时节
shí jié · HSK 6
season
🍂🌸 shí jié = time +節 (joint/segment) — joints of the year
A season is literally a joint or segment of time. Think of the year as a bamboo stalk: each node marks where one season ends and the next begins. Shí means time, jié means a knot or division point.
时 — sun 日 + temple/measure 寺
Originally a phono-semantic compound: 日 (sun) gives the meaning of time or season, while 寺 (shí) supplies the sound. Early forms used 之 as the phonetic before 寺 replaced it. The core sense 'season, time, hour' has stayed stable since ancient Chinese.
节 — bamboo radical 竹 (⺮) + 即
Originally written 節, depicting a bamboo joint — the segmented node where a stalk divides. The bamboo radical ⺮ gives the meaning, while 即 supplies the sound. From 'bamboo joint' the meaning expanded to any segment, hence 'section,' 'festival' (a marked point in the year), and 'restraint' (knowing where to stop).