Jingzhe
third solar term of traditional East Asian calendars
Jīngzhé (simplified Chinese: 惊蛰; traditional Chinese: 驚蛰) is the 3rd of the 24 solar terms (節氣) in the traditional Chinese calendars. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 345° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 360°. More often, it refers to the day when the Sun is exactly at a celestial longitude of 345°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around March 5 and ends around March 20.
The word 驚蟄 means the awakening of hibernating insects. 驚 is to startle and 蟄 means hibernating insects. Traditional Chinese folklore says that during Jingzhe, thunderstorms will wake up the hibernating insects, which implies that the weather is getting warmer.
Pentads
Each solar term can be divided into 3 pentads (候). They are the first pentad (初候), the second pentad (次候), and the third pentad (末候): Pentads in Jingzhe are
China
First pentad: traditional Chinese: 桃始華; simplified Chinese: 桃始华 (pīnyīn: Táo shǐ huá), 'The peaches begin to blossom'.
Second pentad: traditional Chinese: 倉庚鳴; simplified Chinese: 仓庚鸣 (pīnyīn: Cāng gēng míng), 'Orioles sing clearly'.
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