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The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms (節氣). Qīngmíng (pīnyīn) or Seimei (rōmaji) (Chinese and Japanese: 清明; Korean: 청명; Vietnamese: Thanh minh; literally: "clear and bright") is the 5^th solar term. It 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°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around April 4 (April 5 East Asia time) and ends around April 20.

[edit] 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
• Second pentad: 田鼠化為鴽
• Last pentad: 虹始見

Japan

• First pentad: 玄鳥至
• Second pentad: 鴻雁北
• Last pentad: 虹始見

[edit] See also

• Qingming Festival (清明節), festival celebrated on the day of Qingming
• Cold Food Festival (寒食節), three-day festival starting one day before and ending one day after Qingming
• Zhang Zeduan's Qingming Scroll