Winter Solstice (Dongzhi) 冬至

The solar term

On the winter solstice the sun stands over the Tropic of Capricorn, and the northern hemisphere has its shortest day and longest night. From here the days lengthen again, which the ancients called the first stirring of yang. It was one of the great festivals of the old calendar; a folk saying holds that the winter solstice is as big as New Year.

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:

1. Earthworms curl up 蚯蚓結from December 22

   Earthworms lie curled in the ground for the winter. Yang has begun to return, but yin is still strong, so they stay coiled.

2. Elk shed their antlers 麋角解from December 27

   The elk, a large deer, begins to drop its antlers. The ancients counted it a creature of yin; as yin starts to recede, the antlers fall.

3. Springs begin to stir 水泉動from January 1, 2027

   Springs in the hills begin to flow. A little warmth has returned below ground, the first sign of rising yang.

Hexagrams

In the table of the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar (recorded in the New Book of Tang), the three pentads of Winter Solstice belong to three hexagrams:

• first pentad61 Zhongfu (Inner Truth)Duke
• second pentad24 Fu (Return)Sovereign
• third pentad3 Zhun (Difficult Beginnings)Marquis

The second, Fu (Return), 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 eleventh month of the traditional calendar: one yang line born beneath five yin, as yang begins to return.

Separately, the twenty-four lines of Kan, Zhen, Li and Dui govern the twenty-four solar terms in turn; Winter Solstice belongs to Kan, six at the beginning.

The hexagram calendar marks the season. It says nothing about fortune and has no bearing on a hexagram you cast. See sources and method.