<p class="ql-block">Around 2000 years ago, ancient Chinese divided the sun’s annual circular motion into 24 equal segments, each segment was called a ‘Solar Term’, which represented a unique period of a year. The 24 Solar Terms became the important kind of calendar in ancient China.</p><p class="ql-block">大约在2000年前，古代中国人把太阳每年的周期运动分为24个相等的部分，每个部分被称为“节气”，代表一年中某个独特的时期。24节气成了中国古代重要的一种历法。</p><p class="ql-block">The 24 Solar Terms originated in the Yellow River reaches. According to the Book of Documents, the first determined term was Winter Solstice by Dan, the Duke of Zhou, while he was trying to locate the geological center of the Western Zhou dynasty, by measuring the length of the sun's shadow on an ancient timekeeper instrument. Then four terms of seasons were set, which were soon evolved as eight terms; until 104 BC in the book Taichu Calendar, the entire twenty-four solar terms were officially included in the Chinese calendar.</p><p class="ql-block">24节气起源于黄河流域。根据《尚书》记载，第一个确定的节气是冬至，当时周公旦试图通过测量古代计时器上太阳阴影的长度来定位西周王朝的地理位置中心，然后设立了四个节气，很快演变为八个节气；直到公元前104年，在《太初历》中，所有的二十四节气被正式纳入中国历法。</p><p class="ql-block">Within the 24 Solar Terms,Start of Spring, Start of Summer, Start of Autumn and Start of Wintermarks the start of four seasons.</p><p class="ql-block">24节气中，立春、立夏、立秋、立冬标志着四季的开始。</p><p class="ql-block">Spring Equinoxand Autumn Equinoxare the two points where the day and night are equal.Summer Solstice has the longest day and shortest night in a year, while the opposite is true for Winter Solstice.</p><p class="ql-block">春分和秋分是一年中白天和黑夜时长相同的两个日子。夏至是一年中白天最长、夜晚最短的一天，而冬至日则相反。</p><p class="ql-block">Rain Watermeans the start of the spring rains. Awakening of Insectsindicates that the spring thunder awakens hibernating insects.</p><p class="ql-block">雨水意味着春天开始下雨。惊蛰是指春雷唤醒冬眠的昆虫。清明当明亮而干净的春日景象取代冬天寒冷枯黄的景象时，意味着春天的到来。</p><p class="ql-block">Clear and Brightmeans the onset of spring when a bright and clean spring scene replaces the cold, withered and yellow scene in winter. Grain Rainindicates that from that day, there will be more rainfall, which is beneficial to the growth of crops. Grain Budsshows that crops that will ripen in summer start to show plump seeds. Grain in Eartells people that the wheat has ripened.</p><p class="ql-block">谷雨预示着从那天起，降雨将增多，这对作物的生长有利。小满意味着将在夏季成熟的作物开始长出饱满的种子。芒种告诉人们小麦已经成熟了。</p><p class="ql-block">Minor Heat and Major HeatHeatindicate the full onset of summer, with the Major Heatbeing the hottest day of the year. End of Heatshows that scorching summer days will soon be gone.</p><p class="ql-block">小暑和大暑表示夏季的大范围降临，大暑是一年中最热的一天。处暑意味着炎热的夏天很快就会过去。</p><p class="ql-block">White Dew tells people that dew appears in the morning to show that the weather is turning cold, and, as this intensifies, we move on to the Cold Dew. Frost’s Descentmeans the appearance of the first frost of the season.</p><p class="ql-block">白露告诉人们，露水出现在早晨，说明天气正在变冷，随着这种情况增多，我们进入寒露。霜降意味着本季第一场霜冻出现。</p><p class="ql-block">Minor Snowand Major Snow mean the arrival of the snowy season. Minor Coldand Major Cold indicate the degree of coldness in winter, with the Great Cold being the coldest day of the season.</p><p class="ql-block">小雪和大雪意味着雪季到来。小寒和大寒表示冬季的寒冷程度，大寒是冬季中最冷的一天。</p><p class="ql-block">Originally, The 24 Solar Terms were worked out mainly for farming, people began to sow in February’s Awakening of Insects, and transplants rice seedlings in May’s Grain in Ear. Even till this day, the 24 Solar Terms is knowledge system and social practice through which the Chinese organize their perception of astronomical laws and their relation with natural world. In international meteorology, this cognitive system of time has been given the title of the Fifth Great Invention of China.</p><p class="ql-block">最初，24节气是为了农业而设计，人们在二月的惊蛰开始播种，五月的芒种开始移栽稻苗。即使到今天，24节气也是中国人对天文规律及其与自然世界关系的认识体系和实践的产物。在国际气象学中，这种时间认知系统被誉为中国的第五大发明。</p><p class="ql-block">For thousand years, the 24 Solar Terms has profoundly influenced Chinese people’s way of thinking and code conduct. It is a vivid evidence of the cultural diversity of humanity. On December 1, 2016, the solar terms were listed by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.</p><p class="ql-block">几千年来，二十四节气深刻影响着中国人的思维方式和行为准则，是人类文化多样性的生动证明。2016年11月30日，节气被联合国教科文组织列为非物质文化遗产。</p>