Major Heat: The Phenological Poetry of Jul 22–24 and the Beauty of the Season

Major Heat: The Phenological Poetry of Jul 22–24 and the Beauty of the Season

Season Guide

Major Heat is the peak of heat, yet it also hides the foreshadowing that things at their extreme must reverse — when heat reaches its height, it is about to retreat.

The Three Pentads of Phenology

The ancients divided each solar term into three pentads of five days each, recording the subtle changes of heaven and earth through plants, insects, and birds:

The Poetry of the Season

At Major Heat, poets can always render the season’s subtlety with touching grace. “Old willows ring with cicadas’ clamor; fireflies drift through the desolate courtyard.” One line captures the light and mood of this moment.

“Old willows ring with cicadas’ clamor; fireflies drift through the desolate courtyard.”

— Great Heat on the Night of the 18th Day of the Sixth Month · Sima Guang

Between Things and Self

As we observe along Major Heat’s three pentads, we find that the seasons are never abstract numbers, but living events we can touch and feel — peach blossoms, thunder, the breaking of ice.

Keywords: Major Heat · solar term · three pentads · peak of heat · phenology · season beauty