From End to Beginning: The Way of Culmination and Return in the Great Cold Solar Term
This article offers a deep reading of Great Cold (Dahan), the final of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, drawing on pre-Qin Confucian and Daoist philosophy, etymological analysis, and astronomical and phenological traditions. It reveals the dialectic of extreme cold and returning spring, the cyclic principle that every ending harbors a new beginning, and illuminates the late-winter rites of the Grand Nuo exorcism and the clay ox ceremony—inviting the reader into the ancients' cosmic wisdom of 'tracing origins by returning to endings' and the eternal circle of ceaseless renewal.
Chapter Four: "When Things End, They Begin Again"--The Circle's Closure Between Great Cold and Start of Spring
I. The Circularity of Heaven's Course: Starting from the Gu Hexagram's Commentary on the Judgment
We have repeatedly touched upon the four words "when things end, they begin again" (zhong ze you shi). Now is the time to dedicate an entire chapter to them--for they are not only the core of Great Cold, but the soul of the entire Twenty-Four Solar Terms system, and one of the most fundamental propositions of the pre-Qin cosmological view. As the last of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, Great Cold's deepest significance lies precisely in its achievement--in the posture of "ending"--of the circle's closure leading to "beginning."
"When things end, they begin again" appears in the Commentary on the Judgment (Tuan Zhuan) of the Gu hexagram in the Zhouyi: "Three days before jia, three days after jia; when things end, they begin again--such is the course of Heaven."
The Gu hexagram (Sun below, Gen above; Wind below, Mountain above) signifies "remedying disorder," "renovating what has been corrupted"--"gu" originally refers to worms breeding in a vessel gone bad, extended to mean accumulated ills long in need of rectification. The Tuan Zhuan, in explaining the Gu hexagram, utters this earth-shattering statement: "When things end, they begin again--such is the course of Heaven." Its meaning: the ending of one affair is precisely the beginning of another; when old corruption (gu) reaches its terminus, that is precisely the starting point of renovation and renewal--and this motion of "ending to begin again" is "the course of Heaven" (tian xing), the fundamental mode of Heaven's operation.
Note the resting point, "the course of Heaven." The Tuan Zhuan does not say "when things end, they begin again" is merely a pattern of human affairs, but calls it "the course of Heaven"--the operating principle of Heaven itself. The rising and setting of sun and moon, the succession of the four seasons, the alternation of cold and heat--not one of them fails to manifest "when things end, they begin again." The sun sets each day (ending) and rises again the next (beginning); winter reaches its end (ending) and spring follows hard upon (beginning). This circulation is not accidental, not man-made, but "the course of Heaven"--it is the natural, intrinsic, eternal way of Heaven.
Great Cold is the most direct, most critical embodiment of "when things end, they begin again" within the great cycle of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms. It is the "ending" of the year's vital breath--cold at its extreme, yin at its extreme, storage at its extreme; and its "ending" is immediately followed by the "beginning" of Start of Spring--the birth of spring, the growth of yang, the commencement of emergence. At the juncture of Great Cold and Start of Spring, "ending" and "beginning" achieve seamless conjunction, the year's circle closes, and the new year's circle opens. Endpoint is starting point; closure is opening--such is the mystery of "the course of Heaven."
II. Extreme Cold and Returning Spring: The Critical Threshold of Yin-Yang Transformation
Why is "cold's extreme" precisely "spring's beginning"$36 Why can "ending" precisely "give rise to beginning"$37 Behind this lies the profound law of yin-yang waxing and waning.
We saw in the earlier chapter on astronomy a key fact: although Great Cold is the coldest period, the Winter Solstice (the day of weakest yang-qi) passed long ago, the sun long since reversed its course, and yang-qi in the astronomical sense has been recovering for nearly a month. This means that within Great Cold's "extreme of yin-cold," yang-qi has actually long since been quietly germinating and secretly growing.
This is precisely the fundamental law revealed by the Zhouyi: when yin reaches its extreme, yang is born; when yang reaches its extreme, yin is born. When yin-qi accumulates to its utmost (Great Cold), it simply cannot grow any further--having nowhere more to increase, it can only turn toward its opposite, and yang-qi begins to gain the upper hand. This is not to say yang-qi "suddenly" appears at the moment of Great Cold, but that yang-qi's germination began at the Winter Solstice (the return of one yang) and has accumulated considerable strength by Great Cold, needing only to breach the final barrier of yin-cold before breaking through at Start of Spring to declare the arrival of spring.
The Most High (Laozi) declares in the Daodejing: "Reversal is the movement of the Way" (fan zhe dao zhi dong). The passage from Great Cold to Start of Spring is the most magnificent demonstration of "reversal is the movement of the Way": when cold reaches its extreme, it "reverses" toward warmth; when yin reaches its extreme, it "reverses" toward yang; when storage reaches its extreme, it "reverses" toward emergence. This "reversal" is not regression, not destruction, but the Way's self-renewal, self-circulation. Extreme cold and returning spring--this is the great "reversal" that the Way accomplishes at year's end.
Here is an image of great beauty, worthy of careful contemplation. At Great Cold's coldest moment--ice thick to the core, dripping water frozen solid, heaven and earth in total austerity--who would imagine that beneath the frozen ground, yang-qi is quietly stirring, the roots of trees and grasses are gathering the strength to break through the soil, the vitality of all things is gestating in the deepest yin the most explosive burst of yang$38 This realm of "seeing life's potential at the very point of despair, finding the will to live within utter stillness" is the most profound revelation Great Cold offers us. Beneath the surface austerity lies the essential truth: life renews itself without ceasing.
III. After the Darkest Hour, the Dawn: The Way of Heaven Between Two Hexagrams
"When things reach their extreme they must reverse" and "after the darkest hour comes the dawn" (pi ji tai lai)--these two idioms we still use in daily life, little knowing they originate in the profound recognition of "extreme points" such as Great Cold, deriving directly from the hexagram images of the Zhouyi.
"Pi" (Stagnation; Kun below, Qian above) and "Tai" (Peace; Qian below, Kun above) are a pair of contrary hexagrams in the Zhouyi. In the Pi hexagram, heaven is above and earth below--seemingly each in its proper place, yet heaven's vital breath rises and earth's descends, the two failing to interact, hence the image of "blockage and impasse," symbolizing isolation, stagnation, and decline. The Tai hexagram has earth above and heaven below--seemingly "inverted," yet the rising tendency of heaven's breath and the descending tendency of earth's meet and mingle in the center, the two breaths interacting in free communication, hence the image of "openness and flourishing," symbolizing harmony, growth, and prosperity.
In the system of the twelve "waxing and waning hexagrams" (xiaoxi gua), the Tai hexagram corresponds precisely to the first month (Yin month)--the month of Start of Spring! And the twelfth month (Chou month) where Great Cold falls corresponds to the Lin (Approach) hexagram (which we will examine in detail in the next chapter). From Great Cold's Lin hexagram to Start of Spring's Tai hexagram, yang-qi grows from "two yang" to "three yang," and heaven and earth's interaction progresses from initial contact to full, free communication. The auspicious phrase "three yang usher in peace" (san yang kai tai) refers precisely to the Tai hexagram's three yang lines at Start of Spring--and of those "three yang," the first two had already been accumulated and secured within the Lin hexagram of Great Cold!
"After stagnation comes peace" (pi ji tai lai) literally means: when blockage (pi) reaches its extreme, openness (tai) will arrive. In the cycle of the solar terms, the more precise image is: Great Cold's utmost yin concealment (though not the Pi hexagram itself, it shares the same breath of winter's blockage), when accumulated to the extreme, gives rise to Start of Spring's Tai hexagram--three yang ushering in peace, heaven and earth in free communication, all things reviving. The year-end's blockage and austerity are the prelude to the coming spring's openness and prosperity. Without winter's "closure" at its extreme, there would be no spring's "openness" in its grandeur.
This hexagram transition tells us: what seems an "impasse" is often the very place where "transformation" is gestating. Stagnation at its extreme inevitably gives way to peace; cold at its extreme inevitably gives way to spring's return. This is not blind optimism but a conviction grounded in the deepest insight into the laws of Heaven's cycling. Great Cold is this great transition's critical point--it is the extreme of "stagnation," and therefore the eve of "peace."
IV. The Circle of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms: Looking Back from Great Cold to Start of Spring
Let us now stand at Great Cold's position as the final term and look back over the entire cycle of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, connecting this essay with the Start of Spring essay at the series' beginning and with our detailed treatment of Start of Summer.
The Twenty-Four Solar Terms, beginning with Start of Spring: Start of Spring--Rain Water--Awakening of Insects--Spring Equinox--Clear and Bright--Grain Rain (spring's six terms, governing "birth"); Start of Summer--Grain Full--Grain in Ear--Summer Solstice--Minor Heat--Great Heat (summer's six terms, governing "growth"); Start of Autumn--End of Heat--White Dew--Autumn Equinox--Cold Dew--Frost Descent (autumn's six terms, governing "harvest"); Start of Winter--Minor Snow--Great Snow--Winter Solstice--Minor Cold--Great Cold (winter's six terms, governing "storage"). From Start of Spring's "birth" to Start of Summer's "growth" to Start of Autumn's "harvest" to Great Cold's culmination of winter's "storage"--birth, growth, harvest, storage form a complete life cycle.
And Great Cold, as this cycle's final link, has the mission of "storage"--gathering the year's vitality into the deepest reaches of yin, storing it tight and full, allowing not the slightest leakage. But this "storage" is by no means aimed at "extinction"; it is precisely aimed at "birth"--having stored next year's seeds, having accumulated next spring's vital energy, when Great Cold concludes, Start of Spring follows immediately, and a new round of "birth--growth--harvest--storage" begins afresh.
This is the circle of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms: it has no true starting point, nor any true endpoint. We say it "begins with Start of Spring and ends with Great Cold" merely for convenience of narration; in truth, Start of Spring's "beginning" connects directly to Great Cold's "ending," and Great Cold's "ending" gestates Start of Spring's "beginning." It is a circle whose head meets its tail, without beginning or end, revolving without cease. On this circle, every solar term is both the "fruit" of the one before it and the "cause" of the one after; and the juncture of Great Cold and Start of Spring is the sacred seam where this circle closes and opens anew.
In our Start of Spring essay, we marveled at that first ray of yang as all things awakened from slumber; now, at Great Cold's conclusion, we finally understand: that first ray of yang was quietly gestated, quietly guarded, and then solemnly entrusted to Start of Spring by Great Cold in the deepest depths of yin. Start of Spring's "birth" originates in Great Cold's "storage"; Great Cold's "storage" fulfills Start of Spring's "birth." Head meets tail, life renews without ceasing--this is the Twenty-Four Solar Terms; this is the Way of Heaven.
V. "Tracing Origins, Returning to Endings": Understanding the Entire Cycle at the Endpoint
The Zhouyi, Xici Shang (Commentary on the Appended Phrases, Part I), states: "Tracing origins and returning to endings, therefore one understands the account of death and life" (yuan shi fan zhong, gu zhi si sheng zhi shuo).
This statement is the best guide for understanding the entire cycle from Great Cold's vantage point as "endpoint." "Tracing origins" (yuan shi)--investigating the beginning. "Returning to endings" (fan zhong)--coming back to the conclusion. One "traces," one "returns," linking starting point and endpoint into a whole that can be traversed in both directions. Understanding that starting point and endpoint are fundamentally one (ending giving rise to beginning, tracing origins by returning to endings) is to understand "the account of death and life"--to understand why death is not absolute termination and birth is not creation from nothing; why winter is not eternal stillness and spring is not a miracle out of nothingness.
Standing at Great Cold, we "return to endings"--we arrive at the year's terminus. And precisely at this terminus, we are able to "trace origins"--we perceive the gestation of the next year's starting point. Terminus and starting point become one here, and "the account of death and life" becomes luminously clear: the year's vital breath has not "died" at Great Cold; it has merely been stored, gone into latency, undergone transformation, and will be "reborn" at Start of Spring. What is called death is merely another form of preparation for life; what is called ending is merely the threshold of another beginning.
This is the deepest wisdom that Great Cold, as the last of the solar terms, can bestow upon us. It allows us, at the "endpoint," to see the full panorama of the "cycle"; at the coldest, darkest, most silent extreme, to touch the pulse of the Way of Heaven's "ceaseless renewal of life." Tracing origins, returning to endings; when things end, they begin again--Great Cold is the most solemn demonstration of this great law within the span of a single year.