Revitalizing Value of Humanities in the Twenty-four Solar Terms

through Visual Design, Liaoning Province, China

Liu Wei

and Veerawat Sirivesmas

University of Science and Technology Liaoning, 185 Qianshan Middle Road, Anshan High-tech Zone, Liaoning, China

PhD international Program of Design Arts, The faculty of Decorative Arts,

Silpakorn University, Taling Chan, Bangkok, Thailand

Faculty of Decorative Arts Silpakorn University, Taling Chan, Bangkok,, Thailand

Keywords: Twenty-four Solar Terms, Human Intangible Cultural Heritage, Cultural Revitalization, Visual

Communication Design.

Abstract: The system of “Twenty-Four Solar Terms” (TST) is an order of seasonal solar orbit being used in the

Chinese traditional calendar to understand nature and regulate local festivals to their way of life. It is

ancient intelligence for more than 2000 years of harmonious living with nature, which reflects value of

humanities in philosophical art of living. However, its time-guide function in modern Chinese calendar

has gradually lost its importance because modernization in the recent decades has changed people’s

lifestyle. Several terms are still used for some popular festivals, e.g. Qingming (Pure Brightness) and

Dongzhi (Winter Solstice), however other terms are ignored by modern Chinese society. Although

UNESCO submitted it to be intangible cultural heritage of mankind in 2016, which could be a turning

point and opportunity to promote it, many Chinese people are still unaware of its traditional importance.

Investigation into its cultural loss and possibility of revitalization in the educational field has been

carried out in Liaoning Province of China by using questionnaires to understand its familiarity and

retained cultural inheritance practices. The target groups contain students, parents, teachers and general

population. The results show that 84 % of sampled young individuals were willing to learn and inherit

it, while 41% of sampled parents were willing to participate in parent-child activities. Furthermore,

almost all of sampled target group supported incorporating it into education. The results also confirm

that children are interested in the system of TST, which could be transformed into various lessons

through visual communication design.

1 INTRODUCTION

The Twenty-four solar terms (TST) are an ancient

Chinese system of relational management between

man and seasons for agricultural time and other daily

lifestyles reflecting the crystallization of wisdom

created by the ancient Chinese. For more than 2000

years, the system has been widely used in agricultural

production and daily life in China. As a unique time

knowledge system, the “TST” is a typical

representative of Chinese culture which affects all

aspects of people's lives. In addition, several

important festivals are closely related to the TST.

However, with the arrival of China's industrial and

information technology era, modern Chinese

lifestyles have been rapidly changed by globalization

trends. People are getting farther from nature, and

rather abandoning the TST. Some scholars believe

that there are some problems in the survival and

inheritance of the TST today (Wang Jiahua, 2017).

The TST have no survival crisis in traditional society,

but now they have problems in modern society and

has now become an intangible cultural heritage that

need to be consciously protected (Zhang Bo, 2017).

Due to the influence of Western civilization, the

relationship between TST and people's lifestyles has

gradually become alienated, and people's

understanding of TST has become more and more

superficial, even near zero (Ye Shiyi, 2015). On

November 30th, 2016, the TST were announced in

UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. This

is a right time and important turning point in

revitalizing the TST in public space (China People's

Network 2016). The announcing reflects that the TST

still have certain cultural significance and social

functions in modern society.

Wei, L. and Sirivesmas, V.

Revitalizing Value of Humanities in the Twenty-four Solar Terms through Visual Design, Liaoning Province, China.

DOI: 10.5220/0009395904790489

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities (ICONARTIES 2019), pages 479-489

ISBN: 978-989-758-450-3

479

Figure 1: The name of China's twenty-four solar terms and

solar terms

Figure 2: Twenty-four solar terms time-table in 2019.

As they are practiced today, the TST system

gradually lost its original functions in high-speed

modernization process. This cultural situation has

become a controversial topic, bringing us severe

challenges in cultural heritage. Some people

questioned and some people agreed that, as the TST

is for farming time, there is no need to “protect” them

as long as the countryside is still there to do

agriculture, the solar terms will not die (Liu Zongdi,

2017). We should consciously pass on the TST,

respecting natural time and the rhythm of life (Xiao

Fang, 2015). Although inheritance of the TST system

has received more and more attention in academic

fields, its popularity in Chinese cultural studies is still

at a low level of perceptual knowledge because of the

lack of government attention, and new forms of

cultural exchanges making young people lost their

interest in preserving and continuing practice the

TST. In recent year, however, modern Chinese people

begin to realize increasingly that “forgetting” is not

always terrible, but “losing” thoughtful culture of the

TST is a headache. Losing medium of time between

man and nature for the righteously seasonal

cultivation, such as the TST, is what to be worried in

modern society. The successful promoting the TST

to be intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO

encourages many experts and scholars to pay

attention in studying the TST. These experts and

scholars are mostly sociologists, folklorists, but art

educators are rarely dealing with this topic. It is clear

that there are still more rooms for art educators

creating their visual designs to educate the young

generation.

In today's society, is it necessary to educate the TST

in school? If so, who will be the key target of

inheriting this cultural heritage? In what way is it

effectively passed on? As an art educator who pays

attention to Chinese culture, the author hopes to

understand the situation of Chinese people’s

knowledge about the TST through questionnaire

survey, especially among the young people. Based on

the above reasons, the research team designed a

questionnaire on “inheritance and cognitive levels of

the Twenty-four solar terms in modern society”. The

survey was conducted in Liaoning Province, China,

and two questionnaires were designed for students

and parents to select respondents by random

sampling. The conclusions show that 72% of the

sample population knows some names of the TST, but

they do not understand their characteristics and

customs; 33% of the sample population believes that

most of the young people were growing up in the

information age with lacking of intimacy to land and

nature. It was one of the factors that made the TST

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difficult to be inherited. 42% of the sample population

believes that the task of inheriting the TST should

focus on the school. 98% of the sample target groups

support to distributing the TST as a cultural event in

the school. Schools are the educational base that bears

the responsibility of cultural communication. It plays

a cultural communication role in modern society.

Offering the TST in school will encourage students to

effectively practice Chinese cultural heritage.

Figure 3: Chinese Taoist philosophy: nature of Taoism is

unity of man and heaven

The TST are system of seasonal management for

agriculture, folk activities and festivals on the basis of

the Taoist philosophy of "Man and Heaven". Children

are the sons of nature, and the TST are nature's time

order and guidance of life. Children learn the TST

from an early age, and when they grow up; they will

consciously respect the time rhythm of nature and do

something meaningful to humanity, the natural

environment and society. Children can perceive

natural time order while learning the TST. Learning

and mastering the TST can free children from the

mechanical time and enjoy the natural time.

Researching on the TST in educational field is not

only a contribution to Chinese children, but also

worldwide children.

Figure 4:

Diagram of China's TST and seasonal time

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

What is the TST?. The annual cycle is the basic

characteristics of natural time (Liu Xiaofeng, 2015).

Ancient Chinese used Yin and Yang to summarize the

seasonal changes from winter to summer in the year.

This is an intricate system incorporating both solar

and lunar patterns. The length of the month measured

by the moon phases is the “Yin” calendar, while the

length of the year measured by earth’s orbit of the sun

is the “Yang” calendar. Together they form the

twenty-four solar periods.

As seen in Figure 2, the Chinese calendar is shown

in 360 degrees. Each fifteen-degree section is one

solar term. Two of these solar terms correspond to

one international calendar month. The moon phases

can also be shown in degrees, see figure 5.

Fundamentally speaking, the TST system is based

on accurate observations and understanding the law

of solar cycle changes. Ancient people invented this

system to engage their life with nature because most

of them were farmers who planted in the spring and

harvested in the fall. As the change of seasons is very

important in agriculture, they observed and

investigated the relationship between seasonal

change and astronomical movement to create the TST

system which was used to manage their annual

agricultural time, especially for sowing and

harvesting (Liu Xiaofeng, 2015). The TST are used to

reflect changes in the four seasons, temperature,

rainfall, phenology, etc. This is a summary of the

experience of the ancient working people in China in

the farming season and is an important part of the

Chinese traditional calendar system and its related

practical activities. Concept of the TST has affected

the life of Chinese people for more than 2,000 years

since its origin.

Figure 5: Phases of the moon orbiting around the earth

Revitalizing Value of Humanities in the Twenty-four Solar Terms through Visual Design, Liaoning Province, China

481

Figure 6: The earth rotates around the sun for a return year.

2.1 The Status Quo of the TST

As the TST system is the knowledge of time

management between solar movement and human

activities in year-round, it played historically an

important role in many cultural aspects, e.g.

agricultural production, national affairs, and

traditional lifestyle. Because of social changes in

modernization, the TST are facing a survival crisis

and need to be seriously protected.

Modern Chinese social structure has a trend to

change from agricultural to industrialized societies

within the acceleration of urbanization process.

People respond and accept precisely modern

measurement of time, and almost neglects the

relationship between seasons and the solar terms.

After the founding of the Republic of China, the use

of Chinese traditional calendar was replaced by the

Western Gregorian calendar, the recent official

calendar of the republic.

Although the TST system is still retained in the

national almanac issued by the government, its

cultural importance has significantly dropped in the

field of modern agricultural production and lifestyle.

This phenomenon makes the cultural role of the TST

be nearly forgotten. Its function in daily life is no

longer outstanding. It seems that every cultural aspect

is being reduced or lost. For example, function as the

time markers is greatly reduced; using the time node

for national custom is completely lost; traditional

activities have been greatly reduced; function as

agricultural guidance is evidently decreased. (Zhang

Bo, 2017)

However, it was recently selected as the UNESCO

Representative List of Human Intangible Cultural

Heritage on November 30th, 2016 (China

Agricultural Museum, 2016). This is an important

event in the history of its development, and it is also

a turning point in revitalizing the TST system to the

modern history of humanity. As soon as the good

news came out, it immediately caused widespread

concern. The Chinese Ministry of Culture said: "The

success of project declaration is not the end of the

mission, but it is just another milestone in the work of

non-legacy protection" (ZhangBo,2017).

Figure 7: China's TST are listed on the UNESCO Intangible

Cultural Heritage on November 30, 2016

Figure 8: China's TST guide agricultural production. The

picture shows the Bearded Grain solar terms（It is the 9th

of the 24 solar terms，June 5, 6, or 7, the end of the grain-

growing season and the last chance for sowing)

2.2 Application of TST in Other Fields

Although the role of the TST in agricultural

guidance has been reduced, their values are still

preserved and inherited in other fields, e.g. traditional

medicine and education. Chinese traditional medicine

deals significantly with relationship between man and

nature. The earliest medical book “Huangdi Neijing”

records that People’s health communicates with

heaven and earth. Changings of seasons, day and

night as well as geographical environments have

influence on one’s body.

The most distinctive feature in this classic book is

the “Solar Qi” which is considered as the echoes of

the TST being used in clinical diagnosis and

treatment (Fang Wei, 2016). Human body can feel

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changes of the nature in forms of solar and lunar

movements, seasonal changes, cold and warm

temperatures as well as philosophical concept of the

Ying and Yang.

Living between heaven and earth, people’s life

depends on their changes which can cause death or

alive. They, therefore, must understand these changes

to adapt their lifestyle for suitable longevity as

"NeiJing" emphasizes that people must adapt

themselves to live in seasonal transition for their

quality of health and longevity. On the other hand, if

people neglect to understand and adapt themselves to

live harmoniously with the nature, their body will feel

uncomfortable and prone to illness.

In the field of education, Tianyi Middle School in

Wuwei City, Gansu Province, carried out cultural

activities introducing the TST concepts through

farming and harvesting experiences. The activities

aim that students understand how the TST guide the

farming activities. Through the activities, students

learned about origins and legends of the solar terms

as well as lessons of agricultural activities that are

related to the solar terms. Through the participation in

the TST, the students really understood function of

the TST and recognized the importance of the

Chinese traditional calendar.

Figure 9: The relationship between the TST and Traditional

Chinese medicine health.

Figure 10: Children becoming closer to nature while

learning agricultural practices

3 METHODOLOGY

The discipline of this study is based on “cultural

consciousness” proposed by Fei Xiaotong (2019,

Libo) who is a famous sociologist and the first one to

propose this concept in the second high-level seminar

on sociocultural anthropology held in 1997. “The

concept deals with phenomena of cultural self-

awareness and self-creation occurring among

different cultural groups which are facing cultural

conflicts. Cultural consciousness is also a kind of

cultural accumulation, which provides the potential

for the development and creation of culture.” With the

discipline, the authors aim to test and analyse

people’s cultural consciousness about the TST in

three steps: 1) situation of people’s cognition, 2)

situation of people’s inheritance, and 3) people’s

expectation of revitalization.

The regional target of this study was Liaoning

Province, north-eastern China, where agriculture has

been the primary industry since ancient times.

Historically, the TST has not only guided farming

practices, but also cultural practices such as the origin

for household names and the twenty-four festival

songs. While it is true that elders can still sing the

twenty-four festival songs, the new generation is no

longer able. It is obvious that at present the loss of

TST culture is great in Liaoning Province.

Figure 11. Map of Liaoning Province, China.

To obtain data on the cultural consciousness of

modern society in Liaoning, this project uses a

combined method of questionnaire sampling and in-

depth interviews, and the target group is composed of

students and their parents in the target area. Data

collection has been carried out by surveying opinions

of the target group about their cultural consciousness

in the TST. The questionnaire survey was chosen as

the tool for receiving the raw data. Five hundred

questionnaires were randomly asked the target group,

and two parents were chosen for in-depth interviews.

As a result, the survey conducted questionnaires for

different areas, different ages, different educational

backgrounds, and different occupational groups. This

questionnaire survey was completed by our team

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483

composing of six members: one university teacher

and five undergraduates.

The questionnaire entitled, “Cognition and

Inheritance Levels of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms

in Modern Society” was completed in June 2018. The

questions compose 1) the level of awareness and

inheritance of the TST in contemporary society, 2)

parents’ attitudes towards family education and

public education, and 3) what responsibility and

expectations are assumed by the school as an

educational base. All questionnaire data were

checked and verified by the research team, and results

were transferred into statistical display for analysing

percentages of the target group’s characteristics and

cultural opinions dealing the TST.

Figure 12: A questionnaire survey was conducted among

students in Liaoning Province, China

Figure 13: Questionnaire survey conducted among parents

of students in Liaoning Province, China.

4 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

According to the total questionnaire of five hundred,

438 were valid responses. The result of this

questionnaire includes responses of 176 males and

242 females, both of which have an age range from 8

to 60 years old. Among these respondents, there are

4% from primary schools, 46% from junior high

schools and high schools, 48% from junior colleges

and undergraduates, and only 2% from masters and

above. Regional distribution shows that 68% of the

target group live in central urban areas, 22% live in

urban and rural areas, and only 8% live in rural areas.

Occupations of the parents in the target group

included unit leaders, private business owners,

Employees of Government Institutions, hired

employees, self-employed persons, as well as

unemployed, retirees, housewives etc.

4.1 People’s Cognition

4.1.1 Cognition Level of Elders Is Higher

than That of Young Generation

According to the perspective cognition, elders have

level of cognition about the TST higher than that of

young people. China used to be an agricultural

society, and Liaoning province was a big agricultural

province. Most of families had rural backgrounds.

After China resumed the college entrance

examination in 1977, many young people migrated to

urban areas for work and study, leaving the

countryside gradually and resettling in cities.

Therefore, people born before 1970 were generally

more aware of the TST. This group of people can

clearly remember the time order of the solar terms and

understand their specific dates and characteristics.

Most of them can still sing the TST song. On the other

hand, young people know some names of the solar

terms but do not understand their characteristics and

customs. Moreover, most cannot remember the time

order of the solar terms and cannot sing the solar

terms songs.

Figure 14: TST poetry as a song composed by choosing

Chinese character from TST names for memorizing. The

following sections are the twenty-four solar terms songs.

4.1.2 Cognition Level of Educated People Is

Higher than That of Comparatively

Lower One

The difference in educational levels was found to

relate to the cognition of the TST. People from higher

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education had a better capability in understanding the

roles of the TST in cultural situations. The degree of

education also determines that social roles are

different from living educational concepts are

different, and preference for traditional culture is

different. Therefore, the proportion of education in

the study population has a great influence on whether

the TST can be transmitted and accepted in the

population. Because the proportion of people with

higher education level is larger, the probability of

traditional culture spreading and being accepted is

relatively large.

4.1.3 Cognition Level of Current Situation

of the TST in UNESCO Is Moderate

Most people do not know that the TST is now a

world's intangible cultural heritage; only 40% of the

target group knew the status. The result shows that

people have little understanding of the historical and

cultural values of the TST. In fact, being rated as

intangible cultural heritage is an important turning

point in its revitalization. Perhaps the government has

not promoted the TST enough.

Figure 15: Percentage of respondents that aware of the

acceptance of the UNESCO acceptance of the TST as an

intangible world heritage.

4.1.4 Cognition Level of Perception of the

TST Is Not High

According to the question, "Are the TST solar or

lunar calendars?" only 22% of the respondents were

correct, 6% of them were unclear, and 72% of them

confused it with the lunar calendar.

In fact, the TST are the solar calendar in the

traditional Chinese calendar. It is a knowledge system

and social practice formed by the Chinese to observe

the sun's yearly movement and to recognize the

changes in the seasons, climate, and phenology of the

year. The ancient Chinese divided the trajectory of the

sun's movement into 24 equal parts. Each equal part

is a "solar term," collectively referred to as " TST."

The lunar calendar in astronomy mainly refers to the

calendar arranged by the cycle of the moon around

the earth.

Figure 16: Percentage of respondents that believed the TST

were based on solar or lunar calendars

4.2 People’s Inheritance

4.2.1 Cognition Level of Current Situation

of the TST in UNESCO Is Moderate

Strong sense of inheritance is moderately high:

Although the TST have gradually moved away from

people's daily life, the target group still has a strong

sense of inheritance. According to the question,

“Should the Twenty-four Solar Terms be inherited?”

66% of the target group believed that the TST has a

huge impact on the lifestyle of Chinese people and the

terms should be passed on to the next generation.

However, 30% of the target group believed that the

TST has little impact on the modern lifestyle, yet they

also believed it should continue to be passed on. Only

4% believed that the loss of the TST does not greatly

impact modern lifestyle, indicating the sense of

cultural consciousness is quite weak. In the

occurrence of a strong sense of inheritance among the

target group is a huge contrast to the current situation.

Although the TST are getting farther away from a

modern lifestyle, the consciousness of inheritance is

still very strong. Most have a high potential in

recognizing and revitalizing the cultural value of the

TST and are also expecting the TST to be applied to

their lifestyle in a new format.

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485

Figure 17; Should the twenty-four solar terms be passed

down? Answer situation

4.2.2 Inheritance of Some TST Are

Promoted as National Festivals by

Government Policies

Two national Chinese festivals still practiced today

are the Qing Ming and Winter Solstice festivals. The

Qing Ming Festival (or the stepping grass festival) is

on the fifteenth day after the spring equinox. During

this festival, people go to their ancestors’ tombs to

worship and pay respect. As it has been important to

people’s way of life since ancient times, therefore the

government of China has officially promoted this

festival as a three-day national holiday. The Winter

Solstice Festival is held on December 21-23 of the

Gregorian calendar each year. The winter solstice is

the shortest day of the year, and from this day Yang

Qi which is the warm air slowly begins to rise, the

weather gradually warms up. The ancients regarded

the winter solstice as a lucky day, for which a winter

festival was performed to worship ancestors. Winter

Solstice Festival is not a national festival, yet there is

a Chinese folk saying that "winter is as big as the

year." Winter Solstice is also known as "small year."

As the winter solstice arrives the New Year is just

around the corner, so the ancients believed that the

importance of the winter solstice is no less than that

of the New Year. The traditional custom of offering

sacrifices to ancestors in the winter solstice still

continues in some coastal areas of southern China. In

some parts of northern China, it is customary to eat

dumplings every winter solstice. The celebrations of

winter solstice are widely varied in the different

regions of China. Unfortunately, many young people

today know little about the specific dates and features

of other solar terms.

Figure 18: The Qing Ming Festival is a national holiday in

which people return home to worship their ancestors.

Source from internet: Banbaowang (2019.

4.2.3 Inheritance of the TST Has Been

Lacking, Resulting in a Low Cultural

Consciousness Influenced by Modern

Society

Young people are growing up in the information age

of modern society. This socio-cultural circumstance

leaves the next generation lacking the sense of

closeness to the earth and nature. Without such a

sense, it would be difficult to inherit them. The sense

of connectedness to nature is one of many factors that

could educate and encourage people to understand the

cultural importance of the TST in the future. Existing

national promotion of cultural awareness does not

seem to have an effect on people's enthusiasm for

inheriting endangered cultures. The lack of good

inspiration in practicing traditional rituals and

cultural festival is one of the important factors that

make culture difficult to be sustained. Reduction of

social practices and fewer opportunities for cultural

learning are also a factor leading to the

marginalization of the TST in the modern social

context. Transformation of society and increasing

modern urbanization have made people gradually

move away from nature, which is the main reason for

the low awareness of TST today.

4.2.4 The TST Still Have Practical Value for

Our Life and Culture

Most people consider that the TST are significant to

the agricultural context in modern society. The TST

reflect accurately the periods of seasonal changes,

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which are then incorporated into farming proverbs to

be a guide for effectively farming practices. Many

people like the TST because of their important

astronomical insight. For example, the spring equinox

and the autumn equinox equally divide the year. The

shortest night is summer solstice and the longest night

is winter solstice. Many people enjoy the folk

customs and traditional cuisine of the TST. For

example, it is customary to eat spring cake for the

beginning of spring, noodles for the summer solstice,

dumplings for the winter solstice, as well as activities

such as flying kites at the Qingming festival. Even

Chinese traditional medicine’s philosophical method

of curing and healing follows period changes of the

solar terms. It can be said that the TST are a guide for

people to know the right times to merge their daily

life to the nature of seasonal changes.

Figure 19: The vernal equinox and the autumn equinox are

equally divided. The summer solstice and winter solstice

are illustrated in the shortest and longest nights of the year,

respectively

4.3 People's Expectation of TST

Cultural Inheritance

4.3.1 Children Are the New Force to Inherit

the TST

The survey shows that 84% of children are willing to

be guardians of the TST culture. The TST involve

solar, animal, plant, weather, temperature and

seasonal changes, which can help children better

understand and perceive nature and its time order of

seasonal changes. Children have the advantage of

absorbing information easily and a good memory. If

children have an opportunity to learn the TST from a

young age, they will consciously respect the time

rhythm of nature and contribute something

meaningful to humanity, the natural environment, and

society.

4.3.2 Most of Parents Are Willing to Study

the TST with Their Children

According to the survey, 54% of parents are willing

to participate in parent-child activities related to the

TST to help them develop a good awareness of

nature. However 32% of parents expressed their

unwillingness to join due to busy work schedules and

already having little time with their children. It is

worth noting the desire to learn the TST does not only

occur among the children, but also parents desire to

learn it together with their children. Even though the

knowledge of the TST is lacking in modern society,

it can be revitalized by supporting children and

parents to learn the TST side by side, which would

also cultivate the parent-child relationship.

Figure 20: Responses of Parents willing to participate in

educating their children on the TST.

4.3.3 Children Are the New Force to Inherit

the TST

According to the survey result, 42% of people believe

that education in schools is an important way to

inherit the TST. People have a high degree of trust in

educational institutions. The educational atmosphere

at schools is more advantageous for children to

successfully learn the TST. Also, 25% supported

education in families. In family life, parents are the

everyday teachers of children, and education in a

family is the foundation of life education. Parents can

pass on their knowledge of daily life to children. As

Revitalizing Value of Humanities in the Twenty-four Solar Terms through Visual Design, Liaoning Province, China

487

children grow, schools become the mainstay because

of its more comprehensive education. Education in

schools fulfils what is lacking in family education by

using the availability of the learning atmosphere and

educational resources. As an important institution of

education, schools can link to family education to

provide two learning tracks for children, thereby

providing opportunities for cultural practices in

connecting and improving life in modern society.

Figure 21: Survey participants’ opinion on who bears the

responsibility for TST education

5 CONCLUSIONS

The TST reflect clearly a relationship between

Chinese people and the laws of nature: respect,

conformity, cosmological knowledge, precious time

of seasonal changes, and daily life activities in

accordance with nature. Although it is an indisputable

fact that the role of the TST in people's daily life is

decreasing, it still has much cultural significance and

social functions in the modern society of China. In

order for the next generation to protect and inherit this

cultural value in a lively manner, it must be combined

effectively with people's lifestyle and able to maintain

its significance to the modern context. The function

of the TST system in agricultural guidance has faded

away due to rapid lifestyle changes in the modern

world. Although revitalizing the TST in a modern

context is a challenging task, it can be done;

beginning with assigning cultural value to activities

in people’s daily life in seasonal changes, food, and

health. The use of the educational institution as a tool

to promote the TST will be an effective way to

revitalize this intangible cultural heritage of China.

Figure 22: TST reflect the seasonal transition.

Figure 23: Folk activities in the TST

Revitalizing the TST of Chinese traditional

culture is a complicated and long process. In recent

years, the People’s Republic of China has

dynamically advocated the revival of traditional

culture. It seems the revitalization process might

begin well with the young generation who still have

the potential to learn and practice many almost-

forgotten Chinese pearls of wisdom. The TST are a

time guide for Chinese people to understand natural

phenomena: the relationship between the sun,

animals, plants, weather, temperature, and

agriculture. It is suitable for children to understand

and learn these concepts，Children can discover

nature and experience folk customs. Because the TST

are the philosophical and cultural basis for Chinese

people to carry out folk activities, the effective

inheritance of TST will affect children's

understanding of nature and traditional Chinese

culture in a deep way. This understanding influences

the next generation’s worldview and outlook on life

in modern society. Children's contact with and

knowledge of the TST will inevitably lead many

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parents study together, which will have a direct and

positive effect on the revival and inheritance of the

TST. The TST will bring people closer to nature and

their heritage. Children are China's future and hope.

They are the new force to revive and continue

Chinese culture and revitalize the Twenty-four Solar

Terms.

REFERENCES

(The author translates Chinese journal,

newspaper articles to English）

Dong Xue-yu & Xiao Ke-zhi (eds.), 2012. Twenty-four

Solar Terms. Beijing: China Agriculture Press. (in

Chinese)

Wang Xiu-zhu, 2016, Twenty-four Solar Terms in China.

Beijing: Meteorological Press.

Liu Yi, 2017. Newspaper: “Twenty-four solar terms should

be inherited and developed.” People's Daily (2017-02-

04, 009 Edition). (in Chinese)

Fang Hong, 2016. Newspaper: “Twenty-four solar terms

contain Chinese medicine wisdom..” Health report

(2016-12-07, 005 Edition). (in Chinese)

Zhong Xin & Mao Xiao-ya, 2016. Newspaper: “Time

wisdom to let people share the farming civilization.”

Farmer Daily (2016-12-19, 001 Edition). (in Chinese)

Shuntian's Time-honourable Knowledge System—Talking

from the Issuance of Twenty-Four Seasons Stamps”

China Philatelic News (2015-01-30, 005 Edition). (in

Chinese)

Wang Jia-hua, 2017. "Nodal and life oriented: as the

twenty-four solar terms of the folk custom system."

Cultural Heritage (2): 15-21. (in Chinese)

Zhang Bo, 2017. “Crisis, turnaround and vitality: twenty-

four solar terms protection and two important issues

that need to be solved.” Cultural Heritage (2): 22-30.

(in Chinese)

Liu Xiaofeng,2017.” The history of the twenty-four solar

terms system and its modern heritage” Cultural

Heritage (2): 12-14. (in Chinese)

Liu Zhongdi,2017. ”The Intangible Cultural Heritage of

Mankind—The Research Project of Twenty-Four solar

terms” Cultural Heritage (2): 12-14. (in Chinese)

Xiao Fang,2015.” Twenty-four solar terms and folk

customs” Decoration (4): 1-7 (in Chinese)

Internet

Banbaowang 2019.

https://www.banbaowang.com/uploads/170204/33-

1F2041F034E7.jpg.

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