24 Solar Terms (Tiết Khí) in 2027: Dates and Meanings

The 24 solar terms (Vietnamese tiết khí) divide the year into 24 parts according to the sun’s position along its yearly path (the ecliptic). Every 15 degrees of the sun’s movement starts a new term, so each lasts about 15 days. Because they follow the sun, the solar terms land on nearly the same solar date every year. They are the “solar” half of the Vietnamese lunisolar calendar.

The table of start dates for every term in 2027 is further down.

Why a lunar calendar needs solar terms

Lunar months follow the moon. Twelve of them add up to about 354 days, roughly 11 days short of a seasonal year. Without a correction, Tết would slowly drift into summer. The solar terms:

• Mark the seasons for farming: when to sow, when to harvest.
• Decide the leap month: in a lunar year with 13 months, the first month that contains no “major term” (the even-numbered terms such as Vũ thủy, Xuân phân, Cốc vũ) becomes the leap month. By this rule 2025 had a leap 6th month and 2028 has a leap 5th month.
• Anchor the year: the 11th lunar month always contains the winter solstice (Đông chí).

The same rules, applied in different time zones, are why the Vietnamese and Chinese calendars sometimes disagree: see Vietnamese vs Chinese lunar calendar.

The 24 terms and what they mean

Six per season. The names describe the climate of the calendar’s original region in northern China, so they don’t always match the weather in Vietnam, especially in the south, or where you live.

Spring

1. Lập xuân (Start of Spring)
2. Vũ thủy (Rain Water)
3. Kinh trập (Awakening of Insects)
4. Xuân phân (Spring Equinox): day and night roughly equal
5. Thanh minh (Clear and Bright): a time when many families visit and tidy ancestors’ graves
6. Cốc vũ (Grain Rain)

Summer

7. Lập hạ (Start of Summer)
8. Tiểu mãn (Grain Buds): grain begins to fill
9. Mang chủng (Grain in Ear): sowing time for grain crops
10. Hạ chí (Summer Solstice): longest day of the year
11. Tiểu thử (Minor Heat)
12. Đại thử (Major Heat)

Autumn

13. Lập thu (Start of Autumn)
14. Xử thử (End of Heat)
15. Bạch lộ (White Dew)
16. Thu phân (Autumn Equinox): day and night roughly equal
17. Hàn lộ (Cold Dew)
18. Sương giáng (Frost’s Descent)

Winter

19. Lập đông (Start of Winter)
20. Tiểu tuyết (Minor Snow)
21. Đại tuyết (Major Snow)
22. Đông chí (Winter Solstice): longest night of the year
23. Tiểu hàn (Minor Cold)
24. Đại hàn (Major Cold)

The day and night lengths refer to the Northern Hemisphere.

Start dates of the 24 solar terms in 2027

Computed for Vietnam time (UTC+7) with the lunar calendar library used on lichamviet.com. The lunar column gives the day and month in the Vietnamese lunar calendar.

Solar term	Starts	Lunar date
Tiểu hàn (Minor Cold)	Tue 5 Jan 2027	28/11, Bính Ngọ
Đại hàn (Major Cold)	Wed 20 Jan 2027	13/12, Bính Ngọ
Lập xuân (Start of Spring)	Thu 4 Feb 2027	28/12, Bính Ngọ
Vũ thủy (Rain Water)	Fri 19 Feb 2027	14/1, Đinh Mùi
Kinh trập (Awakening of Insects)	Sat 6 Mar 2027	29/1
Xuân phân (Spring Equinox)	Sun 21 Mar 2027	14/2
Thanh minh (Clear and Bright)	Mon 5 Apr 2027	29/2
Cốc vũ (Grain Rain)	Tue 20 Apr 2027	14/3
Lập hạ (Start of Summer)	Thu 6 May 2027	1/4
Tiểu mãn (Grain Buds)	Fri 21 May 2027	16/4
Mang chủng (Grain in Ear)	Sun 6 Jun 2027	2/5
Hạ chí (Summer Solstice)	Mon 21 Jun 2027	17/5
Tiểu thử (Minor Heat)	Wed 7 Jul 2027	4/6
Đại thử (Major Heat)	Fri 23 Jul 2027	20/6
Lập thu (Start of Autumn)	Sun 8 Aug 2027	7/7
Xử thử (End of Heat)	Mon 23 Aug 2027	22/7
Bạch lộ (White Dew)	Wed 8 Sep 2027	8/8
Thu phân (Autumn Equinox)	Thu 23 Sep 2027	23/8
Hàn lộ (Cold Dew)	Fri 8 Oct 2027	9/9
Sương giáng (Frost’s Descent)	Sat 23 Oct 2027	24/9
Lập đông (Start of Winter)	Sun 7 Nov 2027	10/10
Tiểu tuyết (Minor Snow)	Mon 22 Nov 2027	25/10
Đại tuyết (Major Snow)	Tue 7 Dec 2027	10/11
Đông chí (Winter Solstice)	Wed 22 Dec 2027	25/11

Points worth noting:

• Lập xuân comes before Tết: 4 February 2027 is still the 28th day of the 12th month of Bính Ngọ. Tết Đinh Mùi is on 6 February 2027.
• Thanh minh starts on 5 April 2027. The Cold Food festival (Tết Hàn Thực, 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month) falls on 9 April 2027.
• 2027 has no leap month.

For the rest of 2026: Hàn lộ started on 8 October, Sương giáng starts on 23 October, Lập đông on 7 November, Tiểu tuyết on 22 November, Đại tuyết on 7 December and Đông chí on 22 December 2026.

If you live outside Vietnam

A solar term begins at a precise moment, and the table gives the date of that moment in Vietnam. Elsewhere the local date can differ. In North America, for example, a term that begins in the early morning in Vietnam begins on the previous evening local time. For family customs tied to Vietnam, such as Thanh minh grave visits, the Vietnam date is usually what relatives at home go by.

Where to see solar terms

• The monthly lunar calendar pages on lichamviet.com list the solar terms in each month, for example October 2026, February 2027 and April 2027 (all in Vietnamese).
• On Android, Lịch Âm Việt has a Tiết khí widget (2x2) that shows the current term on a seasonal photo and the days until the next one, and the Lịch vạn niên (almanac) widgets include a solar term line. See the Android guide. The app’s main screens and the other platforms don’t show solar terms yet.

FAQ

Are solar terms part of the lunar or the solar calendar?

They follow the sun, so their start dates are almost fixed on the solar calendar, moving by about a day between years. On the lunar calendar they fall on different dates every year.

When is Lập xuân (Start of Spring) in 2027?

4 February 2027, which is the 28th day of the 12th lunar month of Bính Ngọ, two days before Tết Đinh Mùi on 6 February 2027.

When does Thanh minh (Clear and Bright) start in 2027?

5 April 2027, Vietnam time.

When is the winter solstice (Đông chí) in 2026?

22 December 2026, Vietnam time.

Do the dates change if I live in another time zone?

They can. The table uses Vietnam time (UTC+7). In the Americas, a term that starts in the early hours in Vietnam may start on the previous local date.