The twenty-four solar terms divide the ecliptic into equal arcs of fifteen degrees, and this one falls at 255 degrees of the sun's apparent longitude. It is a sectional term, a jie, one of the twelve that fall in the odd positions of the twenty-four and open the twelve solar months. The sectional terms and the major terms alternate strictly around the year, so a jie is always followed by a zhong fifteen degrees later.
The system travelled with the Chinese calendar. Japan, Korea and Vietnam all adopted the twenty-four terms and kept their own readings of the same names, and the terms remain in use in each. In 2016 the twenty-four solar terms were inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, on the ground that they remain a living framework for agricultural and everyday practice rather than an obsolete scheme.
Daxue, major snow, is the second of the two snow terms and the last sectional term before the winter solstice. The system's regularity is easiest to see in the winter half of the year, where three consecutive pairs run minor and major snow, minor and major cold, with the solstice between them, giving the coldest part of the year the densest naming in the whole list.