Summer Solstice 夏至

What it marks

The longest day. Yang energy peaks — and by the logic that runs through the whole almanac, a peak is also a turning point. From here the light shortens.

Traditionally favours

• celebration
• acknowledging a high point
• beginning to consolidate

Treated as a hinge rather than a plateau. Traditional advice is to bank gains rather than push for more.

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.