luda 今天向您介绍我们中国传统文化的24节气及相关知识，您将感叹祖先的伟大。
The 24 solar terms is a gross name of the system that comprises of 12 major solar terms and 12 minor solar terms interlaced with each other.
二十四节气是一个统称，其中包括十二个中气和十二个节气，中气和节气相间地排列。
Starting from “vernal equinox”，the 12 major solar terms are “vernal equi-nox”，“corn rain”，“corn forms”，“summer solstice”，“great heat”，“end of heat”，“autumnal equinox”，“frost”，“light snow”，“winter solstice”，“severe cold” and “spring showers”. Each major solar term falls on one of the 12 lunarmonths designated by the 12 earthly branches.
从春分起十二个中气分别是春分、谷雨、小满、夏至、 大暑、处暑、秋分、霜降、小雪、冬至、大寒和雨水，分属于12个以地支排列的月份。
The minor solar term after “vernal equinox” is “bright and dear”，and then in turn “summer commences”，“corn on ear”，“ moderate heat”，“autumn commences”，“white dew”，“cold dew”， “winter commences”，“heavy snow”，“ moderate cold ”，“spring commences” and “ insects waken”.
春分后的节气是清明，其后的节气依次是立夏、芒种、小暑、立秋、白露、寒露、立冬、 大雪、小寒、立春和惊蛰。
The 24 solar terms divide the ecliptic into 24 equal segments, with 15 degrees of the Sun’s longitude between the terms.
二十四节气正好把黄道分成24等份，即每个节气相差黄经15度。
At“vernal equinox”，the Sun’s;s longitude is 0 degree；at “bright and clear”, the Sun’s;s longitude is 15 degrees；and so forth.
春分时黄经为0度,清明时黄经为15度，依此类推。
At “vernal equinox” and “autumnal equinox”，the periods of daylight and the night are equal in length.
春分和秋分昼夜平分。
The period of daylight is the longest at “summer solstice” and the shortest at “winter solstice”(northern hemisphere).
夏至昼最长（北半球，下同），冬至昼最短。
These were the earliest solar terms determined in ancient time.
春分、秋分、夏至和冬至是古人最初确立的节气。
Then it came the four solar terms “spring commences”，“summer commences”，“autumn commences” and “winter commences”.
其后加入的是立春、立夏、立秋和立冬。
The Rain Water means the start of the spring rains. The Waking of Insects indi-Gates that the spring thunder awakens hibernating insects.
雨水是开始下雨的意思。惊蛰表示春雷响过以后，冬眠的昆虫被惊醒了。
The Pure Brightness means the onset of spring when a bright and clean spring scene replaces the cold，withered and yellow scene in winter.
清明是说春天到了以后，明净的春色代替了冬季寒冷枯黄的景色。
The Grain Rain indicates that from that day，there will be more rainfall，which is beneficial to the growth of crops.
谷雨表示从此雨水增多，对五谷的生长很有好处。
24节气图
The Grain Budding shows that crops that will ripen in summer start to show plump seeds.
小满表示在夏季成熟的农作物籽粒开始饱满了。
The Grain in Ear tells people that the wheat has ripened.
芒种告诉人们小麦已经成熟了。
The Slight Heat and Great Heat indicate the full onset of summer, with the Great Heat being the hottest day of the year
小暑、大暑表示天气炎热的程度，大暑是一年中最热的时候。
The Limit of Heat shows that scorching summer days will soon be gone.
处暑表示炎热的天气快要过去了。
The 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.
白露告诉人们开始下露水，天气就要冷了。寒露表明露水已重，天寒加剧。
The Frost’s Descent means the appearance of the first frost of the season.
霜降是开始下霜的意思。
The Slight Snow and Great Snow mean the arrival of the snowy season.
小雪、大雪表示到了下雪的时节和雪量大小的差别。
The Slight Cold and Great Cold indicate the degree of coldness in winter，with the Great Cold being the coldest day of the season.
小寒、大寒表示冬天寒冷的程度，大寒是一年中最冷的时候。
The 24 seasonal division points have great influence on China’s farming. For the convenience of memory，people compiled The Song for the 24 Seasonal Division Points:
二十四节气对中国的农业生产起着很大的作用，人们为了方便记忆，还编出了《二十四节气歌》:
Following the Beginning of Spring and Rain Water, the Waking of Insects awak-ens the Vernal Equinox, and then come the Pure Brightness and Grain Rain，After the Beginning of Summer, Grain Budding，Grain in Ear, and Summer Sol-stice，the Slight Heat is connected with Great Heat.
春雨惊春清谷天，夏满芒夏暑相连，
The Beginning of Autumn and Limit of Heat are followed by the White Dew，Autumnal Equinox，Cold Dew and then the Frost’s Descent,And the Beginning of Winter leads to the Slight Snow, Great Snow, Winter Sol-stice，Slight Cold and Great Cold.
秋处露秋寒霜降，冬雪雪冬小大寒。
In the first half of the year, the seasonal division points fall on the sixth or 21st day of the month，And those in the latter half year occur on the eighth or 23 rd day of the month.
上半年是六、二一，下半年是八、二三。
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