Start of Winter (Lidong) 立冬
The solar term
The Start of Winter, when all things are gathered in and stored. According to the Book of Rites, on this day the emperor went to the northern outskirts to welcome the winter. Water starts to freeze in the north, while the south often enjoys a warm spell, the “little spring”.
| Year | Start of Winter |
|---|---|
| 2026 | November 7 |
| 2027 | November 7 |
| 2028 | November 7 |
| 2029 | November 7 |
| 2030 | November 7 |
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:
Water begins to freeze 水始冰from November 7
Water begins to freeze.
The ground begins to freeze 地始凍from November 12
The ground begins to freeze.
Pheasants enter the sea and turn into giant clams 雉入大水為蜃from November 17
Pheasants grow scarce just as large clams with pheasant-like markings appear on the shore, so the ancients believed the pheasants had gone into the sea and become clams. It is an old belief.
Hexagrams
In the table of the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar (recorded in the New Book of Tang), the three pentads of Start of Winter belong to three hexagrams:
- first pentad52 Gen (Stillness)Marquis
- second pentad63 Jiji (After Completion)Grandee
- third pentad21 Shihe (Biting Through)Minister
Separately, the twenty-four lines of Kan, Zhen, Li and Dui govern the twenty-four solar terms in turn; Start of Winter belongs to Dui, nine in the fourth 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.