Minor Cold (Xiaohan) 小寒
The solar term
Minor Cold is the fifth term of winter. The name says the cold has not yet reached its peak, though in northern China the coldest days of the year often fall around now.
| Year | Minor Cold |
|---|---|
| 2026 | January 5 |
| 2027 | January 5 |
| 2028 | January 6 |
| 2029 | January 5 |
| 2030 | January 5 |
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:
Geese turn north 雁北鄉from January 5
Wild geese turn to head north again. The ancients held that geese follow the yang energy, and yang has begun to move.
Magpies begin to nest 鵲始巢from January 10
Magpies begin to build their nests, ready for the spring brood.
Pheasants begin to call 雉始雊from January 15
Pheasants, sensing the returning yang, begin to call for mates.
Hexagrams
In the table of the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar (recorded in the New Book of Tang), the three pentads of Minor Cold belong to three hexagrams:
- first pentad3 Zhun (Difficult Beginnings)Marquis
- second pentad15 Qian (Humility)Grandee
- third pentad38 Kui (Opposition)Minister
Separately, the twenty-four lines of Kan, Zhen, Li and Dui govern the twenty-four solar terms in turn; Minor Cold belongs to Kan, 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.