Cold Dew (Hanlu) 寒露
The solar term
The dew is colder now and close to turning into frost. In the north it is late autumn; in the south, too, autumn is deepening.
| Year | Cold Dew |
|---|---|
| 2026 | October 8 |
| 2027 | October 8 |
| 2028 | October 8 |
| 2029 | October 8 |
| 2030 | October 8 |
Dates are for China time (UTC+8); in other time zones the term may fall on a different day.
The three pentads
Each solar term lasts about fifteen days and is divided into three pentads of five days, each named after a sign in nature. In 2026:
Wild geese come as guests 鴻雁來賓from October 8
The last wild geese arrive from the north. The ancients said the first geese to arrive are the hosts, and the late ones the guests.
Sparrows enter the sea and turn into clams 雀入大水為蛤from October 13
Sparrows grow scarce just as clams with sparrow-like markings appear on the shore, so the ancients believed the sparrows had gone into the sea and become clams. It is an old belief.
Chrysanthemums bloom yellow 菊有黃華from October 18
Chrysanthemums open their yellow flowers.
Hexagrams
In the table of the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar (recorded in the New Book of Tang), the three pentads of Cold Dew belong to three hexagrams:
- first pentad54 Guimei (The Marrying Maiden)Marquis
- second pentad25 Wuwang (Innocence)Grandee
- third pentad36 Mingyi (Darkened Light)Minister
Separately, the twenty-four lines of Kan, Zhen, Li and Dui govern the twenty-four solar terms in turn; Cold Dew belongs to Dui, nine in the second place.
The hexagram calendar marks the season. It says nothing about fortune and has no bearing on a hexagram you cast. See sources and method.