Solar term

(Twenty-four) solar terms
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese (二十四)節氣
Simplified Chinese (二十四)节气
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese (hai mươi bốn) tiết khí
Korean name
Hangul (이십사)절기
Hanja (二十四)節氣
Japanese name
Kanji (二十四)節気
Hiragana (にじゅうし)せっき

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, which is crucial for agrarian societies. The solar terms are also used to calculate intercalary months in East Asian calendars; which month is repeated depends on the position of the sun at the time.

Solar terms originated in China, then spread to Korea, Vietnam, and Japan, countries in the East Asian cultural sphere. 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), so there are 72 pentads in a year. Each pentad consists of five, rarely six, days, and are mostly named after phenological (biological or botanical) phenomena corresponding to the pentad.

List of solar terms

Longi-
tude		 Usual
translation		 Chinese
name ¹		 Korean
name ²		 Japanese
name		 Vietnamese
name		 Date ³ Remark
315° start of spring 立春
lìchūn		 입춘(S)/립춘(N) (立春)
ipchun/ripchun		 立春
risshun		 Lập xuân Feb 4  
330° rain water 雨水
yǔshuǐ		 우수 (雨水)
usu		 雨水
usui		 VÅ© thủy Feb 19 more rain than snow
345° awakening of insects 驚蟄 (惊蛰)
jīngzhé		 경칩 (驚蟄)
gyeongchip		 啓蟄
keichitsu		 Kinh trập Mar 6 lit. awakening of hibernating insects. See the note at Chinese calendar#Solar term.
0° vernal equinox 春分
chūnfēn		 춘분 (春分)
chunbun		 春分
shunbun		 Xuân phân Mar 21 lit. spring division (or center)
15° clear and bright 清明
qīngmíng		 청명 (清明)
cheongmyeong		 清明
seimei		 Thanh minh Apr 5 time for tending graves
30° grain rain 穀雨 (谷雨)
gǔyǔ		 곡우 (穀雨)
gogu		 穀雨
kokuu		 Cốc vũ Apr 20 lit. grain rain: rain helps grain grow
45° start of summer 立夏
lìxià		 입하(S)/립하(N) (立夏)
ipha(S)/ripha(N)		 立夏
rikka		 Lập hạ May 6  
60° grain full 小滿 (小满)
xiǎomǎn		 소만 (小滿)
soman		 小満
shōman		 Tiểu mãn May 21 grains are plump
75° grain in ear 芒種 (芒种)
mángzhòng		 망종 (芒種)
mangjong		 芒種
bōshu		 Mang chủng Jun 6 lit. awns (beard of grain) grow
90° summer solstice 夏至
xiàzhì		 하지 (夏至)
haji		 夏至
geshi		 Hạ chí Jun 21 lit. summer extreme (of sun's height)
105° minor heat 小暑
xiǎoshǔ		 소서 (小暑)
soseo		 小暑
shōsho		 Tiểu thá»­ Jul 7  
120° major heat 大暑
dàshǔ		 대서 (大暑)
daeseo		 大暑
taisho		 Đại thá»­ Jul 23  
135° start of autumn 立秋
lìqiū		 입추(S)/립추(N)(立秋)
ipchu(S)/ripchu(N)		 立秋
risshÅ«		 Lập thu Aug 8  
150° limit of heat 處暑 (处暑)
chǔshǔ		 처서 (處暑)
cheoseo		 処暑
shosho		 Xá»­ thá»­ Aug 23 lit. dwell in heat
165° white dew 白露
báilù		 백로 (白露)
baengno(S)/baengro(N)		 白露
hakuro		 Bạch lộ Sep 8 condensed moisture makes dew white
180° autumnal equinox 秋分
qiūfēn		 추분 (秋分)
chubun		 秋分
shūbun		 Thu phân Sep 23 lit. autumn division (or center)
195° cold dew 寒露
hánlù		 한로 (寒露)
hallo		 寒露
kanro		 Hàn lá»™ Oct 8  
210° frost descent 霜降
shuāngjiàng		 상강 (霜降)
sanggang		 霜降
sōkō		 Sương giáng Oct 23 appearance of frost and descent of temperature
225° start of winter 立冬
lìdōng		 입동(S)/립동(N)(立冬)
ipdong(S)/ripdong(N)		 立冬
rittō		 Lập đông Nov 7  
240° minor snow 小雪
xiǎoxuě		 소설 (小雪)
soseol		 小雪
shōsetsu		 Tiểu tuyết Nov 22  
255° major snow 大雪
dàxuě		 대설 (大雪)
daeseol		 大雪
taisetsu		 Đại tuyết Dec 7  
270° winter solstice 冬至
dōngzhì		 동지 (冬至)
dongji		 冬至
tōji		 Đông chí Dec 22 lit. winter extreme (of sun's height)
285° minor cold 小寒
xiǎohán		 소한 (小寒)
sohan		 小寒
shōkan		 Tiểu hàn Jan 6  
300° major cold 大寒
dàhán		 대한 (大寒)
daehan		 大寒
daikan		 Đại hàn Jan 20  
  1. Simplified Chinese characters are shown in parentheses if they differ from the Traditional Chinese characters.
  2. Hanja is indicated in parentheses.
  3. 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

External links

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