The 24 Solar Terms of the Traditional Chinese

Calendar

By Kelly PangUpdated Oct. 2, 2021

The 24 solar terms, based on the sun's position in the zodiac, were created by farmers in ancient
China to guide the agricultural affairs and farming activities. The 24 solar terms reflect the changes
in climate, natural phenomena, agricultural production, and other aspects of human life, including
clothing, food, housing, and transportation. The 24 solar terms play important roles and have greatly
influenced people's basic needs in life, and they still have an important function nowadays.

List of the 24 Solar Terms in 2021

Solar Chinese Month Remarks
Terms and
Date
Start of lì chūn Feb 3/4th A dubiously premature name, as it's not the beginning of
Spring 立春 spring in most of China; only in the extreme south.
Rain Water yǔ shuǐ Feb 19th There is an increase of rainfall from then on.
雨水
Awakening jīng zhé Mar 5th Thunder begins and hibernating insects wake up.
of Insects 惊蛰
Vernal chūn fēn Mar 20st With an equal length of day and night.
Equinox 春分
Clear and qīng míng Apr 4th It is clear and bright (when it's not raining), and the
Bright 清明 weather becomes noticeably warmer. A misnomer,
particularly in southern China.
Grain Rain gǔ yǔ Apr 19th The early crops show their shoots.
谷雨
Start of lì xià May 5th The beginning of summer (in southern China).
Summer 立夏
Small Full xiǎo mǎn May 20st The seeds of summer crops begin to become plump, but
(Grain) 小满 are not yet ripe.
Grain in Ear máng Jun 5th The wheat becomes ripe; and the summer planting starts
zhǒng 芒种 (in southern China).
Summer xià zhì Jun 21st The daytime is the longest and the nighttime is the
Solstice 夏至 shortest of the year.
Minor Heat xiǎo shǔ Jul 6th The beginning of the hottest period.
小暑
Major Heat dà shǔ Jul 22rd It is the time of year when the duration of the sunshine is
大暑 the longest, the average temperature is the highest, the
rainfall is the greatest, and the thunderstorms are the
most frequent (in some parts of northern China).
Start of lì qiū 立秋 Aug 7th An anomaly: nowhere is this true. Like the "start of
Autumn spring" it is about a month premature.
Limit of chù shǔ 处 Aug 22rd The end of the hot summer.
Heat 暑
White Dew bái lù 白露 Sep 7th The transition from summer to autumn. The temperature
drops sharply, and the autumn rains come.
Autumnal qiū fēn 秋 Sep 22rd With an equal length of day and night.
Equinox 分
 Cold Dew hán lù 寒 Oct 8th The weather becomes cold enough to reach dew point,
露 but not cold enough to reach frost point.
Frost shuāng Oct 23rd The weather becomes cold and frost begins to form (in
Descent jiàng 霜降 North China).
Start of lì dōng 立 Nov 7th True of northern China, but winter comes later in the
Winter 冬 south.
Minor Snow xiǎo xuě 小 Nov 22nd Snow begins to fall, the weather becomes cold.
雪
Major Snow dà xuě 大 Dec 7th It snows heavily for the first time in the year (in northern
雪 China).
Winter dōng zhì Dec 21nd The daytime is the shortest and the nighttime is the
Solstice 冬至 longest of the year.
Minor Cold xiǎo hán Jan 5th， The weather rapidly reaches its coldest.
小寒 2022
Major Cold dà hán 大 Jan 'Major Cold' It is the coldest time of the year.
寒 20th，
2022

The terms consist of 12 pairs of major (sectional) and minor (middle) solar terms interlaced with
each other., namely The 24 solar terms embody a complete circle of the sun and divide the circle into
24 segments, with each segment being about half a month long. In both the lunar and solar
calendars, the Gregorian calendar date of each solar term is basically fixed, with minor differences of
within one or two days.

Meaning of the 24 Solar Terms

From the names of the 24 solar terms, we can see that the division of the solar terms has fully
considered the variation of natural phenomena, such as seasons, climates and phenology.

The solar terms known as Start of Spring, Start of Summer, Start of Autumn, and Start of Winter are
used to reflect the change of seasons, dividing the year into four seasons of exactly three months.
While this fits an ideal pattern of dates, it does not reflect observable reality in most of China.

The solar terms of Vernal Equinox, Autumnal Equinox, Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice are
divided from an astronomical aspect, reflecting the turning point of the variation of the altitude of
the sun.

Minor Heat, Major Heat, Limit of Heat, Minor Cold, and Major Cold reflect the changes of
temperature in different periods.

Clear and Bright, Rain Water, Grain Rain, Minor Snow, and Major Snow, White Dew, Cold Dew, and
Frost Descent reflect the phenomenon of precipitation, indicating the time and intensity of rainfall,
snowfall, dew, and frost.

Small Full (Grain) and Grain in Ear reflect the maturity and harvest time of crops, while Awakening
of Insects reflects observed insect activity.

Origin
As early as the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC), Chinese ancestors had already established
two major solar terms, ri nan zhi (日南至 'Sun South Most') and ri bei zhi (日北至 'Sun North Most').

As of the end of the Warring States Period (475–221 BC), eight key solar terms (Start of Spring,
Vernal Equinox, Start of Summer, Summer Solstice, Start of Autumn, Autumnal Equinox, Start of
Winter and Winter Solstice) marking the four seasons, were established according to the different
positions of the sun and changes in natural phenomena.

The rest of the solar terms were initiated in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC–24 AD). Hence most
terms refer to the climate of Xi'an, capital of the Han Dynasty.