Qingming

This article is about the solar term. For the festival, see Qingming Festival.

Solar term
Longitude	Term	Calendar
Spring
315°	Lichun	4 – 5 February
330°	Yushui	18–19 February
345°	Jingzhe	5 – 6 March
0°	Chunfen	20–21 March
15°	Qingming	4 – 5 April
30°	Guyu	20–21 April
Summer
45°	Lixia	5 – 6 May
60°	Xiaoman	21–22 May
75°	Mangzhong	5 – 6 June
90°	Xiazhi	21–22 June
105°	Xiaoshu	7 – 8 July
120°	Dashu	22–23 July
Autumn
135°	Liqiu	7 – 8 August
150°	Chushu	23–24 August
165°	Bailu	7 – 8 September
180°	Qiufen	23–24 September
195°	Hanlu	8 – 9 October
210°	Shuangjiang	23–24 October
Winter
225°	Lidong	7 – 8 November
240°	Xiaoxue	22–23 November
255°	Daxue	7 – 8 December
270°	Dongzhi	21–22 December
285°	Xiaohan	5 – 6 January
300°	Dahan	20–21 January

Qīngmíng (pīnyīn) or Chīngmíng (MPS II), Seimei (rōmaji), or Cheongmyeong (romaja) (Chinese and Japanese: 清明; Korean: 청명; Vietnamese: Thanh minh; literally: "clear and bright") is the name of the 5th solar term of the traditional East Asian lunisolar calendar, which divides a year into 24 solar terms (t. 節氣/s. 节气).^[1] In space partitioning, Qingming begins when the sun reaches the celestial longitude of 15° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 30°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 15°, usually on April 5.^[2]

Compared to the space partitioning theory, in the time division theory Qingming falls around April 7 or approximately 106.5 days after winter equinox. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around 4 or 5 April and ends around 20 April.

Pentads

Date and Time (UTC)
year	begin	end
辛巳	2001-04-04 17:24	2001-04-20 00:35
壬午	2002-04-04 23:18	2002-04-20 06:20
癸未	2003-04-05 04:52	2003-04-20 12:02
甲申	2004-04-04 10:43	2004-04-19 17:50
乙酉	2005-04-04 16:34	2005-04-19 23:37
丙戌	2006-04-04 22:15	2006-04-20 05:26
丁亥	2007-04-05 04:04	2007-04-20 11:07
戊子	2008-04-04 09:45	2008-04-19 16:51
己丑	2009-04-04 15:33	2009-04-19 22:44
庚寅	2010-04-04 21:30	2010-04-20 04:29
辛卯	2011-04-05 03:11	2011-04-20 10:17
壬辰	2012-04-04 09:05	2012-04-19 16:12
癸巳	2013-04-04 15:02	2013-04-19 22:03
甲午	2014-04-04 20:46	2014-04-20 03:55

Source: JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System

Each solar term can be divided into 3 pentads (候). They are: first pentad (初候), second pentad (次候) and last pentad (末候). Pentads in Qingming include:

China

First pentad: 桐始華/桐始华, 'The paulownia begins to bloom'.
Second pentad: 田鼠化為鴽/田鼠化为鴽, 'Voles(you) transform into quails'.
Last pentad: 虹始見/虹始见, 'Rainbows begin to appear'.

Japan

First pentad: 玄鳥至 (tsubame itaru), 'The swallow flies back from the south'.
Second pentad: 鴻雁北 (kōgan kitae kaeru), 'The goose migrates to the north'.
Last pentad: 虹始見 (niji hajimete arawaru), 'Rainbows begin to appear in the sky after shower'.

References

↑ "24 Sekki". Glossary. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
↑ Matsukawa, Mitsuharu. "24 Sekkis, or Twenty-Four Japanese Small Seasons". Nagoya University. Retrieved 2016-03-21.

Qingming

Pentads

References

See also