Dongzhi (solar term)
The traditional Chinese calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. Dōngzhì, Tōji, Dongji, Tunji (in Okinawan), or Đông chí (in Vietnamese) is the 22nd solar term, and marks the winter solstice. The term begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 270° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 285°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around 21 December (22 December East Asia time) and ends around 5 January.
| Dongzhi | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 冬至 | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | winter's extreme (i.e. winter solstice) | ||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | đông chí | ||||||||||||||
| Chữ Hán | 冬至 | ||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 동지 | ||||||||||||||
| Hanja | 冬至 | ||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 冬至 | ||||||||||||||
| Hiragana | とうじ | ||||||||||||||
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In common usage, Dongzhi more often refers to the particular day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 270°.
Along with equinoxes, solstices (traditional Chinese: 至點; simplified Chinese: 至日; "extreme day") mark the middle of Traditional Chinese calendar seasons. Thus, in "冬至", the Chinese character "至" means "extreme", which implies "solstices", and therefore the term for the winter solstice directly signifies the summit of winter, as "midwinter" is used in English.