the 'Canon of Yao' (尧典) chapter of the Book of Documents (尚书), where Emperor Yao appointed officials Xi and He to observe the sun, moon, and stars and reverently hand down the calendar to the people. The original text reads '敬授人时' (jìng shòu rén shí). The variant '敬授民时' emerged during the Tang dynasty, when the character 民 was taboo due to Emperor Li Shimin's (李世民) personal name. Thereafter it denoted the imperial duty of issuing the annual calendar.
💡 Example Usage
朝廷每年敬授民时，使百姓知农候而不误耕作。
The imperial court reverently issued the calendar each year so the common people would know the farming seasons and not miss their cultivation.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 敬授民时
- Pinyin: jìng shòu mín shí
- Literal Translation: reverently, bestow, the people, seasons
- Category: Leadership
- Characters: 4