Summer · 60° solar longitude
Grain Buds 小滿
xiǎo mǎn
Dates (GMT+8)
- 2026
- 2027
Solar terms are astronomical, not lunar, so the date shifts by at most a day between years.
What it marks
The grain is full but not yet ripe — "small fullness". A term about the state just before completion, which the tradition treats as its own kind of virtue: full, but not overflowing.
Traditionally favours
- patience
- steady work
- saving
- not over-reaching
Read as a caution against grabbing at a result that is nearly, but not quite, ready.
These are the tradition’s tendencies, not guarantees — and a solar term describes a stretch of weeks, so for a specific day check today’s almanac, which reads the day’s own 宜 and 忌.