China’s 24 Micro Seasons Series

China has a long history as an agricultural civilization. People used their observations of nature to measure the seasons. The traditional Chinese solar terms calendar divides a year into 24 micro-seasons (also known as solar terms), based on what ancient Chinese farmers saw, heard, and felt in the natural world. 

About every 15 days, the calendar moves into a new solar term, forming a full year of 365 days. This way of dividing the seasons shows how closely people in ancient times lived alongside nature. 

1. 24 Chinese micro-seasons

In the traditional solar terms calendar, each season is divided into six micro-seasons. For example, the six solar terms of spring are Beginning of Spring, Rain Water, Insect Awakening, Spring Equinox, Pure Brightness, and Grain Rain.

2. Grain rain

From April 20 to May 4, China enters Grain Rain, the last micro-season of spring. It is a lovely time to plant seeds and watch the world grow greener.

3. What to observe?

Cuckoos are well known for their spring and summer calls. They spend the winter in sub-Saharan Africa and fly back to Europe and Asia in spring. In China, people can often hear cuckoos from April. Can you hear or spot a cuckoo where you live? If not, what birds can you see and listen to around you?

Duckweed begins to grow during Grain Rain. In the warm days of spring, it grows very fast and can double in size in just 1 to 5 days.

As the water gets warmer, more and more fish begin to appear. Have you been near a river, lake, or pond this season? What kind of changes did you spot there?

4. What to eat?

In some parts of China, people soak sticky rice in water made from special leaves called wūshù yè leaves (乌树叶). Little by little, the white rice turns dark black-purple and takes on a lovely fresh plant smell. It is almost as if nature is painting the rice with a brush. Is it magic or chemistry? What do you think is happening when the rice sits in the leaf water?

People believe that Grain Rain, the last micro-season of spring, is the perfect time for the finest green tea leaves. So during this season, tea farmers work day and night to pick fresh tea leaves and make Grain Rain tea.

5. How to play?

For fishermen along the coast, this is a special season to thank the Sea God and the Sea Goddess. They paddle their boats out to sea and offer delicious food, hoping for calm waters and safe trips.

People from the Zhuang ethnic group also hold a Fire Stick Dance Festival to honor fire and pray for rain.

6. 24 solar terms journal

The 24 Chinese solar terms come from how people in ancient northern China observed nature. But things can be different depending on where we live and when we live.

First, the Earth is very large, so every place has its own weather, natural changes, and lifestyle. Second, as the climate changes over time, nature and people’s lives change too. These things all affect the world around us and the way we live.

During this Grain Rain micro-season, can you observe and record what is happening in your life and in nature around you? How is it different from what people in ancient China might have observed?