The Origin of Solar Terms

The Twenty-Four Solar Terms and the Culture of Ritual and Music

Huo Fu

Social Science Academic Press

June 2022

88.00 （CNY）

Huo Fu

Huo Fu， deputy director and research librarian of Qinghai Provincial Library.

How did the solar terms come about？ According to Shang Shu： Allusion of Shun， Emperor Shun made an imperial inspection tour around the country once every five years. In the second lunar month， Emperor Shun visited the eastern part of the country and climbed Mount Tai， also known as the Eastern Mountain， where he worshiped the heavens with a firewood ceremony， offered sacrifices to the mountains and rivers， met with local lords， and performed two major events， namely， determined a time when people would cultivate the land， and set a uniform standard to measure and calculate time， both based on the movement of the sun. Then in the eighth lunar month， Emperor Shun went on a patrol to the west and came to Mount Hua， the Western Mountain， repeating the procedure as he had done on Mount Tai.

The ancients had a ritual of erecting a pole when worshipping heaven， and when the pole was erected， a shadow would be cast by the sun， from which was derived the later method of determining the time according to the shadow of the Guibiao， an ancient Chinese sundial consisting of an elongated dial and one or two gnomons. In these two inspection tours， Emperor Shun， from the length of shadows cast by the sun， verified the two “equal days，” whose days and nights are equally divided so they can be used to measure and calculate time. In fact， the “equal days” verified by Emperor Shun later became two solar terms of Spring Equinox and Autumnal Equinox.

The method of Emperor Shun was still carried on in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Though the ancients knew that the days and nights of the spring and autumn equinoxes were equally divided， how could they know exactly which days were the actual spring and autumn equinoxes？ This question is actually very complicated. The method followed in ancient times was to determine the dates from a number of shadow data. For example， Zu Chongzhi of the Southern Song Dynasty determined the winter solstice by comparing the shadows of the 23 or 24 days before and after the winter solstice. These methods were all handed down from the time of Emperor Shun.

By the late Warring States Period， it is said that the Yellow Emperor ordered Ling Lun to set the law of temperament. Ling Lun went to the west of Daxia， selected bamboo of the same thickness from the Xiexi Valley， broke them at the joints and blew tones from them. Then he compared the tones to the chirps of the phoenixes; the male phoenixes could utter six tones， and so did the female phoenixes. With such comparison， he created twelve pitch pipes and further determined the law of twelve pitches. According to this tale， the determination of Equinoxes was earlier than the period of Emperor Shun. But there is no exact documentary record， while Shang Shu records a real history.

Stand Clay Cattle at the Beginning of Spring

Before the Republic of China， various regions had rituals of greeting spring. The principal local officials presided over the ritual， generally held on the day before the Beginning of Spring， mainly to invite the spring cattle to the place of worship. The locals followed and watched the spectacular scene of the ritual. The spring greeting ritual had also been a very grand folk festival.

In Hangzhou， Zhejiang province， during the Qing Dynasty， the day before Li Chun， i.e.， the Beginning of Spring， officials of Hangzhou Prefecture would lead the three departments of public security， government affairs and water conservation， as well as the County Magistrates of Renhe and Qiantang， put on their court dress and go outside the Qing Chun Gate to welcome Gou Mang， the God of Spring. The god’s name was given in advance， and his physical appearance could be either old or young. Afterward， the sacred pavilion of the previous year was destroyed， and people would redraw the colorful painting of the god and enshrine it in the pavilion. The god in the painting was about two feet tall， standing with a double bun on his head. When welcoming the god， there were several colorful pavilions in front of the sacred pavilion， in which porcelain vases were enshrined， and flowers of wealth and the flags of peace and abundance were inserted. After entering the city， they first went to the government office to announce spring， and then each official returned to their own Office. The god was enshrined at the Ao Lai Bridge outside the Office’s main gate. A base was built there， colored lanterns were hung， and the people who came to burn incense lasted all night. The next day， two hours before the exact time of Li Chun， they started from there to the main hall on the mountain， called “Tai Sui Shang Shan”. There was a Tai Sui Temple on Wu Mountain， in which the main hall was dedicated to the God of Supreme Virtue， flanked by sixty Tai Suis， who are star gods， each presiding over one year. The left side of the hall enshrined the star god of the year， and the right side of the hall enshrined Gou Mang. When going up the mountain， each government office escorted a Yuanbao censer along. The Yuanbao censer was a large incense burner cast in tin in the shape of a Yuanbao， which was a shoe-shaped gold nugget， and four people were required to carry it. In addition， colored lanterns were held high， music was played， and tablets of respect to the gods were hoisted. If it were at night， the lanterns and torches would light the night as if it was daytime. Along the way， there are greeters， each holding slender sticks of incense and burning them in the Yuanbao censer， walking slowly up the mountain in the incense smoke. An altar was set up in front of the Guan Yu Temple， and rice cakes and soybeans were boiled in a pot for people to eat， called “Yuanbao Soup”， which implied wealth and harmony. As the procession passed， every family set up a sacrifice， the sound of firecrackers non-stop. （The Legacy of Hangzhou Customs）

Before the Republic of China， Gansu， Qinghai and other places still retained the ritual of greeting spring. Spring Greeting Festivals were held in Hualong county， Haidong， Qinghai province. According to Zhao Jixian’s recollection， there were major and minor spring festivities. The major ones were those in which the government ordered the rural community to perform She Huo， and the minor ones were without She Huo （festival entertainment）. Ten days before the Beginning of Spring， the county government organized the commerce association to distribute the goods and asked the folk to select and assign wood and mud workers to build spring cattle. The wooden frame of the spring cattle was built with straw mud and hemp， filled with walnuts and red dates in the belly， and then the head， horns， and tail of the cattle were molded to resemble the real cattle， and finally， it would be painted white. Besides， they also would mold a two-foot-tall， child-like statue of Gou Mang， painted in red， green， purple， yellow， and blue， and set it up at dawn in the big square in the north of the city. The gate of the county office was arranged in red and green colors with pine branches， and the couplets were written. Around ten o’clock in the morning， the county magistrate went out of the gate in a sedan chair， with three cannon shots. The officers in front sounded the gong to clear the way. The clerk carried a wooden box with a yellow silk wrapping containing the county seal and the sacrificial text and rode along on horseback. Merchants from the commerce association also rode behind. They arrived at the square amidst a crowd of people watching and following. At the ritual of the worshipping of spring， the county magistrate was the chief celebrant， read out the sacrificial text， and returned to the office after the ritual. The following day was to “hit the spring” when each village’s She Huo was performed on-site， and horse racing activities would also occur. At that time， everyone fought to grab a part of the spring cattle and the statue of Gou Mang. The legs and head of the cattle would be taken home to make the threshold and head of the door， suggesting the well-being of the family members and livestock. And red dates suggested the birth of offspring.

The ritual of welcoming and whipping spring cattle had been inherited until the Republic of China period.

Weighing at Solar Terms

Weighing is an old custom popular in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River， and is performed on the three solar terms of the Beginning of Summer， the Summer Solstice and the Beginning of Autumn.

During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty， the people of Zhenhai， Ningbo， Zhejiang province， believed that by weighing the people， they could know their health condition of the year， as well as drive away diseases and plagues. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty， the people of Chuansha district in Shanghai weighed people on the day of the Beginning of Summer， believing that they would not get summer diseases after weighing. During the Republic of China， people in Shouchun， Anhui province， weighed people on the day of the Beginning of Summer， believing they would not become thin in summer after weighing. People in Nanjing， Jiangsu province， weighed people on the Summer Solstice， believing they could avoid summer diseases. People in Wuzhong， Jiangsu province， weighed themselves again on the day of the Beginning of Autumn and compared their weight with the Summer Solstice to see if they had become lighter or heavier.