Xuán here means ‘black', as in xuánsài, a foreboding name for the Great Wall. Yǔzhòu is now a common term for ‘outer space', ‘the cosmos', or ‘all creation'—yǔ is ‘the space around us', and zhòu is ‘time eternal'. Hónghuāng refers to the fluid, plastic, chaotic condition of the primordial state before the structuring of the world, as seen in Wú Chéng'ēn's "Chinese Genesis" in the beginning of his famed 16th century novel Journey to the West. It's interesting to compare this poetic account to Ovid's interpretation of the Greek creation myth in Metamorphoses—there are many similarities.

Yíng means ‘full', refering to the moon; zè refers to the sun's inclination. Chén is the sun, moon, and stars. Xiù is a rare literary reading of 宿, normally pronounced sù in modern Mandarin. Here, it's the character for the star lodges—Chinese constellations—there having been 28 in ancient Chinese astronomy.

The ancestors of the Chinese people were systematically cultivating rice and millet over 4,500 years ago with a grasp of the seasonal timing of planting and reaping. To go even father back, one site—Tǎohé Mǔdù in Zhèjiāng Province—has produced evidence of rice cultivation around 7500 years ago, the oldest evidence of such activities yet discovered anywhere on Earth. Chinese farmers started using the lunar calendar very early on. Specifically, they used a calendar with 24 periods named nónglì to time their agricultural activities.

Rùnyú refers to the lunar year being about ten days shorter than the time of the a complete journey around the sun. The Chinese added extra months, rùnyuè, to compensate, often lengthening the year. The bamboo pipe played twelve notes: six high ones called lǜ that were identified with yáng, and six low notes called lǚ, identified wth yīn. Together, they correspond to the twelve months of the year. In addition, resonance from playing of the flute was used for divination through the scattering of ashes.

A very succinct and clear description of the physical processes involved in weather, especially for the late 5th century—what meteorologists would now call the behavior of an adiabatic mass lifted into colder air under unstable conditions (high lapse rate, or rate of temperature decrease per unit of height), resulting in faster and faster lifting, further condensation, and rain. The night's dew freezes with the morning's cold. It is also explained as the sublimation of energies of the cultivated jūnzǐrén.

The ancient Chinese panned for gold in running streams, as prospectors still do. Kūnlún probably refers to the Kūnlún mountains of Tibet, where the legendary jade pool Yáochǐ is located. In ancient legend, Yáochǐ is home to the fairies, and Xīwángmǔ—the Queen Mother of the West.

Jùquē was the legendary jade sword of Gǒujiàn (d. 465 BCE), the king of Yuè during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BCE). According to one legend, it was given by the ‘mystery girl' Xuánnǚ, an unbeatable swordswoman and transformation of the ‘Queen Mother of the West'. He used it to avenge defeat and conquer his arch rival: the king of Wú, named Fūchà. It has long refered to any jade sword. The ‘Gleam of Night', or Yèguāng, was a legendary pearl: according to superstition, it was once the eye of a whale.

Lǐ (李), meaning ‘pear'—the second most common surname after Zhāng (张)—also meant ‘peach'. Aside from the mustard plant itself, its seeds were naturally used for seasoning food. Ginger was (and is) valued as an ingredient, spice, and medicinal herb—useful in treating hypertension and other illnesses.

Dàn means ‘clear' or ‘pure' here, in the sense of ‘not saline'. It's also used in the sense of ‘sweet' (in the alcoholic sense as as opposed to ‘dry'). Lín literally means ‘scale', but here refers to fish in general, and yǔ (‘feather') is used the same way to mean ‘birds'. This concludes the first chapter of the Qiānzì wēn, which starts off with cosmogeny, and progresses to common knowledge about nature.