Why is the slight cold in the wrong order than the great cold?

There is a folk proverb in China: "A slight cold is worse than a heavy cold, which is common but not rare." The long-term meteorological data in China also show that although the ancients thought that the Great Cold was the "cold inverse pole", the slight cold was the lowest solar term in a year, and only a few years later was the temperature of the Great Cold lower than the slight cold. So why is it that slight cold is colder than severe cold? Did the ancients mistake the order of slight cold and great cold? Let Lao Huang Li introduce you.

Why is slight cold colder than cold?

Slight cold is a solar term in December, usually between 65438+1October 5-7 in Gregorian calendar. A solar term before the slight cold is the winter solstice, during which the ground gets the least solar heat, but some heat in the deep soil can still be emitted upwards, so the winter solstice is not the coldest time of the year.

In the slight cold season, the heat loss of deep soil reaches the lowest point. Although the days are slightly longer and the sun's light and heat are slightly increased, it is actually the most difficult time to make a living, so the slight cold has become the coldest season all year round. From the winter solstice, the "99" and "39" with cold weather are the coldest periods, and they always fall within the slight cold solar terms.

There is an anonymous saying in Song Ci, "Clouds and dusk are the same in the slight cold season, and the wind is fierce" ("Looking at Mei"), which is exactly the cold of the slight cold. Although the cold wave goes south more frequently in the cold season. Cold wave and strong cold air usually bring strong wind and rain and snow, but according to China's long-term meteorological records, great cold is not as good as slight cold.

Is the order of slight cold and heavy cold wrong?

Since the slight chill is colder, why did the ancients add a great chill after the slight chill instead of arranging it upside down? Did the ancients mistake the order of slight cold and great cold?

It turns out that we can't generalize which solar term is the coldest, and the north and south are different, and the year is different. According to the statistics of perennial climate data in China, the coldest period in most parts of northern China is 65438+1mid-October (10-20) every year. The annual slight cold solar term starts from 65438+1October 5-7, one solar term is 15 days, and the middle section is just within the slight cold solar term.

So for most parts of the north, slight cold is indeed colder than severe cold. But for most parts of the south, it is the coldest in the great cold season. The severe cold solar term in the south generally starts from 65438+1October 20th, and the end of 65438+1October is the coldest time of the year in the south.

In addition, China's traditional culture emphasizes "extremes meet" and thinks that the "heaven" of alternating cold and summer is to recover quickly after catching a cold. If you get a bad cold first, and then a slight cold, you won't find the feeling of "recovery" after the coldest, so it is in line with the thinking habit of China people to put the bad cold behind and let it return to beginning of spring quickly after the bad cold.

There is also a saying that the slight cold in winter corresponds to the slight heat in summer, so it is called slight cold. Great cold, located after the slight cold solar term, "April 9" is just within the great cold solar term, and it is also very cold, while the great cold in winter corresponds to the great heat in summer, so it is called great cold.