Grain Rain (Guyu) 穀雨
The solar term
The name means “rain for the grain”. Rainfall increases markedly, just in time for the newly planted crops. Grain Rain is the last term of spring.
| Year | Grain Rain |
|---|---|
| 2026 | April 20 |
| 2027 | April 20 |
| 2028 | April 19 |
| 2029 | April 20 |
| 2030 | April 20 |
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 2027:
Duckweed appears 萍始生from April 20
As the water warms, duckweed begins to spread across ponds.
Doves beat their wings 鳴鳩拂其羽from April 25
Doves (some say cuckoos) beat their wings and call loudly; the ancients heard it as a summons to get on with the farm work.
Hoopoes alight in the mulberries 戴勝降于桑from April 30
Hoopoes, the birds with the crest of feathers, alight in the mulberry trees just as silkworm season begins.
Hexagrams
In the table of the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar (recorded in the New Book of Tang), the three pentads of Grain Rain belong to three hexagrams:
- first pentad49 Ge (Revolution)Duke
- second pentad43 Guai (Resolution)Sovereign
- third pentad56 Lü (The Wanderer)Marquis
The second, Guai (Resolution), is one of the twelve sovereign hexagrams (十二辟卦), which trace the waxing and waning of yin and yang through the year. It stands for the third month of the traditional calendar: five yang below one yin, yang nearly full.
Separately, the twenty-four lines of Kan, Zhen, Li and Dui govern the twenty-four solar terms in turn; Grain Rain belongs to Zhen, six in the third 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.