Photo Series Featuring 24 Solar Terms Amazes Netizens

2016/12/02

Chen Xiaoli

A photo series involving 24 solar terms of the Chinese calendar was widely shared on social media in recent days.

It first caught public attention back in early 2012. Many said the photos were breathtakingly beautiful and also seemed to tell stories.

They became popular again after UNESCO inscribed China's "24 Solar Terms" on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on November 30.

Zhou Jie, or better known for her online name Qing Jian, is the woman behind all these stunning photos.

Zhou, born in Shanghai in the 1980s, is a doctor with the Gastroenterology Department at Shanghai Ruijin Hospital.

She used to travel around the country taking photos.

At the end of 2011, she was attracted by a Japanese website about the 24 solar terms and decided to make a Chinese version.

"I’d like to do a version of my own, featuring cultural richness in pure Chinese-style photos," Zhou said. "The origin of solar terms well represents traditional Chinese culture."

Zhou picked 24 landscape photos from the pictures she took over the past two years and added seals of the font from the Kangxi Dictionary to complete the photo series "24 Solar Terms."

She then uploaded the series to Douban, a social network service website popular among Chinese art lovers, which soon became a sensation on the Internet and earned her big fame.

The 24 solar terms, divided based on the position of the sun, were used by ancient Chinese to guide their farming activities.

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Photo Series Featuring 24 Solar Terms Amazes Netizens

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