A solar term is any of 24 points in traditional East Asian lunisolar calendars that matches a particular astronomical event or signifies some natural phenomenon. The points are spaced 15° apart along the ecliptic and are used by lunisolar calendars to stay synchronized with the seasons. Solar terms originated in China, then spread to Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. This is exhibited by the fact that traditional Chinese, Hanja, and Kanji characters for most of the solar terms are identical.
Because the Sun's speed along the ecliptic varies depending on the Earth-Sun distance, the number of days that it takes the Sun to travel between each pair of solar terms varies slightly throughout the year. Each solar term is divided into three pentads (候 hou). Each pentad consists of five days (rarely six), so there are 72 pentads in a year.
List of solar terms
| Longi- tude | Usual translation | Chinese name ¹ | Japanese name | Korean name ² | Vietnamese name | Date ³ | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 315° | start of spring | 立春 lìchūn | 立春 risshun | 입춘 (立春) ipchun | Lập xuân | Feb 4 | |
| 330° | rain water | 雨水 yǔshuǐ | 雨水 usui | 우수 (雨水) usu | Vũ thủy | Feb 19 | more rain than snow |
| 345° | awakening of insects | 驚蟄 (惊蛰) jīngzhé | 啓蟄 keichitsu | 경칩 (驚蟄) gyeongchip | Kinh trập | Mar 6 | lit. awakening of hibernating insects. See the note at Chinese calendar#Solar term. |
| 0° | vernal equinox | 春分 chūnfēn | 春分 shunbun | 춘분 (春分) chunbun | Xuân phân | Mar 21 | lit. spring division (or center) |
| 15° | clear and bright | 清明 qīngmíng | 清明 seimei | 청명 (清明) cheongmyeong | Thanh minh | Apr 5 | time for tending graves |
| 30° | grain rain | 穀雨 (谷雨) gǔyǔ | 穀雨 kokuu | 곡우 (穀雨) gogu | Cốc vũ | Apr 20 | lit. grain rain: rain helps grain grow |
| 45° | start of summer | 立夏 lìxià | 立夏 rikka | 입하 (立夏) ipha | Lập hạ | May 6 | |
| 60° | grain full | 小滿 (小满) xiǎomǎn | 小満 shōman | 소만 (小滿) soman | Tiểu mãn | May 21 | grains are plump |
| 75° | grain in ear | 芒種 (芒种) mángzhòng | 芒種 bōshu | 망종 (芒種) mangjong | Mang chủng | Jun 6 | lit. awns (beard of grain) grow |
| 90° | summer solstice | 夏至 xiàzhì | 夏至 geshi | 하지 (夏至) haji | Hạ chí | Jun 21 | lit. summer extreme (of sun's height) |
| 105° | minor heat | 小暑 xiǎoshǔ | 小暑 shōsho | 소서 (小暑) soseo | Tiểu thử | Jul 7 | |
| 120° | major heat | 大暑 dàshǔ | 大暑 taisho | 대서 (大暑) daeseo | Đại thử | Jul 23 | |
| 135° | start of autumn | 立秋 lìqiū | 立秋 risshū | 입추 (立秋) ipchu | Lập thu | Aug 8 | |
| 150° | limit of heat | 處暑 (处暑) chǔshǔ | 処暑 shosho | 처서 (處暑) cheoseo | Xử thử | Aug 23 | lit. dwell in heat |
| 165° | white dew | 白露 báilù | 白露 hakuro | 백로 (白露) baekro | Bạch lộ | Sep 8 | condensed moisture makes dew white |
| 180° | autumnal equinox | 秋分 qiūfēn | 秋分 shūbun | 추분 (秋分) chubun | Thu phân | Sep 23 | lit. autumn division (or center) |
| 195° | cold dew | 寒露 hánlù | 寒露 kanro | 한로 (寒露) hallo | Hàn lộ | Oct 8 | |
| 210° | frost descent | 霜降 shuāngjiàng | 霜降 sōkō | 상강 (霜降) sanggang | Sương giáng | Oct 23 | appearance of frost and descent of temperature |
| 225° | start of winter | 立冬 lìdōng | 立冬 rittō | 입동 (立冬) ipdong | Lập đông | Nov 7 | |
| 240° | minor snow | 小雪 xiǎoxuě | 小雪 shōsetsu | 소설 (小雪) soseol | Tiểu tuyết | Nov 22 | |
| 255° | major snow | 大雪 dàxuě | 大雪 taisetsu | 대설 (大雪) daeseol | Đại tuyết | Dec 7 | |
| 270° | winter solstice | 冬至 dōngzhì | 冬至 tōji | 동지 (冬至) dongji | Đông chí | Dec 22 | lit. winter extreme (of sun's height) |
| 285° | minor cold | 小寒 xiǎohán | 小寒 shōkan | 소한 (小寒) sohan | Tiểu hàn | Jan 6 | |
| 300° | major cold | 大寒 dàhán | 大寒 daikan | 대한 (大寒) daehan | Đại hàn | Jan 20 |
Simplified Chinese characters are shown in parentheses if they differ from the Traditional Chinese characters.
Hanja is indicated in parentheses.
Date can vary within a ±1 day range.
The "Song of Solar Terms" (Chinese: 節氣歌; pinyin: jiéqìgē) is used to ease the memorization of jiéqì:
Chinese
春雨驚春清穀天
夏滿芒夏暑相連
秋處露秋寒霜降
冬雪雪冬小大寒
每月兩節不變更
最多相差一兩天
上半年來六、廿一
下半年是八、廿三
Pinyin
chūn yǔ jīng chūn qīng gǔ tiān,
xià mǎn máng xià shǔ xiāng lián,
qiū chù lù qiū hán shuāng jiàng,
dōng xuě xuě dōng xiǎo dà hán.
měi yuè liǎng jié bù biàn gēng,
zùi duō xiāng chā yī liǎng tiān
shàng bàn nián lái liù, niàn yī
xià bàn nián shì bā, niàn sān
Regional note
In Japan, the term Setsubun (節分) originally referred to the eves of Risshun (立春, 315°, the beginning of Spring) Rikka (立夏, 45°, the beginning of Summer), Risshū (立秋, 135°, the beginning of Autumn), and Rittō (立冬, 225°, the beginning of Winter), but currently mostly refers to the day before Risshun. The name of each solar term also refers to the period of time between that day and the next solar term, or 1/24th of a year.
See also
(source:wikipedia)
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