The six solar terms of winter

Traditional winter

Winter's sequence begins with Lidong, continues through the December solstice and ends with the two cold terms in January. It therefore crosses the Gregorian new year. Xiaohan and Dahan complete the winter opened by Lidong in the preceding November, before Lichun begins the next traditional spring.

The season's language combines stillness with renewal. Storage and withdrawal at Lidong give way to freezing water, frozen ground and increasing cold. Yet the traditional seasonal markers also include stirring springs, nesting magpies and calling pheasants. Signs of the next growing season appear while winter is still under way.

The six winter terms

This table follows one continuous winter, from November 2026 through January 2027.

Beginning of Winter (Lidong)

Lidong opens the traditional winter. Its name is associated with completion and the storing away of things after harvest. The first two seasonal markers describe water beginning to freeze and the ground beginning to freeze. These are initial stages, distinguished from the deeper, more solid freezing described later in the season.

Minor Snow (Xiaoxue)

Xiaoxue introduces the pair of snow names, with the smaller adjective suggesting that snow is not yet abundant. The traditional imagery extends beyond snowfall: rainbows disappear, and heaven and earth draw apart as winter closes in. The snow names describe stages in the seasonal sequence rather than measured categories of snowfall.

Major Snow (Daxue)

Daxue strengthens the preceding term's snow imagery as the year approaches the solstice. Its traditional markers include a bird falling silent, tigers beginning to mate and a plant beginning to sprout. Even in this account of deepening winter, the season contains both withdrawal and the beginnings of renewed activity.

Winter Solstice (Dongzhi)

Dongzhi is the December solstice, at solar longitude 270°. It marks the Sun's southernmost annual position relative to the celestial equator. Northern Hemisphere daylight reaches its minimum around this turning point, before beginning to increase again.

The solstice also anchors the numbering of lunar months. Under the modern Chinese calendar rules, the lunar month containing Dongzhi is month 11. Dongzhi can fall on different days within that month because the solar year and lunar months do not have matching lengths.

Minor Cold (Xiaohan)

Xiaohan comes after the solstice, when increasing daylight can coexist with continuing cold. Its traditional markers turn towards geese orienting northward, magpies beginning nests and calling pheasants. These signs of activity accompany the cold-season description rather than bringing winter to an end.

Major Cold (Dahan)

Dahan closes the sequence before Lichun. Its strongest image is water frozen solid through its depth, completing the progression from the first thin ice at Lidong. The contrast between Minor Cold and Major Cold expresses a traditional ordering of the season, although either interval can be colder in a particular year's weather.

Winter-solstice observances

Dongzhi is also an occasion for family gatherings and ancestral remembrance. Foods vary by region and family. Tangyuan, glutinous rice balls associated with reunion, are especially familiar in southern Chinese traditions and communities with southern Chinese roots. Dumplings are prominent in northern Chinese celebrations. A family may prepare offerings for its ancestors before sharing a meal, bringing remembrance and reunion into the same observance.

Seasonal cold lag

After the solstice, increasing sunlight does not immediately reverse the surface's heat balance. The ground can still lose more energy than it receives, allowing temperatures to fall further. This seasonal lag helps explain why both cold terms follow the shortest-day turning point.

Another traditional way of following winter is to count nine-day periods from Dongzhi. The saying about the cold of the “third nine” places the expected cold well after the solstice, in the third of those periods. Actual cold spells depend on local conditions and weather systems. The astronomical turning of daylight provides a stable point from which to count, while the weather varies from year to year.