Millennium Culture: Who Invented the Twenty-four Solar Terms?

Twenty-four solar terms can reflect the changes of seasons, guide agricultural activities and affect the food, clothing, housing and transportation of thousands of families. Twenty-four solar terms refer to twenty-four seasons and climate, which is a supplementary calendar made by China in ancient times to guide farming. So, is there an inventor for the 24 solar terms? If so, who is the inventor?

Question: Who is the inventor of the 24 solar terms?

Answer: Twenty-four solar terms were not invented by one person, but rather by the collective wisdom of ancient ancestors in China.

The lunar calendar was always used in ancient China, which was mainly arranged according to the changes of the moon phases. However, this calendar is unfavorable to agricultural guidance (solar calendar is more favorable to agricultural guidance), because agriculture and phenology are mainly determined according to the direct position of the sun on the earth, so other methods are needed to guide agricultural production, which is an important reason for the emergence of the 24 solar terms.

The division of the 24 solar terms is mainly based on the earth's revolution around the sun and its specific position in a year. A year turns to 360, and every 15 is a solar term. In ancient times, there were probably several ways to divide it: one was to watch the Big Dipper at dusk shortly after dark, and set the solar terms by pointing to bucket handle; bucket handle pointed to the east as the vernal equinox, pointed to the south as the summer solstice, pointed to the west as the autumnal equinox, and pointed to the north as the winter solstice.

There is also a way to row a boat, that is, at dusk, look at what constellation is at the zenith, such as the star at the zenith at dusk, which is called "fire" in ancient books, that is, "Antares", that is, summer has arrived; In addition, if the constellation you see at dusk is the Pleiades, which is now the Pleiades cluster of Taurus in astronomy, it is the winter solstice. The third drawing method is to measure the shadow of the sun with a soil gauge, that is, to stand on a pole and see the length of the shadow at noon. If the shadow is the shortest, it is the summer solstice; The longest shadow is the winter solstice.

As for the time when the twenty-four solar terms appeared, it can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period, which has four solar terms: midsummer (vernal equinox), midsummer (summer solstice), midsummer (autumnal equinox) and midsummer (winter solstice). Shangshu Yao Dian has a way to use the stars at four o'clock sharp.

The twenty-four solar terms are divided according to the position of the sun on the ecliptic (that is, the orbit of the earth around the sun). Depending on the sun starting from the vernal equinox (longitude zero, at this moment the sun shines vertically on the equator), every advance of 15 degrees is a solar term; After running for a week, it returns to the vernal equinox, which is a tropic year with 360 degrees, so it is divided into 24 solar terms precipitation phenomena, indicating the time and intensity of rainfall and snowfall; The three solar terms, White Dew, Cold Dew and First Frost, on the surface reflect the phenomenon of condensation and condensation of water vapor, but in essence reflect the process and degree of gradual temperature drop: when the temperature drops to a certain extent, water vapor condenses; The continuous drop in temperature not only increases condensation, but also gets colder and colder; When the temperature drops below zero degrees Celsius, water vapor condenses into frost.

The above is about the 24 solar terms. I wonder if it will help everyone?