In China, the year has twenty-four solar landmarks

What if spring, summer, autumn and winter were not enough to tell a year? The twenty-four Chinese solar periods divide the apparent annual path of the Sun into as many segments. The names associate astronomical landmarks, such as equinoxes, with familiar observations: rain, heat, dew or insect awakening.

This system developed in the Yellow River basin from observations of temperature, precipitation and other natural phenomena. It has served as a guide for agricultural work and daily life, while accompanying seasonal practices. It thus connects a way of counting time to the attention paid to changes in the environment.

The word “solar” is essential: we are not talking about twenty-four lunar months. Names from a regional context also do not promise the same time all over China at a given date. This transmitted heritage keeps its interest precisely because it brings together the sky, the words and the local experience, rather than a universal weather.