Solar Term

A solar term is any of twenty-four periods in traditional Chinese lunisolar calendars that matches a particular astronomical event or signifies some natural phenomenon. The points are spaced 15° apart along the ecliptic and are used by lunisolar calendars to stay synchronized with the seasons, which is crucial for agrarian societies. The solar terms are also used to calculate intercalary months; which month is repeated depends on the position of the sun at the time.

According to the ''Book of Documents'', the first determined term was Dongzhi (Winter Solstice) by Dan, the Duke of Zhou, while he was trying to locate the geological center of the Western Zhou dynasty, by measuring the length of the sun's shadow on an ancient timekeeper instrument named Tu Gui (土圭). Then four terms of seasons were set, which were soon evolved as eight terms; until 104 BC in the book Taichu Calendar, the entire twenty-four solar terms were officially included in the Chinese calendar.

Because the Sun's speed along the ecliptic varies depending on the Earth-Sun distance, the number of days that it takes the Sun to travel between each pair of solar terms varies slightly throughout the year. Each solar term is divided into three (候 ''hòu''), so there are 72 pentads in a year. Each pentad consists of five, rarely six, days, and are mostly named after phenological (biological or botanical) phenomena corresponding to the pentad.

Solar terms originated in China, then spread to Korea, Vietnam, and Japan, countries in the East Asian cultural sphere. Although each term was named based on the seasonal changes of climate in the North China Plain, peoples living in the different climates still use it without changes. This is exhibited by the fact that traditional Chinese characters for most of the solar terms are identical.

On December 1, 2016, the solar terms were listed by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Numbering

The even solar terms (marked with "Z", for ) are considered the major terms, while the odd solar terms (marked with "J", for ) are deemed minor. The year starts with Lichun (J1) and ends with Dahan (Z12).

Multilingual list

Chinese mnemonic song

The "Song of Solar Terms" () is used to ease the memorization of ''jiéqì'':

;Traditional Chinese:

;Simplified Chinese:

;Pinyin
chūn yǔ jīng chūn qīng gǔ tiān,

xià mǎn máng xià shǔ xiāng lián,

qiū chù lù qiū hán shuāng jiàng,

dōng xuě xuě dōng xiǎo dà hán.

měi yuè liǎng jié bù biàn gēng,

zùi duō xiāng chā yī liǎng tiān

shàng bàn nián lái liù, niàn yī

xià bàn nián shì bā, niàn sān

The first four lines provides a concise version of the names of the 24 ''jieqi''. The last four lines provide some rules of thumb about the Gregorian dates of ''jieqi'', namely:
* Two ''jieqi'' per month;
* Gregorian dates are off by one or two days at most;
* In the first half of the year, ''jieqi'' happens around the 6th and 21st day of each (Gregorian) month;
* In the second half of the year, ''jieqi'' happens around the 8th and 23rd day of each (Gregorian) month.

Determination

The modern definition using ecliptic longitudes, introduced by the Shixian calendar, is known as 定气法. Under this method, the determination of solar terms is similar to the astronomical determination of the special cases of equinox and solstice dates, with different ecliptic longitudes to solve for. One can start with an approximation and then perform a correction using the anomalies and mean motion of the sun. The JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System may be used to query for exact times of solar terms.

The older method is known as 平气法 and simply divides the tropical year into 24 equal parts.

Regional note

In Japan, the term Setsubun (節分) originally referred to the eves of Risshun (立春, 315°, the beginning of Spring), Rikka (立夏, 45°, the beginning of Summer), Risshū (立秋, 135°, the beginning of Autumn), and Rittō (立冬, 225°, the beginning of Winter), but currently mostly refers to the day before Risshun. The name of each solar term also refers to the period of time between that day and the next solar term, or 1/24th of a year.

See also

* Chinese calendar
* Korean calendar
* Japanese calendar
* Vietnamese calendar

References

{{reflist

External links

24 Solar Terms calculator

Twenty Four Solar Terms and Their Customs in China

Chinese calendar with upcoming solar terms in current year





Date and time of Solar Terms




Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity