Choose a season
春 · Wood
Spring
Spring begins at Lichun, before the spring equinox. Its six terms follow thawing, rain, stirring insects and the growth of grain. Tiger, Rabbit and Dragon divide this solar season into three branch months; Chinese New Year follows a separate lunar-month rule.
Beginning of Spring · Rain Water · Awakening of Insects · Spring Equinox · Pure Brightness · Grain Rain
夏 · Fire
Summer
Summer begins at Lixia and includes the grain terms before the summer solstice, then the two heat terms. Snake, Horse and Goat mark its three branch months. The solstice is inside the Horse month, not the opening of this traditional summer.
Beginning of Summer · Grain Buds · Grain in Ear · Summer Solstice · Minor Heat · Major Heat
秋 · Metal
Autumn
Autumn opens at Liqiu, while the following term still speaks of heat ending. Dew, the equinox and frost give the rest of the sequence its names. Monkey, Rooster and Dog carry the three branch months, connecting the seasonal cycle with familiar animal labels.
Beginning of Autumn · End of Heat · White Dew · Autumn Equinox · Cold Dew · Frost's Descent
冬 · Water
Winter
Winter begins at Lidong, passes through snow and the winter solstice, and finishes with Minor Cold and Major Cold in January. Pig, Rat and Ox cross a Gregorian year boundary together. A winter is named here by the year in which its Beginning of Winter occurs.
Beginning of Winter · Minor Snow · Major Snow · Winter Solstice · Minor Cold · Major Cold
Why the equinox is not the first day of spring here
The four Beginning terms open the seasons at solar longitudes 315°, 45°, 135° and 225°. The equinoxes and solstices occur between those openings. These names describe the traditional central-Chinese seasonal framework; the same calendar date can meet different weather in another region.
Winter spans November through the following January and into early February. Its two January terms belong to the winter that began in the previous Gregorian year.