Jingzhe

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2019)

Jīngzhé, 惊蛰, 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.^[1][2]

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.^[3]

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'.
• Last pentad: traditional Chinese: 鷹化為鳩; simplified Chinese: 鹰化为鸠 (pīnyīn: Yīng huà wéi jiū), 'Eagles are transformed into doves'.

Japan

• First pentad: Japanese: 蟄虫啓戸 (Romanisation: Chitchū kei to), 'Awakening of hibernating insects'.
• Second pentad: Japanese: 桃始笑 (Romanisation: Momo Hajime Emi), 'Peach trees start to bloom (smile)'.
• Last pentad: Japanese: 菜虫化蝶 (Romanisation: Na mushi-ka chō), 'Caterpillars become butterflies'.

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (November 2020)

• Villain hitting

Lim Giong has a 2005 album titled Insects Awaken.

Jingzhe (film) is a 2004 Chinese film directed by Wang Quan'an.