This study takes Shiwuyiming Jiaozhu (Annotated Synonyms of Things), compiled by Yu Tingbi in the Ming dynasty and collated by Yang Shengxin in the early Qing, as its primary source. Focusing on the seasonal synonyms of spring, summer, autumn, and winter under the category of “Shiling” (Seasons), it examines their origins, semantic features, and the temporal concepts and cognitive modes they reflect. As a significant phenomenon in Chinese linguistic culture, synonyms (yiming) reveal not only lexical diversity but also the agricultural experience, religious beliefs, and cosmological order of traditional society. The paper first analyzes the etymology of the four season names, noting their derivation from natural phenomena and farming practices. It then investigates the sources of seasonal synonyms, highlighting two major patterns: those based on the system of Five Phases, directions, and colors, and those organized under secondary subcategories such as “…shen” (deities) and “…jing” (sceneries). The former links to ritual deities, while the latter originates from literary and aesthetic depictions. Furthermore, a comparative perspective shows that Chinese thought emphasizes cyclical and holistic modes of cognition, conceiving time as a process of generation, growth, harvest, and storage, whereas Western traditions tend toward analytic thinking and a linear model of time, metaphorically associating seasons with stages of life and decay. In conclusion, the seasonal synonyms in Shiwuyiming Jiaozhu are not merely lexical variations but cultural crystallizations of a multi-layered cognitive process that integrates concrete, imagistic, and abstract thinking. This study deepens our understanding of the interplay between language, culture, and cognition in ancient China and provides new insights for cross-cultural studies of temporal concepts.

目 錄
1.引言
2.季節名稱分析
    2.1 季節通名分析
    2.2 季節異名分析
3.季節時間觀念和思維特徵
    3.1 農耕經驗與季節時間觀的建立
    3.2 具象思維與抽象思維
    3.3 整體（循環）思維與分析（線性）思維
4.結語

• 王智穎(韓國慶星大學中語中文系博士在讀) | Zhiying WANG