The Longest Day in Chang’an: A Race Against Time

Shichen (时辰) is an ancient unit of time. In ancient China, people divide a day into twelve Hours, each is equal to the present two hours. And for each Hour, there are eight quarters with the first four called Chu, meaning beginning of the Hour, and the latter four called Zheng, meaning the exact time of the Hour.

Time Table of the Twelve Hours in the Novel

子          Zi           23:00-00:59

丑          Chou     01:00-02:59

寅          Yin        03:00-04:59

卯          Mao       05:00-06:59

辰          Chen      07:00-08:59

巳          Si           09:00-10:59

午          Wu         11:00-12:59

未          Wei        13:00-14:59

申          Shen      15:00-16:59

酉          You        17:00-18:59

戌          Xu         19:00-20:59

亥          Hai        21:00-22:59

Terms and Glossaries:

Lubi Army (旅贲军): Imperial Guards

The Indecent (不良人 bu liang ren): A group of detectives or constable that report directly to the emperor.

Soghd (Suguda: Ancient peoples of central Asia) an ancient Iranian civilization

Xianism (祆xian教): Zoroastrianism (Also called Mazdaism)

Xianzheng (祆正): A priest of Zoroastrianism

Da Sabao (大萨宝): Great Patriarch of Zoroastrianism

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