Which 24 are 24 solar terms?

Twenty-four solar terms

Twenty-four solar terms are the original cultural heritage of the working people in China, which can reflect the changes of seasons, guide agricultural activities and affect the food, clothing, housing and transportation of thousands of families. Since 2, the main political activity centers in China have been concentrated in the Yellow River Basin, and the 24 solar terms have been established on the basis of the climate and phenology in this area. Because of China's vast territory and changeable terrain, the 24 solar terms are only a reference for many regions.

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 vernal equinox (longitude zero, at this moment the sun shines vertically on the equator), every 15 degrees forward is a solar term; After a week's operation, I returned to vernal equinox, which is a tropical year, which is 36 degrees, so it is divided into 24 solar terms. The dates of solar terms are relatively fixed in the solar calendar. For example, beginning of spring is always between February 3rd and 5th in the solar calendar. However, in the lunar calendar, the date of solar terms is not easy to determine. Take beginning of spring as an example, it can be on December 15th of the previous year's lunar calendar at the earliest and on January 15th at the latest.

From the literal meaning of the 24 solar terms:

beginning of spring, long summer, beginning of autumn and beginning of winter-also called "Sili"-respectively represent the beginning of the four seasons. "Stand" means start. Gregorian calendar is generally around February 4th, May 5th, August 7th and November 7th every year. "Sili" indicates the beginning of the astronomical season, which, in terms of climate, is still in the last season. For example, the Yellow River Basin in beginning of spring is still in the middle of winter.

summer solstice and winter solstice-collectively called "the second solstice", represent the astronomical extremes of summer and winter. "Zhi" means extreme and most. Summer solstice and winter solstice are generally on June 21st and December 22nd of the Gregorian calendar every year.

vernal equinox and autumnal equinox-collectively called "dichotomy", mean that the length of day and night is equal. "Divide" means divide equally. These two solar terms are generally around March 2 and September 23 of the Gregorian calendar every year.

rain —— it means that the rainfall begins and gradually increases. Rain falls around February 18th of the Gregorian calendar every year.

fright-the sudden movement of spring thunder wakes up the animals that are dormant and hibernating in the soil. At this time, the temperature rose rapidly, and spring thunder gradually sprouted. Every year around March 5 of the Gregorian calendar is a fright.

Qingming means sunny weather, fresh and clean air, gradual warming and lush vegetation. The Gregorian calendar is about April 5 every year for Qingming.

Grain Rain-more rain is beneficial to the growth of cereal crops. The Gregorian calendar is Grain Rain around April 2th every year.

small fullness-it means that the seeds of summer crops are full, but not yet mature, just small fullness, not yet full. About every year, May 21st of the Gregorian calendar is called Xiaoman.

awned crops such as wheat have matured and started in summer sowing. Every year around June 5, it is the awn seed.

summer heat, summer heat and summer heat-summer heat means heat. The summer heat is not the hottest yet, the summer heat is the hottest season, and the summer heat is the day when the summer day is coming to an end. They are around July 7, July 23 and August 23 of the Gregorian calendar every year.

white dew-the temperature began to drop, the weather turned cold, and there was dew on the vegetation in the morning. The Millennium is around September 7th of the Gregorian calendar every year.

cold dew-the temperature is lower, the air has already condensed with dew, and it is getting chilly. This day is usually on October 8 every year.

first frost-It's getting colder and frosty. First frost usually falls on October 23rd of the Gregorian calendar every year.

light snow, heavy snow-it begins to snow, and small and large indicate the degree of snowfall. Light snow falls on November 22nd of the Gregorian calendar every year, while heavy snow falls around December 7th.

slight cold and severe cold-the weather is getting colder, but slight cold is not the coldest, and severe cold is the coldest time of the year. January 5th and 2th of the Gregorian calendar are mild and severe cold.

Twenty-four solar terms reflect the annual apparent movement of the sun, so the dates of solar terms are basically fixed in the current Gregorian calendar, with the first half of the year on the 6th and 21st, and the second half on the 8th and 23rd, with a difference of 1-2 days

Twenty-four solar terms

beginning of spring: refers to the northeast. The solar longitude is 315 degrees. It is the first of the 24 solar terms. Its meaning is to begin to enter the spring, "Yang and stings, and everything is spring". After beginning of spring, everything is full of vitality, and the four seasons begin from now on.

the rain bucket refers to the ring. The solar meridian is 33. At this time, the spring breeze blows all over, the ice and snow melt, the air is moist, and the rain increases, so it is called rain. People often say: "It is getting warmer in the spring, and the rain is busy to send fertilizer."

fright: fighting with fingers. The solar meridian is 345. This solar term means that after beginning of spring, the weather gets warmer, the spring thunder begins to vibrate, and all kinds of hibernating animals that are dormant in the soil will wake up and start to move, so it is called a fright. During this period, the oviposition of wintering insects will also start to hatch. Some parts of our country have entered the spring ploughing season. As the proverb goes, "After being shocked, it is warm and harmonious, and the old toad sings folk songs." "I was shocked by a plow, and the vernal equinox was full of air." "I didn't arrive at Lei Xianming, and the rain was like a dragon."

vernal equinox: fighting refers to non-union. The solar meridian is . The sun is above the equator on the vernal equinox. This is the 9-day equinox in spring. On this day, the northern and southern hemispheres are equal day and night, so it is called the vernal equinox. After this day, the direct position of the sun moved to the north, and the days in the northern hemisphere were long and the nights were short. So the vernal equinox is the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere. Overwintering crops in most parts of China have entered the spring growth stage. Agricultural proverbs in various places include: "Spring Equinox comes first, rice fights for money" (Guangdong), "Spring Equinox keeps raining, summer equinox keeps burning" (Sichuan), "Every family is busy when it rains, planting melons and beans first, then transplanting them" (Hubei), "Spring Equinox planting vegetables, picking melons in summer" (Hunan) and "Spring Equinox planting hemp beans, autumn equinox planting.

Qingming: fighting refers to ding. The solar longitude is 15. At this time, the climate is refreshing and warm, plants and trees sprout new branches, everything begins to grow, and farmers are busy ploughing and planting in spring. Once upon a time, on this day in Tomb-Sweeping Day, some families planted willows at the door and went for an outing in the suburbs to sweep the graves. This is an ancient custom.

Grain Rain: You're the best. The solar meridian is 3. It means that rain gives birth to grains. Because rain moistens the earth, grains can grow, so Grain Rain is "rain gives birth to a hundred grains". As the saying goes, "Before and after Grain Rain, we planted melons and beans".

long summer: refers to the southeast. The solar meridian is 45. It is the beginning of summer, and from then on, everything is flourishing. Traditionally, long summer is regarded as an important solar term in which the temperature rises significantly, the summer heat is approaching, thunderstorms increase and crops enter the peak season.

xiaoman: fighting nails. The solar meridian is 6. Since Xiaoman, summer crops such as barley and winter wheat have borne fruit and full seeds, but they are not yet mature, so they are called Xiaoman.

awn seed: Beidou points to itself. The solar meridian is 75. At this time, it is most suitable for sowing grain crops with awns, such as late grain, millet and millet. If you plant awns and crops after this time, it will not be mature. At the same time, "awn" refers to crops with awns such as wheat and barley, and "species" refers to seeds. The awn seed indicates the maturity of awned crops such as wheat. Before and after the awning, the rainfall in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in central China increased, and the temperature rose. When it entered the rainy season, the air was very humid, the weather was extremely sultry, and all kinds of utensils and clothes were prone to mildew, so it was also called "mildew rain" in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China.

summer solstice: Beidou points to B .. The solar meridian is 9. When the sun is at the "Summer Solstice Point" at 9 degrees of the Huangjing, the sun shines almost directly over the Tropic of Cancer, and the sun is the highest in the northern hemisphere at noon. This day is the longest day and the shortest night in the northern hemisphere. From this day on, it enters the hot season, and everything in the world grows most vigorously at this time. In ancient times, the heart also called this day the northern solstice, meaning that the sun was born to the northernmost day. After the summer solstice, the sun gradually moved south, and the days in the northern hemisphere became shorter and the nights became longer.

summer heat: fighting refers to acrimony. The solar meridian is 15. It's already very hot, but it's not hot enough, so it's called a little summer heat. At this point, it is already around the beginning.

summer heat: fighting refers to C .. The solar longitude is 12. The summer heat is the hottest solar term in a year. Before and after the second day of duty, high temperature weather of 4℃ often occurs in many places in the Yangtze River basin. It is necessary to do a good job in heatstroke prevention and cooling. There is a lot of rain in this solar term, so we should pay attention to flood control and waterlogging prevention in the proverb "Little summer heat, big summer heat, drowning mice".

beginning of autumn: Beidou points southwest. The solar longitude is 135. From this day on, autumn begins, the autumn is crisp, the moon is bright and the wind is clear. Since then, the temperature has gradually decreased from the hottest.

summer heat: fighting refers to five. The solar longitude is 15. At this time, the summer heat has come to an end. The summer heat is about to dissipate. It is a turning point in the temperature drop. It is a symbol of cooling climate, indicating the end of summer.

Millennium: refers to the devil. The solar meridian is 165. When the weather turns cold, the ground water vapor condenses the most.

autumnal equinox: the bucket refers to the past. The solar longitude is 18. On the day of the autumnal equinox, like spring people, the sun shines almost directly on the equator, and day and night are almost equal. From this day on, the direct sunlight position continued to move from the equator to the southern hemisphere, and the northern hemisphere began to have shorter days and longer nights. According to the autumn theory of the Chinese old calendar, this day is just half of the ninety days in autumn, so it is called the autumn equinox. But in astronomy, it is stipulated that autumn in the northern hemisphere begins with the autumnal equinox.

cold dew: nail fighting. The solar meridian is 195. After the white dew, the weather turned cold and dew began to appear. When it was cold dew, there was more dew and the temperature was lower. Therefore, some people say that cold is dew, first white and then cold, which means that the climate will gradually turn cold. The water vapor condenses into white dew.

first frost: the longitude of the sun is 21. It's already cold, and there's frost, so it's called first frost.

beginning of winter: the longitude of the sun is 225. Traditionally, our people regard this day as the beginning of winter. Winter, as the end, means that after a year of field operation, crops should be collected. As soon as beginning of winter passes, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in China will soon freeze, and farmers all over China will gradually turn to farmland water conservancy capital construction and other agricultural activities.

xiaoxue: the longitude of the sun is 24. The temperature dropped and it began to snow, but it was not yet the season of heavy snow, so it was called light snow. Before and after the light snow, the Yellow River basin began to snow (the snowfall in the south was two solar terms later); In the north, it has entered the freezing season.

heavy snow: the longitude of the sun is 255. Before and after the heavy snow, there was gradually snow in the Yellow River Basin. In the north, it's already the severe winter of "thousands of miles frozen, Wan Li snow drifting".

winter solstice: the solar meridian is 27. On the winter solstice, the sun shines almost directly on the Tropic of Capricorn, and our northern hemisphere has the shortest day and the longest night, and it has begun to enter several cold days. Astronomy stipulates that this day is the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere. After the winter solstice, the direct sunlight gradually moved northward, and the days in the northern hemisphere gradually became longer. As the proverb goes, eating noodles on the winter solstice makes a day grow longer.

slight cold: the solar meridian is 285. After the slight cold, it began to enter the cold season. Cold air is cold for a long time, and slight cold means that the weather is cold but not yet extreme.

great cold: the solar meridian is 3. Great cold means extreme cold weather. Around the Great Cold is the coldest season of the year. The great cold happened just after March 9th and at the beginning of April 9th. As the saying goes, "Three, nine, four, nine don't do it".

After the severe cold, beginning of spring followed, and the weather became warmer. At this point, the earth revolves around the sun once, ending in a cycle.

the source of solar terms

as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the concepts of the solar solstice in the south and the solar solstice in the north came into being among our people. Subsequently, people divided the year into 24 equal parts according to the relationship between the running position of the sun and the moon at the beginning and middle of the month and the natural utilization of weather, animal and plant growth and so on. And gave each equal part a proper name, which is the twenty-four solar terms. By the end of the Warring States Period, there were eight names of solar terms: beginning of spring, Equinox, long summer, Summer Solstice, beginning of autumn, Equinox, beginning of winter and Winter Solstice. These eight solar terms are the most important of the 24 solar terms. These eight solar terms mark the change of seasons and clearly divide the four seasons of the year. Later, when the book Huainanzi was published, the names of the 24 solar terms were exactly the same as those in modern times.

division of solar terms

some people think that the 24 solar terms are subordinate to the lunar calendar, but in fact, they are defined according to the solar calendar. That is, according to the position of the sun on the ecliptic, a year is divided into 24 equal paragraphs. That is to say, the ecliptic is divided into 24 equal parts, each of which accounts for 15 degrees of the ecliptic. Because the time required for the sun to pass through each equal portion is almost equal, the Gregorian calendar dates of the 24 solar terms are roughly the same every year: the first half of the year is around the 6th and 21st, and the second half is around the 8th and 23rd. And there are two formulas:

six or twenty-one in the first half of the year, and eight or twenty-three in the second half of the year.

In ancient times, solar terms were called "qi", and there were two qi in each month: the former was called "solar terms" and the latter was called "neutral qi". The monthly distribution of the 24 solar terms is shown in the following table, which is closely related to the arrangement of the lunar leap month. In the lunar calendar, beginning of spring is the first of the 24 solar terms. The names of the twenty-four solar terms were named after the places referred to by Dougang and the natural climate and landscape at that time. The so-called Dougang means that the three stars of the Big Dipper, Kui, Heng and Yu, point in different directions and positions with the movement of celestial bodies, and the position they refer to is the month they represent. For example, the first month is Yin, the spoon refers to Yin at dusk, the middle of the night refers to Yin, and the daytime refers to Yin; February is the base, the dipper at dusk refers to the base, the balance at midnight refers to the base, the chief refers to the base during the day, and so on in the rest of the months.

English comparison and time in 24 solar terms, China

The Beginning of Spring (1st solar $ TERM) Feb.3,4,5

Rainwater (2nd solar $ TERM) Feb.18, 19 or 2

the awakening of inserts (3rd solar term) Mar. 5, 6, or 7

the spring equinox (4th solar term) Mar. 2, 21 or 22

Qingming Pure Brightness (5th solar $ TERM) Apr. 4,5 or6

Grain Rain Grain Rain (6th solar $ TERM) Apr. 19, 2 or 21

long summer the beginning of summer (7th solar $ TERM) May5,6 or7

Xiaoman Lesser Fullness of Grain (8th solar $ TERM) May2, 21 or 22

grain in beard (9th solar term) jun.5,6 or 7

summer solstice the summer solstice (1th solar term) jun.21 or 22

summer heat (11th solar term) jul.6,7 or 8

Greater heat.