The Twenty-Four Solar Terms — a calendrical system rooted in the Zhou dynasty and codified through centuries of agrarian observation — were inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2016, which directly prompted the People's Bank of China to commission this commemorative series. Qingming, the specific term honored here, falls around April 5th and marks both the onset of planting season and the traditional grave-sweeping festival, two observances so intertwined in Chinese life that separating their agricultural and funerary origins is essentially impossible.
The Twenty-Four Solar Terms — a calendrical system rooted in the Zhou dynasty and codified through centuries of agrarian observation — were inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2016, which directly prompted the People's Bank of China to commission this commemorative series. Qingming, the specific term honored here, falls around April 5th and marks both the onset of planting season and the traditional grave-sweeping festival, two observances so intertwined in Chinese life that separating their agricultural and funerary origins is essentially impossible.