Xiaoxue

The traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms (節氣). Xiǎoxuě (Chinese: 小雪; pinyin: xiǎoxuě) is the 20th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 240° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 255°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 240°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around 22 November and ends around 7 December.

Xiaoxue
Chinese name
Chinese	小雪
Literal meaning	minor snow
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin xiǎoxuě Bopomofo ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄒㄩㄝˇ Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization síu syut Jyutping siu2 syut3
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	tiểu tuyết
Chữ Hán	小雪
Korean name
Hangul	소설
Hanja	小雪
Transcriptions Revised Romanization soseol
Japanese name
Kanji	小雪
Hiragana	しょうせつ
Transcriptions Romanization geshi

Solar term

Term	Longitude	Dates
Lichun	315°	4–5 February
Yushui	330°	18–19 February
Jingzhe	345°	5–6 March
Chunfen	0°	20–21 March
Qingming	15°	4–5 April
Guyu	30°	20–21 April
Lixia	45°	5–6 May
Xiaoman	60°	21–22 May
Mangzhong	75°	5–6 June
Xiazhi	90°	21–22 June
Xiaoshu	105°	7–8 July
Dashu	120°	22–23 July
Liqiu	135°	7–8 August
Chushu	150°	23–24 August
Bailu	165°	7–8 September
Qiufen	180°	23–24 September
Hanlu	195°	8–9 October
Shuangjiang	210°	23–24 October
Lidong	225°	7–8 November
Xiaoxue	240°	22–23 November
Daxue	255°	7–8 December
Dongzhi	270°	21–22 December
Xiaohan	285°	5–6 January
Dahan	300°	20–21 January

Pentads

• 虹藏不見, 'Rainbows are concealed from view'. It was believed that rainbows were the results of yin and yang energy mixing; winter, being dominated by yin, would not present rainbows.
• 天氣上騰地氣下降, 'The Qi of the sky ascends, the qi of the earth descends'
• 閉塞而成冬, 'Closure and stasis create winter'. The end of mixing between sky and earth, yin and yang, leads to the dormancy of winter.

Date and time

Date and Time (UTC)

Year	Begin	End
辛巳	2001-11-22 06:00	2001-12-07 01:28
壬午	2002-11-22 11:53	2002-12-07 07:14
癸未	2003-11-22 17:43	2003-12-07 13:05
甲申	2004-11-21 23:21	2004-12-06 18:48
乙酉	2005-11-22 05:15	2005-12-07 00:32
丙戌	2006-11-22 11:01	2006-12-07 06:26
丁亥	2007-11-22 16:49	2007-12-07 12:14
戊子	2008-11-21 22:44	2008-12-06 18:02
己丑	2009-11-22 04:22	2009-12-06 23:52
庚寅	2010-11-22 10:14	2010-12-07 05:38
辛卯	2011-11-22 16:07	2011-12-07 11:29
壬辰	2012-11-21 21:50	2012-12-06 17:18
癸巳	2013-11-22 03:48	2013-12-06 23:08
甲午	2014-11-22 09:38	2014-12-07 05:04
乙未	2015-11-22 15:25	2015-12-07 10:53
丙申	2016-11-21 21:22	2016-12-06 16:41
丁酉	2017-11-22 03:04	2017-12-06 22:32
戊戌	2018-11-22 09:01	2018-12-07 04:25
己亥	2019-11-22 14:58	2019-12-07 10:18
庚子	2020-11-21 20:39	2020-12-06 16:09
辛丑	2021-11-22 02:33	2021-12-06 21:57
壬寅	2022-11-22 08:20	2022-12-07 03:46
癸卯	2023-11-22 14:02	2023-12-07 09:32
甲辰	2024-11-21 19:56	2024-12-06 15:17
乙巳	2025-11-22 01:35	2025-12-06 21:04
丙午	2026-11-22 07:23	2026-12-07 02:52
丁未	2027-11-22 13:16	2027-12-07 08:37
戊申	2028-11-21 18:54	2028-12-06 14:24
己酉	2029-11-22 00:49	2029-12-06 20:13
庚戌	2030-11-22 06:44	2030-12-07 02:07
Source: JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System

External links

• Gregory C. Eaves: Soseol (소설, 小雪), first day of snow, Korea.net, 17 Nov 2016.