The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 segments, for each segment  is called a specific “solar term”: Beginning of Spring, Rain Water, Awakening of Insects,  Spring Equinox, Pure Brightness, Grain Rain, Beginning of Summer, Grain Buds, Grain in  Ear, Summer Solstice, Minor Heat, Major Heat, Beginning of Autumn, End of Heat, White  Dew, Autumn Equinox, Cold Dew, Frost’s Descent, Beginning of Winter, Minor Snow, Major  Snow, Winter Solstice, Minor Cold, and Major Cold. The criteria for the formulation of the 24  solar terms were developed through the observation of different periods of four seasons, the  changes in climate, as well as certain natural phenomena, thus guiding agricultural affairs and  farming activities throughout the year. Farmers in ancient China, apart from inventing various  farming tools and the mode of deep plowing and fine cultivation, also devised a precise  timeframe conducive to farming, which is foremost embodied in the 24 solar terms. The 24 solar terms originated in the Yellow River reaches of China. As early as the Spring  and Autumn and Warring States periods, Chinese people had the concepts of Winter Solstice  and Summer Solstice. Later, the Chinese ancestors first established four major solar terms  and then eight solar terms marking the four seasons: Beginning of Spring, Spring Equinox,  Beginning of Summer, Summer Solstice, Beginning of Autumn, Autumn Equinox, Beginning  of Winter, and Winter Solstice. Subsequently, based on the positions of the sun and moon at  the beginning and middle of each month, weather conditions, and the growth of animals and  plants, people divided the year into 24 equal segments and assigned a specific name to each,  resulting in the present 24 solar terms. In 104 BC, the Taichu Calendar formulated by Deng  Ping and others officially included the 24 solar terms in the traditional Chinese calendar,  clarifying their astronomical positions. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the 24 solar  terms were fully established. The chapter “Celestial Phenomena” in Huainanzi (Masters of  Huainan) of the Western Han Dynasty contains a complete record of the 24 solar terms. In the traditional Chinese calendar, a year consists of four seasons, 12 months, 24 solar terms,  and 72 pentads. This timeframe serves as a guarantee for timely agriculture work throughout  the year. Meanwhile, it caters to people’s desires for fortune and blessings, gradually evolving  into relevant festivals and customs. For example, “whipping the spring ox” is a unique springwelcoming ritual associated with the Beginning of Spring as a long tradition. According to  the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, in the third month of winter, six “spring ox” made of clay  would be set up in the northeast outside the city gate to “bid farewell to the Major Cold”. This ritual later evolved into the tradition of “whipping the spring ox” on the first day of spring. Afterwards, the spring-welcoming ceremony and whipping spring ox ritual merged into  one. People would strike and shatter the clay-made “spring ox” into pieces on the first day  of spring to express the meaning of cherishing springtime and diligently cultivating the land.  After the clay-made ox was whipped and broken, people would scramble for the broken  clay pieces as a custom. This custom varied in different dynasties and regions and was once  described in Tang poet Yuan Zhen’s poem “Birth of Spring”. As the spring-welcoming and  whipping spring ox ritual became an important celebration, some folk artists created New  Year pictures depicting this theme. On the first day of spring, county magistrates would  deliver New Year pictures themed on spring ox as a tradition to promise a good harvest.  According to traditional customs, pasting New Year pictures themed on spring ox on the first  day of spring would signify the beginning of agricultural labour in the coming year, the hope  for a good crop yield, the longing for happiness, and the prayer for fair weather. The 24 solar terms are closely related to folk culture, manifested in the fact that the solar  terms themselves are folk customs. Therefore, the 24 solar terms are an important content of  folk culture, while folk culture enriches and elevates the connotations of the 24 solar terms.  The associated folk customs in different places make the 24 solar terms vibrant and engaging.  According to the “Views on the Implementation of the Project of Inheriting and Developing  Traditional Chinese Culture”, issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the  Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council, further efforts will be  made to strengthen the academic interpretation and dynamic utilization of traditional Chinese  calendars, solar terms, zodiac signs, as well as dietary practices and traditional medicine, so  that their beneficial cultural values can be deeply embedded in people’s daily lives.  This book showcases the lifelike scenes of the 24 solar terms through a hundred Chinese  traditional pictures, such as folk New Year paintings themed on “spring ox” and “Winter’s  Nine Nines Calendar”, to narrate historic culture, folk customs, and legends associated with  solar terms.  Humans have achieved tremendous breakthroughs and transcendence in many aspects, yet the  24 solar terms seem unsurpassable, for they still play important roles in people’s daily lives and  production to this day. They are not just a tool of timeframe, but also a culture that has penetrated  deep into the nature and essence of the Chinese nation, and the brilliance of its cultural  wisdom has not been diminished even after a thousand years of flowing waters of time. 

Shen Hong

Winter 2021