文化 | The Twenty-Four Solar Terms “二十四节气”

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has inscribed China's “The Twenty-Four Solar Terms” on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

联合国教科文组织将中国的“二十四节气”列入联合国教科文组织人类非物质文化遗产代表作名录。

“二十四节气”（the Twenty-Four Solar Terms）是中国人通过观察太阳周年运动（observation of the sun's annual motion），认知一年中时令（season）、气候（climate）、物候（phenology）等方面的变化规律所形成的知识体系和社会实践。

在现行的公历中，“二十四节气”日期基本固定，上半年在6日、21日，下半年在8日、23日，前后不差1～2天。为了方便记忆，人们还编了一首二十四节气歌，相信很多人小时候都背过吧。

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。

下面，按照上面这首歌中的顺序一起来看看二十四节气的英文表达吧。

立春（The Beginning of Spring）：立是开始的意思，立春就是春季的开始。

雨水（Rain Water）：降雨开始，雨量渐增。

惊蛰（The Waking of Insects）：蛰是藏的意思。惊蛰是指春雷乍动，惊醒了蛰伏在土中冬眠的动物。

春分（The Spring Equinox）：分是平分的意思。春分表示昼夜平分。

清明（Pure Brightness）：天气晴朗，草木繁茂。

谷雨（Grain Rain）：雨生百谷。雨量充足而及时，谷类作物能茁壮成长。

立夏（The Beginning of Summer）：夏季的开始。

小满（Lesser Fullness of Grain）：麦类等夏熟作物籽粒开始饱满。

芒种（Grain in Beard）：麦类等有芒作物成熟。

夏至（The Summer Solstice）：炎热的夏天来临。

小暑（Lesser Heat）：暑是炎热的意思。小暑就是气候开始炎热。

大暑（Greater Heat）：一年中最热的时候。

立秋（The Beginning of Autumn）：秋季的开始。

处暑（The End of Heat）：处是终止、躲藏的意思。处暑是表示炎热的暑天结束。

白露（White Dew）：天气转凉，露凝而白。

秋分（The Autumn Equinox）：昼夜平分。

寒露（Cold Dew）：露水以寒，将要结冰。

霜降（Frost's Descent）：天气渐冷，开始有霜。

立冬（The Beginning of Winter）：冬季的开始。

小雪（Lesser Snow）：开始下雪。

大雪（Greater Snow）：降雪量增多，地面可能积雪。

冬至（The Winter Solstice）：寒冷的冬天来临。

小寒（Lesser Cold）：气候开始寒冷。

大寒（Greater Cold）：一年中最冷的时候

Solar Terms is a calendar of twenty-four periods and climate to govern agricultural arrangements in ancient China and functions even now. As we have mentioned the Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, it takes into account the longest and the shortest days and the two days each year when the length of the day equals that of the night. In other words, the significant days are the Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice and the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes.

Today the year comprises 24 Solar Terms. During the Shang Dynasty they only used four; the Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC - 221BC), used eight; but it was in the Western Han Dynasty (206BC - 24) that the 24 terms were finally decided upon.

These solar terms have meaningful titles. Some of them reflect the change of seasons such as the Beginning of Spring, the Beginning of Summer, the Beginning of Autumn, and the Beginning of Winter; some embody the phenomena of climate like the Waking of Insects (Jing Zhe), Pure Brightness (Qing Ming), Lesser Fullness of Grain (Xiao Man) and Grain in Beard (Mang Zhong); and some indicate the change of climate like Rain Water (Yu Shui), Grain Rain (Gu Yu), Lesser Heat (Xiao Shu), Greater Heat (Da Shu), and so on.

These twenty-four solar terms each suggest the position of the sun every time it travels15 degrees on the ecliptic longitude. In each month there are often two solar terms; the first one is generally named 'Jie Qi' and the other one 'Zhong Qi'. Their dates are mirrored by the Gregorian calendar, so we find that during the first half of a year 'Jie Qi' is around the 6th day of a solar month, 'Zhong Qi' around the 21st; in the second half of a year, 'Jie Qi' is around the 8th and 'Zhong Qi' around the 23rd.

List of solar terms

Sun's ecliptical longitude	Chinese name ¹	Korean name ²	Vietnamese name	Japanese name	Gregorian Date ³	Reference for Month Intercalating	Remark
270°	冬至 dōngzhì	동지 (冬至) dongji	Đông chí	冬至 tōji	Dec 22	11th month midpoint	winter maximum (solstice)
285°	小寒 xiǎohán	소한 (小寒) sohan	Tiểu hàn	小寒 shōkan	Jan 6	12th month initial	a bit frigid
300°	大寒 dàhán	대한 (大寒) daehan	Đại hàn	大寒 daikan	Jan 20	12th month midpoint	most frigid
315°	立春 lìchūn	입춘(S)/립춘(N) (立春) ipchun/ripchun	Lập xuân	立春 risshun	Feb 4	1st month initial	spring begins
330°	雨水 yǔshuǐ[6]	우수 (雨水) usu	Vũ thủy	雨水 usui	Feb 19	1st month midpoint	more rain than snow
345°	驚蟄 (惊蛰) jīngzhé[7]	경칩 (驚蟄) gyeongchip	Kinh trập	啓蟄 keichitsu	Mar 6	2nd month initial	hibernating insects awaken
0°	春分 chūnfēn	춘분 (春分) chunbun	Xuân phân	春分 shunbun	Mar 21	2nd month midpoint	spring center (equinox)
15°	清明 qīngmíng[8]	청명 (清明) cheongmyeong	Thanh minh	清明 seimei	Apr 5	3rd month initial	clear and bright
30°	穀雨 (谷雨) gǔyǔ[9]	곡우 (穀雨) gogu	Cốc vũ	穀雨 kokuu	Apr 20	3rd month midpoint	wheat rain
45°	立夏 lìxià	입하(S)/립하(N) (立夏) ipha(S)/ripha(N)	Lập hạ	立夏 rikka	May 6	4th month initial	summer begins
60°	小滿 (小满) xiǎomǎn	소만 (小滿) soman	Tiểu mãn	小満 shōman	May 21	4th month midpoint	creatures plentish
75°	芒種 (芒种) mángzhòng	망종 (芒種) mangjong	Mang chủng	芒種 bōshu	Jun 6	5th month initial	seeding millet
90°	夏至 xiàzhì	하지 (夏至) haji	Hạ chí	夏至 geshi	Jun 21	5th month midpoint	summer maximum (solstice)
105°	小暑 xiǎoshǔ	소서 (小暑) soseo	Tiểu thử	小暑 shōsho	Jul 7	6th month initial	a bit sweltering
120°	大暑 dàshǔ	대서 (大暑) daeseo	Đại thử	大暑 taisho	Jul 23	6th month midpoint	most sweltering
135°	立秋 lìqiū	입추(S)/립추(N)(立秋) ipchu(S)/ripchu(N)	Lập thu	立秋 risshū	Aug 8	7th month initial	autumn begins
150°	處暑 (处暑) chǔshǔ	처서 (處暑) cheoseo	Xử thử	処暑 shosho	Aug 23	7th month midpoint	heat withdraws
165°	白露 báilù	백로 (白露) baengno(S)/baengro(N)	Bạch lộ	白露 hakuro	Sep 8	8th month initial	dews
180°	秋分 qiūfēn	추분 (秋分) chubun	Thu phân	秋分 shūbun	Sep 23	8th month midpoint	autumn center (equinox)
195°	寒露 hánlù	한로 (寒露) hallo	Hàn lộ	寒露 kanro	Oct 8	9th month initial	cold dews
210°	霜降 shuāngjiàng	상강 (霜降) sanggang	Sương giáng	霜降 sōkō	Oct 23	9th month midpoint	frost
225°	立冬 lìdōng	입동(S)/립동(N)(立冬) ipdong(S)/ripdong(N)	Lập đông	立冬 rittō	Nov 7	10th month initial	winter begins
240°	小雪 xiǎoxuě	소설 (小雪) soseol	Tiểu tuyết	小雪 shōsetsu	Nov 22	10th month midpoint	snows a bit
255°	大雪 dàxuě	대설 (大雪) daeseol	Đại tuyết	大雪 taisetsu	Dec 7	11th month initial	snows a lot

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