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| 24 Seasons |
Lichun (the Start of Spring)
Boathouses by the Jiulong River , Zhangzhou
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Yushui (the Rain Water) Homes under emplacement, Macao |
Jingzhe (the Awakening of Insects)
Phone-booth under the Sihui Bridge , Beijing |
Chunfen (the Vernal Equinox)
Rear wall of the Yonghegong Temple , Beijing
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Qingming (the Clear and Bright)
Zhuangyuan Alley Community, Mingsheng Road , Hangzhou
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Guyu (the Grain Rains)
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Lixia (the Start of Summer)
Lugou Bridge, Beijing
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Xiaoman (the Grain Full)
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Mangzhong (the Grain in Ear)
¡°Delta¡±, Beijing University , Beijing
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Xiazhi (the Summer Solstice)
798 Factory, Beijing
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Xiaoshu (the Minor Heat)
Mountain in the rear of the Jietai Temple , Beijing
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Dashu (the Major Heat)
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Liqiu (the Start of Autumn)
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Chushu (the End of Heat)
Yu Qian's tomb, Hangzhou
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Bailu (the White Dew)
Side of Jingshun Road , Beijing
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Qiufen (the Autumnal Equinox)
Yushuxin Village , Qinghai
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Hanlu (the Cold Dew)
Mount Wu , Hangzhou
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Shuangjiang (the Descent of Frost)
Fuyang Village , Zhejiang
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Lidong (the Start of Winter)
Zhongshanzhong Road , Hangzhou
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Xiaoxue (the Minor Snow)
Dormitory of the Electronic Equipment Factory, Shenyang
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Daxue (the Major Snow)
Weiming Lake , Beijing University , Beijing
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Dongzhi (the Winter Solstice)
Dartington , England
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Xiaohan (the Minor Cold)
An old factory at Zhabei, Shanghai
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Dahan (the Major Cold)
An old factory at Zhabei, Shanghai
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Twenty-Four Seasons : Time and Place
In Chinese the twenty-four markers of the seasons are known as jieqi . The traditional Chinese calendar is a lunisolar one. Although the twenty-four seasonal markers are based on the solar calendar, the months are lunar months. Translated into the the standard astronomical convention of ecliptic longitude, chunfen (the Vernal Equinox) is positioned at zero degrees (vernal equinox), and the next marker qingming (the Clear and Bright) at fifteen degrees. Thus, the subsequent jieqis are separated by the sun's entry into a sign of the tropical zodiac (fifteen degrees). This system is almost identical with the Gregorian calendar. For example, dongzhi (the Winter Solstice) always falls around the twenty-second day in December. This calendar was first utilized four thousand years ago during the Xia dynasty (ca. 2205 B.C. ¨C 1766 B.C.), so it is also called the Xia calendar ( xiali ).
Starting from the summer of 2005, on the day of each jieqi , I wrote the names of the twenty-four terms at different locations. The arrangement and content of this series of photographs are pre-determined by the sequence of the twenty-four seasonal markers. The location changes according to my presence.
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