White Dew (Bailu) 白露
The solar term
The weather turns cool, and at night moisture condenses on the plants into glistening white dew, hence the name. The gap between day and night temperatures widens.
| Year | White Dew |
|---|---|
| 2026 | September 7 |
| 2027 | September 8 |
| 2028 | September 7 |
| 2029 | September 7 |
| 2030 | September 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 2027:
Wild geese arrive 鴻雁來from September 8
Wild geese arrive from the north on their way south for the winter.
Swallows depart 玄鳥歸from September 13
Swallows fly back south, the mirror of their return at the spring equinox.
Birds store up food 群鳥養羞from September 18
Birds begin to store up food for the winter.
Hexagrams
In the table of the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar (recorded in the New Book of Tang), the three pentads of White Dew belong to three hexagrams:
- first pentad57 Xun (The Gentle Wind)Marquis
- second pentad45 Cui (Gathering)Grandee
- third pentad26 Daxu (Great Restraint)Minister
Separately, the twenty-four lines of Kan, Zhen, Li and Dui govern the twenty-four solar terms in turn; White Dew belongs to Li, nine at the top.
The hexagram calendar marks the season. It says nothing about fortune and has no bearing on a hexagram you cast. See sources and method.