24 Seasonal Qi Nodes
Each season has a different quality or tempo. Harmonizing with these seasonal changes will keep our bodies healthy and free of disease. Do you want to swim with or against the current? Going against the seasonal flow often manifests in the next season. Our bodies actually change with the seasons. Each season relates to an element, organ, color, taste, direction, and climate factor. The earth element is unique in that it is 15 days before the beginning of a new season. The Chinese lunar calendar is known as the 24 Qi Nodes.
These twenty-four solar terms each suggest the position of the sun every time it travels15 degrees on the ecliptic longitude. Solar Terms is a calendar of twenty-four periods and climate to govern agricultural arrangements in ancient China and functions even now. As we have mentioned the Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, it takes into account the longest and the shortest days and the two days each year when the length of the day equals that of the night. In other words, the significant days are the Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice and the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes.
The Twenty-four Solar Terms in 2015
| Solar Terms | Month | Date | Meaning |
| Lesser Cold (Xiao Han) | Jan. | 6th | It is rather cold |
| Greater Cold (Da Han) | Jan. | 20th | The coldest moment of a year |
| The Beginning of Spring (Li Chun) | Feb. | 4th | Spring begins (wood,liver, gallbladder) |
| Rain Water (Yu Shui) | Feb. | 19th | It begins to rain |
| The Waking of Insects (Jing Zhe) | Mar. | 6th | Hibernating animals come to sense |
| The Spring Equinox (Chun Fen) | Mar. | 21st | Day and night are equally long |
| Pure Brightness (Qing Ming) | Apr. | 5th | It is warm and bright |
| Grain Rain (Gu Yu) | Apr. | 20th | Rainfall is helpful to grain |
| The Beginning of Summer (Li Xia) | May | 6th | Summer begins (Fire, Heart, Small intestine) |
| Lesser Fullness of Grain (Xiao Man) | May | 21st | Kernels plump |
| Grain in Beard (Mang Zhong) | Jun. | 6th | Wheat grows ripe |
| The Summer Solstice (Xia Zhi) | Jun. | 22nd | Longest day and the shortest night of the year |
| Lesser Heat (Xiao Shu) | Jul. | 7th | Torridity comes |
| Greater Heat (Da Shu) | Jul. | 23rd | The hottest moment of a year |
| The Beginning of Autumn (Li Qiu) | Aug. | 8th | Autumn begins (Metal, Lung, Large intestine) |
| The End of Heat (Chu Shu) | Aug. | 23rd | Heat hides |
| White Dew (Bai Lu) | Sep. | 8th | Dew curdles |
| The Autumn Equinox (Qiu Fen) | Sep. | 23rd | The mid of autumn |
| Cold Dew (Han Lu) | Oct. | 8th | Dew is very cold |
| Frost’s Descent (Shuang Jiang) | Oct. | 24th | Frost descends |
| The Beginning of Winter (Li Dong) | Nov. | 8th | Winter begins (Water, Kidney, Bladder) |
| Lesser Snow (Xiao Xue) | Nov. | 22nd | it begins to snow |
| Greater Snow (Da Xue) | Dec. | 7th | It snows heavily |
| The Winter Solstice (Dong Zhi) | Dec. | 22nd | The shortest daytime and the longest night of a year |