24 Solar Terms
A personal project in 2014. I designed and illustrated animals for the traditional East Asian 24 solar terms.
For each term, I merged the featured vegetable or fruit, or the special environmetal changes of that weather into the animal.
Not all the terms has a related animal, and usually several terms share the same vegetables. I tried to select and arrange them for better design and visual diversity.
Spring
立春 LiChun (Start of Spring) | Lake ice starting to melt, fishes approach to the surface.
雨水 YuShui (Rain Water) | Rains a lot, Otters hunts fish.
驚蟄 JingZhe (Awakening of Insects) | Thunderstorms wake up the hibernating insects.
春分 ChunFen (Vernal Equinox) | Swallows making thier northward migration, day time is as long as night time.
清明 QingMing (Clear and Bright) | The paulownia begins to bloom, Rainbows begin to appear.
雨水 YuShui (Rain Water) | Rains a lot, Otters hunts fish.
驚蟄 JingZhe (Awakening of Insects) | Thunderstorms wake up the hibernating insects.
春分 ChunFen (Vernal Equinox) | Swallows making thier northward migration, day time is as long as night time.
清明 QingMing (Clear and Bright) | The paulownia begins to bloom, Rainbows begin to appear.
穀雨 GuYu (Grain Rain) | Time to plant ginger, Peony blooms.
Summer
立夏 Lixia (Start of Summer) | Asparagus; peach.
小滿 XiaoMan (Grain Full) | Grain rice gradually turn plump; litchi.
芒種 MangZhong (Grain in Ear) | Grains such as barley or wheat covered with spikes.
夏至 XiaZhi (Summer Solstice) | Summer's extreme, longest day time; watermelon.
小暑 XiaoShu (Minor Heat) | The second hottest period; papaya.
大暑 DaShu (Major Heat) | The hottest period in the year; firefly.
Autumn
立秋 LiQiu (Start of Autumn) | Longan.
處暑 ChuShu (Limit of Heat) | Bamboo shoot.
白露 BaiLu (White Dew) | Getting cool, dew appears on leaves in the early morning; pitaya, taro.
秋分 QiuFen (Autumnal Equinox) | Day time is as long as night time; green onion, pear.
寒露 HanLu (Cold Dew) | The geese finished their migration in summer; lotus root.
霜降 ShuangJiang (Frost Descent) | Persimmon, yam.
Winter
立冬 LiDong (Start of Winter) | Sugar-apples.
小雪 XiaoXue (Minor Snow) | Grape, Chinese cabbage.
大雪 DaXue (Major Snow) | Cabbage, kumquat.
冬至 DongZhi (Winter Solstice) | Winter's extreme, longest night time. Deer shed their antlers. Eating pink and white tangyuan in the family reunion.
小寒 XiaoHan (Minor Cold) | Eurasian magpie start to feel the warm and build the nest; crown daisy.
大寒 DaHan (Major Cold) | Falcon hunting, ice layer on water become the thickest in the year; radish.
