Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Almanac inquiry - How are the 24 solar terms divided?

How are the 24 solar terms divided?

The 24 solar terms are divided as follows:

24 solar terms refers to the 24 specific solar terms in the China lunar calendar, which are formulated according to the change of the earth's position on the ecliptic (that is, the earth's orbit around the sun), and each solar term corresponds to a certain position reached by the earth every time it runs 15 on the ecliptic. The twenty-four solar terms are divided into 12 neutral solar terms and 12 solar terms, which correspond to each other one by one. The twenty-four solar terms reflect the annual apparent motion of the sun, so their dates are basically fixed in the Gregorian calendar. The solar terms in the first half of the year are on the 6th, the solar terms in the second half of the year are on the 8th and the solar terms are on the 23rd, with a difference of less than 1-2 days.

Among the 24 solar terms, the solar terms reflecting the changes of the four seasons are: beginning of spring, Spring Equinox, Long Summer, Summer Solstice, beginning of autumn, Autumn Equinox, beginning of winter and Winter Solstice; There are five solar terms reflecting temperature changes: slight summer heat, great summer heat, summer heat, slight cold and severe cold; There are seven solar terms reflecting weather phenomena: rain, Grain Rain, white dew, cold dew, first frost, light snow and heavy snow; There are four solar terms reflecting phenological phenomena: Jing Zhe, Qing Ming, Xiaoman and Mang Zi.

Twenty-four solar terms, a supplementary calendar, were established in the pre-Qin period in China and completely established in the Han Dynasty to guide farming. It is a knowledge system formed by observing the movement of the sun in a year and understanding the changing laws of the four seasons, climate and phenology in a year. It divides the sun's annual trajectory into 24 equal parts, and each equal part is a solar term, starting from beginning of spring and ending with severe cold. It is not only a time standard issued by successive governments, but also a compass to guide agricultural production and predict cold, warm, rainy and snowy weather in people's daily life.