Seminar Course: Introduction to the Twenty-Four Solar Terms
This seminar course offers a year-long introduction to the Twenty-Four Solar Terms (二十四节气), a traditional Chinese system for understanding seasonal change based on precise astronomical observation. The course is organized into biweekly modules. Each module focuses on one solar term and examines its historical origins, cosmological foundations, and cultural significance.
Access is open to everyone. Your participation and contribution are encouraged. For more information about the course, please check out the syllabus.
Announcement
Spring Film Recommendations
As spring begins, I would like to invite participants in this project of intangible cultural heritage of the 24 Solar Terms to experience the changing of the seasons through observations, creations and the arts. Beyond customs and calendar traditions, the solar terms offer a way of feeling time: through light, atmosphere, labour, memory, longing, renewal, and loss.
Film can offer a particularly rich way into this experience. Through cinema, participants may encounter spring from many different angles — as awakening, desire, rural labour, remembrance, emotional renewal, and the quiet passing of time. Alongside music, poetry, and literature, these films offer another way into the rhythms of the seasons and the textures of Chinese culture.
Spring in a Small Town《小城之春》
Spring Silkworms《春蚕》
The Spring River Flows East《一江春水向东流》
In the Mood for Love《花样年华》
Three Times《最好的时光》
Street Angel《马路天使》