Solar term

(Twenty-four) solar terms
(Twenty-four) solar terms
Traditional Chinese	(二十四)節氣
Simplified Chinese	(二十四)节气
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	(èrshísì) jiéqì
Wade–Giles	(erh-shih-ssŭ) chieh-chi
IPA	( [âɚ.ʂɻ̩̌.sɹ̩̂] ) [tɕjě.tɕʰî]
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	(ji6 sap6 sei3) zit3 hei3
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	(jī-cha̍p-sì) cheh-khùi

Last updated March 26, 2025 • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

The 24 solar terms with labels in Japanese 24solarterms.png — The 24 solar terms with labels in Japanese

(立春)

Chinese mnemonic song

The "Song of Solar Terms" (simplified Chinese :节气歌; traditional Chinese :節氣歌; pinyin :jiéqìgē) is used to ease the memorization of jieqi:

Traditional 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

Simplified Chinese

春雨惊春清谷天
夏满芒夏暑相连
秋处露秋寒霜降
冬雪雪冬小大寒
每月两节不变更
最多相差一两天
上半年来六、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

The first four lines provides a concise version of the names of the 24 jieqi. The last four lines provide some rules of thumb about the Gregorian dates of jieqi, namely:

Two jieqi per month;
Gregorian dates are off by one or two days at most;
In the first half of the year, jieqi happens around the 6th and 21st day of each (Gregorian) month;
In the second half of the year, jieqi happens around the 8th and 23rd day of each (Gregorian) month.

Determination

The modern definition using ecliptic longitudes, introduced by the Shixian calendar, is known as 定气法 (dìng qì fǎ, 'steady term method'). Under this method, the determination of solar terms is similar to the astronomical determination of the special cases of equinox and solstice dates, with different ecliptic longitudes to solve for. One can start with an approximation and then perform a correction using the anomalies and mean motion of the sun.^[18] The JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System may be used to query for exact times of solar terms.

The older method is known as 平气法 (píng qì fǎ, 'equal term method') and simply divides the tropical year into 24 equal parts.

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.

References

↑ "24 Chinese Feasts (Jiéqì, 节气), equivalent to the 24 Chinese Solar Terms". Chinese calendar. asia-home.com.
↑ Until 1644 (Chinese Empire and its tributary states) or 1844 (Japan) a period of time of the solar year itself had been equally divided instead of the spatial zodiac.
↑ When a lunar month's end does not reach a midpoint of the solar terms, it is regarded as the last month's intercalary one instead of the true "next" month. It is called 歲中閏月法 lit. "midpoint intercalating system".
↑ Book of Documents.
↑ Ban, Gu. Book of Han.
↑ なぜずれる？　二十四節気と季節感 (Why off-point? -solar terms and our real feeling of the seasons) Maritime Japan, for example, comparing the climate of Taiyuan with that of Tokyo and Kyoto: on Japanese islands differences in seasonal gap lengths are the main problem. In subtropical or tropical regions including southern China climate difference is more serious.
↑ "UNESCO – The Twenty-Four Solar Terms, knowledge in China of time and practices developed through observation of the sun's annual motion". ich.unesco.org. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
↑ Aslaksen, Helmer. "When is Chinese New Year?" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
↑ Simplified Chinese characters are shown in parentheses if they differ from the Traditional Chinese characters.
↑ Hangul are shown in parentheses. For Hangul and romanisation, where the pronunciation differs between South Korea and North Korea, the South Korean pronunciation is given first before the slash, followed by the North Korean pronunciation.
↑ "The 24 Solar Terms". Hong Kong Observatory.
↑ "二十四节气上了北京冬奥开幕式，牛！".
↑ Date can vary within a ±1 day range.
↑ the Yushui and Jingzhe have been exchanged by Liu Xin in Han dynasty.
↑ the Jingzhe and Yushui have been exchanged by Liu Xin in Han dynasty.
↑ the Qingming and Guyu have been exchanged by Liu Xin in Han dynasty.
↑ the Guyu and Qingming have been exchanged by Liu Xin in Han dynasty.
↑ "Determination of Equinox and Solstice Dates". farside.ph.utexas.edu.

External links

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[1] "24 Chinese Feasts (Jiéqì, 节气), equivalent to the 24 Chinese Solar Terms". Chinese calendar. asia-home.com.

[2] Until 1644 (Chinese Empire and its tributary states) or 1844 (Japan) a period of time of the solar year itself had been equally divided instead of the spatial zodiac.

[3] When a lunar month's end does not reach a midpoint of the solar terms, it is regarded as the last month's intercalary one instead of the true "next" month. It is called 歲中閏月法 lit. "midpoint intercalating system".

[4] Book of Documents.

[5] Ban, Gu. Book of Han.

[6] なぜずれる？　二十四節気と季節感 (Why off-point? -solar terms and our real feeling of the seasons) Maritime Japan, for example, comparing the climate of Taiyuan with that of Tokyo and Kyoto: on Japanese islands differences in seasonal gap lengths are the main problem. In subtropical or tropical regions including southern China climate difference is more serious.

[7] "UNESCO – The Twenty-Four Solar Terms, knowledge in China of time and practices developed through observation of the sun's annual motion". ich.unesco.org. Retrieved 9 March 2021.

[:0-8] Aslaksen, Helmer. "When is Chinese New Year?" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2019.

[9] Simplified Chinese characters are shown in parentheses if they differ from the Traditional Chinese characters.

[10] Hangul are shown in parentheses. For Hangul and romanisation, where the pronunciation differs between South Korea and North Korea, the South Korean pronunciation is given first before the slash, followed by the North Korean pronunciation.

[11] "The 24 Solar Terms". Hong Kong Observatory.

[12] "二十四节气上了北京冬奥开幕式，牛！".

[13] Date can vary within a ±1 day range.

[14] the Yushui and Jingzhe have been exchanged by Liu Xin in Han dynasty.

[15] the Jingzhe and Yushui have been exchanged by Liu Xin in Han dynasty.

[16] the Qingming and Guyu have been exchanged by Liu Xin in Han dynasty.

[17] the Guyu and Qingming have been exchanged by Liu Xin in Han dynasty.

[18] "Determination of Equinox and Solstice Dates". farside.ph.utexas.edu.

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]