What does the twenty-four solar terms represent?

24 solar terms represents the zodiac as follows:

Beginning of spring and Chunyu (tiger), quiet and vernal equinox (rabbit), Qingming and Grain Rain (dragon), long summer and xiaoman (snake), Miscanthus and summer solstice (horse), light summer and great summer and (sheep), beginning of autumn and early summer (monkey), Millennium and autumnal equinox (chicken), cold dew and early frost (dog), beginning of winter and light snow.

In China's calendar, there are twelve kinds of animals on duty in turn, so in our China year, rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and pigs are used in the calendar.