What are the 24 solar terms?

The 24 solar terms are: beginning of spring, Rain, Sting, Equinox, Qingming, Grain Rain, Changxia, Xiaoman, Mangzhong, Summer Solstice, Xiaoxia, Daxia, beginning of autumn, Early Summer, Bailu, Autumn Equinox, Cold Dew, Early Frost, beginning of winter, Light Snow, Heavy Snow, Winter Solstice, Slight Cold and Severe Cold.

"Twenty-four solar terms" is the product of ancient farming civilization. It is a knowledge system formed by ancient ancestors following the farming season and observing the movement of celestial bodies to understand the changing laws of seasons, climate and phenology in a year. The twenty-four solar terms were originally formulated according to the changes of stars. The Big Dipper rotates once and bucket handle rotates once clockwise, which is called one of the "years" (Figure).

The current "twenty-four solar terms" are formulated according to the position of the sun on the return to the ecliptic, that is, the annual movement track of the sun is divided into 24 equal parts, each 15 is 1, and each 1 is a solar term, starting in beginning of spring and ending in severe cold.

Climate type

Twenty-four solar terms are the product of agricultural civilization and the knowledge system formed by ancient ancestors by observing celestial movement combined with geographical climate and phenological laws. Agricultural production is closely related to geographical and climatic resources, and superior geographical and climatic resources are important conditions for the birth of agricultural civilization. China is located in the east of Asia-Europe continent and the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, with great differences in thermal properties between land and sea, forming the most typical monsoon climate in the world.

Monsoon climate is a mixture of continental climate and maritime climate. In winter, affected by the dry and cold air flow in the inland, the weather is cold, dry and rainy; In summer, it is hot, humid and rainy because of the warm and humid air currents in the ocean. Adequate sunshine, abundant precipitation, high temperature and humid rain and heat are very superior climate resources in China.

The high temperature period is consistent with the rainy period, and the water and heat match well, which is very beneficial to the growth of crops. Climate factors include illumination, temperature and precipitation, among which precipitation is an important factor of climate. Twenty-four solar terms accurately reflect the changing law of natural rhythm and play an extremely important role in ancient agricultural production.