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Qingming

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Chinese
  
清明

Hanyu Pinyin
  
qīng míng

Vietnamese alphabet
  
thanh minh

Literal meaning
  
clear and bright

Bopomofo
  
ㄑㄧㄥ ㄇㄧㄥˊ

Chữ Hán
  
清明

Qīngmíng, Seimei, Cheongmyeong, or Thanh minh is the name of the 5th solar term of the traditional East Asian lunisolar calendar, which divides a year into 24 solar terms ( 節氣/ 节气). 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.

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

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

    Qingming Wikipedia


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