Insects Awaken (Jingzhe) 驚蟄
The solar term
The first spring thunder is said to startle the hibernating insects awake. Temperatures rise quickly around this time, and spring ploughing begins. The term was originally called Qizhe; it is generally thought to have been renamed to avoid the personal name of Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi.
| Year | Insects Awaken |
|---|---|
| 2026 | March 5 |
| 2027 | March 6 |
| 2028 | March 5 |
| 2029 | March 5 |
| 2030 | March 5 |
Dates are for China time (UTC+8); in other time zones the term may fall on a different day.
The three pentads
Each solar term lasts about fifteen days and is divided into three pentads of five days, each named after a sign in nature. In 2027:
Peach trees blossom 桃始華from March 6
Peach trees come into blossom.
Orioles sing 倉庚鳴from March 11
Orioles, sensing the spring, begin to sing.
Hawks turn into doves 鷹化為鳩from March 16
The ancients noticed that hawks became scarce just as doves appeared, and took it that the hawks had turned into doves. In fact the hawks withdraw to breed while the doves grow active; it is an observation of the season, not a real transformation.
Hexagrams
In the table of the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar (recorded in the New Book of Tang), the three pentads of Insects Awaken belong to three hexagrams:
- first pentad5 Xu (Waiting)Marquis
- second pentad17 Sui (Following)Grandee
- third pentad35 Jin (Advance)Minister
Separately, the twenty-four lines of Kan, Zhen, Li and Dui govern the twenty-four solar terms in turn; Insects Awaken belongs to Kan, six at the top.
The hexagram calendar marks the season. It says nothing about fortune and has no bearing on a hexagram you cast. See sources and method.