Give each statement an identifiable origin
A winter-solstice post might combine an official calendar, a teacher’s explanation and a relative’s recollection. Before turning them into one smooth paragraph, mark the draft with three origins: a retrievable publication, someone’s account, or your own interpretation. This helps readers avoid mistaking one family’s experience for a practice shared everywhere. It also shows which sentence still needs checking.
The method below is an editorial exercise for social posts, study notes and family records. A short post need not become an academic paper. The aim is to make important information traceable, rather than to accumulate links.
Create a source card you can actually use again
For each main source, record six things: author or organisation, full page title, original link or book and page number, access date, relevant passage, and the statement it supports. Record a publication or revision date only when the source provides one. Otherwise write that no date is displayed; your access date is not the publication date.
For example, a card might identify the Hong Kong Observatory, its page on the 24 Solar Terms, the passage about ecliptic longitude, and the actual day you opened it. That page explains the division of the ecliptic into 24 equal portions. It supports a calendar explanation, rather than a claim that a furnishing will bring wealth.
Separate quotation, paraphrase and application
Check quotations word for word and use them only when the exact wording matters. If you remember the meaning rather than the words, paraphrase and identify the source. Do not supply an attractive quotation that the speaker never gave. Introduce personal applications with phrases such as “I use this as…” or “In our family…”, instead of attributing all three voices to an expert.
“The Observatory relates solar terms to the Sun’s ecliptic longitude” is a paraphrase of information. “I use the winter solstice as a reminder to review my journal” is a personal application. “Our family meets at the weekend” describes an arrangement. They can appear together without pretending to share one evidential basis.
Keep separate trails for dates and customs
When a post concerns a particular year, save that year’s calendar link and specify whether you checked a Gregorian date, a lunar date or the instant of a solar term. The Observatory’s Gregorian–Lunar Calendar Conversion Tables are organised by year. Linking only to an organisation’s homepage leaves readers guessing which table you used.
With permission, an oral account can be labelled “a practice described by a relative and followed in this family, recorded on [date]”. Do not disclose a name or private details if the person prefers anonymity. Keep uncertainty visible. A complete citation is no reason to reveal a relative’s address, birth date or other personal information.
Use a compact note for a short post
Put the link beside the statement it supports, then list two or three main sources at the end. A practical format is: organisation or author; page title; original link; date accessed; and a note that the relevant passage is your paraphrase. For a book, give the edition, publication details and actual page. For class notes, identify the topic, speaker and date, and whether the speaker has checked your account.
A screenshot may help your own record, but retain the page title and original URL. If its year, heading or footnote is missing, return to the full page before drawing a conclusion. If you plan to share an entire work or an image, ask the author what can be shared and record the reply. A source card is not a record that this separate conversation has taken place.
Make corrections visible where readers saw the claim
Keep the dated draft and record the original wording, replacement, reason and checking source. If a public post named the wrong year, correct that post and briefly explain the change, rather than mentioning it only in a later post. Remove or mark an unresolved sentence while you check it; do not guess merely to keep the post complete.
To develop your cultural vocabulary, explore the Feng Shui and BaZi foundation course and organise each concept with a source card. Our solar-term observation journal offers a complementary exercise: this guide records where information comes from, while the journal records your own observations.