Minor Snow (Xiaoxue) 小雪
The solar term
Temperatures fall and the first snow comes to the north, though not much of it, and it may not yet lie on the ground.
| Year | Minor Snow |
|---|---|
| 2026 | November 22 |
| 2027 | November 22 |
| 2028 | November 22 |
| 2029 | November 22 |
| 2030 | November 22 |
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:
Rainbows hide 虹藏不見from November 22
Rainbows are no longer seen. The ancients thought a rainbow formed where yin and yang met; now yin is strong and yang lies hidden, so none appear, the mirror of their return at Qingming.
Heaven's breath rises, earth's sinks 天氣上升地氣下降from November 27
The ancients held that heaven's yang energy now rises and earth's yin energy sinks, so the two no longer meet.
All is closed, and winter sets in 閉塞而成冬from December 2
With heaven and earth closed off from each other, all things are shut away, and true winter begins.
Hexagrams
In the table of the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar (recorded in the New Book of Tang), the three pentads of Minor Snow belong to three hexagrams:
- first pentad28 Daguo (Great Excess)Duke
- second pentad2 Kun (Earth)Sovereign
- third pentad64 Weiji (Before Completion)Marquis
The second, Kun (Earth), 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 tenth month of the traditional calendar: all six lines yin, yin at its height.
Separately, the twenty-four lines of Kan, Zhen, Li and Dui govern the twenty-four solar terms in turn; Minor Snow belongs to Dui, nine in the fifth 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.