Greater Cold:
Stars and the solar terms circulate slowly to welcome the New Year

In the nineteenth poem of his sequel Twenty Poems written after drinking (飲酒二十首‧十九), Tao Yuanming (陶淵明, 365-427) said, “Stars and the solar terms circulate slowly, and the cycle of twelve years has long gone (冉冉星氣流，亭亭復一紀).” This poem was to express his rumination over a decade to twelve years since the poet’s resignation from the role of Government official. If the term “twelve year” (yi ji 一紀) was changed to “one year” (yi sui, 一歲) in the poem, this poem could perfectly illustrate the role of the solar term Greater Cold (大寒) as an important sign of time in a year.

I propose to use the term Yi Sui (一歲) for three reasons. First, the Chinese character Ji (紀) rhymes with Sui (歲) as both have oblique tones (仄聲) in Chinese phonetics. Second, although the Chinese character Sui (歲) seems to be equivalent to another character Nian (年), both of which mean a year, there is a slight difference between the two: When ancient Chinese use the term Nian, it means the period between the two first days of the first month (not counting in the second first day of the first month) in Lunar calendar. On the other hand, when ancient Chinese use the term Sui, it refers to the period between the two solar terms of the Beginning of Spring (立春). As our focus is the Chinese culture related to the solar terms, we will adopt the more accurate term Sui here. Third, when Tao Yuanming talked about the passage of time, he did not count it in terms of the solar or the lunar system but described it in terms of circulation of the stars and the solar terms (Xing Qi 星氣). The term Ranran (冉冉) in the poem means slowly, and the term Xing and Qi in the poem refers to the stars and the solar terms.

Ancient Chinese named the Jupiter (木星) as the star of Sui (歲星), as (observing from the Earth) the Jupiter would complete the orbit around the Earth in a cycle of every twelfth years, which is called Yi Ji (一紀). This indicates that, from the perspective of ancient Chinese, the solar terms were closely related to the trajectory of the stars. As the Greater Cold (大寒) is not only the last of the twenty-four solar terms but also the end of the winter, ancient Chinese coined a term especially for the Greater Cold: Festival for the Returning of the Stars (星回節), which means the stars coming back to the place where they belong, signifying the end of the year.

As mentioned in The Book of Rites Chapter on Proceedings of Government in the Different Months (禮記‧月令), in the last month of the winter, “When stars come back from the heaven to their place, remaining days of the year are counted and the new cycle of the year will start again (星回於天， 數將幾終， 歲且更始).” The two Chinese characters in this citation, Zhong (終) and Shi (始), revealed the two sides of the coin for the solar term of Greater Cold. On one hand, it signifies the end of the year. On the other hand, it implies the coming of the new year. 

The Greater Cold occurs in the twelfth month in the Lunar calendar, which is also called “the harsh month (Yan yue, 嚴月)”, or “the icy month (Bing Yue, 冰月)”. These names precisely described the features of the weather in this solar term.

The General Introduction to Weather of Different Months (月令廣義, written in the Ming Dynasty) says, “Greater Cold, the time of extremely shiveringly cold (大寒，至此栗烈極矣).” The Chinese character for extreme and shivering is Li lie (栗烈), which is an alternative word of Lin lie (凓烈). This word was originally found in Bood of Odes, Odes from Bin area, Poem titled the Seventh Month (詩經‧豳風‧七月). In that poem, the poet lamented that the weather was extremely cold towards the end of the year, and said, “how could one survive till the end of the year without sufficient clothing (無衣無褐, 何以卒歲)?” We should note that, as mentioned in the previous article on Lesser Cold (小寒), at least in the Northern China, the Greater Cold is sometimes not the time with lowest air temperature. Then, why ancient Chinese put the term Da (大, Greater) in the solar term Greater Cold?

Ancient Chinese, in fact, emphasized the relationship between Yin Qi (陰氣) and Yang Qi (陽氣) in explaining the natural phenomenon. For example, in The Handbook of agriculture commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor in the Qing Dynasty, Chapter on mereology (授時通考‧天時), ancient Chinese scholars cited the theories from A brief illustration on the three Confucian books on rituals (三禮義宗, written in the 6^th century A.D.) that in the winter, the primitive form of Yang Qi (一陽之氣) gradually developed. After the initial stage of development from the Lesser Cold to the Greater Cold, the Yang Qi in the ground became more powerful and expelled all remaining Yin Qi in the underneath to the surface of the ground, “When Yin Qi is all expelled from the ground, the coldness from the ground merges in the air and the air is the coldest at the moment. That is why this solar term is called the Greater Cold (陰氣出地方盡，寒氣並在上, 寒氣之逆極，故謂大寒).” Therefore, although the Greater Cold might not be colder than the Lesser Cold in terms of temperature perceived by our body, the Yin Qi on the ground is at its fullness. In terms of environmental features, it is indicated by the frozen ground and frozen water.

According to An investigation of features of the seventy-two sectors of a year (月令七十二候集解) written by Wu Cheng’s (吳澄, 1249-1333), the third phrase of the solar term of Greater Cold came with the phenomena that river and lakes are frozen from inside (水澤腹堅). Here the Chinese character Fu (腹) means Interior, while the term Fu Jian (腹堅) means the rivers and the lakes being frozen from the bank throughout the surface.

In The Song about Counting Days in the Cycle of Nines (數九歌), it is mentioned that, “on the third and the fourth cycle of nine days, one can walk on the icy grounds on the mountain (三九四九冰山走)”. This line in the song described the feature of the Greater Cold, i.e., the ice layer being so thick that one could walk on it without difficulty, which was believed by ancient Chinese as the accumulation of Yin Qi from the bank to the surface.

As Chinese adage says, “Greater Cold, Greater Cold, marks the end of a year (大寒大寒, 一年過完).” No matter how cold it is, after the long wait through the end of the year, the solar term of Beginning of Spring (立春) and the New Year Festival (aka Spring Festival, 春節) are soon arriving.

Yuan Zhen (元稹, 779-831) said in his poem sequel, Ode to the twenty four solar terms (詠廿四氣) that the Greater cold is the time of intersection between the winter and the spring (冬與春交替), therefore, “By tomorrow everything will change, as plum blossoms and willows welcome the warm Spring (明朝換新律，梅柳待陽春).” The scenery of the Spring has already stood out. Therefore, during the period after the Greater Cold, Changing the Oldies with the New (辭舊迎新) is the main theme in people’s life and culture at the moment.

In order to adhere to the theme “Removing the Obsolete and welcome the new”, ancient Chinese believed that the most important items were rituals of ancestor worshipping and thanksgiving offerings to gods. In Chinese terms, the twelfth month of Lunar Calendar is often called La Yue (臘月, the month for La, the offering ceremonies). The original meaning of La (臘) was actually to give offerings to ancestors and gods of the Heaven and the Earth with animals obtained in hunting. In the annotation to The Book of Rites Chapter on Proceedings of Government in the Different Months (禮記‧月令), Zheng Xuan (鄭玄, 127-200) wrote, “La (臘) actually means providing offerings to god with animals obtained from hunting (臘，謂以田獵所得禽祭也).”

The rituals of offerings are often held at the end of the year. Therefore, according to An Investigation of Meanings and Pronunciations of Chinese Characters (說文通訓定聲) written by Zhu Junsheng (朱駿聲, 1788-1858), the entry for Chinese character La (臘) was annotated in the quote from The Commendatory of Zuo (左傳) as “the offerings provided to worship various gods of different names at the end of the year (歲終祭眾神之名).”

The rituals of the worship in the last month of the year, which originated as early as the Shang Dynasty (商朝 circa 1600-1046 BC) and Zhou Dynasty (周朝1046 – 221 BC), continued to develop in Qin Dynasty (秦朝, 221 – 207 BC), Han Dynasty (漢朝202 BC- 9 AD; 25-220 AD) and Northern and Southern Dynasties (南北朝 420-589 AD). Some rituals and ceremonies were later incorporated in the celebration of the Spring Festival. For example, in ancient China, the rituals in the last month of the year not only included worshipping ancestors and gods but also the ceremony with ritual dance called Da Nuo (大儺). The purpose of the ritual dance of Da Nuo was to expel Yin Qi and evil deities that brought illnesses. These rituals in the last month of the year later evolved into current practices in the Spring festival like setting off firecrackers (放鞭炮), displaying wooden or paper Spring Festival Couplets (懸掛桃符), and sticking the pictures of gods of guardians on the door (張貼門神).  Also, the popular Chinese practice of worshipping the god of the kitchen (Ji Zao , 祭灶) several days before the New Year Festival is still regarded as an essential practice in Chinese culture. This is also a ritual rooted from ancient Chinese tradition of worshipping gods with offerings in the last month of the year.

As mentioned in the book The Book of Rites Chapter on Proceedings of Government in the Different Months (禮記‧月令), five gods lived in five different places in the house, most notably the god of guardians (門神) on the door and the god of the kitchen who lived on the stoves (灶神).

After Han Dynasty, ancient Chinese took increasing high regard to the god of the Kitchen. The ritual for worshipping the god of kitchen later developed into an important festival on its own specifically for worshipping the god of kitchen (祭灶節), with the nick name of  “A Small-scale New Year Festival (小年)’. This is an essential activity in which one must be well-prepared for the arrival of the Spring festival in the new year.

As Chinese adage says, “Slaughter your pigs for the new year’s festival, do it during the solar term of Lesser Cold and Greater Cold (小寒大寒，殺豬過年)”. One could feel the cheerful atmosphere in these unpolished sentences. Compared with the solar term of Lesser Cold, the Greater Cold is even closer to the New Year Festival as it is immediately followed by the solar term Beginning of Spring (立春). Most importantly, the New Year’s Eve in lunar calendar is soon coming. The Spring festival is one of the major festivals in Chinese lunar calendar. As intercalary month (閏月, an additional month) occurs frequently in Lunar Calendar, the exact date of Spring festival in modern Western Gregorian calendar is not fixed, usually it will happen between the fall of January to the fall of February. Also, the Spring festival could occur before or after the solar term of Beginning of Spring, although it must be later than the solar term of Greater Cold.

Therefore, every year around the time of the Greater Cold, no matter how cold the weather is, people cannot help but immerse themselves in the joy of the forthcoming spring. They engage in the activities like house cleaning, writing Spring Festival Couplets with calligraphy, sticking papercutting artwork on the window, visiting the bazaar, slaughtering lambs and cattle for cooking, preparing preserved food for new years’ feast, making steamed cakes and pastries for rituals, worshipping ancestors and gods. Just reading the list will make one feel the vibe of the Spring festival.

Last but not the least, I will cite a Chinese children’s rhyme The Song for the Month of Offering (臘月歌) to conclude this series of twenty-four solar terms, at the same time to give a prelude to the forthcoming Spring festival.

Children, children, no need to crave for food (小孩小孩你別饞)

As after the festival of the Eighth of The Twelfth Month

Comes the new year festival (過了臘八就是年).

After the Eighth day of the month you keep on having congee (臘八粥，喝幾天)

and keeps chit-chatting until the twenty third day (哩哩啦啦二十三)

when you need to prepare the gourd shaped candies (二十三，糖瓜粘)

to bribe the god of the kitchen who is going to give the appraisal of yours to the Jade Emperor

(灶君老爺要上天).

On the twenty-fourth day, you need to sweep your house (二十四，掃房子).

On the twenty-fifth day, you need to make the bean curd (二十五，磨豆腐).

On the twenty-sixth day, you need to prepare slices of meat for the new year (二十六，割年肉).

On the twenty-seventh day, you need to slaughter the chicken for the feast (二十七，殺年雞).

On the twenty-eighth day, you must raise the dough for the noodles (二十八，把麵發).

On the twenty-ninth day, you have to steam the dough to make steamed buns (二十九, 蒸饅頭).

On the thirtieth day, you must stay awake for the whole night (三十晚上熬一宿).

And keep on greeting parents, seniors, relatives and friends for the New Year’s day by Fist-And-Palm Salute (大年初一扭一扭).

There are different versions of The Song for the Month of Offering with slightly different words, though all versions share the same joyful atmosphere. With this song, I wish all my friends and readers a peaceful and healthy Greater Cold and tremendously good luck in the forthcoming year!

References

Book

1. Zhu Junsheng (朱駿聲, Qing Dynasty) (eds). (1984). An investigation of meaning and pronunciation of Chinese Characters (說文通訓定聲). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company (中華書局),p.150.

2. Wu Xiuli (吳修麗)(ed.) (2023). Chinese solar terms (中國節氣). Nanjing: Hohai University Press (河海大學出版社), pp. 197-201.

3. Li Xiumei (李秀梅) (2024). Rumination on the signs of the time, and the beauties in the solar terms (物候之思 節令之美). Beijing: Chinese Literature and History Press (中國文史出版社), pp. 191-193.

4. Sui Bin (隋斌) (2022). Meaning of classical adage related to the twenty four solar terms (二十四節氣經典諺語釋義) Beijing: China Agriculture Press (中國農業出版社), pp. 451-452.

5. Huo Fu (霍福) (2022). The twenty four solar terms, and rituals and festivals in Chinese culture (二十四節氣與禮樂文化). Beijing: Social Science Academic Press (China) (社會科學文獻出版社), pp. 27-31.