Dongzhi (solar term)

|l=winter's extreme
(i.e. winter solstice) |p=dōngzhì |bpmf=ㄉㄨㄙ ㄓㄧˋ |j=dung¹ zi³ |y=dūng ji |kanji= |hiragana=とうじ |romaji=tōji |hanja= |hangul=동지 |rr=dongji |qn = đông chí |chuhan = 冬至

|ryutitle = 朝衣 |ryukanji = 朝衣 |ryukana = チョージン |ryuromaji = Chōjin }}

The traditional Chinese calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. ''Dōngzhì'', ''Tōji'', ''Dongji'', ''Tunji'' (in Okinawan), or ''Đông chí'' (in Vietnamese) is the 22nd solar term, and marks the winter solstice. The term begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 270° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 285°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around 21 December (22 December East Asia time) and ends around 5 January.

In common usage, Dongzhi more often refers to the particular day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 270°.

Along with equinoxes, solstices () mark the ''middle'' of Traditional Chinese calendar seasons. Thus, in "", the Chinese character "至" means "extreme", which implies "solstices", and therefore the term for the ''winter solstice'' directly signifies the summit of winter, as "midwinter" is used in English. Provided by Wikipedia